Rebecca Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I know there are some moms who school large families. We school year round- but in the fall- I will officially have six students from 8th grade to K and I am in a state that has a compulsory age of 5 now (which is my K child). I also have three littles. I could use some fresh ideas and perspectives. If you have BTDT or have any advice- I could use some! Thank you. Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I have 8 1st through 12th grade. What do you want to know about how we do things? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Oh. Plus two littles that are osmosis learning. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaOz Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I have 6 schooling and 2 little ones. I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for so I'll just give a short run down on how we approach our day. Each of my students has his/her own planner which they work with. I talk with my older kids about what they should be covering each day, set goals, and then they fill in what they have done as they complete it. That way we keep records. My older kids work very independently and we (mostly) use materials with which we can do this. My younger two (10 and 8) still sometimes need a little guidance in working with their planner but they are getting there, and once they know what to expect each day they flow with it. With my ds8 I tend to write ahead what he should do in a day so he can tick it off. Anyway, this is how we currently run our day.... We have some together time around the breakfast table - mostly memory, Bible, sometimes singing, discuss the day etc. My kids have already had their own personal Bible reading times before breakfast. They motivate themselves to do this which is cool. After breakfast everyone has house jobs to do and then we start with math. I actually aim for math, English work and writing to be done by morning tea (about 10:30) because I like to move on to content based subjects after that. So...... Math: everyone does their own work and we use self-teaching materials. So, I am available to help but they don't need me for every step of the way. While they are doing this I spend time with dd2 and dd1 - reading, singing, stuff like that. And I might even get a little housework in here as well...... or a coffee :-) English/Writing: kids work on an English book and/or writing project - depending on what they are up to that day. We have just been on a 3 week holiday so some of them are working on holiday journals at the moment to edit and 'publish'. Morning Tea: Reading/Content based subjects come next. My 8yo and 10yo do Sonlight reading with me and we discuss, draw, write, color, make notebook pages etc. They also read their science (ds8 with me). Dd2 plays around near us at this time. Dd1 is usually asleep at this time. The others mostly do their own reading and journalling and then move on to music practices. Lunch After lunch we do jobs and get together for a time. With the age range I have it DOES NOT WORK to do our main school subjects together but I still like to have some together based time in the afternoon. It is often reading a bio, some current affairs, some extra science I want to cover, some character study, maybe some artwork etc. It is still lovely to be able to do this together. After this, EVERYONE has quiet time for an hour which involves quiet reading time (or sleep for dd2). Dd1's sleeping 'routine' (for want of a better word) is a little erratic at the moment so she may or may not be awake at this time but it is still nice to have some time with her. And so, that's about it. Is that what you meant? Hope it helps a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 Thank you! I am interested in everything...from how chores flow throughout the day to when you tutor your different grades. Also, please share favorite curriculum...I was going to say for the higher levels- but really I can benefit all levels. LindaOZ- when do you fill in the planners? Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaOfalotta Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 Taking notes... :)....for future reference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaOz Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Thank you! I am interested in everything...from how chores flow throughout the day to when you tutor your different grades. Also, please share favorite curriculum...I was going to say for the higher levels- but really I can benefit all levels. LindaOZ- when do you fill in the planners? Thank you!! Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. Most of the kids fill in their own planners. They do this as they do the work. In theory, I should fill out my 8yo's planner at the start of the week, but lately it's been more 'as we go', but he basically knows how to proceed each day anyway, so he is able to move ahead even if I am behind with the planner. With chores, we have a morning routine where everyone has certain chores that need to be done between breakfast and starting school work. My 8 and 10yo are on kitchen cleanup in the mornings because I want them to learn how to do that without relying on older siblings to help. The older 4 are on a rotating roster of chores so they do the following for a week at a time: - hang out laundry - vacuum living area - clean/tidy bathroom and toilets - tidy and vacuum downstairs (study area and family room) After lunch, two different kids do kitchen, two more hang out more laundry, and two do a living room tidy. We also have a roster for dinner dishes. Various kids cook dinner at different times, and two others bring in washing, sort it and take to relevant bedrooms. So, that pretty much gets us done with the basics. I can't stand starting school in the mornings if we haven't tidied up and done these basics, so our routine gets that done in a relatively short amount of time. As for tutoring different grades, well, for the first session of our morning I just take it on an 'as needed' basis. Ds8 usually needs the most help but because we use self-explanatory type materials for math and most of LA, the kids are able to go ahead on their own and come to me just as they need to. After morning tea, at about 11am, I meet with Erin(10) and Luke(8) for their Sonlight history reading. I also read science with Luke here too while Erin will go and do her own. We are using Saxon for math, and Easy Learn Maths before they are ready to start Saxon 54. We also use mathsonline which is an Aussie online math program. I