How do you run different levels of history/science at once?

[nixpix5]

Let me try to ask this more clearly...I have always combined my kids in history and science but I know some homeschoolers have their children at different levels/time periods/science topics and so forth. If you do this, how do you do it? This is more a curiosity and future thinking as my kids get older and will at some point need to be separated. It also could be that history and science consume a large chunk of time for us as we really enjoy these disciplines and therefore spend quite a bit of time on them. I am just having a challenging time picturing how multiple programs get fit in, especially in the younger grades.

Do you have the student do the majority of the reading on their own? Do you choose curriculums that are more independent? Do you squeeze it in during the evenings and weekends? Does anyone out there actually run multiple levels of Sonlight for example or different levels of science? Is this something that gets outsourced to online classes and community colleges for some people as their student ages? 

[BakersDozen]

I try to combine ages/grades as much as possible although sometimes it isn't feasible to do so. This year I have 3 of my girls doing Environmental Science, all at high school level but one at a more advanced/challenging level. I chose Oak Meadow for it's independent work factor but do meet every day with them to see how things are going, answer questions, etc. I am able to combine all three in one meeting time, thank goodness.

For History I begin each day with my 15yo. We spend 30 minutes talking about the day's lesson or watching a Great Courses lecture. After that she is on her own while I meet with my 13/11yo dds. Then it's on to my littles for History; those I combine given how close in age/grade they are.

My middle/older kids have programs that are more independent. I don't use weekends if at all possible however we do use evenings for movies/documentaries, etc.. I do not outsource classes because I don't have the money to do so plus I like having high school classes at home. If possible I also have all the kids doing the same science/history focus so I'm only pulling out materials for that focus. So this year U.S. History 2 and Environmental Science are what we are studying. Obviously the littles won't do the same stuff as the olders however I've found that many of the movies can be viewed as a family (we just watched Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times). It keeps my brain from going too many directions which is always a good thing.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

We started out with everyone combined but as they’ve gotten older we’ve needed to split up a bit. I try to keep them combined wherever possible though so I’m teaching fewer “groups” and I try to keep the topics similar. For example, all of my kids are doing US History this year with Notgrass. My oldest will be doing the high school course and my younger three will be doing the middle school course. My youngest will be a young 4th grader (8 until November) but I’m just going to have him tag along with his older sisters rather than do a third history program. I’ll just try to add in some related picture books and do some of the literature as read alouds (he’s a struggling reader). I’ll still have two histories going but at least it’s all the same topic.

[Lori D.]

Honestly, everyone's situation is so different that YMMV. But in case anything is of help, below is our journey with just 2 DSs, 20 months/1 grade apart. And while they were opposites in personality and learning style, we were able to largely stay together due to doing a lot aloud together, and both being good thinkers -- and both seeing that the school day went a lot faster if we did some things together, rather than everyone having their own program. And since (sadly) neither was a big fan of school of any kind, well... let's do it together and get it over with! (lol)

Math & LA - always separate (they worked 2-3 grades apart in these areas)

Literature
Read-alouds -- gr. 1-12, done together. Individual reading -- done separately. In elementary grades, I had one student do educational computer games or work that did not need me while I did the separate reading (or other LA work) with the other student, and then switched. High school Literature portion of the English credit -- always done together, which made discussion much richer. Any writing about Literature was done separately at their own levels. Because I was usually drawing inspiration for writing assignments from Lit. guides, it wasn't too much effort or time on my part to handle their writing separately.

History/Geography -- mostly together for gr. 1-12

Geography -- We had 2 esp. memorable years of enjoying Geography together -- when DSs were grades 4&5 we did the Beautiful Feet Geography Guide & Map Pack with the Holling C. Holling books. And then when DSs were grades 7&8, we dropped History for the year and did a great World Cultures/Geography & Comparative Religions study all together. Geography workbooks were done independently, although frankly, there's not a huge jump in skill level in some of the series, so they would often do the same 2 levels of Geography workbooks, finishing one per semester.

History for gr. 1-12 was mostly done aloud together and orally discussed. Projects and field trips were done together. For the supplemental solo reads and written output, the expectation for each DS was at their unique level/ability. This also allowed each DS to explore subtopics of special interest to them, and sometimes (starting around the end of elementary grades), I would have them put together a short oral presentation to share their findings with the rest of us. High school was not a problem; we stayed together and they earned the credits, just one doing it one grade earlier/later than the other. 

