Guest 4boys Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 I'm sure there are lots of threads on this subject somewhere but I can't find any. I have four boys, only one is really school aged, one likes to tag along. As I look into curriculum for the future I keep thinking "How am I going to do all this for multiple grade levels and teach them all at once?" Any tips from moms of larger families? Or threads that you could point me in the direction of? What has worked for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelle in MO Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Hi, Erin! I have 4 boys (6, 9, 12, and 13), too. My best advice to you is to STOP LOOKING AHEAD! I'm only sort of kidding. I remember that homeschooling all of them seemed extremely daunting when we were just starting way back when. I really had to concentrate on getting through a semester (or an hour, sometimes!) at a time. You'll have a handle on things for the oldest by the time the next one starts needing more "school" and so forth down the line. Also, we've done history and science together as much as possible, tailoring to their different ages. I know some people that have close-in-age/ability children have kept them in a grade together in math, or grammar or whatever. Best wishes--you can do it! Keep reminding yourself of your reasons for homeschooling. Chelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E_Edgerton Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 I am a home tutor/nanny for a home schooling family. The children I work with are ages 12, 9, 6. Obviously, they are at different levels. I find that the best thing to do is plan, experiment, and then tweak. Their Mom is a wizard at this. We try different schedules and see what works for us. I find that the subjects like history (read- alouds, map work, and research type of assignments can be combined for the 12 and 9 year olds doing what they can, with the youngest just listening and coloring the activities or maps. Same with science. Whether we are reading a text or doing an experiment there seems to always be at least something for the youngest to take part in. As for setting up the day for the other subjects that are more geared directly to the individual child...I try to set one up with say their math assignment, then the other may be working on english. I find that most of the time they are pretty self-directed and then I am there for questions or assistance. I think it is just important to always be open to changing things up when they aren't working and knowing that some days you are just going to feel like you didn't do enough, while other days you will be amazed at what can be accomplished. Read a lot of books aloud, play games that are both fun and educational, and just enjoy the process of learning in such an amazing way with your family. Good luck.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 I am a home tutor/nanny for a home schooling family. The children I work with are ages 12, 9, 6. Obviously, they are at different levels. I find that the best thing to do is plan, experiment, and then tweak. Their Mom is a wizard at this. We try different schedules and see what works for us. I find that the subjects like history (read- alouds, map work, and research type of assignments can be combined for the 12 and 9 year olds doing what they can, with the youngest just listening and coloring the activities or maps. Same with science. Whether we are reading a text or doing an experiment there seems to always be at least something for the youngest to take part in. As for setting up the day for the other subjects that are more geared directly to the individual child...I try to set one up with say their math assignment, then the other may be working on english. I find that most of the time they are pretty self-directed and then I am there for questions or assistance. I think it is just important to always be open to changing things up when they aren't working and knowing that some days you are just going to feel like you didn't do enough, while other days you will be amazed at what can be accomplished. Read a lot of books aloud, play games that are both fun and educational, and just enjoy the process of learning in such an amazing way with your family. Good luck.:) yeah.... Trickle Down Education, lol. ok, seriously? as they get older, they get a bit more independent or at least able to learn faster or just as effectively through other venues [video/ internet/ research/ phone calls to curriculum assistance hotlines, etc]. Managers of Their Homes also has an excellent system for scheduling kids so stuff gets done. But my focus for homeschooling is social, not academic, so i probably can't offer too much more than that for now. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Trickle Down Education--I love it! Take each year as it comes. Subjects like science, history, art, languages can be taught to everyone old enough, each participating to his ability. My 2nd-grader does more than his K brother. Even the 3 y.o. participates in hands-on activities and listen to the read-alouds. It's amazing what the younger ones pick up just by learning in an enriched environment. One thing that's worked well for me with two young learners has been sitting between my two school-aged guys while they work. I switch back and forth between the two, teaching one while the other works independently. The littlest sits across the table from me and does games and puzzles. You'll figure out the rhythm and flow that works best for you when it's time. :) Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaof2andtwins Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Thankfully, they