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I'm not really grasping how combining kids works


plain jane
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I mean, from the perspective of mom, I understand how it can be helpful to all be studying the same material but I can't really grasp how this works IRL.

 

For example. When my oldest is in grade 6, I will also have a grade 3 and 1. I would like to use something like CPO's Chemistry for my oldest as I think it would be a good fit for her. But, I can't very well drag my grade 3 and 1 through CPO. So... aren't they going to have to be studying their own thing anyways? I supposed I could use CPO for my oldest and simplify the topics for the younger ones- but that's an incredible amount of work for me & I will still have younger children. :confused: OTOH, I like RSO chem for grade 3. I have already done this with my oldest for grade 3 and do not see how I could beef it up to a grade 6 level. (I already supplemented it heavily with NOEO chem I and II last year). :confused:

 

Could someone please explain what the benefit is to having kids all working on the same topic when there's such a wide range between them?

 

FWIW, I have a friend using an Apologia Exploring.... text this year. She has grade 6, 5, 3, 1 and K this year. We were talking the other day and she said that the text was not meaty enough for her 6th, okay for her 5th, perfect for her 3rd, not overly interesting to her 1st, but doable, and completely over the head of her K. Not exactly an ideal situation for a text that is touted for K-6. :confused:

 

Does combining ages really work? I'm really not seeing how.

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For me it is more about keeping us on the same subjects. So having 2 chemistry curriculums may be the best fit, but i would try to line them up as much as possible to be covering similar topics around the same time.

 

Same with history. We may be on the same timeframe, but each age can be using different books and resources.

 

So example: We are doing cells in biology. Older ones might be doing a model and learning about the parts of a cell. They may be memorizing the parts. Focus on ds18 and ds11. Complete worksheets on cells and do additional reading or research if called for. Dd9 does as much as she can. Maybe she only works on one kind of cell....animal or plant, instead of both.

 

Little ones are learning that cells are the building blocks of living things. They color a worksheet on cells and play with legos. :) Ds6, dd4, dd20 months (she thinks she is in school :) ). Dd9 may do coloring with them or she would get out a sketch pad and colored pencils and draw a cell.

 

I may draw from a few sources to create the lesson plans. But we are all working the same topic. :)

 

Does that help at all?

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There are programs that have built-in levels so that you can keep everyone on the same topic without having to do all the adjusting yourself. I am using Great Science Adventures with a 2nd and 5th grader. It has several different levels of activities/ assignments. Other programs do the same. I know TOG and Weaver both have assignments for different levels of learners. Classical Conversations also teaches K-6 the same topics.

 

Also, you can just have kids study that same general topic like American History and use 2 different books/ products. They aren't exactly combined, but the whole family can do field trips, movies, etc together that are relevant to what they are studying. For chemistry you may could use different products, but have the littles sit in on some of the experiments that they may think are cool.

 

Another option is to teach to the oldest and what the littles catch great. My little man always sat in while I did poetry with my older two. I never taught to him. I just taught to the big guys, but the little guy still took a lot of information from those discussions.

 

HTH-

Mandy

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Combining is the starting place, not the whole of having multi-grades in one place. Some dc (ages and stages) work better than others.

 

I'll take your friend for example, use Apologia as the spine for all; add a living book (or two) for the 5th and 6th graders; require they outline and write a weekly summary. Do a lapbook with the 3rd, 1st and Ker. The third grader cuts her own stuff, teacher cuts for the others in the interest of saving time. Do a crossword in the lapbook for the 3rd grader, but do a word search for the 1st and picture matching for the Ker. Let the grammar students watch a video on the subject while you discuss the living books with the older children. Spread it all out so the grammar kids have 3 days of science, while the older 2 have 5 b/c they are reading and writing more.

 

The benefit is ONE starting place for you, family discussion, the ability for the eldest to jump in and help (knowledgeably) with the grammar students. This way, the teacher is learning towards one student --- the 6th grader and simply giving appropriate activities for the younger ones. There is no additional teacher study; therefore, you save a Ton of Time.

 

Another benefit is family discussion at meal times. It's great sharing with family all we learn in history and we're across the stages in our house. It provides for fun, project presentation that makes sense and it allows the Littles to pick up on a few more things that I don't even teach.

