Need advice about hs'ing multiple children

[I.Dup.]

I tried searching for older threads on this issue, but nothing I found really applied here.

 

I have 6 children ages 11 (5th grade), 8 (2nd grade), 6 (we haven't done anything formal yet), 4, 3, 1 and I am pregnant with #7.

 

At the beginning of this year I tried TOG (I bought the first 2 units of Year One) and that went really well for the first, oh, 9 weeks. We did it everyday, we read most of the books, did most of the projects, then it just got to be too much so we stopped doing history. The same thing happened with NOEO science. I figured she will be learning what she needs to know at this age through books for those 2 subjects (5th grade) but I have a feeling it would be more ideal to continue with a more structured curriculum for these 2 subjects.

 

So for the past quarter, they have just been doing math and reading daily. I have made SURE that they stay caught up on math, as that is my #1 priority. I figure they can learn the rest when they need to, but math is cumulative. They are both pretty independent with math, so it has been MUCH easier for me.

 

However, one of my resolutions for the new year is to do more schooling with all of them. I want to start doing actual kindergarten with my K'er, and add more subjects for my 2 oldest. However, I am learning that requiring this much school from my oldest 3 is draining enough. This doesn't even take into account the hurricane of screaming, fighting, and chaos that the babies create. The added subjects require about 45 minutes of one-on-one attention from me with my 8 & 6 year olds. The babies have to be doing *something* during that 1.5 hours. And that doesn't even complete all of the 8 & 6 yo's schooling. That's not even taking into the help I need to give my oldest (she doesn't need as much one-on-one time as the boys).

 

I have tried spending one-on-one time with the babies first thing in the morning. It makes NO difference. I have tried sensory boxes and toys that I rotate during school time, even those don't keep their attention (I am constantly having to referee, keep them from dumping it everywhere, remind them not to eat it, etc). I am now trying the older siblings rotating play time with the babies so I can work with the olders one-on-one...we did that starting today and it did not go well. But that is the last hope I have. Schooling during nap will not work because that's the only break I get all day, and I have a mother's helper come over just so I can nap (pregnant and newly PP I can no longer make it all day without a nap- my kids are up very early).

 

Right now I see my only 2 options as:

 

1. Live an unschooling lifestyle because it's just too hard to give all of them the one-on-one focused time they need for the classical education I want to give them in the big family we have.

 

2. Somehow find a way to make this more rigorous schedule work with multiple kids. I'm sure it's possible for some big families, I just haven't figured out how yet.

 

We would unschool before putting them in school, just in case that is suggested.

 

Thanks for any help. :001_unsure:

[Chava_Raizel]

Do you have a safe place where the littles can play by themselves while you work with your older children?

 

You could find something that you could teach everyone the same subject - then you could get your history/science/geography or whatever done in one block. Your oldest is 11 - could they work on a subject independently?

[I.Dup.]

Thanks for responding. I DO have to keep them in a separate room because they are just so disruptive, but we do not have anywhere where they can stay closed-off for a certain amount of time (key word: STAY closed off, lol). That's why I started having the olders play with the youngers for 20-30 minutes each while I work with the opposite older individually. However, this morning that just involved running through the house screaming and stomping around like wild animals which wasn't exactly conducive to learning. :glare: I asked my oldest several times to play something a little more quietly with them, but she was just being difficult.

[Susan in TX]

The only way I was able to homeschool with a big family and lots of little ones was to make the older children's schooling as independent as possible. I gave them their assignments, they did their work, they checked their work, and they were done. We used Rod and Staff English, Rod and Staff Spelling, Developmental Math (Saxon for Algebra and then Teaching Textbooks when it became available), and Latina Christiana with dvds for Latin. I set things up so that the children needed very little help from me to do their school. For the younger kids I used curriculum that was not teacher intensive. We used Explode the Code and Rod and Staff for phonics. So we pretty much did a workbook approach and it worked. We also spent lots of time unschooling. We dabbled in Sonlight, and we checked out lots and lots of books from the library and watched lots of educational TV.

