happycc Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I am curious of others who are homeschooling twins or multiplies. How is it going? Are you keeping them on the same levels and if so which subjects? Do you teach them at the same time or individual? I have a set of twins. In general they are about the same level but in a few areas they are not spot on. Is there competition? Is there jealousy? I am finding that the twins challenge each other and keep each other moving forward. The single ones don;t seem to have that kind of challenge. They are not as motivated to move forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureMoms Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I'm not yet, but I will be! Curious what others have to say! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armom Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I have 11 y/o boy/girl twins. They are doing the same curriculum. I work with them together on most subjects, but indiviually if needed. They are generally on the same level on everything, but sometimes need to work a little harder on one suject than the other. They do not have as much competition as my two boys do who are 3 1/2 years apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I have twins, but my daughter goes to PS now, so I am no longer homeschooling them both. I did homeschool them together for many years though, and I thought it was a little challenging. I wanted them to use the same curriculum because it would have made the day much easier, but their strengths and weaknesses were so different that we had to have separate math programs and language art programs. Everything else they did was the same, and it was great to have two the same age schooling together. I think they enjoyed having someone to talk things over with and work on projects with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Yep, twin 10 year olds, and a 9 year old that is doing half their work. No competition, no jealousy, and there are places that they differ, but we still stay together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24us Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Yes, 9 year old twins using same curriculum and learning together. They usually work very well with each other, although there are times when they both want to answer an oral question and quibble over whose turn it is. They are so fun and interesting. Sometimes when I am explaining something new and one doesn't quite get it the other one will say that she can explain it so that her sister will understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) I have 14yo twins who are going to ps next year, but have never been to school before this. I did pretty much all subjects together till 7th grade, when I separated them for math - a decision I probably should have reached a year earlier. ETA: About competitiveness - one is much more competitive than the other. That was the one that started not picking up the math as quickly as we headed into middle school, and it was her tears about feeling like she wasn't catching on as fast that led me to separate them. The less-competitive dd did take about a year longer to catch on to reading fluently on her own when they were young. I did do work with her one-on-one buddy reading and reinforcing phonics with her for that year, but I wasn't really doing anything separate with the other one on that subject at that point; I just let her read. Once the other one took off, they did all LA subjects together again. Edited July 24, 2012 by matroyshka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarbourLights Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Me! Twin boys (7) and they have stayed really on track with one another so far... They aren't too competitive, but they do have their moments. Currently, I have them at seperate desks facing away from one another during their workbook assignments because they do tend to 'race' one another to be the first one to finish. They are using the same curriculum across the board however, which does make my life much easier! :001_smile: Just realized I need to update my signature! We start second grade next week!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Not twins, but I am HSing triplets, plus their sister who is 17 months younger but developmentally very similar and so is doing all the same work. I actively discourage competition as much as possible, b/c it would get out of control quickly if I didn't keep my thumb on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 My twins are 5.5, both girls, and pretty much on the same page (so far). They're only starting K this year, though, so we'll see how long the "togetherness" lasts. They were together for most of what they did last year in Pre-K, except for reading instruction, which is always one-on-one here. Enjoy your set! :willy_nilly::willy_nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Something to really work on is being loving a d happy for the other when they are successful. It's one of the best lessons of life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Does she boss the younger twin around? We don;t have too much of this but I have heard others like this. The older twin does kind of watch over the younger rest. My older twin is stronger in language arts than my younger twin. My younger twin is faster at math but seems to be sloppier than her older twin. My twins are opposites in that one is more girly girl and the other tom boyish. They complement each other. When one doesn;t get it, the other explains it to the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Yep! Just getting started with 4yo b/g twins, and their 5yo brother who is not far ahead of them. We are doing AAR pre-level, MEP-R, and ETC primers together without difficulty. My daughter's fine motor skills are pretty far ahead of the boys, so she does more writing. I do more scribing for the boys in ETC. My younger son (the twin) is ready to read, where the other two aren't yet, so I've started Phonics Pathways with him, just 10-15min a day during