? for those that have children very close in age (15 months or less)

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Are you doing EVERYTHING together? We're doing all subjects together except for math & English.

 

Was just curious if some are actually able to keep those 2 subjects together with children that don't have much age difference between them?

I will start my twin boy's in TT math 3 next year when they're 3rd graders. I really like BJU online math anyway for 2nd grade and how it teaches the concepts.

 

I wanted to do a little delayed approach to grammar, so I'm having DD in 3rd do BJU English 2 online. I think it's perfect for a 3rd grader (seems a little advanced) and was planning on having my boy's use that next year in 3rd grade after doing a year of WWE I.

Edited October 4, 2011 by 1GirlTwinBoys

[....]

Yeah, mine are 14 months apart. They do separate math and writing. Everything else is the same. In fact, I was thinking about this the other day. I have NO idea how I'm going to separate them when the older one starts high school. :confused:

[warneral]

Mine are 2 years apart by I had held my ds back before sending him to public school so they are 1 grade apart.

 

We do history, science together. Spelling is at the same rate but separately via AAS.

 

They have separate math and language arts courses (graded to their grades). However, I recently decided to add First Language Lessons, and because my daughter seems to do well in LA, I put them both in FLL3 so we could all do it together. I'm hoping to help my DS move ahead in math b/c that is where he is most gifted.

 

For Language Arts, the scope and sequence do seem to be similar for both grades but level of difficulty is higher for 3rd grade.

[Tabrett]

Mine are 18 month apart and we do almost everything together. My 7 yo is a little slower grasping concepts and my 6 yo is accelerated. We do history, science, math and spelling together. The only thing separate is reading and grammar. I suspect my 6 yo will pass my 7 yo in reading by the end of the year:001_huh:.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Mine are 16 months apart and we pretty much do everything together. Older ds has slightly more difficult spelling words (I make up my own spelling program) and reads a bit higher level books, but that's it. Everything else is together.

[....]

Was just curious if some are actually able to keep those 2 subjects together with children that don't have much age difference between them?

 

Our 9 yro is a girl and the 8 yro is a boy. I really think gender plays a big part in it. If they were both dudes, I may be able to combine them in everything. My 8 yro is much more interested in what kind of weapon he can invent from the toys on the floor and how he can wrestle the 9 yro to the ground than his schoolwork. :biggrinjester:

[higginszoo]

Mine are 13 mo apart, then one 17 mo after that. Now that they're older and independent, they're only doing one thing each together. (Older two do science together, now-middles do writing together). When they were littler, I was never really able to combine math. Sometimes I could do LA, but my older is more advanced for his age level than the other two, so I'd combine them behind, kind of sort of ... eventually the youngers needed to split up in that, too, when they were 8 and 9, but by then the 9 year old was capable of being a little more independent. By the time they were 9-10-11, even history didn't work quite as well combined, but again, the oldest was able to go on more independently.

[cello4life]

My oldest two are 16 months apart, so close to what you were asking.

 

We just added in wwe and fll this year and I put them in the same volumes. They do the same spelling and phonics and cursive but I let them move at their own pace. They are doing apologia botany together(very slowly, we started it last year) We are using TT 4&5 for the first time this year but the younger one is moving very quickly usually doing 2 lessons at a time so she may catch up to her sister. The still do their seperate abeka language(because fll seams to simple to really work:lol: but after three weeks I am gaining cofidence in it)

 

The 4 oldest do story of the world together.

 

My two oldest I originally did everything together. But when it came time for 2nd grade my younger one was struggling a bit and I had her go back to her grade(by age) on some subjects and she gained back a lot of her cofidence. Now she is catching up to her sister in many things again.

 

The main reason I have been trying to combine as much as possible is my twins are now doing 1st grade.(almost everything together) and my 4 year old is DEMANDING that I do school with her also. So I feel very spread thin. So I am hoping at least in the subjects that are more teacher intensive that I can combine.

 

I hope that makes sense:tongue_smilie:

[mommyagain]

Mine are 11 1/2 months apart and while they are in the same grade level for math and LA, I can't do them together because they fight and distract each other. My ds has pretty severe ADHD so he is ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE. I suspect my dd has ADD (can't focus but not as aggressive and ACTIVE as ds). We do history, science and bible together.

[coffeegal]

Are you doing EVERYTHING together? We're doing all subjects together except for math & English.

 

Was just curious if some are actually able to keep those 2 subjects together with children that don't have much age difference between them?