 

I don't have a lot of little ones anymore, just my 4yo and 1yo and I babysit my 1yo granddaughter. I'm only homeschooling two: 4th and 6th grade and we use Christian Light for math, cozy grammar, and Sonlight (just the readers). I have tried more teacher intensive programs, I have tried adding in lots of science and history and it just doesn't work. So we come back to getting the basics done in the most efficient way possible.

 

Based on how well my children who have graduated from homeschooling have done in public high school, college, and beyond, this very imperfect method of homeschooling that we fell into is very successful.

 

Susan in TX

[Heidi]

Pick more independent and efficient curriculum. Most of what I use I am only needed occasionally to answer questions or quickly introduce the lesson. Rod & Staff English is great for that, plus it is a really solid curriculum. My dd8 also is studying Greek Myths independently, which I would consider an independent history study. I looked at both TOG and NOEO, but for me it is just too much mom/teacher time on a subject that isn't of prime importance yet. I only have so much time as a teacher so I have to use that time on the most important subjects.

 

While the two older ones are working on math or LA, I stay nearby the school room, but play with the little kids or clean or cook . If it is just one of those days where a new concept is introduced and I'm needed, and if all my attempts to keep the littles quiet and entertained are not working, either the TV comes on or someone takes a 30 min. nap/timeout in bed or mandatory outside time or I make a quick snack... something.

 

History is a read aloud at night. We are enjoying our history study so much. We tried doing a history curriculum during the day and, well, I just don't have time for that kind of thing. Too many kids! Too loud. It wasn't fun.

 

We do many subjects together as a family. Spelling, latin, recitations, history, science, scriptures. I try to keep those times fun and relaxed.

 

Sometimes I have to work one on one with a child after everyone else is in bed. Bedtime is early: 730pm. I read aloud the history while they are in bed. Then the child that needs to work with me is called out of bed and we do school a little longer.

 

Hopefully there are a few ideas here that you can use.

 

Lastly, I really wouldn't worry about it if you have to unschool for a while. When my baby finally turned 1, it was like I could DO things again. For the whole two years of being pregnant, then with a newborn and nursing, it just drained my energy. The kids were only doing math, copywork, and reading. They haven't suffered for it. Go easy on yourself.

[I.Dup.]

Thank you all SO MUCH!!!! This has been so helpful, and I feel so encouraged! And what those of you who have grown kids have shared-- thank you!! I am definitely printing this out. :)

[garddwr]

What is working for us right now is having two separate school schedules. One is a rigorous, intensive schedule that fits in everything I want to do (history, science, art, music theory, foreign languages, etc.) These subjects are in two loop schedules, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. The schedule also includes devotional, memory work, music practice, language arts, P.E., snack break, meal times, and math. We start at 7:30 and end by 2:00 (unless the kids don't finish something in the allotted time, in which case they have a homework period at the end of the school time and have to finish before they can go play). We try to complete this intensive schedule 2-3 days a week, enough time to get through our loops once. The remaining days we follow our "light" school schedule--devotional, memory work, math, and music practice. We fit these in around whatever other things are happening that day. I reinforce the subjects that we only get to once a week by incorporating them into memory work--so our memory work includes things we studied in science, history, foreign language, etc. When things get tough (like this week with everyone sick) we can fall back on just the basic schedule.

[ChicoryChick]

I have 5 children ages 5-14. Here are some things I would do if my children were your children's ages again and I could do it over.

 

I would continue to focus on Math and Language Arts during this time. Those are the foundational subjects and other subject is content and can easily be "caught up" in, but math and language arts are the skills your children need.

 

I would have your older children work as independtly as possible...I have found that Teaching Textbooks is perfect for this...you of course would need to use what fits you and your children best.

