homeschooling twins

[Runningmom80]

This is the first year my twins will be homeschooling.  They are turning 6 in a couple of weeks and will be starting first grade.  They attended a Montessori school from ages 3-6 and got solid reading and math instruction, and also a lot of geography which they loved. 

 

Ok, I've planned out first grade and they are doing everything the same.  I don't think this is a big deal since it's only first grade, but I'm wondering when I need to start breaking them apart. They are both bright if not gifted, and ahead at this point thanks to their great school.  However, I can see differences in abilities.  (Not huge, but they are there) I have read that once they start outpacing each other I should use different curricula.  If I have a child who is already ahead of the other twin, should I be cognizant of that now and start them off on two different curricula? Also, one twin needs a little more reading instruction, where the other twin is pretty fluent.  Is it going to cause negative feelings if I work with one twin on reading?  (I was thinking of doing AAS with both so that the twin that needs a little help will have a little phonics review. Both could use spelling instruction, even though I don't think it's necessary this year.) As far as the reading goes, I've just been having them both read aloud to me, and helping the twin that needs the help, but I think they can tell there is a difference. They were competitive in Montessori, wanting to pass each other in phonograms, so I'm trying to avoid the comparing as much as possible. (I know I can't avoid it all together.)

 

Also, how to you teach to different interests?  As it stands now their brother will not be along for any of their schooling, he's almost 4 years older than them and nothing will work for all of them at this point.  I am starting to get a little overwhelmed adding 2 kids at once to the mix, and thinking about tailoring 3 children's educations to their individual needs.  The only thing saving me is that it is only first grade so there isn't a ton of school work to do, so they have plenty of free time to branch out on their own.  I'm just looking ahead and trying to prepare.

 

Any other tips or things I should look for? 

[Critterfixer]

My two are still very dissimilar in both interests and abilities, but it hasn't really affected my choice of what I want to use. I just back off for one or the other when they need it. I don't have the brain I need to juggle two sets of curriculum for two boys of the same age. And I haven't worried about interests all that much, aside from making sure that we get through school in a reasonable way that allows both of them to have ample free time to explore what they like. 

 

As far as whether you can curb competition--that's a little tough! Both of my boys are always willing to challenge each other for whatever glory may come out of a race, whether it's a physical one or one in their imaginations. And I can almost say for certain that at some point one or the other will be more than happy to point out just how much you favor one sibling or the other from day to day. Or rewarding one more than the other. It's been a more or less constant part of mothering my boys--rewarding good work, balancing attention, breaking up arguments and teaching the lesson of how to compete without being a total you-know-what. :laugh:

 

As far as reading goes--I think this is a perfect place for one-on-one work regardless of age or ability. Even if they are working close to the same place in phonics, I'd keep reading practice with Mom a special time for working on reading just with Mom. It doesn't matter if one out paces the other, and I have found it prudent to remind the boys that each of them has strengths that the other doesn't as well as weaknesses. It's part of being human, and it would be a very dull place indeed if we never had anything that we needed to improve on. Such is life. By the same token, we all have things that we are very good at, and we should never be ashamed or abashed about using our strengths to help ourselves or to help others. 

I expect I have that conversation every few weeks.

[Farrar]

I have twins.

 

I had to break them apart immediately in first grade for math. Keeping them together didn't work. It encouraged the worst sort of competition and perfectionism. And they had very different learning styles. It was much easier to be able to say, you can't compare, your brother's on a completely different track.

 

Next thing to go for us was spelling. One can spell. One can't. So... it's not just about interests. Kids have different strengths and weaknesses and skill needs. I had to get AAS to do with the one who couldn't spell. He still lags behind - it'll never be his strength.

 

And now, middle school, heading into 7th grade, their learning needs are so different that we're finally about to head into different paths for pretty much everything. Different reading lists, different programs, different courses altogether. Which... you know, it's fine. I'm adjusting.

 

But all through elementary school, they were together for content subjects and that was good - only one history and science prep for me. I think that's the key for most kids that are multiples or close together - keep their content the same until they're at least old enough to have some independence with it.

[Runningmom80]

Thank you both! 

 

I should also mention that my DD loves having a twin, and my DS hates it, so that adds a little more conflict to the relationship. :rolleyes:

[Miss Tick]

I split mine apart in math in grade 2. They were polite, but I could see the self-comparisons having a negative affect. Now my three kids just all do Math at the same time, and I maintain my mental flexibility helping in three different curriculum at once!