 

My oldest boys are just shy of 13 months apart, and I've never been able to combine them for math and English. Ds 13 and DD 12 are 18 months apart. It's never worked any better for them either. My youngest 2 are 16 months apart, and I'm expecting to separate them for math and English also. :001_smile:

[missmoe]

I have three within 16 months of each other.

 

The oldest of those three has moved on to high school this year, so he is seperate in everything now.

 

When they were younger I had all three together for science and history for the most part. There were times when my oldest needed to feel seperate from his younger sisters, so I planned something special just for him. He also is light years ahead of his sisters in math and reading skills, so has always done his own thing there. In fact there were many times he resented having to sit through his sisters taking turns reading in history and science---I felt it built character.

 

My two youngest are twins and they are together in everything. Sometimes one thing will be easier for one than the other, but we all work together. I found it interesting after looking at their standardized test scores to see that their overall scores were within 2 points of each other though they scored differently in the different tests.

[FO4UR]

Mine are 26mo and 14mo apart, respectively.

 

My middle child is closer in ability to her big brother than her little brother...even though they are closer in age.

 

I thought about having her do LA with big brother and math with little brother...but that is not going to work. She is only a few levels behind her big brother in Apples & Pears Spelling, a level ahead of her little brother in Miquon.

 

I do 3 different levels of LA, 3 different levels of math. There is some cross-over (Happy Phonics, math games, etc...), but for the seatwork it's all juggling 3 levels.

 

History and science and literature is all done as a family. Their interests there are close enough that it works.

[justamouse]

Yep. Mine are 12 months 10 days apart (between the twin 9 yos and their 8 yo brother) He does everything with them, except he's on his grade level for math.

 

I didn't start them out that way, I was letting him go in the way that he's a very physical BOY, and all that. But he started answering their questions, doing their narrations, so I just scooted him up.

[happy-hs]

I think it depends a lot on the child. My oldest two are 11.5 months apart. They do everything together except for math.

 

DD (baby #3) is 16 months younger than DS (baby #2), but they are at very different levels and I could never combine their work.

 

Melissa :)

[Critterfixer]

My boys were born with six minutes between them, and they've been different in development every since!

We do our math lesson together, but I make sure that I give individual instruction when it comes to the problems. They do spelling together, but I mark each paper with them individually. They have very different styles of narration that lead to very different problems in their writing. I conduct narration for Aesop together, but each boy may get separate word/phonics study, and they have individual analysis when it comes to improving their writing. They are at different places in their reading.

The only things we do together (without amendment) are read-alouds, history and science, and grammar--they take turns reading sentences.

 

They thrive with this approach, and with a little planning it doesn't take much more time to teach this way. In a way, it's sort of nice. It frees me from massive lesson plans, since I only need to focus on one child at a time. I haven't got a clue how it will work when they are older, though.

[Paintedlady]

Mine are 10 months apart and we do most things together. It's varied over the years, but usually they do math and spelling seperately. DD is dyslexic and though she's older, she's behind her brother in both of these subjects.

[Maus]

My first two are 23 1/2 months apart. DS(about to be 9) and DD(just turned 7) do most things together or simultaneously. We do the following together: Grammar/LA, History, Science, memorizing, and reading (often incorporated into Science or History -- they are both past phonics). Greek and Art, when we get them in.

 

They are pretty evenly matched for handwriting, too, so we could do it together, but since they can't practice piano at the same time, I usually have the non-practicing child work on handwriting.

 

That leaves only Math, which they work on at the same time. Though if they continue at the same pace as recently, we'll be doing that together in a month or so. DD is about to lap DS. (He doesn't seem to care. I've been trying to assign only the odd problems, etc., since he gets the material, to try to push him along, but he's a very methodical child and won't have it. He HAS to do it all, and in the right order, if you please!:001_rolleyes:)

[Julie Smith]

Mine are 16 months apart. I can't even keep them together for French. :glare: The only subject they do together it listening to read alouds and listening to history.

[mommymilkies]

My oldest two are 13 months apart. They are in the same levels of most things. Thankfully they are both advanced and behind in the same areas. :lol: I slightly modify some things for my son, such as writing. He has a motor delay, so writing is hard for him. My oldest loves to write, though.

[MeganW]

I have 4 (trips and a singleton 17 months younger). We do all the lessons together, though they do have a little one-on-one time each evening with each child practicing reading aloud.

 

Reading is easy for 2 and hard for two, and their abilities are flipflopped for handwriting and math. I still teach them all together.