 

WWE & WWS are excellent writing resources, the beauty of them (especially WWE) is that you can use History and Science reading as your sources. Have them read science books. One day they naarate to you what they read. The next day they write a written narration or copy what you wrote down during there oral narration and your done both writing and science. Same with history. SOTW and MOH (not sure of your worldview) are both available on audio, they can listen to it in their rooms when you are napping again an oral or written narration of what they learned...Audiobooks and library books, perfect for "quiet time" while you are napping. You have covered your basics.

 

I am not sure what to tell you about your youngers. I did have my older children alternate entertaining the younger and it actually worked out well. Maybe you can have some things that they can do together only during that time.....playdoh (I know - wash my mouth out with soap) or stamps at the kitchen table or a special (especially if it is educational)game, puzzles....things they are only allowed to do during this time that is fun, directed and quiet.

 

When my 5yo was 3 he liked having his own school bin like his siblings, I had coloring books and abc foam puzzles that I kept in there and he did "school". Maybe only 15 min but it was enough for me to help one of the others.

 

And yes, when desperate I let him watch Curious George or leap frog videos to help give me some time to help with the others.

 

Hope there is something here that will help. :)

[HS Mom in NC]

Try this recent topic

 

Not handling the multi ages very well :(

[LindaOz]

Check out this site:

 

http://www.urthemom.com/Home_Page.php

 

http://www.urthemom....f-Learning.html

 

HTH

[justamouse]

I wish you could come to my house and see how I do it. It's so hard to explain.

[I.Dup.]

Try this recent topic Not handling the multi ages very well :(

 

 

Thank you, I did read that one and got some helpful tips. I was interested in the friend you mentioned, more about her organizing strategies? She sounds VERY organized!

 

Check out this site: http://www.urthemom.com/Home_Page.php http://www.urthemom....f-Learning.html HTH

 

That looks so interesting, thank you! I look forward to reading through it!

 

I wish you could come to my house and see how I do it. It's so hard to explain.

 

Well that doesn't help me at all, lol.

[justamouse]

I know what we have to do that day. The books are out, and all that. But HOW I accomplish that is different every day.

 

Granted, schedules are good, knowing what comes next and all that. But what I've found is that too much writing in one subject and they slack off in the next. Too much reading has to balanced with math next.

 

So the day is me balancing what they've done with where they are and what has to be done next.

 

Make sense?

[mrsmicah]

I have six: 10.5, 9, 7.5, 6, 4, and 2. ;-) A VERY active 2! My 4 year old will do very well while we work on school, but the 2 year old is quite the handful.

 

I do admit to using the tv for keeping the boys occupied sometimes. It is hard to do that though because the girls want to watch, too. And if they hear the tv they are looking for it! Since Christmas break has been over we have brought our travel DVD player inside and I'll put that on for the boys. It's small, and quiet and the girls can't see it when I set that up away from the school room! I realize this is not a good solution for all the time!!! But it's what gets us through especially tough days! And we aim for videos of value (most of the time ;-), not just fluff!

 

My husband works at home and while he must stay on track, he is able to pay attention to us sometimes. He has often put a blanket next to his desk (which is also in our school room!! He wears headphones and listens to music while he works! We call the "headphones" his "office"!!) to help the little guy sit quietly with cars or blocks or something. I have done this too when my hubby isn't home. It's time consuming to sit next to him and encourage the quiet play time, but little by little it pays off. We aim for 10 minutes at first. Then add time gradually, and eventually I will sit at the table rather than the floor with him. Gently remind him to stay on the blanket! And once time is over we say "Wooohoo!!! Good job, buddy boy!" And make it a big deal that he obeyed. **As I type this I am thinking "You know... I really need to use this method more often!! "

 

I like the suggestion of having 2-3 full days and the 2-3 lighter days. I feel like we are kinda bare bones anyway. The girls (oldest 4) and I go to Classical Conversations. We are doing Saxon Math (with DIVE cds) for the older 2 girls and Essentials for English. The younger 2 girls are doing Rod and Staff Math and one is doing R&S English and the youngest girl is doing Sing, Spell, Read, & Write. So basically math and english! And they all love to read. They read a lot at bedtime. I don't know how to cut back anymore. I guess I just need to schedule better in a way that will fit us and work for us.