 

If the Ker and 1st grader pick up anything, it's all gravy! That's why you come back around in each stage. She could let the 1st and Ker color during read alouds.

 

If I had to pick up materials and prepare for 7 dc, all different programs, it wouldn't.get.done. There is just no way. Instead, I do things like I mentioned above and we all learn, we all have fun, and we can share family read alouds pleasurably. The think I learned over time is teach to the eldest ones for the spines and then allow them independent work to pick up the pace.

 

In your shoes, I have a 5th, 3rd, 2nd grader we do the upper grammar read aloud, then activities appropriate per child. I may have the 5th grader write 3 paragraphs after outlining an encyclopedia on her own, while I simply complete narrations with the younger ones, asking them to tell me 3 important facts. We color a picture, tape it to the narration and viola! We're done. We all have output. We all have applied what we learned in a meaningful way.

 

Last week, we made poster board maps. The 5th grader did hers "with" the Ker. The Ker didn't really do more than gluing where she told him, but he did learn the look of Africa, where the Atlantic Ocean and Med. Sea were b/c we kept asking him again and again and again. All the while, the 5th grader learned all the nations of africa, major waters, mountains and deserts. The ker practice glue, cutting and pasting skills.

 

It works :) I hope this helped you "See" it.

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Combining is the starting place, not the whole of having multi-grades in one place. Some dc (ages and stages) work better than others.

 

I'll take your friend for example, use Apologia as the spine for all; add a living book (or two) for the 5th and 6th graders; require they outline and write a weekly summary. Do a lapbook with the 3rd, 1st and Ker. The third grader cuts her own stuff, teacher cuts for the others in the interest of saving time. Do a crossword in the lapbook for the 3rd grader, but do a word search for the 1st and picture matching for the Ker. Let the grammar students watch a video on the subject while you discuss the living books with the older children. Spread it all out so the grammar kids have 3 days of science, while the older 2 have 5 b/c they are reading and writing more.

 

The benefit is ONE starting place for you, family discussion, the ability for the eldest to jump in and help (knowledgeably) with the grammar students. This way, the teacher is learning towards one student --- the 6th grader and simply giving appropriate activities for the younger ones. There is no additional teacher study; therefore, you save a Ton of Time.

 

Another benefit is family discussion at meal times. It's great sharing with family all we learn in history and we're across the stages in our house. It provides for fun, project presentation that makes sense and it allows the Littles to pick up on a few more things that I don't even teach.

 

If the Ker and 1st grader pick up anything, it's all gravy! That's why you come back around in each stage. She could let the 1st and Ker color during read alouds.

 

If I had to pick up materials and prepare for 7 dc, all different programs, it wouldn't.get.done. There is just no way. Instead, I do things like I mentioned above and we all learn, we all have fun, and we can share family read alouds pleasurably. The think I learned over time is teach to the eldest ones for the spines and then allow them independent work to pick up the pace.

 

In your shoes, I have a 5th, 3rd, 2nd grader we do the upper grammar read aloud, then activities appropriate per child. I may have the 5th grader write 3 paragraphs after outlining an encyclopedia on her own, while I simply complete narrations with the younger ones, asking them to tell me 3 important facts. We color a picture, tape it to the narration and viola! We're done. We all have output. We all have applied what we learned in a meaningful way.

 

Last week, we made poster board maps. The 5th grader did hers "with" the Ker. The Ker didn't really do more than gluing where she told him, but he did learn the look of Africa, where the Atlantic Ocean and Med. Sea were b/c we kept asking him again and again and again. All the while, the 5th grader learned all the nations of africa, major waters, mountains and deserts. The ker practice glue, cutting and pasting skills.

 

It works :) I hope this helped you "See" it.

:iagree:with everyting Tina said.

 

To add on to her end point, I sometimes assign a teacher and student. They all LOVE it! I do this when it is something fun and exciting.