like the combination of the two. Most of my kids are using LLATL for English, with some Abeka grammar thrown in a couple of times a week, and plenty of writing (free writing, dictation, narrations, writing projects etc). We are currently using Abeka for science although I'm not entirely happy with it - I am rethinking that - but sticking with it at the moment (although my 12th grader is using Apologia). And Sonlight. Love SL for history, literature, and some Bible. So, that's pretty much what we are doing. Hope that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Oy. Most mornings start the same. Get up, get dressed, do chores have breakfast, hit mass if we can. 3 days a week I take kids to college or tech classes or music. This takes about an hour and a half from leaving to getting back home. I usually make all the kids go and they do some work in the van. When don't get our of the van, we just switch out assignments and by then, it's time to pick up kids or drop different kids off somewhere else. Often this time in the van is when i have them watch the latin for kids DVD or listen to the CCM disc. Then it's home for a quick lunch and some school work at home. Get dinner started and eaten before evening college classes and extracurriculiar activities. Then it's back home to get some end of day chores done, laundry, kitchen cleaned, baths... The other two days a week I'm not in the van as much in the morning, but they have Latin tutor or AHG in the afternoon that we work schooling around. I spend a significant portion of every Friday or weekend grading and writing into plans what I expect done for the following week. Tho I try to make sure I don't go more than 2 days on any child without going over their work. No one likes having a week worth of work to correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stm4him Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 I am not in this boat yet, but I will be and I can tell you my basic plan for when we get there. When my oldest is in 8th grade I will also have a 7th grader, 5th grader, 4th grader, 2nd grader, 1st grader, and a preschooler. They actually are a little more spread out than this by their age because my oldest is "behind" 2 years and my second one is "behind" by 1 year in their curriculum for a learning disability in the oldest and a maturity issue in the second one. One or both of them may decide to catch up at some point, so in that case there would be a little bit more of a spread than yours, but still close enough. My plan is that my children in 7th grade and up will go to Classical Conversations' Challenge program 1 day a week to get their assignments and work mostly independently at home. I will be adding some to it, but those subjects will either be done independently, in the summer, or at our own pace kind of thing so we aren't in a huge hurry. Veritas Press has now come out with self-paced Omnibus, so that might be an option, however, I'm really hoping I can do it with them instead for my own education as well in a book club type fashion. I'll keep my 7th-9th graders together and my 10th-12th graders together when they get to that point. My plan will be that they will be as independent as possible during the day while I teach the younger ones and will have meetings with me in the evenings to make sure they have their work done and their questions answered. I expect over time they will need me less and less, but I'm sure it varies for each kid. We would make a plan at the beginning of the year of what I expect to be done. For Challenge, their assignments are already laid out so we will both know everything on our plate up front, which is really nice and less work for me. The time we do Omnibus discussions together will be our main discussion time together. I will keep the older kids all doing the same time period roughly that my younger ones are on so that the whole family is still focused on the same basic history topics. For example: Cycle 1: Omnibus 1 and 4 Cycle 2: Omnibus 2 and 5 Cycle 3: Omnibus 3 and 6 For my kids under 7th grade we do a lot of things together. We use Classical Conversations as the heart of our curriculum and we base so much on that. The only separate subjects are reading (McGuffey Readers for expression, McCall books for comprehension, literature books on level), math (Saxon), and writing (PreScripts and IEW). I try to keep these lessons as short as possible. We do phonics, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, memory work (including catechism, scripture, character, poetry and CC), Bible/devotions, history, geography, fine arts, science and read aloud either all together or in small groups (1st-3rd and 4th-6th). They do also do their AWANA books separately, but I only help the ones who can't read. I have different levels of retention and depth required for each group (including my 3-5 year olds who are just being introduced), but we are all doing the same topics. CC has three cycles and 24 weeks so everything goes on a three year or one year rotation (for the subjects that need to be repeated every year such as spelling, phonics, grammar, timeline, etc.) My lessons for those subjects get broken down into 24 weeks with a different focus each week and lots of review. I have a certain amount of material I want them to master before they go to 7th grade and that is my focus. Because I know what we are focused on (and can master it myself), I can really enjoy teaching them without being stressed that they won't get it because we have so many years to get it down (three times through all the cycles plus all the yearly repetition). Also, we have wonderful discussions based on the timeline cards we read and our read alouds, etc. We are all on the same page. There is not much planning to be done b/c I already know what the three cycles look like and all I have to add are sketch notebooks and living books (and there are already prepared suggested lists). As I want to, I can add print offs from CC Connected. Their other subjects are just "do the next lesson" or set of pages, so I don't plan that out except to calculate how many lessons we need to do per week. Once a week we have a lighter day where they do Latin, Greek, and logic on their own or with a little help from me but I don't really do any group teaching that day. That is the day to clean or run errands, etc. An example for how we will do spelling is that I have 3 leveled lists for grades 1-6 and sentences for each level. My 1st and 2nd grader(s) would do the first 15 words and 5 sentences and then go play. The 3rd and 4th grader would