 

I feel like most days are hectic at best! And I feel down on myself when we don't get to "everything" or when I think we are behind. Yesterday was especially trying. That is why I was searching "big family and homeschooling" today! I am so encouraged reading what you all posted. Thank you, thank you!!

 

Shannon

[happypamama]

I "only" have four, so I can't offer too much advice, except to say that there is a time when babies just make it hard. Newborns/young infants just nurse or sleep in a carrier a lot, and after a while, they play, but there's an in-between time where sometimes you just have to accept that a lot of bookwork might not get done.

 

I do keep my schoolroom baby-and-toddler safe, so that the worst they can do is dump out all of their toys -- but I gate them in there with us, and they can't get to the Legos and spices and other stuff. And if the schoolroom doesn't get cleaned up every day, eh, no big deal; we'll step over the stuff. ;) My 4yo is welcome to play in another room if he chooses; the rule is that he is very welcome in the schoolroom (and he did ask for a box of "school stuff" of his own, so I keep things in that box and rotate them occasionally), but he can't make noise when someone's reading out loud, nor can he pester his big brother (he likes his little brother very, very much, but big brother is his playmate, despite the age gap, and he often wants to show the 7yo something when the 7yo is working). Stay and behave respectfully, or play in another room -- his choice, and both are acceptable to me. I also reward him for appropriate behavior whenever I can by taking some focused time (even just a few minutes) to read whatever picture books he wants -- but that comes after he shows me that he can behave while I work with the bigs.

 

My oldest often complains that it's distracting to have so much commotion, whether it's the small boys playing, or 7yo and I discussing math or whatever; she either puts on noise-canceling headphones or takes work to another room. I will often send either her or the 7yo to the kitchen table to work uninterrupted.

 

I think I'd be looking at some more unschooly ideas for the season. That might mean educational videos; have them draw a picture or write a report about what they watch. I know when my third child was born, my older kids were 6 and 3, and though we didn't need to report to the state then, we listened to some opera and watched various "Magic Flute" videos on youtube. Were I doing that now, I'd have the 10yo write a comparison of the various actresses, and maybe read some additional library books.

 

I like the idea of more independent work for the olders as well. Maybe pick one subject that you know they can do consistently without a lot of input from you, and really hammer that one. For me, it's reading; the two big kids know that every morning after breakfast and brushing their teeth, they're to get their reading and start it -- regardless of what I'm doing.

 

Math can wait. Formal writing can wait. Your littles will only be little for a short time. One of my favorite memories is when my fouth child was a few months old, sitting in my lap, with child #2 discussing math with me. Child #1 was working at her desk nearby but not paying attention to us, and child #3 was playing in the room. Baby did something funny, which made child #2 laugh, which brought the other two over, and soon we were all laughing and enjoying our baby. So math got interrupted -- but the family took advantage of a chance to connect and create a memory together. Be gentle on yourself, and don't stress too much. :)

[birchbark]

I don't have a big family either, but I grew up in one.

 

Right now you are in survival mode. You just need to find something that works for now, and you can change it up in the future. Do a little math, a little writing, and unschool the rest. Throw books, videos, games, audios, and maybe a science kit their direction and relax. You don't need to do every (non-skill) subject every day. Pare back to the bare essentials in every other area of life if you haven't already.

 

I know you mentioned that you cannot use naptime for schooling right now, but I wanted to mention that we started doing that this year and it has made a BIG difference in the peace and focus of our schoolday.