 

For instance, ds11 worked with ds6 on math the other day. They had colored glass jewels as manipulatives. To my surpirse, he didn't only review counting and add/subtract to 5, but taught him to skip count by 2's and do a few multiplication problems! :001_huh: :lol:

 

Dd9 worked on handwriting with ds6 and dd4 using 2 cookie sheets with white rice. They got to write with their "magic pencils" (also known as pointer fingers :D ). They had a blast and begged to do it everyday.

 

That buys me time to correct or work individually with others on harder parts of their assignments.

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I wonder the same thing. I plan on doing this next school year with my then 1st and 4th graders for history and science. I plan to cover the same topics, but the older child will have higher expectations, added reading, more writing, and more depth.

 

Since I haven't actually done this I can't even comment on how this will turn out. My concern is that it wont end up being beefy enough for the older child (who works well above his grade level) and/or the younger child will end up not getting the attention he needs.

 

I hesitated to even try it, but I use so many teacher intensive resources that I just don't think I can stay sane if I don't try to combine some things in some way.

 

I'm trying to just relax a little about it. It's elementary school science and history. As long as they are getting something and doing lots of reading I think it will be fine. The projects/experiments will be more fun with 2. I think this could turn out well. Plus if it doesn't seem to be working it isn't like I can't fix that at any time.

This was a concern of mine as well, especially because I have a 12th, 5th, 3rd, K, K (super young, but may be gifted and doing same work as ds6), preschooler/tag along, and a newborn due Sat :D

 

What has worked for me is to make FOCUS groups. They can change depending on kids abilities, but in your case 1st and 4th.

 

So, say Mon, Wed, Fri you focus more on 4th needs academically. 1st tags along.

 

Tues and Thurs focus on 1st needs. 4th tags along or works independently.

 

Does that make sense? I can explain in different words if that was confusing. :)

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Like AngelBee, for us it's about combining subjects. This year, all of the kids are doing Ancients for history and Biology for science.

 

In history, I read the SOTW chaper to all of the kids and they all do the coloring page that goes along with it. The older two (7 and 10 yo) read the books recommended in the activity guide that are on their level. My 10yo also reads the corresponding chapter in Mystery of History and picks an activity to do.

 

For science, we do a lot of different things. I have NOEO Biology 1, which we're slowly working through. We also did the Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body kit, which all the kids like. We've been watching a liberal amount of DVDs from the library that go along with the NOEO topics. Patrick (10) will write about the video and the 7yo and 5yo tell me things that they learned.

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Like AngelBee, for us it's about combining subjects. This year, all of the kids are doing Ancients for history and Biology for science.

 

In history, I read the SOTW chaper to all of the kids and they all do the coloring page that goes along with it. The older two (7 and 10 yo) read the books recommended in the activity guide that are on their level. My 10yo also reads the corresponding chapter in Mystery of History and picks an activity to do.

 

For science, we do a lot of different things. I have NOEO Biology 1, which we're slowly working through. We also did the Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body kit, which all the kids like. We've been watching a liberal amount of DVDs from the library that go along with the NOEO topics. Patrick (10) will write about the video and the 7yo and 5yo tell me things that they learned.

 

Narration for the younger ones can be a much better tool for learning than writing is. It also simplifies the process for the one teaching.

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I wonder the same thing. I plan on doing this next school year with my then 1st and 4th graders for history and science. I plan to cover the same topics, but the older child will have higher expectations, added reading, more writing, and more depth.

 

Since I haven't actually done this I can't even comment on how this will turn out. My concern is that it wont end up being beefy enough for the older child (who works well above his grade level) and/or the younger child will end up not getting the attention he needs.

 

I hesitated to even try it, but I use so many teacher intensive resources that I just don't think I can stay sane if I don't try to combine some things in some way.

 

I'm trying to just relax a little about it. It's elementary school science and history. As long as they are getting something and doing lots of reading I think it will be fine. The projects/experiments will be more fun with 2. I think this could turn out well. Plus if it doesn't seem to be working it isn't like I can't fix that at any time.

Your age split is ideal for a read aloud like SOTW. Have the older add to the courseload encyclopedia, or pick a small topic and have him read in depth. He can write or do a project based on his learning and then present the project (a jumbo map, a diorama, a sword, a costume (foil + cardboard kind :D, a project board, a comic strip) and share it for public speaking. Let the younger narrate, use it as copywork (throwing in some grammar applications for grammar time), and allow him to build something age appropriate on his activity day.

