jenniferp8 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 How easy is it to use WTM with multiple children? It seems like it wouldn't be too bad but I'm just wondering if you've had to tweak anything to make it work? I'm attracted to TOG because it covers all age levels but the simplicity of WTM attracts me too. I tend to get bogged down trying to do too much and then get overwhelmed and homeschooling isn't fun anymore. One of my dc does not enjoy reading all that much so just assigning him stuff to read probably isn't going to work well. We would need to do the reading all together. Next year I might have a dd 6 1/2 and ds 10 doing homeschool as well as 2 youngers dd 3 and ds 1. Any tips or ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dahliarw Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I've been debating the same thing for when I add my 2nd child into homeschooling after next year. One thing that might help your non-reader, is that there is an audio version of SOTW available. It is very well read and engaging. We listen to it for reinforcement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenniferp8 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 bump:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I don't find it all that difficult. I only have 2, but my friend did it with 4. I just have them on the same history and science cycles and everything sort of flows into place. They are 5 years apart in ages so they aren't using the same resources and get taught in different ways, but it all works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubermomto5 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 plan for the best and let it go if 'things happen'. i have 4 school age, 2 youngers. some days are fantastic. we do history all together still, they split up and i spend time with each working on math or grammar. other days, forget it, i might spend 10 minutes with each and the rest of the time they read and play outside. i find it helps to have a weekly goal and then i don't feel destroyed by days that don't go as planned. also, we take fridays off. we might have a class, or do art, or my oldest 2 might make up writing assignments, but in general it's my day to relax and do fun things that there is no time for. otherwise, burnout. the best part about wtm is that it's very doable. be careful not to over schedule and try to do everything on the list all the time. especially when they're younger. it really only takes 15 minutes in most subjects/areas. my boys especially appreciate a short and sweet lesson. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAM Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 WTM needed a lot of tweaking for us back when we followed it as written (four kids 11, 9, 6,3). For one thing, by the time my oldest was on her chemistry year, it was time to fold in her brother- and doing chemistry for a whole year with a first grader (and heck even the 3rd grader!) was just way too much. Ditto for the physics year. We had to ditch Story of the World after the first two volumes because it was too much for the younger ones and they were having a hard time sitting through the readings. It's a lot of work. I think the results would probably be great, but having three separate writing programs, spelling books, grammar books etc., plus 2 kids in different levels in Latin and Spanish...along with all the other recommendations...it was just all too much for us. No, you don't have to do it all as written... but I always felt like I should! We switched to more of a Charlotte Mason approach for awhile, and now we are experimenting with more of a child-led learning style. I still love the idea of WTM and I always have it in the back of my mind when I am planning stuff/gauging where they are at...so I still consider myself a classical homeschooler in some ways...just a very relaxed one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I am so glad that I have the WTM to allow my kids to study the same thing at the same time. Yes, I'll have to tweak for the more capable or motivated or interested; but that would be the case anyway. My big kids were so different in ability that I found it difficult; but I think part of it was that I wasn't committed to TWTM either. In fact, I *hated* the very idea of it when I first read it! And now I'm looking forward to a fairly full model of it! Of course, it probably helps that I'll have 3-5 kids within 3 grade levels of one another also! When I was writing out what year we'd do each cycle year, I started "wondering" about when I need to add "the baby" in when I may still need to be a little more grammar than logic with the youngest of the first group also. I think we'll have some tweaking to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I only have two, but we have stuck with it on the oldest's schedule. The youngest does work with the subjects at her level. Chemistry was no problem for us when she was in 1st grade. She loved the experiments and did narrations and diagrams for her science notebook. The older sis did an official lab sheet instead of a narration and wrote out definitions. Both competed in a science fair on different topics for a month, taking a break from our regular WTM science topics. The little one gets lessons in other topics on field trips and at scouts. We cycle back to life science next year, but IMO she knows as much as most 7 yr olds on nature, even if she hasn't had an official life science year yet (she was 4 the first time around.) Human body, probably not so much, but we will get to it again next year too. She follows along in history too. She colors, does the mapwork and some narrations. She doesn't get as much out of some sections, but I get lots of extra books on the chapters that I think are most relevant to her and she gets it. We are in vol. 4. This year she has learned about pioneers, inventors, presidents, railroads, etc. The chapters on the emperors of China and other chapters, she may get less out of. But I make sure she gets the geography and some main points like understanding the different forms of government. The older child is doing a timeline and an outline and extra reading on her own on top of our together time reading aloud and doing mapwork. It has worked out fine. If I had a younger one, I think I would stick with it, doing more stuff at an even younger level like learning about symbols of the U.S. more and things of that nature that are more common in younger elem (which is what we did in 1st for my youngest when we were in SOTW3.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckymama Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 In the earlier years (k-2) there is a lot of mom time with the students. But, as they get older there is less and less mom intensive subjects. I have found that I have plenty of time for the younger ones and still meet with the olders, too. We do history together from K-4. In 5th they start their own study of history ala WTM and classicalhouseoflearning.com for literature. In 3rd they start their own science with Elemental Science. I hope this make sense. I am still a little sleep deprived after having our last little one in Dec. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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