Jump to content

Menu

Kids started together, then move apart.


KrissiK
 Share

Recommended Posts

I'm having a bit of a conundrum here. I have 2 boys ages 6 & 7 (they are actually 9 months apart) and when we started pre-K, they started together, even though the younger one was only 3. He did well keeping up and is actually on the same reading level as his brother. However, I noticed last year when they were in K & 1st grade that their reading continued equally, but the younger was "at grade level" in math for his age. So, I separated them in math. That worked out fine. We started WWE1 last spring - a little late for the older and a little early for the younger. DS1 is doing great, and we will be moving on to WWE2 in a couple of weeks. However, DS2 does have a few auditory processing issues, etc. and struggles. My question is.... should I continue to do WWE2 with both boys, just taking it down a notch for DS2? I don't really want to do that because I want him to get the benefit of the curriculum as written. When he's ready for WWE2 I don't want to have already done it modified with him. KWIM? I don't want to keep changing things around for him as we progress. However, if I just make up my own exercises that are similar to WWE1 for him, then I have to teach both boys separately, which is getting increasingly difficult, since I also teach them math separately and they are both too young (and squirrely) to do much independent work without me hanging over their shoulders. I'm sorry this is long, but any advice? BTDT?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My older kids were very close in age.

 

It was always easier and more appropriate for them to work at their own levels for LA and Math. I kept them completely together for everything else.

 

My suggestion would be to repeat parts of WWE1 until you felt he was ready for WWE2.

 

HTH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did non-skills subjects together (history, science, Bible...) and skill-oriented subjects separately (math, LA...). My kids are 2 years apart, but I know what you mean that in the young years it's hard to work with both. Sometimes I had one play with manipulatives while I worked with the other, or one did a chore for the day etc... I made a list of things they could do independently and rotated through those when I was working with one, so the other had something to do.

 

Merry :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My older kids were very close in age.

 

It was always easier and more appropriate for them to work at their own levels for LA and Math. I kept them completely together for everything else.

 

My suggestion would be to repeat parts of WWE1 until you felt he was ready for WWE2.

 

HTH

 

This is what I would do (and am currently doing). My boys are 8 and 10. I expect very little independent work at this point. They work at whatever their level is for math and language arts and if that is the same - fine. If it is different - fine. We combine with all other subjects, including spelling, because my younger is able to do the Sequential Spelling program that the older is doing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have two kids who are 13 months apart. I also tried to keep them together for my sanity but it became very obvious very quickly that this would not work. My choices were to modify the work for the one who struggled (not always the younger one) or separate them. I tired modifying for a while until I realized that just meeting them where they were at would be much less work for me. Everyone is happier this way. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 6 yo twins. I keep them together for some things and separate them for others. They read on very different levels, so I have them doing completely different things for reading. At times, they've wanted to separate for math - one of them zips through while the other one works more slowly, but I'm trying to keep them together because I don't think the zipping through math boy is actually much ahead cognitively so it seems silly to have them just a few lessons apart because one of them has a different pace.

 

My advice is that if you do end up separating them, then if it's possible logistically and financially, pick a completely different curriculum to head off comparisons. It may be easier if they're different ages than if they're twins, but if they're that close, then I would think there's a chance that at some point down the line, the younger one could get better at something than the older one, so I would be careful about acting like the younger one is on the level below only because he's younger, iykwim?

 

Obviously, you have to do whatever works practically for you and your sons. I guess whether you keep them together or separate them, I would just try to be really conscious of the comparisons and the competitiveness. I try really hard not to label my boys. It has been especially hard with reading, where one of them is on chapter books and the other is still on very basic readers. But I'm aware that when they're close together a label like "the reader" and "the non-reader" can really stick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My DD is only 13 months older than my twin boys. We do EVERYTHING together except for Math & Writing. I taught them all to read at the same time and they have managed to stay together in most things, but I think writing is just one of those things that you can't really push. It just eventually happens. There is no way my boy's could keep up with DD even though there isn't much age difference. :001_huh: Could you somehow keep them together for grammar instruction but separate them for just the writing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have kept all FOUR of my kids together for both phonics & math thus far. (My triplets are a little behind, and the youngest is ahead.) I do try and vary the presentation of the same lesson/material as needed, but we don't proceed until EVERYONE has something down. Yes, I understand that one or two may be somewhat held back, but frankly, I'm OK with that, both because my sanity is vital and I cannot do 4 different lessons of OPGTR and RS daily, and because I see no harm in having one or two kids get extra reviews of info that is foundational!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...