If you have 2 kids 2 grades apart how do you teach combined subjects?

[bttrflyvld]

I understand you would need to keep grade level for math, writing, and reading lessons, but for other subjects could you combine?

And if so how have you combined subjects? Just thinking for future obviously, my oldest starts K in August. And for K we are just sticking with the 3 r's.

 

I'm thinking you could combine history, science, art, and music.

 

So the question is do you start your oldest in 1st with the history and science 4 year cycle and wait to add your next child (2 year younger) til they are in k?

 

or do you wait to start your oldest till they are in 2nd grade and have them 1 year behind in the cycle and the 2nd child would be 1 year ahead if you start them in K.

 

Or does is really matter when you start history and science cycle? Art and music wouldn't really be difficult combining so I'm not worried about combining those.

 

 

Can you give me examples of how you've combined subjects?

[Five More Minutes]

For content subjects (like history and science), I mostly work at the older one's level and modify activities and expectations for the younger. So, for example, we did SOTW 1 when my first daughter was in Gr. 1, and my younger in K4. That year my older daughter was asked to narrate back the lesson for me to scribe; my younger just coloured a picture (and even that was optional for her). This year (Gr. 2 and K5), my older one has started doing her own history narrations, while the younger insists on having me scribe her narration and drawing a picture.

 

I'm not really following TWTM science cycle, but I am finding that using BFSU is working pretty well with both girls. I think that science is fairly easy to combine when they're only 2y apart.

[Mommy22alyns]

I puzzled over that for a while too. Just start the cycle and let your younger do fun stuff and listen in as desired. Don't worry about her being "off the cycle." We did SOTW 1 while Rebecca was in K and Sylvia enjoyed the crafts and colored some pages.

[jar7709]

For mine, they each have something more tailored, but for which the other tags along. For example, I use MBtP at a level more appropriate for my younger, and while a lot of it is stuff the older knows, he hasn't had it explicitly explained to him, so he still enjoys the material and activities and I'm able to give him more complicated writing etc on the fly.

 

For our history, our "spine" is closer to the content the older needs, but the younger still gets a lot out of it and I often chose supplemental books on a topic that more appeals to her interests and strengths. I don't do the WTM history cycles in a strict way, I don't think it is *that* important to adhere exactly to the cycles, they are mostly guidelines for how to arrange a chronological history approach.

 

I'm also not a fan of the WTM science rotation so I also depart from WTM in that respect. I combine the kids in BSFU, and they each have their own additional science that the other sometimes joins in with...for example, the other day DD's science had her do a timeline of the earth and DS really enjoyed helping.

[MrsBanjoClown]

This is our 1st year homeschooling. My boys are in 2nd and K. I started with SOTW1 with both boys and we are using BFSU for science, which is a K-2 curriculum. It is going to take us more than a year, so ds1 will be in 3rd and still working on it, but it is an advanced curriculum, so he will still be ahead of the science being taught at school in 2nd/3rd.

[Sally Day]

Great thread. I've been wondering about this as I have a 5yo and 3 yo. We're starting SOTW with the older one now but if we then combine them later the littly won't be starting with Ancients, whicj isn't ideal, I guess. Anyone been in this situation?

[Dahliarw]

Great thread. I've been wondering about this as I have a 5yo and 3 yo. We're starting SOTW with the older one now but if we then combine them later the littly won't be starting with Ancients, whicj isn't ideal, I guess. Anyone been in this situation?

 

 

I'll be starting my younger son (he'll be in first grade) "off cycle" next year too. Not ideal, of course, but he'll get it all in order at one point anyways if we do the cycle 3 times. By the time he hits the 2nd rotation (as in he did years 3, 4, then 1, 2), if he's fairly independent, I may have him go in order on his own the 2nd time. We'll see. I think it's good to have them in order for the 4 high school years, but that may not happen. I'll have a 3rd child joining in by the time we get around to year 1, so I'll have 2 that did it in order from the beginning, and one that started mid cycle. It's just how their birth order works!

