Transitioning from K to 1St Grade as a Homeschooler

I truly don't think a 1st grader is going to have the cognitive ability to home school himself while you take care of the other kids. I know many mom's home school various ages but I don't know what they do with the little ones while they're teaching the older kids. Maybe they do it in the evening when the younger kids are gone to bed.

I am not one that would enjoy homeschooling kids. I feel that public school does fine. The kids have the education they need, they still get into I. League colleges and private colleges after going to public school after all.

It sounds like this is too much for you maybe. Send him to school full time in the fall and see how it goes. You get up, get him up, put all the kids in the vehicle, asleep, awake, wet, dry, etc....and take kiddo to school to drop him off.

You come home and start the day with the other kids with breakfast, bathing, etc...

It depends what type of homeschooling your are doing. If you are an unschooler, you have hardly any "structured" work in first grade and can go with the flow. I know lots of unschooling moms in my network with multiple children who feel totally relaxed through this age just letting the kids "learn from life". They show up to every meet-up and some playdates...meanwhile, I started going to hardly anymore meet-ups compared to kindergarten because our school work was piling up..

If you are Classical Homeschooler like I am, yes, first grade is MUCH MORE ACADEMIC WORK than kindergarten, and no a child that age does NOT do it on their own. I had to actively walk my child through every subject every day. EXHAUSTING. Totally worth it, she's now in second grade and extremely advanced in all subjects because the curriculums we used were of superior quality, but it was a HUGE increase in work for me compared to kindergarten. Also, having her in second grade this year with a kindergartener and preschooler who also needed their early reading and writing stuff...ROUGH!!! I'm not gonna lie. It's been a busy and overwhelming year. Doable, but very difficult.

So. Figure out your style, and talk to a mom who uses that style, or go to online forums for that style to get a clear picture. Again there are unschoolers in my network who said themselves "They didn't do any school work at all in first grade" so there is a big spectrum for you to fit into.

My cousins all homeschool very large families, and they agree, you can't really walk away and leave kids to do their own lessons until 4th or 5th grade. Up through third is very hands-on.

I'd take the getting out the door, commute, etc. ANY day.
I was laughing at us getting out the door today. I was covered in baby feces, and then the toddler pooped, and there was so much POOP to deal with (bare minimum; I could not even throw all the stuff in the wash or away). We had to GET OUT THE DOOR RIGHT THEN.

And you know what? We made it. The kids going to school were clean. I cleaned up the mess when I got back from exercise class. I managed to bring a new pair of pants with me.

I extend the kids' school day to make sure it's no earlier than 4:30pm that I pick them up; then no baby nap conflicts.

My kids would never want to do work at home; but if I can get them out the door...they are learning at the school. If there is a day off, it's nuts.Then it's just poop, feeding, fighting and worrying about screen time all day. I LOVE LOVE LOVE school. I know the kids are busy there, not in front of a TV, etc. And when they come home I am OK with them watching some TV.

I can't give advice about home schooling but I can tell you that I had one in K and one in preschool three mornings a week when my third was born and it was very doable. Babies adjust to the world they are born into (lots of napping in the car) and you will adjust as well, if you decide to send your oldest to school.

By first grade I could tell my son how to do something and what the directions were and then go into the shower while he finished his work and the baby napped. There is less having to lead them every single step of the process because by then they have the basics down and know how the process works.
I would be lying if I said it didn't still take effort but it can and does work.

first off, i'm sure you're too smart to listen to anyone suggesting that you expect your 1st grader to 'cognitively homeschool herself.'
i do think that now that she's coming out of kindergarten, it's time to commit to one path or the other.
please re-read hell on heels' response. you do have to figure on a few hours a day at this age, but the curriculum you choose (if any) can make or break you. the folks i know who did K12 or hybrid almost all quit due to being overwhelmed. picking a self-paced curriculum and making it yours is the key. and in a year or two you'll just do your own anyway, most likely. curricula are very helpful when you want a template, but most of us learn our own kids' learning styles and develop what they need from that.
but you WILL need to find a couple of hours per day to focus on your oldest child. it may involve setting the toddler up with a quiet parallel task, or doing the bulk of your more intensive homeschooling in the evening when your husband can take his time with the little ones (flexibility is one of the main advantages of homeschooling.) without drop-off and pick-up schedules this will be easier than you think.
and yes, your 1st grader can and will work independently for frequent stretches, allowing you to be busy with the other kids but still available to answer questions and direct.
i don't suggest that every day will be easy. you're at one of the busiest, craziest stages of motherhood, and i so commend you for thinking of homeschooling while it's going on. you can do it, and if you join a co-op (or several) you'll see first-hand how others make it happen.
good luck, mama!
khairete
S.