Science - together, up into middle school
For gr. 1-8, I created our Science studies, and we did them all together. When DSs were 7th & 8th grades, I split them out in prep for the older DS going into high school and needing to do a high school progression of credits. For high school, I switched from all DIY to using a text/prepared program, so it really wasn't that hard to have them doing different science topics, since I wasn't creating 2 completely different programs.

Foreign Language - separate
I tried several times in the elementary grades to incorporate this, but iw was a bust, and I finally gave up. I decided I did not want to oversee this, so in high school, each DS did 2 semesters of dual enrollment in the foreign language of his choice -- DS#1 = Spanish, DS#2 = ASL. That worked well, since I it required very little of me -- just making sure to schedule time in our homeschool schedule for doing the homework, and driving them to/from their dual enrollment classes. In the late elementary grades, we did do several years of Greek/Latin root word study all together, which is an easy thing to do with students at different working levels.

Logic - mix of separate & together
We always did a mix of together and solo for gr. 1-8. A main "spine" Logic or critical thinking resource was done together, but throughout elementary grades I also gave them supplemental solo "fun pages" to work on while waiting on me as I worked with the sibling 1-on-1 on a core subject. The solo work was pretty easy -- the weekend before, while putting together the next week's schedule, I would print or photocopy whatever pages I was going to give them to work on solo. In grades 7/8 and 8/9, DH did some formal Logic programs with them together, and that completed our Logic studies.

Art & Music - together
Sadly, we never managed to get consistent with these topics, but what Drawing and Art Appreciation and Music Appreciation we did do in the gr. 1-8 years, was done all together. In high school, DS#2 got interested in drumming, and did lessons for his Fine Arts credit, so very little work on my part. DS#1 got interested in Filmmaking, and I created a DIY Fine Arts credit in that area for him. I planned that out the summer before, and most of it was independent study, so it wasn't a lot of work on my part.

PE - separate
From pre-K through high school, we followed their interests and got them linked in to whatever team or individual sports and activities they were interested in. Largely that was separate. Since the separate activities were all "outsourced" to Parks & Rec and YMCA kinds of activities in the elementary grades it wasn't any real effort on my part other than driving and attending the activities. As a family, we did a lot of hiking and camping, so that was a physical activity done together. And in high school, both were on the public high school tennis team, and overlapped with that for 3 years, so that was easy dropping/picking up and going to matches all together.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Lori D.

[Garga]

I combined them until the oldest was in high school.

For history:

In 9th, I would read the text the night before and write notes and then “lecture” on the readings for my son (if I didn’t, he’d miss lots of stuff when he read on his own) and then he’d read it on his own and answer some short answer questions.  He also watched a few Great Courses lectures.  

For 10th, there were more Great Courses lectures and this time I used The Story of US, which is more middle school level, but is thorough, so I had my son read that entirely on his own. He wrote a few essays and we called it good.

This year, we’re using Notgrass Government and Econ, and it is touted as being pretty independent from a teacher, but I’ll still pre-read what he reads so we can discuss after he reads it, but I won’t do the 20 minute lectures.  

For science:

In 9th, I did the same as with history—I preread, took notes, and “lectured” on the topic before my son read it and answered questions.  It was sooooooo much work for me pre-reading history and biology the night before.  

In 10th, I outsourced Chemistry, so it was completely off my plate.

In 11th, I’m outsourcing Physics.  Off my plate!

Meanwhile, I continued teaching my youngest as usual:  reading the history and science together.  

Each evening, I make a detailed schedule for myself of when I can work with each student individually.  There’s juuuuust enough work that they do individually, that it all balances out.  I get the youngest going on his math lesson and leave him to work on problems...while I head over to the oldest and we discuss his English novel and he begins an outline for a paper on it...while I head back to the youngest to get him going on a grammar lesson...etc.  

It’s a lot of work, but it’s just what I do, you know?  When school is in session, I’m on the clock.  