[stm4him]

I.Dup,

 

I read the ages of your kiddos and went, "Those are about the same as my kids' ages!" and then looked at who posted it and remembered you from the last thread. I can TOTALLY relate to how you are feeling in many ways. I can't say that I feel any better about the house or that we don't deal with constant little kid issues of one kind or another (or big kid issues for that matter in dealing with their character, etc.) but I will say that I feel MUCH better about our homeschooling than I used to. I don't mean that I used to be uncomfortable with homeschooling, but that I used to constantly feel like a failure whereas I now feel confident in what we are doing. I still tweak here and there and I can even change up some of our language arts (which I did over break) but I feel confident we are on the right track and are getting school done as often as life will allow with all we have going on. The program that made the difference for us was Classical Conversations. Here's why:

 

-We are all learning the same memory work, much of which can be done independently with flashcards, cds, an ipad, etc.

 

-I am able to base our history and science around that by just adding in some notebooks and living books and not stress too much if we don't get to expand on it that week. As the kids get older they can do most of that on their own (read the back of the timeline and Science cards or History Highlights page, read extra material on it, make a notebook page). Informally we can add in educationally related videos here and there or a read aloud but without stress that we have to do that. If we don't expand on it until the next week, the summer, or the next time we go through the cycle that is fine! We try to draw maps once a week (which we can do while littles color alongside), but again, no bid deal if we don't. They will draw the whole world in 7th grade at CC.

 

-My oldest will be in Essentials next year and what they learn there about grammar is enough for Mom to trickle down to the littles as appropriate or necessary. I can have more than one kid doing the same language arts assignments so I can kill two birds with one stone. We introduce IEW earlier than 4th grade but if I couldn't get to it until then I still know they will get solid writing before 7th grade for 3 years. For 2 hours each week I will have uninterrupted time with the kid(s) in 4th-6th grade during CC to focus on this while the littles are playing with their friends and being watched. The rest will be about getting their assignments done at home, much of which can be done independently and all dependent upon how much I as a parent want to or have time to cover. If they don't do all their assignments one week nothing bad happens. We just go on to the next week. I am still in control and also get to learn alongside them. And it is rigorous but adaptable per kiddo and per family. I have a Dictation Resource Book I bought from CC that has some extra grammar in it (lighter but thorough) and I spend about half an hour on the white board with my 2nd and 3rd graders (who are the same ages as yours but oldest is behind in grade level by 2 years and 2nd one by one year for different reasons) while my little ones watch a 30 minute video. This is totally optional as well and just something I put together but I find it is easier to cover grammar this way and if we don't get to it it is fine because I'm going to go over the same topics next year with them.

 

-We do Saxon Math which does take awhile, however it can become mostly independent by 3rd grade and I know there are moms who ignore a lot of the lesson part and just do the worksheets and only go into teaching the concepts that the little ones don't get. Much of what my 5 (turns 6 this weekend) year old does on his worksheet is self-explanatory and the lesson I do is pretty much a review or stating the obvious and if I weren't so picky about doing every lesson he would still do well in math just doing the worksheets with help as needed.

 

-We do Latin and Greek using Hey Andrew and Latin's Not So Tough (both from the same company). They are mostly independent and easily self-checked by the kids. I help my oldest because of her learning struggles and because of the format of book 3 but I anticipate her taking off at some point once she has had enough hand holding and I also anticipate not having to do nearly as much with my next two. My others are too little to tell at this point. It takes only a few minutes a day for them and they are making steady progress and retaining it well. I'm not saying you need to do this but I am amazed that we are able to do two languages this way. CC recommends LNST books, but it is totally optional.

 

-They do Building Thinking Skills workbooks which are also mostly independent and prepare them well for testing. My little kids love their book and I do it with them but it literally takes like 5 minutes each in preK and K. I find it fills in some random gaps and will prepare them well for logic later on. That is not CC related but I thought I would mention it. They have software for this starting in 2nd grade so they could do it independently that way.

 

-For handwriting CC came out with books called Pre-Scripts that go with the memory work. It is in cursive so I will teach my kiddos cursive a little sooner than I have in the past but it is meant to be independent and has drawing lessons in it. So when using it I hope that I will feel that I have covered art, fine motor skills, and reinforced either their memory work (some are based on the history or timeline cards) or just good material (Scripture and American documents). Basically it covers all the things that are good about copywork in general and more. So all I need to worry about is teaching them how to write in basic manuscript in preschool and then move them into Pre-Scripts with help as needed as early as I can get to it and then I don't have to worry about that subject anymore.