 

Competition is STRICTLY not allowed. STRICTLY. It is NOT about who is better, but instead it is about encouraging each other and doing our best. My slowest reader read a whole sentence by herself last week and the others were OVER THE MOON excited, hugging her and so on. It was so sweet! Worth the 400 times a day that we talk about it!

 

I must admit to feeling a little bad about keeping them all together for my own sanity. Part of the reason they are homeschooled is so they can get an individually tailored education, and yet I still hold some back to keep them all on level. I expect that I will allow a little more variation as they become more independent.

[Homeschooling6]

Annette (12) and Caleb (11) are 12 months apart and I don't teach them together. They are so far apart academically.

 

Caleb (11) and Brent (10) who are 12 months apart I do teach together. I teach WWE, Shurley Grammar, AAS and they do pretty much the same independent work as well. The only subject that differ is math.

 

All my children are under 15 months apart, Caleb and Brent are the only two I school together.

 

Ooops, forgot that I am combining Caleb, Brent, Ethan and Lance for history this year.

[OK Family]

I have a 4 and 5 yr old, 13 months apart. So far we don't do anything together. I know math and reading will have to be separate things but I hope to combine other subjects when they are older.

[MerryAtHope]

My kids are 23 months apart, and for years we did all knowledge-based subjects together (science, history, Bible, certain aspects of LA at times...) For skills-based subjects (math, spelling, etc...) they were separate. I had hoped to combine them all the way through, but my oldest started wanting to do some things on his own when he reached jr. high, so we slowly started un-combining.

 

Have fun! Merry :-)

[silliness7]

Are you doing EVERYTHING together? We're doing all subjects together except for math & English.

 

Was just curious if some are actually able to keep those 2 subjects together with children that don't have much age difference between them?

 

I will start my twin boy's in TT math 3 next year when they're 3rd graders. I really like BJU online math anyway for 2nd grade and how it teaches the concepts.

 

I wanted to do a little delayed approach to grammar, so I'm having DD in 3rd do BJU English 2 online. I think it's perfect for a 3rd grader (seems a little advanced) and was planning on having my boy's use that next year in 3rd grade after doing a year of WWE I.

 

 

I have 2 together that have 2 years between them. My two that are 17 months apart have not been together for anything. They are entirely too spread out.

[fourcatmom]

I have two girls who are 14 months apart. I do LA (spelling, writing, vocabulary, Literature, and Shurley English) together, although maybe some different assignments. I do Geography, Art and Science together. I have them work separate in History and Math. My older one does Latin but I haven't started the younger one yet.

 

I think this works well since I would be really overwhelmed teaching two different levels of LA and everything else but it also allows me some one on one time with each of them for their History and checking their Math.

[Guest]

Mine are 13 months and 10 days apart. We do all of MP Kinder together. Though my 7yr old can read much better than the 6 yr old, he still needs to learn the rules to be able to spell well. He does not complain a bit about going at 6 yr olds pace (which is fast). Neither had any math experience so starting at the same spot was not a biggie. I plan to keep them at the same level for everything all the way through.

 

My older two are almost exactly 2 1/2 yrs apart but the older has LDs and the younger is GT so they work at the same level anyway. It saves me money on those upper level, more costly courses, and they like helping each other/competing.

 

Having two 'classes' saves me time, money, and sanity. If they were not all so evenly matched, I would split them up for LA and Math, but I agree the other subjects can be combined no matter what your grammar-stage children's ages.

[alpidarkomama]

My middle 2 are 12 months (minus 4 days!) apart. :) They pretty much do everything together. Math is 1/2 level different, but they do it at the same time. One is 1/2 year ahead in math, and the other is 1/2 year ahead in language. Neck in neck! :)

[VeteranMom]

Math is definitely apart- even for my twins. My twin son loves math and it's easy for him. My twin daughter doesn't like math and many concepts are difficult for her. My youngest son (less than 13 months younger than the twins) loves math, too, and will likely catch up to my daughter soon. All 3 kids attend a homeschool program that teaches Shurley Grammar for their grade level. At home, they are together for our 4th grade reading program. We use Christian Light Education's Bridges Beyond.

[calledtobehome]

My boys are 16 months apart. We do Bible, reading, memory, history, handwriting, and science together. Than I work with them individually in spelling, grammar, and math.

[Farrar]

I also have 2nd grade twins. We do most things together, but not everything. They're in very different places with reading. I've especially been thinking about switching math programs for one of them.

 

It's a constant tightrope walk - seeing that they're very different in some ways and would do best under different programs or approaches. I do some of that, but then I can't change everything - it's impractical to do every subject twice! So I try to fall somewhere in between.