 

For the rest of the curriculum they have stayed together. They don't seem to care much about the differences, though.

 

Start 1st with an easy for you, mostly together approach. Then you can get a feel for where you need to accommodate (I occasionally scribe for ds) or where it is better to completely divide them (hello MM, MEP and BA).

[The Girls' Mom]

I kept all three of mine together for history for most of their school years.  It was just one less thing, you know?  (3.5 years apart).  With the twins, we broke things up as needed.  By high school they were doing most things separately with different curriculum.  This year there isn't a single class/subject they'll be doing together.  However, I am not teaching them any longer, and haven't been for most of high school.  They work independently, or take outside classes.  

 

I tried to curb competition as much as possible. It is very hard when they are identical and they don't really like being twins, so they are always trying to prove they aren't a unit! lol.  Despite my attempts, we've still had comparison meltdowns, the most recent being over ACT scores.  :glare:

 

Anyway, my advice is to combine where feasible, gradually encourage independent learning (especially once they hit middle school), and just try to use what works best for everyone.  

[SanDiegoMom]

We split math before they even left PS -- ds was so far ahead I was teaching him math while his twin was grade level.  But with reading, it was a little less clear cut.  My ds learned to read easily at age four, his twin was 4 1/2 and it was a slower slog with her.  By first grade they were even, but after that she took off mainly because she had less anxiety when it came to picking books! She became a much faster reader and would read three books to his one. Even now it's an issue -- I still pre-read most of his books so I can tell him what they are about before he's willing to read them. 

 

We don't split up on anything else yet-- ds is a better speller but she's pretty grade typical so we don't do a spelling program at all. Writing assignments just produce different writing -- dd is better at fiction writing and ds is better at non-fiction, but they do the same assignments.  

For the fall, they have asked to do different science though.  DD is still into anything life science and ds wants physics.  I'm not sure what I will do.  I did order the Creek Edge Task Cards entire science set and I will probably give them different cards, but beyond that I don't know.  

[Um_2_4]

My twins will also be in 1st next year. I am keeping them together for now, but I add in "extras" that are at each ones level. DS is ahead in math, DD in reading. So DSs extra books, will have more reading review and harder math puzzles. DD will have word work at her level and easier math review. We all do history/geography/science together, so that won't change for a while yet.

But my twins enjoy being twins and are very close. The only thing I have to watch for is DD likes to "help" DS a bit too much.

[purpleowl]

I have no advice, since I am not a mom of multiples (though I will say that using different curriculum for every area where they're not in the same level sounds expensive!). I just had to post that I thought this thread was going to be about which other WTM poster you think is your "homeschooling twin." Lol!

[Guest]

My twins are now in college, though I homeschooled them all the way through.

 

Up until high school, they pretty much stayed the same, curriculum-wise. In high school they started to explore their own interests. I kept them the same in the high school "core 4+1" but allowed the electives to vary. It served them well as they branched into drastically different college majors (engineering technology vs. political science).

Edited June 27, 2016 by Kinsa

[RKWAcademy]

My twins just finished first grade.  I realized at the very beginning of first that they would need to be apart for math - not just learning separately but completely different programs/levels.  Everything else, I keep them together. 

[bpskowski]

My twins just finished 2nd grade and their brother just finished 6th.  Last year when I started 1st with the girls, I was having my son do blocks of independent work in the morning so I could work with the girls.  Then in afternoon I'd give one on one with my son while the girls played.  My girls last year and this year both worked through same curriculum.  I see slight differences but they are pretty much together.  I'd have one read aloud to me while the other did either her copywork or reading independent and then I'd switch.  That way they got the one on one reading instruction and the other was too busy to compare.  With math, I'd do the lesson and then they'd do the workbook exercises.  They'd work on exercises is different rooms (they tend to think out loud) and I'd bounce back and forth helping as needed.  I plan to keep them together until it becomes obvious that one or the other isn't benefiting.  I'll deal with it as it comes up - can't plan for it now.  I had my son doing independent work in 4th grade as well.  I'd do "lessons" in afternoon then next day morning he'd did the exercises and reading assignments.

 

I wouldn't worry too much.  Just plan out how you'd ideally like to rotate through the subjects and kids and then when you actually get going it'll be more obvious how things need to be adjusted.