 

-For reading they read to me a Bob Book or a McGuffey lesson daily. This takes only a few minutes and is excellent for reinforcing careful reading and oral expression. They take a 3 minute comprehension test using McCall Crabbs books (or McCall Harby in 1st grade) and that way I know they are working on those skills daily with hardly any work from me. I know what reading level they are on and I can see them progressing without needing to use literature guides. They aren't expensive and can be used over and over. During our grammar time mentioned earlier I go over some literature terms from Teaching the Classics which helps give them guidance when they write a narration on a literature book (e.g. Tell me about the characters in this book. Who was the protagonist?), etc. For literature they read for 30 minutes from a grade level list I made using The Writing Road to Reading (CC sells this) and Veritas Press catalog and when they finish a book they write a narration. They spend about 30 minutes reading from a pile of books associated with our memory work so I know they're getting some nonfiction in there too.

 

-For phonics we just started using YesPhonics (a take off of The Writing Road to Reading). They are all doing it and I believe an older child can fly through it in one year. They have a DVD and a CD of the sounds so I know they can do parts of it independently. Other days we might work on a spelling list or do a worksheet together (which is like a reference page). I don't anticipate it taking long and I can always adjust the time according to our needs (complete as much or as little as we can). They just need to get through it by the end of 3rd grade (ideally) so I feel much less pressure to get them through a certain number of books or curricula. We just go step by step and work on it as we can each week and I am confident they will get there. I will work harder with my oldest to get her through it this year so she is well prepared for next year, but next year she will begin Spelling Plus with CC's Essentials program and I'll just be dictating 15 words a week at the beginning and end of the week and 5 sentences per day for dictation and that's it. So even if we don't get to it this year she will still cover spelling easily enough before the end of 6th grade. Right now we all watch the DVD together of the sounds daily, I flash the cards to them individually and spend a few minutes on handwriting with the little ones and they do coloring pages independently that go with the sounds. It's simple and takes very little of my time.

 

-I read Bible stories and the Bible to them at night and we sing hymns as a family and do a short devotion. Once a week they do their presentations for Daddy and recite their memory work for him. I read to them from a list of books compiled from Teaching the Classics and A Thomas Jefferson Education (picture books and nursery rhymes for my little ones and a chapter book for my oldest two). I add in a poem or two from an anthology and a biography or something history/science related as we have time and that's it!

 

Again, I can't say that I still don't end up spending all day teaching. I do. But I also spend far less time preparing and gathering materials than I did when we did TOG and other hands on type programs. I feel a lot less pressure about getting to things because I know we have all summer and future cycles and future years covering the same material so I don't have to stress about it. There are many parts of the program that are able to be done independently or all together depending on what works best that day, that week, that year, etc. It guides our topics weekly and yearly but it is not a slave master because I can do as much or as little with it as I want to. I still know they are learning a ton of stuff in all subjects. We show up every week and that alone does wonders for my accountability and support and their motivation. I know they've gotten to do science experiments or projects and art or music each week so I don't feel guilty that I didn't break all that out at home. We just discuss at home what they did at CC. So I get to talk about it and enjoy it with them without having to do it :-)

 

In the future for middle school and high school I know that I will have a situation where they will have a tutor teaching them many of the hardest subjects once a week so I won't have to worry that they didn't get taught the material. I will still be in control of their transcript and their assignments so again, I can adjust as needed for our family or each child as I see best. They wil be motivated by their friends being there and doing the same assignments, etc. and I will have a level of accountability and support. They will have a tutor to ask questions of when I am stumped or too busy. For me that makes middle and high school seem much more doable in a large family.