 

Hang up a giant map and let them take turns finding age appropriate things (continents and bodies of water for the younger; mountain ranges and waterfalls for the elder).

 

Have a time "together" then split off for independent work.

 

Same kind of thing for science. The younger will likely be pleased to participate in an experiment. He will then narrate what you used, what you did, what happened. The elder can write up his own experiment sheet. You can use that too for grammar application on another day. Start with a basic book (great for helping the elder define terms) then let the younger play while you read in depth with the older (or assign independent reading w/ narration to follow).

 

Adding literature is nice b/c many books are appropriate for both of your levels, some chapter, others picture.

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Combining is the starting place, not the whole of having multi-grades in one place. Some dc (ages and stages) work better than others.

 

I'll take your friend for example, use Apologia as the spine for all; add a living book (or two) for the 5th and 6th graders; require they outline and write a weekly summary. Do a lapbook with the 3rd, 1st and Ker. The third grader cuts her own stuff, teacher cuts for the others in the interest of saving time. Do a crossword in the lapbook for the 3rd grader, but do a word search for the 1st and picture matching for the Ker. Let the grammar students watch a video on the subject while you discuss the living books with the older children. Spread it all out so the grammar kids have 3 days of science, while the older 2 have 5 b/c they are reading and writing more.

 

The benefit is ONE starting place for you, family discussion, the ability for the eldest to jump in and help (knowledgeably) with the grammar students. This way, the teacher is learning towards one student --- the 6th grader and simply giving appropriate activities for the younger ones. There is no additional teacher study; therefore, you save a Ton of Time.

 

Another benefit is family discussion at meal times. It's great sharing with family all we learn in history and we're across the stages in our house. It provides for fun, project presentation that makes sense and it allows the Littles to pick up on a few more things that I don't even teach.

 

If the Ker and 1st grader pick up anything, it's all gravy! That's why you come back around in each stage. She could let the 1st and Ker color during read alouds.

 

If I had to pick up materials and prepare for 7 dc, all different programs, it wouldn't.get.done. There is just no way. Instead, I do things like I mentioned above and we all learn, we all have fun, and we can share family read alouds pleasurably. The think I learned over time is teach to the eldest ones for the spines and then allow them independent work to pick up the pace.

 

In your shoes, I have a 5th, 3rd, 2nd grader we do the upper grammar read aloud, then activities appropriate per child. I may have the 5th grader write 3 paragraphs after outlining an encyclopedia on her own, while I simply complete narrations with the younger ones, asking them to tell me 3 important facts. We color a picture, tape it to the narration and viola! We're done. We all have output. We all have applied what we learned in a meaningful way.

 

Last week, we made poster board maps. The 5th grader did hers "with" the Ker. The Ker didn't really do more than gluing where she told him, but he did learn the look of Africa, where the Atlantic Ocean and Med. Sea were b/c we kept asking him again and again and again. All the while, the 5th grader learned all the nations of africa, major waters, mountains and deserts. The ker practice glue, cutting and pasting skills.

 

It works :) I hope this helped you "See" it.

 

Thanks, Tina! I must admit though, you sound like a TOG user. ;)

 

I'm actually going to be using TOG next year so history isn't the issue so much as science. There's not TOG for science or anything that I can find to combine kids fairly far apart in age without a great deal of work/prep from me.

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IMHO, having the whole family involved in a conversation on one subject will bring far more learning to the younger ones than a separate curriculum set up for them would, especially if there is a lively interest in the subject on the part of the older children.

 

This I can absolutely agree with. I wouldn't have them studying different topics necessarily, but I don't see how to combine a 6th and 3rd into the same curriculum/program without a lot of my time to prep (which I don't have).

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All well I kinda line up perfectly as far as bunching them together is concerned. I have a four year span between the first three-so while Dd 16 is doing Medieval at a much harder level, Ds11 is sharing *some* resources, but tagging along with the little's who are also doing it. (I call them littles but they're really not-they are to me though)

 

So, say Dd 16 is reading Churchill's History of the English Speaking People by herself.