[LittleIzumi]

I don't care about the cycle, lol. We combine for Circle Time (poetry, scripture, ASL, yoga, calendar, etc), history, audiobooks/read-alouds, and we did combine for science but my older is several grade levels above her age in science so now she's too far ahead for my younger to grasp.

[FairProspects]

I think it really depends on your kids, their strengths, and abilities, and maybe even your strengths or background as a teacher.

 

Mine are 2.4 years apart and there is no way I can combine science. Not even close. I have 2 separate resources that they both do together, one targeted more at the younger, and one at the older. Ds 1 is completely bored and spitting out every answer on the Ds 2's version, and Ds 2 is totally lost on Ds 1's version. I'm really going to have to split science completely next year for either one to get anything out of it, even as I try to stay on the same topic with both.

 

History is much easier for me to combine. My younger is stronger in history & language, he can keep up easily with our spine, and I can just add more in-depth materials for my older. Whether that is because I have more background knowledge in history or because they are closer in abilities in language, I don't know. It seems to be an ever changing puzzle.

[RootAnn]

Great thread. I've been wondering about this as I have a 5yo and 3 yo. We're starting SOTW with the older one now but if we then combine them later the littly won't be starting with Ancients, whicj isn't ideal, I guess. Anyone been in this situation?

 

I have (five) kids that are anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years apart. We didn't start the formal history cycle until my oldest was in 2nd grade. That meant that #2 was in Kindergarten. History has turned out just fine! (Coincidentally, I just did a blog post on this.) It doesn't matter where they jump into the history cycle, IMO.

 

I chose to have oldest on the same science/history cycle, but using different materials this year. She's very clearly into asking-more-questions, making-more-connections stage, so I wanted to give her "more." There are a variety of ways to do this. (I guess I picked a hard way. :glare: )

 

You can either choose your spine/curriculum with the older one in mind & then just not ask as much from the youngers, or you can choose something that is more mid-level and beef up or down for each kid. (Tapestry of Grace & other companies sometimes build their material lists with this in mind - so it spells out how to do this.)

 

I'll say that it has been hard for ME to find science materials that we like, regardless of the age of my kids. This year, oldest is using Elemental Science's Biology for the Logic Stage. Youngers are using ES's Lapbooking through Biology. (Logic Stage ES has recommendations in the TM for using it with youngers. The Lapbook has two different reading lists for older/youngers.)

[Ellie]

My dc are thee years apart--sorry, I don't think of them as being three "grades" apart--and we did many history and science things together, including two years of KONOS. The rule of thumb is that you teach to the oldest child and let the younger ones come along. What that would mean if you're doing the four-year history cycle, seems to me, is that you let the older one follow the cycle in order and the littles jump in wherever. It all works out in the end, right? :-)

[NittanyJen]

For science, our week looks like this:

 

Monday, introduce the topic with Mom-led white board discussion/overview of topic.

 

Tuesday, individual reading/outlining/note taking /drawing assignments at ability level on topic

 

Wednesday, lab day. Labs aimed at different ages, but they usually do them all together... labs are fun :)

 

Thursday, additional reading day, notes optional. Use library books, videos, Internet resources, house source books, etc.

 

Friday, individual projects and presentations (coincides with library day). They pick one thing or ask one question related to the topic, research it, and by the end of the day, present it to the family. This project really extends the scope of what we can cover in a year since we only have "science week" every other week! (Up to 2 hrs/day 5 days/week).

 

This way we work and discuss quite a lot together, yet everyone gets customized reading, presentation, note taking, and writing work, but the planning is still super easy from my end!

 

 

 

[Mandy in TN]

My big boys never combined well. They are 2.5 years apart in age and two years apart in school, but that wasn't the problem. They just have very different personalities, very different approaches to the school work, and very different interests. I tried several times, but all I was ever able to combine and feel like both their needs were being met was poetry. :)

 

My close friend's dd is 2.5 years older than my youngest and they are technically three grade apart. In addition to poetry we were able to combine science and social studies. They also did Hands-on Equations, nanowrimo, a parts of speech lapbook, memory work, an art class, and a drama class together.