don't start kindergarten doing 5 subjects at an hour each per day. They come into the picture slowly. When my twins were 4, I started them first and did 30 minutes. That was preschool. The rest of the time they participated in the "Trickle Down Education" as was mentioned earlier. We taught history and science together as long as we could. I still do history together. Let them be as independent as you see they are able. We also incorporated the short lesson style of CM in the early years, and I used Managers of Their Homes as a guide. As you add more children into your school it will be come clearer as to what works best. Jennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 (edited) I agree with everything that has been said above. I combine history, science, latin, read alouds, Bible, art, music etc. The only subjects we do at grade level, in the younger years, is math and grammar. Edited November 12, 2008 by Quiver0f10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 Definitely stop looking too far int eh future. I current have 3 that are schooling, I teach my 9 & 10 years old mostly together, my Ker only takes about 30 minutes of book work daily, after that he has centers etc that I set up to keep him occupied and learning. My older kids are not able to do a lot of independant work yet due to special needs, I have to sit right with them, which is why setting up the centers for my Ker is so important. I also have baby girl who will be starting K when my Ker is in 4th grade like my 9 yr old is now. I certainly hope by then my older 2 will be much more independant. Unlike the others I do not combine everything for all the kids. My older 2 yes, but my younger is doing his own curric at his own level. So he has a separate bible study than the big kids, does not do history, science, foreign languages, etc with them at all. He will start his own cycle of those next year when he is a bit more mature. My big kids do things like bible, history, science, etc together, but they do language arts and math separately based on their own levels. For me it is a matter of staying very organized, so I set out materials the night before for the days lessons, set out the centers for my Ker, prepare activities/snacks for baby girl to keep her happy/busy. Then I basically spend the day rotating through the kids. I do bookwork/seatwork with my Ker when the kids are doing language arts because they have a bunch of worksheets/lessons they can do with out my direct input, I just have to be present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 yeah.... Trickle Down Education, lol. ok, seriously? as they get older, they get a bit more independent or at least able to learn faster or just as effectively through other venues [video/ internet/ research/ phone calls to curriculum assistance hotlines, etc]. Managers of Their Homes also has an excellent system for scheduling kids so stuff gets done. But my focus for homeschooling is social, not academic, so i probably can't offer too much more than that for now. good luck! Isn't that the truth! I love how you put it into words. My younger two are getting more done earlier because finally the oldest two are getting it. I look for curriculum that has complimenting DVD's and cd's. I also like combining where/when I can on subjects that aren't the 3R's, like science and history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 (edited) We use MOTH to schedule everything that I want to get done with school. We do not join co-ops because it takes time away from getting things done. The only outside activity we do during the weekdays is AWANA. A goal would be to get the children doing work on their own. We recently switched to textbooks to do this. My older students can read their science, history & readers on their own. We meet to go over English, Math & Writing but they do that on their own also. Each child has a cubby hole and I keep all my TM on one bookshelf. We take test so all of that stays on my shelf also. I have one of those mail sorters for cardstock, notebook paper or any other paper they might need with a pencil holder on top as well as erasers etc. We school from 9-3 and try are hardest to stick to our schedule. Somedays we don't but we try. Edited November 12, 2008 by Homeschooling6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 I have posted this before. I have four at home and after much experimentation, I have found that the easiest way for our family, is to teach them in succession. I start with the youngest and do all of her work with her. This takes about two hours. Then I send her on her way and move on to the next child. The next child also takes about two hours of my time and then she does some work independently. The older two just require instruction on new subjects and then they do most of their work independently. Later in the day we have family discussion covering all the different work they all did each day. They might all be on totally different things but the discussions are interesting and then children are exposed to new things. We also do family reading at these times. I find that this method doesn't take any more time and is much less frustrating. It really is one-on-one instruction. It is much easier now that my kids are older but it was a sanity saver when they were younger. I found it almost impossible to get them to all sit still and pay attention at the same time and when I was working with them independently I always had to deal with interupting questions from the rest. Group learning might work if they are close in age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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