 

I read it to Ds 11

 

I read SOTW 2/Our Island Story to the littles and Ds (though he's read SOTW before) listens in.

 

Then we share resources. The coloring books (Dd 16 still loves to color:p), the eyewitness books, and whatever we take out of the library. Dd16 helped Ds 11 cut and make one of the castles while the littles had their own crafts they did.

 

I honestly don't think we'd do half as much if I didn't combine them. I'd be a scattered wreck.

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Another benefit is family discussion at meal times. It's great sharing with family all we learn in history and we're across the stages in our house. It provides for fun, project presentation that makes sense and it allows the Littles to pick up on a few more things that I don't even teach.

 

If the Ker and 1st grader pick up anything, it's all gravy! That's why you come back around in each stage. She could let the 1st and Ker color during read alouds.

 

If I had to pick up materials and prepare for 7 dc, all different programs, it wouldn't.get.done. There is just no way. Instead, I do things like I mentioned above and we all learn, we all have fun, and we can share family read alouds pleasurably. The think I learned over time is teach to the eldest ones for the spines and then allow them independent work to pick up the pace.

 

 

 

:iagree:- for the same reasons. My children are doing TOG together and they love it. I would hear a lot of complaining if I tried to separate them. They love telling Dad what they are learning and everyone has something to add to the discussion, even the K'er, who is often playing while we are doing the bulk of our reading. I can see this playing out even more in the future as they get older.

 

I know some teach to the eldest, but I find that with 5 kids that are still pretty young, I tend to lean towards somewhere in the middle.

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I always tried to combine my kids whenever possible. It made my life SO much easier, even when I had to tweak and change things so everyone could at least study the same topic.

I found that combining for history and science worked the best and after doing it both ways decided that I would always combine for as long as I could. I managed to combine kids who had the following grade differences:

My oldest was 2-3 grades ahead of my middle child who was 5 grades ahead of my youngest.

It made school so much more fun and interesting. It exposed my youngest to things on a higher level and often my "big kids" would pick up books or materials I got for my youngest and read/use them as well.

 

What I used to do was choose some read-alouds everyone could listen to and we would often watch the same movies together. Sometimes my youngest would do a simple craft and the older two would work on a harder project. The older children would also independently read some books that were not appropriate yet for my youngest.

It always just felt so much more streamlined. The times when I tried to have them all doing something different for our "core" subjects, I just felt so scattered.

It was easier for me to have them at least on the same topic...then when we were at the library I could check out books from the library from the same section, even though they might be different levels, etc. I was better organized and everyone had a much better experience. It made it so our entire family could share in something together (even dad listened to many of the read-alouds!).

 

You can see an example of how I did some combining on my website.

I have 3 levels of a human body study:

 

Little Otter's Science

 

Otter's Science

 

Big Otter's Science

 

Each level studies the same or a similar topic and the levels go from preschool to high school. The two higher levels share some resources. I imagine if all 3 levels were being done, there would be some overlap between them:

The youngest might watch the oldest do a microscope lab (and take a peek himself).

The middle student might pick up one of the youngest's books and read it during lunch.

All 3 might watch one of the movies scheduled for the oldest.

The oldest might find one of the middle child's experiments fun and participate or help.

 

Etc.

 

And I would at least be on the same topic in science every week which would help me be more efficient in planning.

 

Anyway, I really loved combining my kids. :001_smile:

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I always tried to combine my kids whenever possible. It made my life SO much easier, even when I had to tweak and change things so everyone could at least study the same topic.

I found that combining for history and science worked the best and after doing it both ways decided that I would always combine for as long as I could. I managed to combine kids who had the following grade differences:

My oldest was 2-3 grades ahead of my middle child who was 5 grades ahead of my youngest.

It made school so much more fun and interesting. It exposed my youngest to things on a higher level and often my "big kids" would pick up books or materials I got for my youngest and read/use them as well.

 

What I used to do was choose some read-alouds everyone could listen to and we would often watch the same movies together. Sometimes my youngest would do a simple craft and the older two would work on a harder project. The older children would also independently read some books that were not appropriate yet for my youngest.