 

I know it can be expensive for some people but for us it has been totally worth the cost and has given me a passion for classical education, even in our large family. I don't know that anything will relieve the household mess right now short of putting 90% of our stuff in storage, but I can deal with the fact that the mess is for a season. I can't deal with letting go of my educational goals for a season except for reasons that are completely beyond my control (e.g. my son's cancer treatments). When you add up the cost of all the materials and everything from a lot of other programs I think CC still comes out well in comparison. My kids are getting a rigorous education without nearly the pressure on me. Mostly now I just reinforce their learning from CC and sit around having deep discussions based on what we learn from the resources that go with their memory work and I am learning along side them. I don't have to pause our learning for a week or a month while I go gather materials and make extensive plans like I did with TOG. I spend more time teaching (or really learning with them) and less time planning to teach and making plans that often never got done anyway. This makes me feel much more productive and effective than I ever did before CC......

 

HTH!

[stm4him]

P.S. I am up right now because I had to keep going to the bathroom (baby on bladder), my husband was snoring, my toddler was coughing, I was then hungry so I checked the forum while I ate cereal. I am supposed to start my day in an hour and I will likely be wasted. Plus I have a doctor's appointment in the afternoon. So normally if I had a sleepless night for some reason I would be soooo discouraged that we would miss school again the next day. But even if I am out of commission for today I know my kids can do the following:

 

-play their cd of memory work together

-watch the DVD of the phonics sounds and color phonics sheets; oldest could probably do flashcards with them

-do their independent work (math worksheet, Latin, Greek, Logic, reading literature and book basket books, copywork)

-set a timer and take their comprehension test

 

 

If I can muster enough energy to read them their history highlights, a timeline card, and a science card they can do notebooking on their own. If I can muster enough energy for them to read to me from McGuffey they can do that too. If we don't get to grammar or IEW tomorrow that's ok for one day. Often they can do at least parts of IEW by themselves. My grammar lesson for tomorrow was on putting a return address on an envelope so I'm pretty sure I can cover that too......I likely won't do all the lessons with the little ones that I normally would but even with that they will get phonics and memory work and my K'er can do most of his math worksheet. So while I'll wish we could have done everything on my list I won't have to abandon the whole list like I would have in the past.....

[Mommyfaithe]

I wish you could come to my house and see how I do it. It's so hard to explain.

 

Can I come too?? I used to have such a grip on all this....lately, not so much :-(

 

Mostly, I do a lot of redirecting and refocusing.....explaining that school work is not just there to interrupt plying with Legos.....

[Ecclecticmum]

If I were you (which I'm not :p ) I would look at doing the following:

 

Combining EVERYONE for the extras, and in a way that wouldn't put too much work on you.

 

First of all for the littlies getting something like Carols afforable preschool or the "in a bag" series (carols if you don't have the time to make up the bags (there are group swaps that happen for those things though). Or looking at getting Montessori at Home Ebook ($8.95 and has heaps of ideas).

 

For History/Science:

 

-Discovery (on Homeschool Buyers Co-op) if you can afford it and can deal with the quality.

- Netflix and use the SOTW & WTM Science lists on the Yahoo groups (or getting the SOTW Audio & the activity guide which has book lists)

 

I would basically use videos & books. Have a family video night, everyone has to watch (make popcorn, littles can play with their curriculum) and base the comprehension of the age of the child (you watch it with them, so you know whats going on on the doco) essays/reports of various levels for older kids, orally ask younger kids comprehension questions about random parts of the video to make sure it sunk in. Then older kids have individual reading assignment to be complete by so and so, yougner kids get a story/reference read to them at bed time. One night a week for history. Have the Science video/books done on thursday, and have the kids do individual projects (simple diorama, oral or written retelling, lapbook or whatever due by monday.

 

Or just watch docos if you really have no time. Once a week one hour (30 mins science, 30 minutes history).

 

I can recommend Happy Scientist for lower elementary. My daughter watches him, and automatically asks for the stuff so she can do what he just did :p

 

Perhaps theres a local homeschool group that would want to do either a history or science class/get together?