do the first 30 words and 10 sentences and be done (or practice trouble words), and my 5th and 6th graders would do all 45 words and 15 sentences. All of us would memorize/review one spelling rule per week and my 4th and 6th graders would also memorize/review an advanced spelling rule. This summer I plan to try to make each day one of the 24 weeks so we will review the concepts we are memorizing for week 1 on day 1. Since it is review we don't have to spend long on it, but it keeps things fresh as we'll review each week of the cycles once a month for the months we are off (April-August). We also get to dig in deeper in our history and science studies and add in field trips and vacations, etc. This doesn't mean that our days are always easy (which is never easy with this many sinners under one roof) or short (I teach all day 4 days a week 7 am to dinner except for lunch break), but it makes it predictable and less stressful for me. Of all the things I've tried over 7 years, this has been the one that makes the most sense and given me the most confidence. This is not an independent workbook type education (not to put that down), at least for my kids under 7th grade, but it is a way in which I can disciple my kiddos and pour my life into theirs in a way that is meaningful and practical. The longer I do this, the more I let go of "extras" and focus on repetition repetition repetition and short, but purposeful lessons revolving around our weekly topics. I will also say that my house is a complete wreck sometimes and the only way out of that I see is time for my little ones to grow (I have 4 kids 4 and under). I only have so much time and energy. But I know I will not regret any of the time we have spent learning about God's Word and God's World together as a family..... HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grateful for Grace Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Happy to help here too! I will have a senior and all the way down to a kinder next year. Homeschooling six kiddos. What are your Qs? Encouragement: Figure our your best time of day and do your hardest to get done activities at that time. Works towards independent learning by high school so you can be as involved as you want to be, but they can do their work solo if needed. Remember one of the perks of a larger than average family is that we have assistants and younger kiddo attenders built in and that's a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovemy6kids Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I will have 7 in school next year and 2 littles. What helped this year was to make a daily spreadsheet with every subject for every kid on it. I even have reading and crafts with my littles on it. Each kid has assigned chores on their spreadsheet and I have open spaces for additional chores that I want done that day. I started giving tickets this year to the younger ones and it has really helped. They are flying through their stuff. I had always had individual planners for each kid but this is easier to look at one sheet and see where everyone os for the day. We have piano and exercise on there too. Sheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I might use the spreadsheet thing next year! We only have 5 kids. I have the older two most independent this year out of necessity. I have been solo parenting while my husband works and lives in another state. We are moving at the end of this month. I like having a time to read together at least once a day. Usually it is mid-day. My oldest has a 4 year planner from The Well Planned Day. I use a Well Planned Day planner for the next two. I wish I had grand advice. But, I have been in survival mode. I just juggle a lot and plan my day to be really long. We don't get up early and everyone works best at different times. I need breaks through the day for my sanity or I end up angry and bitter and yelling. So, we never get done at 3. Someone is always doing schoolwork or helping to watch a baby while I help someone. We have a YMCA here and that is the biggest thing I will miss. They have amazing daycare. My older three are safe to roam freely. I often drop the little two at childcare and take a steam and nice long got shower. It is like a spa :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I just wanted to say you ladies are inspiring! I will at least have 4, (hopefully more if my age permits, lol), and your ideas and plans can easily be adapted for me. Thanks for sharing your days and insight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thank you for continuiing to reply to this thread! I have been thinking about it a lot and planning to write and ask more. Sheri (ilovemy6kids) can you share your spreadsheet? I would really, really like to see it or a sample of what it is like. LindaOZ- your flow sounds a lot like mine... Martha- I don't have kids in the community college stage yet. O My. We don't use classical conversations. It is too cost prohibitive for our family with the other needs we have. But thank you for sharing all those resources and ideas STM4HIM! We have had a whirlwind year and we usually school year round. I am getting ready for our next term and also trying to figure out where I want to go "from here on..." One thing I struggle with is how to fit in and schedule all the different things that need tutoring. I need it to be simple- but dense and nutritious- like good food! No wasted time or fillers! Simple, wholesome, good. I am not good at following a MOTH like schedule with all of the kids. We are good with checklists. However, the reality is that not having things planned (in a grid -like form)- then there is a lot of conflict (i.e. someone needs the computer and someone else is on it) and that does increase all of our stress. I prefer rhythm and routine. But the reality is if we don't start by such and such a time- then I WILL run out of time and someone will not get their meeting time with me.... Anyone have any advice, suggestions? My kids have been schooling very independently and it is time to move back into more of a true routine. I am also trying to figure out if I should continue to school lite this summer or not. This I will ask my husband's opinion!! So many thoughts, so many heart's desires. I am at the point where I have littles, middles, and bigs. Really just thought out loud a bit here. I hope it makes sense. It is nice to have the replies. They tend to be scant on these topics- but I know I AM NOT ALONE!!! -Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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