 

So, it just depends on the two children you want to combine. Sometimes it works great and other times not so much.

Mandy

 

 

[Mandy in TN]

I forgot examples.

 

They used A Little History of the World by Gombrich and Great Science Adventures.

[texasmama]

We are on our fifth year of combining my boys in several subjects. We use Sonlight for history, literature and reading. I modify the independent reading assignments for the younger student. My boys are also taking the same co op classes (Apologia science and Latin), and I use Sequential Spelling with both of them. This has worked well for our family because they are close in age and close in ability. We started homeschooling when they were K and 2nd grade. My current first grader listens in on many of their read alouds for history and literature, so she gleans some from these, though she has her own Sonlight Core. I keep all three on the same history time period so my brain won't explode.

[weederberries]

I have 2 kids (11 months apart) who function at the same level because my son insisted on tagging along in sister's lessons and he was able to keep up. My third child is 2 years younger than my middle child and he has learned so much by "osmosis." He learned to read on his own, just hanging around the older kids. He combines quite nicely in history, Bible, science, and to some degree even math. He is a quick learner and never really stops listening, so he picks up the math lessons I present to the bigger kids, even though he has his own lessons beforehand. He memorized the multiplication tables at the same time as he learned his addition facts because he was around.

 

My advice is to be inclusive to whatever degree it is possible. I never would have planned to start my boys when I did, but they both loved to be included and they benefitted from it. Rising to the challenge is a good motivator for some children and being the teacher is a good reinforcement for an older child.

 

However, if a younger student becomes a distraction or an older student jumps to answer at the cost of the other, you'll have to find solutions to those problems. Hopefully, including your students in each other's work will yield positive results.

[jljohn]

I also have two that are about 2 years apart (20 months), and, like others above, I teach history and science at my older child's 'level' and adjust as needed for the younger child.

[boscopup]

Mine are all 2.5 years apart. So far, I'm not really combining, but I plan to later. I started DS1 in 1st grade with the 4-year cycle, then we took a detour to US history in 3rd and 4th. He'll restart it in 5th. DS2 will then start it with him as a 2nd grader. What DS1 is doing right now is over DS2's head, though he does listen in some. Right now I'm focusing on stories/fables/tales/etc. with him. When we restart the cycle, DS3 will be in K, and he'll go ahead and do Ancient history with DS2 and DS1. Technically, I'll be using one set of books for DS1 and another set of books for DS2 and DS3. DS1 will need more than SOTW and picture books at that point. ;) DS1 will also be reading his own stuff, so it won't be quite so bad for me. I will have a family read-aloud that they all listen to, but for most of his history readings, he'll be reading them himself, and I'll read aloud to the younger two at their level.

[ByGrace3]

We stared ancients in first for dd. ds was 4 and did not really do much with us, though he often sat in on read alouds. This year for Middle Ages, ds (now in K) does history with us. I don't really require it, I just ask him if he wants to join and he always does. Next year we are detouring into US history. If I was doing it for dd alone we would probably just use SL core D, but to make it fit better for ds I subbed out the spine and will do it together. I mostly gear the cycle to the oldest and the younger tags along. I cannot imagine separating for content subjects. They are challenging enough to fit in as it is! ;)

[Punks in Ontario]

My oldest boys combined very well for most subjects since the younger was rather precocious. I even did math drill and teaching with both. I taught to the older's level and just expected less of the younger guy.

 

My youngers are closer together age wise (14 months, but 2 grades apart), but are further apart academically. I still combine some Bible, French and history, and could combine geography and science if I wanted/needed. Math, LA, and reading are all separate, but they hear what the others being taught, kind of like in a split grade classroom.

 

I just folded them into what was being taught as they got old enough to listen and learn. Even as preschoolers they would listen to some of the history and French. I remember ds4 sitting down and doing dictation with his older brothers quite often. He was not expected to, but he loved to outspell the big kids.