 

or use the one room schoolhouse effect. Watch a video. Get the each of the elder kids to pair off with one of the younger kids, they have to read a book to the younger one on the subject, then do a project together. When theres that many children, any who are old enough can "teach" the younger ones, thus lightening your load.

[I.Dup.]

Classical Conversations sounds great, but isn't that a class/program that you have to go to once or a couple of times a week outside of the house? I believe we do have ONE of those here in our town but it's in the very, very early stages planned by very busy moms with big families like myself and most of the people coming have very young kids. They just started this past fall. So I'm not sure how worth it it would be. They also seem to be constantly spreading around sickness from what I'm hearing because so many of the kids are so young, etc. Ugh. I'm not sure what to do on that front. It does sound great though, if there was a good group available.

 

Thank you all for the great and helpful ideas!!!!!!!!!

[mamamindy]

This thread was immensely helpful to me. I have four & expecting in June, and my oldest is only 6 years old, so I don't have any advice for you whatsoever. But I had some pretty high expectations for my family full of little people. After some reflections on how we've started homeschooling, and how things have been going, I am going to try to take it easier on all of us from now on. Thanks to this thread I have some tools and ideas. THANK YOU!!

[pollo_la]

I have not read the other responses...

 

Anyway, I have an 8,6,4,2,1 and #6 is due in June. We use the Robinson Curriculum. My 8 year old is really the only one "doing it" right now, but she is completely independent in her schooling at this point - freeing me up to do beginning phonics and math work with my 4 and 6 year olds. My oldest is definitely excelling with this curriculum. Her reading and vocabulary are outstanding, her writing is "right on par" with where it needs to be, and she is doing well going through Saxon 5/4 (with no assistance from me). Other curriculums that lend themselves to being "more independent" in nature would be ACE, and CLE. Maybe Rod and Staff? Anyway, the key is to get your kids independent in at least the three R's. That is the core of their education. Maybe have them do the three Rs in the morning, and then have "fun afternoons" where you do more hands on activities and read a louds. In our house, when the babies go down for naps we do bigger kid project time.

 

I hope this helps you out.

 

Laurie

[TengoFive]

I haven't read the replies, but my first suggestion always for large families is combine history with Story of the World. If you want to beef it up you can, but there have been several years where we listened to the cd, did the coloring page, map, and discussion questions and called it good. If I'm having a really good week, I'll get library books for the older ones to read about the topic independently. The thing about the CDs is that you can be doing something else at the time, for example caring for the littles. I think everyone from your 4 year old up could color while the CD is on. You may find that even the 2 youngest are happy to color along with their siblings while they listen.

 

For science, we like Apologia, as everyone can be combined. At times it gets overly preachy for us, so I just edit it as I'm reading. With our large family, a lot of times we don't get to the experiments, but that's alright with me. At least they're getting something! This year, we're meeting with another family once a week to do the experiments. It's working well so far, but I think its been fine for the years we haven't done experiments.

 

For kindergarten, we keep it simple. I do Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, something for handwriting, and Developmental Math. I also have Cuisenaire Rods that he can play with when we do school. Your 3& 4 year old could do that as well, even if just to keep them occupied.

 

Finally, we try really hard to limit screen time, and so I've found if I need to carve out time, the littles are pretty happy to watch Signing Time or the Leap Frog videos for a few minutes while I work with the older kids.

[Carrie12345]

It *is* hard to explain how it works out.

 

We have a very tiny house. There are portions of our school day that get shouted, whether over little boys wrestling, video games bleeping, or trucks rolling across the floor. Then there are portions we rush through while the baby naps, whether that winds up being 45 minutes or 4.5 minutes. And then there's the stuff the girls are expected to go into their room and do on their own.

 

As far as "real" kindergarten... my 5yo is one of the first kids to wake up every day, so we do some math and handwriting first thing in the morning one day, critical thinking and phonics the next day, and read whenever time allows. Our morning work takes 20-30 minutes. It's kindergarten, not rocket surgery.