Edited August 17, 2018 by Garga

[hollyhock2]

I combine science until about 6th or 7th grade, and history until 9th grade. When they do separate courses after that, they do them independently. They read, answer questions, make their own timeline notebook, narrate, or whatever on their own.

[alisoncooks]

We are still doing history together, but this year is our first to do separate science programs (5th and 7th). 

Oldest DD is using Apologia General Science, but I knew that would be waaay too much for younger DD. So older DD touches base with me before reading on her own. Experiments are done where younger DD can watch, just for fun. (She's doing her own science, 3x a week.)

[Porridge]

Mine are 5th and 3rd. We split this year with older child doing her history readings on her own. I pre read and prepare “assignments” — usually a prompt for a written narration or a timeline entry. I need to read together with my younger, who has a much shorter attention span and benefits from me on hand. For science we aim for conceptual understanding. I’ve doing my younger can mostly keep up on s conceptual level. I don’t require much output at this point. 

[nixpix5]

This is really helpful everyone. Thank you. I have 3 still at home so I have been pondering this lately and wondering about the logistics of it. It is helpful to see how everyone does this to give me some ideas. 

[Momto6inIN]

We do history together up until high school. In high school they read on their own, I watch some Great Courses lectures with them and discuss, then they write summaries (for world history) or respond to questions from Critical Thinking in US History (for US History). So maybe only an hour or so max of "hands on" time for me each week for history for my high schoolers.

For science, I never had much luck combining. It worked the first year we started homeschooling to put my 4th and 6th grader together, but after that I separated everybody out because the middle schoolers needed to be doing science on their own (with Apologia they are completely independent and only need me to supply materials and grade tests) and the others were too spread out in age to be able to make it meaningful for them to do together.

So I only really "teach" elementary science and let Dr. Wile teach the middle school and high school kids for me. That might not be the right approach for you but it enables me to teach hands on science at a developmentally appropriate level to all of my younger ones, which is where I decided to prioritize my time. YMMV, of course.

[EKS]

My kids are 5.5 years and 6 grades apart, and I had them home together for K/6th, 1st/7th, 2nd/8th, 3rd/9th, and part of 4th/10th.

I just did it.  I generally started by doing math with the older one.  Then he would do his math problems and other independent work during the time that I worked with the younger one (usually about 2-3 hours).  Then I did the rest of the "together" work with the older one after that and if the younger one had any independent work, he would do it during that time.

[nixpix5]

3 hours ago, Momto5inIN said:

We do history together up until high school. In high school they read on their own, I watch some Great Courses lectures with them and discuss, then they write summaries (for world history) or respond to questions from Critical Thinking in US History (for US History). So maybe only an hour or so max of "hands on" time for me each week for history for my high schoolers.

For science, I never had much luck combining. It worked the first year we started homeschooling to put my 4th and 6th grader together, but after that I separated everybody out because the middle schoolers needed to be doing science on their own (with Apologia they are completely independent and only need me to supply materials and grade tests) and the others were too spread out in age to be able to make it meaningful for them to do together.

So I only really "teach" elementary science and let Dr. Wile teach the middle school and high school kids for me. That might not be the right approach for you but it enables me to teach hands on science at a developmentally appropriate level to all of my younger ones, which is where I decided to prioritize my time. YMMV, of course.

This is helpful to hear. I have everyone together and do a really duct tape version of science. So we do it together currently and semester 1 we do an apologia text along with a supercharged science DVD or 2. Semester 2 we do BJU and another supercharged science disc or two. This has worked fine and we are an experiment happy family anyway so I have even been known to weave in RSO experiments as they are relevant. I know it is not sustainable as they get into more challenging levels though. I will separate out my daughter at some point and make her independent. I just think DH and I are having a ton of fun now since it is our forte. I see the value though of kids reading and wrestling with concepts on their own so I absolutely want to make sure I can make this happen at some point. Your breakdown is really helpful, thank you.  

?

Edited August 18, 2018 by nixpix5

[8filltheheart]

I have only combined history or science with a couple of kids maybe 3 or 4 times 24 yrs. I just give them their own reading and assignments.  Combining seems more difficult to me than not.

[HollyDay]

We did history and science together for quite a while. 