their rest time. I'm interested to see how things go in the future. I expect we'll be able to keep some things all together and have to split some things out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) Does she boss the younger twin around? We didn't do the "older twin, younger twin" thing here. Our twins were born via C-section, were 20 seconds apart, and they have no idea who is "older." That's right, they do not know. So when people ask, "Which one's older?" they say, "We were born at the same time, Silly!" :D Actually, they did ask me once, and I told them that I can't be certain which of them was born "first" because I'm not positive they didn't get switched on the way home from the hospital, or shortly thereafter. Perhaps when we gave them both a bath one day, we mixed them up and never realized we'd done it? The memories are rather blurry, we really were deprived of sleep.... So maybe Ha is Ma and Ma is Ha..... :biggrinjester: We're fairly certain about Sa, though. [insert Evil Mother laughter] Edited July 24, 2012 by Sahamamama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea1 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I am homeschooling my two same age sons, although they are not twins. They are six weeks apart in age. They are very competitive on most things but don't really seem to be as much when it comes to school. One is a little stronger at reading than the other and the other is a bit stronger in math and writing. They are close enough in skill level that we do all subjects together. We are about half way through 1st grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicalTwins Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Yes 9 yr old boys. Right now they are doing the same work, I forsee them moving ahead of each other or into different curriculum as they grow up. I see math being one of those things they may do differently at some point. They can feed off each other, so that can be difficult. As they've gotten older it has gotten better but some days are like this :willy_nilly::willy_nilly::willy_nilly::willy_nilly::willy_nilly::willy_nilly: others :boxing_smiley: sometimes: :001_cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoObvious Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Twin girls, almost 10. No competition or anything like that. They are best friends. One of my girls has a pretty severe language delay. She struggles with math and writing, but has more common sense than the other twin. ;) I do spelling, math, and this year writing separately. Everything else we do together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 We didn't do the "older twin, younger twin" thing here. Our twins were born via C-section, were 20 seconds apart, and they have no idea who is "older." That's right, they do not know. So when people ask, "Which one's older?" they say, "We were born at the same time, Silly!" :D Actually, they did ask me once, and I told them that I can't be certain which of them was born "first" because I'm not positive they didn't get switched on the way home from the hospital, or shortly thereafter. Ditto - I have never understood why so many random people that we run into ask who is the oldest?? People ask, and the kids will say "we are all the same", and then the person will respond "yes, but who came out first?" So odd!!! Like they matured so much in the 5 seconds between births?? Mine all have the exact same minute on their birth certificate, so they will NEVER know! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 For a LONG time our twins didn't know who was older and who was younger. Like the pp, they were born c-section and only about ten seconds apart. I think they were around ten years old or so when we told them. Eta: The birth certificates list one minute difference in the times of birth. We were told that they legally had to differentiate between the two births and that legal problems would arise if the times were listed the same. Does anyone know anything about that? It must vary by state? My kids were born in Memphis, TN, and it must be legal there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 My 8yo twin boys are together for the most part. One is ahead a few chapters in math as math just clicks for him. The other is a better reader though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I meant to say above I know of one set of twins born literally 24 hours apart. One was born at home vaginally and the other was born 24 hours later in a hospital via c-section . I suppose that 24 hours can make a difference because of different birth dates with the same year but they look the same. We think my twins are identical but one is significantly taller than the other. One has always been taller than the other. I was not at the birth of my twins though so I do not know the exact details but I do know they were not born c-section and they were more than 5 minutes apart. The older one seems more mature in many ways. They were born I think a month early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I have always differentiate one was M and the other E. I very hardly say they are twins when people ask if they are twins because they told me once they didn;t want to be called twins. Things may differ now and I would have to ask them again. I don;t like the idea of dressing the same either. I feel that it is wrong to dress twins the same. My twins told me how much they hated when their bio mom dressed them the same when they were babies/tots/preschoolers. One of them said "I cant believe she dressed me up like that." They are individuals from the get go. One I shop in the girls aisle and the other I shop in the boys aisle and both are girls. Anyways back to homeschooling topics.... So given that they are often using the same curriculum at the same time...how have you been able to individualize things for them further? I think sometimes my twins wish I could individualize things more but oh it is much more convenient to keep the two together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Twin 7 yo boys