katnorman Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 So I'm wondering with multiple kids, do you do multiple history periods in 1 year or just combine the youngers in with what the oldest is doing?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I combine. A dear friend who is my hs mentor told me to always have the kids on the same history and science, or it is crazy making. Rather than find out, I just followed her advice. So, ds the elder, a 6th grader, is on year 2 in the logic stage and ds the younger, a first grader, is in year 2in the grammar stage. Easy peasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 All the dc are on the same history/science rotation. We do those subjects together. The expectations of their response to the information varies based on age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalynnrmc Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I was going to attempt to do them separately and have changed my mind. I need my sanity, and I only have so much time in the day. Much of my "extra" time is taken up by the two toddlers roaming around here. ;) So, though my 2nd and 3rd grader have not yet had ancient history, they are starting middle ages with my 7th grader on MONDAY! :party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I think it depends on what best fits your family. When we were closely adhering to a four year schedule, I found it more work to try and keep my kids together, and far easier to have them do things separately. They're too far apart in age, ability and interests to make combining them work well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I don't teach them together. for example, both boys are doing earth and space science. But, the 6th grader has his science and the 1st grader has his own. I do different things with them. 6th grader is using CPO and the first grader is using RSO. Same with history. The 6th grader is reading and making outlines and the first grader is getting SOTW with narrations and colouring pages. The 6th grader is independent enough that I have time for the first grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 While I keep them on the same rotation, they use different curriculum. For ex. my oldest (Gr.7) is using AO Yr. 7 and WTM-style history while my two youngers (Gr. 5 & 3) are using SOTW. They are all doing Middle Ages but the oldest does her own thing with her own books. The same with science. They are all doing chemistry but with different curriculum. It works fine for us because my oldest is dong it independently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love HSing Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 While I keep them on the same rotation, they use different curriculum. For ex. my oldest (Gr.7) is using AO Yr. 7 and WTM-style history while my two youngers (Gr. 5 & 3) are using SOTW. They are all doing Middle Ages but the oldest does her own thing with her own books. The same with science. They are all doing chemistry but with different curriculum. It works fine for us because my oldest is dong it independently. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I stick with the same time period for everyone because I think it's a lot more fun. Whether or not it's easier I don't know. I think that depends more on the methods and materials used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katnorman Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 Thanks for the responses. But, won't the younger child miss out on the grammar stage of a few history periods because of this?? Or is that not really a big deal? I know I am overthinking this! I have 4 kids, my oldest in 1st, and they will all be 2 years apart in school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 No, they will hit all the periods in grammar stage. It would look like this (first grade, second grade, third, fourth) Child 1: Ancient, Middle, Early Modern, Modern Child 2: Early Modern, Modern, Ancient, Middle Child 3: Ancient, Middle, Early Modern, Modern See, every period is hit. They eventually get the periods in chronological order. HOWEVER, even if they missed a period it would be all right. They would be fine. My sixth grader does not remember going through STOW part 1 at all, nor does he remember any of the projects we do. Now, they were worth doing to create excitement, learn process skills (fine motor, narration, observation, etc) and give structure to our day but, honestly, if we'd skipped history until third or fourth grade imho it would have been fine. So don't worry or overthink it. Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Mine are "roughly" two years apart. (Side note: When #4 was a newborn, I "planned" all this out. The way it looks right now, my #3 is half to a full year "behind" what I thought she would be & #4 will probably be off at least a year from what I thought he would be). We started SOTW when the oldest was in 2nd & #2 was in K: Ancients (Grammar) - 2nd/K Middle (Grammar) - 3rd/1st Early Modern (Grammar) - 4th/2nd US History (Grammar) - 5th/3rd ** This is where we are now ** ----- Tentatively Planned (but subject to change at any time) ------ Ancients (Logic) - 6th; Ancients (Grammar) - 4th/1st Middle (Logic) - 7th/5th; Middle (Grammar) - 2nd Early Modern (Logic) - 8th/6th; Early Modern (Grammar) - 3rd/1st Modern (Logic) - 9th/7th; ??????? (Grammar) - 4th/2nd Since dd#2 was in K when we did Ancients, I'm taking her back through Ancients (Grammar stage) next year along with dd#3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpnick in nc Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 At first, I planned on defying the advice of TWTM and beginning each 1st grader at the beginning with ancient history. Well, I am 10 weeks into my oldest's first grade year, and my mind is a'changin. My dc are three years apart, so in 3 years, I will have 4th grade ds and 1st grade dd. I now see that I do not want to go through 2 SOTW activity guides at once. :tongue_smilie: I'm now considering the different-curricula-same-time-period approach, since I keep hearing that sotw 4 is not ideal for first graders. I really like the idea of all the projects, library books, field trips, etc. applying to everyone's history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 We do the different books, same time period approach. I have 4th and 1st right now, with a pre-K and a 1yo. There is no way I could keep up with different time periods. We cover the same topics, but I have 2 levels of books. My 4th and 1st are much more apart than that developmentally (advanced 4th grader and average to slightly slower 1st grader). But it's still fun to share the time period, and my 4th grader usually likes to listen in to the younger books with cool pictures too. Added to that is that I don't think I could cover the same material year after year honestly (or every 2 years as my spacing is). I just don't want to do "ancients" (or whatever) that often. Every 4-5 years is optimal for my interest level too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyWifeandMommy Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I have just three on the same cycle but it's not easy. They are four years apart and I tried MFWs but it was still a big gap for everyone to stay. I now use SOTW. My oldest is doing more work than the younger ones. The younger ones listen to more colorful stories and drawing/coloring than the oldest one. My oldest needs more writing but it's tough going because she rather not. She rather be off playing with the younger ones since they are always done before her. My problem is just keeping the younger ones interest long enough and then out of trouble while I continue on with the oldest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I plan to combine, though my kids are separate right now. DS1 is in 2nd grade, doing SOTW2. DS2 is not ready for SOTW yet. He's technically preK4, though we're doing "K" now (per his request). Either way, I'm just not doing history with him at the moment. Next year when he's officially K, I still won't bother with history for him, except maybe listening in on some read-alouds. We're taking a US History detour the next couple years because DS1 already read all four SOTW volumes (and can still tell you details), so we'll be back in the 4-year cycle when he's in 5th grade. I may use MFW CtG for that (the book choices look good for my oldest). My middle son will be 2nd grade that year. Youngest will be K. I imagine my youngest will probably be ok with starting history in K, but I'll have plenty of library books that are age appropriate. From there, we may just do WTM-style history, with oldest doing Kingfisher and youngers doing SOTW. I don't know yet. I've finally learned not to try to plan in stone that far ahead. :lol: I'm ok with using different resources for different kids. The library is my friend! If we're doing something like MFW, there are book basket choices for each age group, and that would be fine for my family. I'm not worried about retention in the early elementary years. It's all about exposure here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I combine them, and I'm using Biblioplan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckymama Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Our kids are combined (using MOH) K - 4th grade. It has taken us longer than a year to get through each volume. So, they will get whatever we get through. They don't start maps, timelines, etc. until 3rd grade. Starting in 5th grade we decided to start them at Ancients and do their very own four year cycle through 8th grade. Our son has his own timeline, maps, activities, literature, etc. It has worked really well so far, which is only a couple of months. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 My oldest needs more writing but it's tough going because she rather not. She rather be off playing with the younger ones since they are always done before her. My problem is just keeping the younger ones interest long enough and then out of trouble while I continue on with the oldest. Right there is life while homeschooling, no matter what you are using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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