It always just felt so much more streamlined. The times when I tried to have them all doing something different for our "core" subjects, I just felt so scattered.

It was easier for me to have them at least on the same topic...then when we were at the library I could check out books from the library from the same section, even though they might be different levels, etc. I was better organized and everyone had a much better experience. It made it so our entire family could share in something together (even dad listened to many of the read-alouds!).

 

You can see an example of how I did some combining on my website.

I have 3 levels of a human body study:

 

Little Otter's Science

 

Otter's Science

 

Big Otter's Science

 

Each level studies the same or a similar topic and the levels go from preschool to high school. The two higher levels share some resources. I imagine if all 3 levels were being done, there would be some overlap between them:

The youngest might watch the oldest do a microscope lab (and take a peek himself).

The middle student might pick up one of the youngest's books and read it during lunch.

All 3 might watch one of the movies scheduled for the oldest.

The oldest might find one of the middle child's experiments fun and participate or help.

 

Etc.

 

And I would at least be on the same topic in science every week which would help me be more efficient in planning.

 

Anyway, I really loved combining my kids. :001_smile:

 

We're actually doing a combined human body study right now using your plans and I can't thank you enough for them. We're really enjoying all the books and videos you recommend. I can't thank you enough for all the work you put into the Little Otters program & then shared with all of us!!

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I mean, from the perspective of mom, I understand how it can be helpful to all be studying the same material but I can't really grasp how this works IRL.

 

For example. When my oldest is in grade 6, I will also have a grade 3 and 1. I would like to use something like CPO's Chemistry for my oldest as I think it would be a good fit for her. But, I can't very well drag my grade 3 and 1 through CPO. So... aren't they going to have to be studying their own thing anyways? I supposed I could use CPO for my oldest and simplify the topics for the younger ones- but that's an incredible amount of work for me & I will still have younger children. :confused: OTOH, I like RSO chem for grade 3. I have already done this with my oldest for grade 3 and do not see how I could beef it up to a grade 6 level. (I already supplemented it heavily with NOEO chem I and II last year). :confused:

 

Could someone please explain what the benefit is to having kids all working on the same topic when there's such a wide range between them?

 

FWIW, I have a friend using an Apologia Exploring.... text this year. She has grade 6, 5, 3, 1 and K this year. We were talking the other day and she said that the text was not meaty enough for her 6th, okay for her 5th, perfect for her 3rd, not overly interesting to her 1st, but doable, and completely over the head of her K. Not exactly an ideal situation for a text that is touted for K-6. :confused:

 

Does combining ages really work? I'm really not seeing how.

 

This has been my experience in only two years of homeschooling! :D It is precisely why we are changing directions in our homeschool. Someone is always getting the short end of the stick with "spine texts" that are way over their head or not challenging enough. My oldest is ready for more meat and discussion while the youngers don't need to hear some of the content. I find that separating them is better for this crew!

 

When "combining" a Mom STILL has to tweak and adjust to "fit" each kiddo with reading and assignments. For me, that is just as much work, if not more, than choosing something suited for that child from the get go. :001_smile:

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This has been my experience in only two years of homeschooling! :D It is precisely why we are changing directions in our homeschool. Someone is always getting the short end of the stick with "spine texts" that are way over their head or not challenging enough. My oldest is ready for more meat and discussion while the youngers don't need to hear some of the content. I find that separating them is better for this crew!

 

When "combining" a Mom STILL has to tweak and adjust to "fit" each kiddo with reading and assignments. For me, that is just as much work, if not more, than choosing something suited for that child from the get go. :001_smile:

 

This is why I love TOG, because there are 4 different learning levels within the same curriculum. No one is getting the "short end of the stick"!

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Thanks, Tina! I must admit though, you sound like a TOG user. ;) HA! Honestly, TOG really taught me how to do the whole combo thing much better. It made things pretty clear. For example, my dd 5th grade is sitting in on discussions now and although she participates very little, she's getting a feel and I have already seen her grow just by sitting in. I'll be switching her to D next year and I think she'll be ready for it and understand my expectations.

