blessedmom3 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 It is so hard to spend time with each of them. They do their worksheets by themselves mostly without any problem, but I would like to explain concepts and I find it is very hard! I am frustrated! How can I give each 30 min for math? And there is also phonics, reading,HW, science , history.... Add a toddler too ! Any tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylianna Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) Juggle. That's what I have to do. :tongue_smilie: The beginning of the day is "math, reading, writing and handwriting" I also have some extra worksheets (seasonal) that I print up for each of them. If they need my attention and I am working with another child, they can work on their worksheets. If I am working on math with one, the other will be doing her reading. If one is self sufficient with her math, then I can work on FLL with another. They are not USUALLY on the same subject at the same time, otherwise I would get "Mom, I need help" "Mom, what do I do now?" all the time. I am planning on doing the "all together" subjects first, then do the math, reading etc at the end of the day, that way when one child is DONE, they don't have to wait for the others to start the other subjects. Here, science, history, music, art, read alouds, are done all together. The other subjects that are personalized are done separately. I can figure out what to give to two kids so I can work on something with the other kid. If I know that one will need help with handwriting (she is starting to learn cursive) I will give the other kids something to do, like the oldest will read her book, and the youngest will do her math. If she has a problem with math, she will skip that section, or do a worksheet while waiting. Edited January 8, 2011 by Tylianna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) I have a Ker, 1st, 3rd and 4th. My K'er and 1st I do math with entirely. Sometimes my 1st works on his own. We are using MM and I find it really doesn't take much time to teach the concepts. I just have the younger 2 do one page a day. My 3rd and 4th... I always go over the whole 2 sheets with my 3rd grader. She just needs to talk through the whole thing. It really doesn't take that long. My 4th grader varies. If it's a new topic I just go over things quickly to make sure he knows what to do. If it's a similar topic or more practice he's pretty independent. I missed what you're using... for me, having a less teacher intensive program works. MM teaches conceptually, but in small enough bites that I don't have to take 30 min. with each child. At most, if someone isn't really getting something it can take 15 min. to teach something. I average about an hour per child with one on one work. ETA: The hour per child is everything... not just math. Edited January 9, 2011 by robsiew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmeraldGirl Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 It takes about 1.5-2 hours to teach 3 levels of Language Arts and Math per day to 4 younger kids. To me, these are the most foundational. Everything else is done together and we are relaxed about it, read a lot, and do projects, mostly kid-directed ones. We usually hit these 2 days/week each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyNellen Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 When I had kids this age it was all about the schedule. I used Managers of Their Homes and had 30-minute slots for everything. While I was doing math with one, one was doing copywork, and one was playing with the toddler. Then we would switch and the one who had completed the one-on-one math would do his/her workbook ecercise, the next would do math with me and the 3rd would play with the toddler. It sounds rigid but it really wasn't...and it allowed us to have time for everything every day. Once the schedule becomes automatic it makes for very smooth days. This is also a great time to get the toddler into a routine. Train him to sit at the table for 30 minutes and do puzzles, spend 30 minutes in a pack & play or his room with special toys brought out only at that time. Definitely have your children rotate playing with him, giving each a different assignment, like, "Build the biggest train you can for your brother/sister in the next 30 minutes," or "help your brother/sister build a tall tower with blocks." My toddlers always loved knowing what was coming next. It can be done! It just takes a bit of persistence and ingenuity. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I have a PreK (doing mostly K level stuff), a 2nd grader and a 4th grader. I'm trying to get them into a rotation where two will be working independently and one will be doing a lesson with me. So, usually I get ds#3 doing an activity book of some sort (Kumon, mazes, dot-to-dot) or just give him a white board and marker. Ds#1 will start a math drill sheet (Mad Minute or one I printed from the 'net), and I give ds#2 his math lesson. We use Singapore as our primary curriculum and Miquon/LoF on Fridays. Once ds#2 is done with his lesson in the textbook, I start him on his workbook (by this time, ds#1 has finished and often will be either sitting there staring into space or will get out some independent work*), and then I get ds#3 doing something else and sit between ds#3 and ds#1 while giving ds#1 his math lesson. By this time I'm juggling a bit because ds#3 might need help knowing what to do in his next subject (the before ETC books or his math) and ds#2 invariably needs help with his workbook. But in the end it works. *The key for me is having 2-3 