here. It fascinates me. I could talk about twin things unendingly, especially about homeschooling. But they're my onlys. They don't have much competition, but there is jealousy. One learned to read a good year + before the other one and that caused trouble. I wouldn't have minded a bit of competition and desire to keep up, but they don't have it at all. But now they're nearly at the same reading level finally and my slower to read twin is turning out to be a much better writer, though his spelling is abysmal while his brother's is decent for a 7 yo. They have such different learning styles that I have broken them up for math completely - one is doing MM because he responds well to the orderly mastery approach while the other is doing Miquon because he can't stand to do anything mastery - he needs to circle around things and try different bits and pieces. The 2-minutes older twin doesn't boss really. He's very empathetic and just feels everything so strongly. His brother is oblivious and off in his own little world all the time - we struggle to make him listen sometimes. I think they may have not only opposite learning styles, but opposite personalities in many ways. But that much just be a reaction to each other. I think of them as being my yin/yang twins - always pulling and pushing in different directions but somehow in harmony with each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 They are individuals from the get go. One I shop in the girls aisle and the other I shop in the boys aisle and both are girls. My boys are the same. One loves jewelry, all things pink and pretty, wears his hair long. The other one is more traditionally boyish. That's all them, though I think they could have easily gone the opposite directions - I often feel like they divvy up interests, identities, etc. in an almost random fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KiwiMommy Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I am new to homeschooling. I have twin girls who are now 3.5 and a daughter who is 1.5. I have been thinking about how homeschooling the twins will work. They have VERY different personalities and learning styles. While I am very excited to be able help them learn at home I am a little nervous about being able to meet all of their needs at the same time. I am enjoying reading the responses, but sure would welcome any suggestions! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I very hardly say they are twins when people ask if they are twins because they told me once they didn;t want to be called twins. Things may differ now and I would have to ask them again. I try consciously not to refer to them as "the twins". I would more likely say "my older girls" if referring to them collectively. At some point when they were older (not when they were toddlers/young kids - more like preteens?) they started referring to eachother as "twinny" as a term of affection. This does sometimes annoy younger dd, or at least make her feel a bit left out. I don't like the idea of dressing the same either. I feel that it is wrong to dress twins the same. I never dressed them the same, although when they were babies/toddlers I did sometimes dress them in the same/similar outfits in different colors, or in different outfits in coordinating colors (think two different Gymboree outfits from the same line). But not at anytime after they were old enough to be self-aware of such things. In my elementary school there were a pair of sisters (not twins, at least a year apart) whose mother always dressed them in identical outfits. What was up with that?? Now my two are so different no one ever would dream they are twins. In fact, if I say I have twins, everyone thinks it's the smaller twin and younger dd. They also have entirely different personalities and interests, although they are still very close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinmami01 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I am curious of others who are homeschooling twins or multiplies. How is it going? Are you keeping them on the same levels and if so which subjects? Do you teach them at the same time or individual? I have a set of twins. In general they are about the same level but in a few areas they are not spot on. Is there competition? Is there jealousy? I am finding that the twins challenge each other and keep each other moving forward. The single ones don;t seem to have that kind of challenge. They are not as motivated to move forward. After homeschooling for 6 years, we are finally making significant progress. It seems like we were "stuck" for a while where we couldn't move forward in reading, spelling, and writing. My boys have had significant learning challenges due to a history of epilepsy, severe speech apraxia, and auditory processing issues. They have always been at the same level. We do most subjects together, but I also make time to work with them individually on writing and math. I don't really see much competition between them, or even jealousy. I do see that one is stronger in math skills while the other in reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenmomof3 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 My b/g twins are 10 and although we started out doing everything together, we are shifting toward different curriculum in certain subjects for each. They have very different strengths and I have to keep reminding myself that the benefit of homeschooling is to give individualized education -- even though they are the same age and even though keeping them together would be oh so much less work. There is definitely competition here and struggles when one catches on much more quickly than the other - another reason for the shift to separate curriculum. Overall, they're just typical brother and sister -- some days they're best friends, other days well, :glare: they aren't. I think hormones are starting to play a role too. So, these next few years should get very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 For a LONG time our twins didn't know who was older and who was younger. Like the