 

I'm actually going to be using TOG next year so history isn't the issue so much as science. There's not TOG for science or anything that I can find to combine kids fairly far apart in age without a great deal of work/prep from me.

EL, Apologia, Noeo lend themselves nicely in a similar way to TOG. Combined with an encyclopedia or two (we're using DK for the 5th grader and KF for the 7th) we are managing nicely. So far as tweaking, the older kids have the ability to use the index, so I even stopped planning the pages for them. They dig it out, say, "Mom do you think this will work?" I glance for 30 seconds, answer them, and they move on! It took me Forever to figure it all out in science, but I think we're there. Last year, I actually used NOEO Chem. for everyone, but did use the 3 different levels. Since NOEO is all planned out, it was also very easy. The littles sat in on every older kid assignment, too, just for fun!

 

This has been my experience in only two years of homeschooling! :D It is precisely why we are changing directions in our homeschool. Someone is always getting the short end of the stick with "spine texts" that are way over their head or not challenging enough. My oldest is ready for more meat and discussion while the youngers don't need to hear some of the content. I find that separating them is better for this crew!

 

When "combining" a Mom STILL has to tweak and adjust to "fit" each kiddo with reading and assignments. For me, that is just as much work, if not more, than choosing something suited for that child from the get go. :001_smile:

This was the case for me when they were younger, but now that they're older and there are more of them in Real School (when it counts, ifkwim) the world is a different place. You (generic you, not Katrina, I know you're happy w/ your choices:001_smile:) can always start reading with what is appropriate for the youngers as your foundation or first stepping stone, let them fly, then build upwards with the older lot. You (back to Katrina :lol:) have such young children; in our world, foundational skills would be all that matters (reading and math), so I can't imagine there is anything I could teach so far as science and history to an advanced second grader that wouldn't just be gravy for their tiny ears that I would Not be able to combine. Other than coloring pages or lapbooks, what's to tweak (imho). I know...to each their own....I'm just thinking out loud.
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EL, Apologia, Noeo lend themselves nicely in a similar way to TOG. Combined with an encyclopedia or two (we're using DK for the 5th grader and KF for the 7th) we are managing nicely. So far as tweaking, the older kids have the ability to use the index, so I even stopped planning the pages for them. They dig it out, say, "Mom do you think this will work?" I glance for 30 seconds, answer them, and they move on! It took me Forever to figure it all out in science, but I think we're there. Last year, I actually used NOEO Chem. for everyone, but did use the 3 different levels. Since NOEO is all planned out, it was also very easy. The littles sat in on every older kid assignment, too, just for fun!

 

I've been looking at NOEO Science. I had dismissed it for awhile because I thought it was too secular, but now I'm re-evaluating that. So Tina, do you use two of the NOEO manuals together? For example, Biology I and Biology II? Is that how you're combining with this program, and are the topics easy to match up in the two levels? Or do you have everyone in the same level?

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I've been looking at NOEO Science. I had dismissed it for awhile because I thought it was too secular, but now I'm re-evaluating that. So Tina, do you use two of the NOEO manuals together? For example, Biology I and Biology II? Is that how you're combining with this program, and are the topics easy to match up in the two levels? Or do you have everyone in the same level?

I used multiple levels, but put them side by side as much as possible. Think of it as TOG, only in 3 books. Sometimes they would be on the same page, others in slightly different places (like TOG's R level is sometimes on world history and it's relation to American History, while the other levels are in Amercian exclusively).

 

So far as levels, I think the authors categorize the difficulty quite well to ability, so unless you have a dc that is super strong or really weak in the subject area, I wouldn't crossover to other levels.

 

Although they were in different levels, it was still one wavelength for me, so I studied on the Elders materials and did read aloud with the grammar students. The middle leveled students blended in well enough with the Elders that I could wing it and we did just fine. There is also a great amount of independence in NOEO, should you choose to utilize it this way, as the layout is easy enough for students to follow.

 

My only cavet regarding NOEO is that we don't like doing only one topic per year, so we doubled up our days in order to finish in a shorter period of time. As I said before, we found it makes for a nice school year when we can do NOEO in 1/2---3/4 of year and finish up Apologia in about 16-20 weeks. Keeps us interested and we learn enough.

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