options of things they can do independently - the math drill comes first, but then the older two have two other assignments they can do on their own. For ds#1, he does an outlining page every day, plus either Explode the Code, Building Thinking Skills, or Word Problems. Ds#2 does Handwriting without Tears every day, plus one of the others mentioned above. I alternate what ds#3 does between things he can do on his own (the PreK HWoT book, Kumon books, etc.) and what he needs help with (math, "spelling", phonics). It works, but it is a bit crazy, especially now juggling a baby as well (who is usually in-arms :) ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 It is hard. I have a preschooler (so she gets about 2 days of school a week) and a 1st and 2nd grader who are doing separate math. I teach 1 math while the other is doing seatwork, semi-independently and get interrupted constantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) My children are close in age too. 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. The middle three are all 12 months apart. I tried keeping them in pairs of two:) but even though they are a year apart they all learn so different. For instance I tried keeping my 9 and 10 year old boys together for math but my 9yr. couldn't keep up with the 10yr. old. Same with my 11 and 12yr. old. My 11yr. old is way ahead of the 12yr. old in many subjects. I must admit it is hard. Just to teach everyone math takes me 2.5 hours. With my K student I usually teach math and Phonics in the evening. Some days I don't get everyone in. I try to start where I left off the day before. My 11yr. old is the only child that can do almost all her schoolwork on her own. My oldest has a hard time academically and still needs me for math and spelling and of course the meetings to go over his writing and such :tongue_smilie:My 6, 8, 9 and 10 year old boys are still learning how to read (no early readers here :( ) so they all need me for most subjects. This is why with my four younger ones, we use audio books for history and science. The only subjects I make sure to do are Math and Phonics/Spelling. Anything else is gravy. Edited January 8, 2011 by Homeschooling6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I agree with the juggling act. :) Also, since likely they all need practice in some similar things, if you're doing (for ex.) addition or subtraction flashcards or teaching something about place value, they could all sit in on it. One idea would be to scan ahead a week in ea. of the TMs and see where it overlaps. Then designate a "together math" time ea. day where you get some of the math teaching done. That way the time you have to spend instructing just one kid while the others are doing independent work is less. This might mean rearranging the order of things from the TM to combine the kids together and make up your own schedule - addition/sub. practice on Mon., geometric shapes on Tues, etc. Juggling them might be less work than that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 It is so hard to spend time with each of them. They do their worksheets by themselves mostly without any problem, but I would like to explain concepts and I find it is very hard! I am frustrated! How can I give each 30 min for math? And there is also phonics, reading,HW, science , history.... Add a toddler too ! Any tips? I have a 3rd grader, a 1st grader, a K, a Pre-K, a 2yo, and a baby. :) I don't do formal math until the 4th grade. Just another perspective: http://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/research_on_teaching_math.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 It is so hard to spend time with each of them. They do their worksheets by themselves mostly without any problem, but I would like to explain concepts and I find it is very hard! I am frustrated! How can I give each 30 min for math? And there is also phonics, reading,HW, science , history.... Add a toddler too ! Any tips? I have a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, K-er and 3 yro. You just have to work with each kid on math. There is no way out of it. We actually started doing math first this year. It's time-consuming, but math is the most important subject to me. We actually do school until about 2 pm, because working with the kids individually (and with a toddler) takes a lot of time (not just math, lol). There are some things that help...we use CLE math - they can do a lot of the problems independently. We also do Singapore math, which they absolutely can not do without me. I assign math fact reviews and speed drills for one kid while I work one-on-one with the other. I just see no way out of that one. They need a very solid math foundation if they're going into anything science/math/business/medicine-related. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairie rose Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Probably not the most popular answer here but I see no reason to give a K'er a 30 minute math lesson. 10 - 15 minutes was plenty sufficient for K math. First grade was not more than 20 minutes. By 3rd grade, we were doing 20 - 30 minutes. When I had a K'er, 1st grader and a 3rd grader (and an infant), I had a 90 minute block for math and a 90 minute block for LA. This gave me plenty of time to make my rounds with everyone and some leeway for dawdling, unexpected problems (took a while for them to get the concept or something) or screaming infants. All of them are doing just fine in math now, despite not getting exactly 30 minutes of instruction each and every day when they were younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.