pp, they were born c-section and only about ten seconds apart. I think they were around ten years old or so when we told them. Eta: The birth certificates list one minute difference in the times of birth. We were told that they legally had to differentiate between the two births and that legal problems would arise if the times were listed the same. Does anyone know anything about that? Yes, one twin has 12:47 and the other twin has 12:48, even though they were both born at 12:47! Legal issues. We were told the times had to be different. And the "who's first?" question is so annoying. But I think most people are fascinated with multiples, and don't really know what else to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoObvious Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 After homeschooling for 6 years, we are finally making significant progress. It seems like we were "stuck" for a while where we couldn't move forward in reading, spelling, and writing. My boys have had significant learning challenges due to a history of epilepsy, severe speech apraxia, and auditory processing issues. They have always been at the same level. We do most subjects together, but I also make time to work with them individually on writing and math. I don't really see much competition between them, or even jealousy. I do see that one is stronger in math skills while the other in reading. I just PM'ed you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluezoo5 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I am homeschooling b/g twins who are 5 and their big sis who is 6. My twins are nothing alike in personality. DS5 is accelerated in math, reading, and writing. He is a huge bookworm, very focused when it comes to his schoolwork, and has perfectionistic tendencies. He is nearly equal to his big sis in most subjects. DD5 tries very hard and has about average abilities for her age, but she also is the class clown, and is frequently more concerned about which hair accessory she is wearing that day than the neatness of her copywork. She is a very girly girl who is is gifted in the humor department, but not necessarily in academics. I did start to worry about her getting a complex because of the other kids being so far ahead of her. She's the hardest for me to relate to personally, because I was the studious bookworm as a child, and I guess for that reason I feel the need to protect her from feeling bad about her abilities. Because of the self-comparisons that were taking place at the kitchen table, about halfway through our first year of homeschooling, I started separating each child for core subjects. Two kids play outside or in another room, while I work individually with one child for their reading lesson, math lesson and handwriting. Then we switch. It takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour each day per kid. Unfortunately, this makes for a very loooong day for mom, but it helps me focus on exactly what each child needs to work on, keeps them focused on their work, and keeps me from holding back the accelerated and rushing the other. Although most of our curriculum is the same currently, I foresee different curriculums for different kids in our near future. Older dd is not particularly competitive, but my son especially has a competitive bent, both with his big sis and his twin sis (always wanting to know what page they are on in comparison with him, etc.), so the individual schooling has helped to nip that in the bud. We still do science, history, geography, etc. together in the afternoons, but that's mostly read-alouds and fun stuff like cut/paste activities, lapbooks and educational games and DVDs, so there's not much to compete about there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Several years ago when the girls were in public school in two separate classrooms with two different teachers. Well, they had similar homework and tests and they would get the same questions wrong!!! So freaky. The teachers said they got together thinking they were cheating and realized "Hey, they are not even sitting next to each other not to mention even in the same room!" Everyone thinks I have triplets instead of twins because for some reason one of the twins looks like the younger sister than her twin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I meant to say above I know of one set of twins born literally 24 hours apart. One was born at home vaginally and the other was born 24 hours later in a hospital via c-section . I suppose that 24 hours can make a difference because of different birth dates with the same year but they look the same. . I have a friend with triplets whose birthdays are 3 weeks and a few days apart. She had the first at 29ish weeks, and they managed to stop her labor and keep the other two cooking for 3 more weeks before they couldn't hold the delivery off any more. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly1730 Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Our twin sons are 11yo, rising fifth graders. I have always homeschooled them together using the same curriculum etc. They are pretty much on the same page for most subjects, math may be an issue. One seems to be picking it up easier than the other but it could just be a learning curve thing so I'll wait before I change curriculum. They aren't terribly competitive at this point. They were born c-section, 2 minutes apart. One likes to refer to the other as "my little brother". ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 My DD is only 13 months older than my twin boys. We're doing EVERYTHING together except for math this year. There is no jealousy or competition between my kids and they're really best friends and always have been. Not to say they don't have moments of getting mad or upset with each other, but things are usually very good. I hope they always stay close. I teach them all at the same time and always have. I've been fortunate that it's worked out that way with no problems.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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