Jane, do not despair, you need to plan before doing anything, and for that TAKE your time. I would suggest you:
Create an interesting, safe and fun space for keeping the toddler busy and the baby when she is not asleep. It doesn't need to be a fancy one. You may want to "transform" a room to make it more attractive and fun by adding a couple of colorful posters and signs and a couple of plastic drawers for storage. You can keep in there school supplies at hand for your little ones to reach easily at any time (without danger of course, which you will prepare before hand such as covering outlets, or so ). Consider having crayons, brown paper rolls, construction paper, Duplo legos for those hours that you will be teaching your first grader, and teach them by playing, from the beginning, how to put everything in place when they are done (play the race game who is the first one in cleaning up the crayons or so....)
Teach the most important subjects when the baby is napping (basically, reading, writing, math, phonics, the rest can be introduced at this age in reading time like history for instance). Each state has its own regulations about homeschooling but, most of them requires 4 hours/day. Do not be discouraged because any time that means learning is taking into account for your log hours, especially at this age (museum, use of DVD's, CD's for music, a trip to the zoo,etc)as you realize, everything counts. Do 15 or 30 minutes of school here and there, and make sure YOU have a time for yourself to sit down and at least eat well. Do not stress out if you didn't accomplish anything or little according to your expectations, they will be fine, and I can tell you that the first grader will learn to work independently as you guide him slowly, I can promise that since I have a 7 yo who works very well independently since kindergarten. I do not let him totally alone, I am grading or planing, and at the same time I am teaching his older brother in the same room, and the little one follows my instructions perfectly fine. He manages himself a chart on the wall by his desk where he puts a check mark by each subject he is done with. He loves doing this, and he sees he has accomplished something!
It is doable, but you will need to plan, take the time to plan everything and you will be fine.

My girls are older, but we belong to a homeschool group with children of all ages. Some of the K-1st graders are oldest children, some are middle children, and some are the baby of the family. In talking to the moms, it doesn't seem to matter much whether they're unschoolers, Waldorf people, TJEd, Sonshine-in-a-box, classical homeschoolers, or a hybrid of all of it, the average seems to be about 4 hours per day of instruction, with about 1/4 - 1/2 of it being independent work at that age. Once they can read, things get easier, according to the moms in our group.

I will say that the curriculum you're working with can make a huge difference. We used K12 for a while, and it drove me nearly insane. We switched to Oak Meadow, and our household is much more relaxed now. So, it really depends upon your style of education and what you like an average school day to look like. :)

Does not sound like something you are really committed to. Don't you have school buses where you live. Babies adjust to a lifestyle. I did not revolve my life around naps. If I had to be out, babies napped in the car. If I was home they had a schedule. Personally, I think you really need to be dedicated to home schooling.

I guess if Michelle Duggar could homeschool 20 kids...

I homeschool a kindergartener right now, with a 4 and 13 month old.

I unschool, so I cannot really relate to your situation. We play together, and my oldest goes off and reads for a few hours a day by herself. She also crafts once a day, again, by herself.

I do have friends using curriculum with multiple kids. I think it depends on how well organized you are, and on how independent you are raising your kids. One friend has a 14, 8, 6,4, and 2 year old. Another has 10,8,6, and 15 month old. Another has a 8,6 and 14 month old. They've all always homeschooled, and they manage fine.

I do know lots of people who have quit homeschooling, however. I think it really depends on your abilities to juggle it all. Only you know the answer to that.