We transitioned by using the same curriculum but expected more from the oldest.  Next, we transitioned into 2 different curriculums.  This required more independent work from oldest

[nixpix5]

2 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I have only combined history or science with a couple of kids maybe 3 or 4 times 24 yrs. I just give them their own reading and assignments.  Combining seems more difficult to me than not.

Did you find having kids running different lab experiments to be manageable? This is the part that I am having a hard time visualizing. Do you outsource or just provide the equipment? Video based? 

[8filltheheart]

34 minutes ago, nixpix5 said:

Did you find having kids running different lab experiments to be manageable? This is the part that I am having a hard time visualizing. Do you outsource or just provide the equipment? Video based? 

Science in our house is not experiment focused. We don't do labs until high school. (I am the opposite of "experiment happy." My kids can go off and do whatever experiments they want to do bc they want to, but mom-directed school-the-reason-for experiments, not until I have to give them lab credit.) I don't buy into the philosophy that kids need to be doing experiments all the time to learn science concepts or to learn scientific method. I have a chemE and a physics phd student, so it obviouslyhasnt negatively impacted them.

Science is exposure to lots of topics in depth via whole books.

[countrymum]

8filltheheart what whole books did you like best?

[SporkUK]

For science and history (and many other things), I have a spreadsheet - science by topic, history I have two where the main one is timelined and the other is a more flexible topic of interest.

In each section, I put resources, assignments, activities by either general key stages (early primary is KS1, late primary KS2, middle school KS3, first half of high school KS4...) or by a specific year which is mostly for older kids where X resources needs to be done before Y so it's easier to have X one year and Y the next. We do 

We come together for activities, documentaries or family reading, but I do assign quite a bit independent reading and work like for science a couple of my kids this year use Science Detective by Critical Thinking Company or CPG books for their key stage as a general science. Sometimes for history, I'll do a family reading and have my older kids take notes or assign the reading depending on time/energy/how things are going generally. 

[Ausmumof3]

We are currently using wayfarers which uses a common spine with different levels of scheduled independent reading.  I have tried and floundered with 2 Sonlight cores and also with 2 science programs.  But my kids are still all under 12.  It might be easier once they are more capable of independent work.  In fact DS could do science himself but the work quality is never as great.

[8filltheheart]

On 8/20/2018 at 10:51 PM, countrymum said:

8filltheheart what whole books did you like best?

For little ones, any books about nature and phenomena that they can observe when we are out hiking or experience while they are playing. Books on bees, ants, spiders, trees, weather, birds, etc. Books that expose them to things haven't witnessed (Bentley, the snowflake man, when we lived in the Deep South and Dd had very seen snow ? ), etc.

When they are slightly older, I like the Scientists in the Field series. Books like the old Popular Mechanics book for boys, A View from the Oak, nature books by Jean Craighead George, etc.

[Heidi]

I wait until they can read well and then have then do Apologia with the notebook journals and Notgrass history.  They can do these independently.  My kids love both of these curriculum.

[Targhee]

When kids are old enough to be more self directed that’s when I have them start doing their own things.  Actually, it’s more like this: early on (through say about 3rd or 4th) they work as a family. When they get to middle grades they start to do determine what they want to study and I help them learn to find resources and be accountable through weekly meetings. There’s a lot of “sampling” things at this stage.  They still get skills instruction from me (math, writing/spelling/grammar, lit). 

When they get to 6th grade they can start to choose some outside classes as part of their interest driven work. We do skill-based classes together still, and begin learning how to be accountable to someone besides Mom.

By the time 8th grade is here they are doing mostly self-propelled classes (either mom-designed independent work, text written to student, online, co-op, at the public school) with maybe 1 or 2 things needing instruction time from me.  They do get soft skills instruction (using a planner or task manager, study strategies, note taking skills, etc) from me.  

High school they are working almost fully independently- by this time I’m mostly in a support role, with a few exceptions. I check in with them, proofread for them, have discussions, help them if they’re stuck, and do the grading (sometimes they do their own, too). But I also spend a lot of time researching and designing courses that can be self-propelled, chauffeuring, etc.

Despite all that gain in independence, there seems to be a steady amount of work, just shifted into different places.

All of that was a long answer to say I don’t actively teach more than one content area curriculum, even if my kids are doing more than one curriculum.