Large family schedule

[countrymum]

Do all large families combine for history and geography? Somehow it doesn't seem to be working here. Oldest likes to be read to though and I often feel like there isn't enough of me to go around. 

I don't try to read everything aloud. I wonder sometimes if I should hand off history to the 2 oldest and just read aloud good books..... We have 6. Youngest is a baby oldest is 12;) 

Any large families want to share schedule or thoughts?

[freesia]

What it looked like in our house differed by year. I kept everyone on the same history rotation until my oldest was a senior in high school. When I had kids with oldest 12, he would listen to a read aloud and some history with the others.  Then he would go and have some more in depth reading. By the time he was 13, I gave him a choice to leave our group meeting after read-aloud and Bible. That remained our model—sound 12/13 they could do their history separately and/or join us. 
 

Honestly, I learned to have principles and flexibility—no two years looked the same for many years in the middle. I wanted to have some things we did together so we always started together with CNN10, Bible and a quick prayer. I loved read aloud so I kept at it but one years, only the youngest joined. 
 

My third was the one who liked to be read to and did better when I did. I would try to find pockets of time to read his history and science to him—but it wasn’t every day, sometimes he had to do it himself. 

[countrymum]

Well neither of the oldest is loving Roman history this year and ds7 is loving doing American with just me with Beyond Little Hearts...he loved all the pilgrim stuff too....he wants to do this next year also.....

Oldest really good wants to do American, but it's middle ages renaissance that thos 2 are due for and it gives a good foundation to American so I'm not sure....

I need more time with my littles too....

[PeterPan]

You can take me with a grain of salt since my kids are almost 10 years apart and only two in number. 😄 The BJU 7 is a particularly good year and would do that sort of world history, philosophical underpinnings of the modern world kind of thing you're wanting. Those two oldest are at a good age to be doing something like that. I haven't kept in the loop, but sometimes they run completer deals around January where you can get the entire video course for the year for a low price with the assumption that people started with the books themselves and got overwhelmed. You might be able to snag a deal like that. 🙂

It's also an age that likes to argue, debate, consider perspectives, etc. which is again why you're feeling schizophrenic trying to read aloud to littles while teaching olders. So as you look, you're looking for any resource that speaks to that growing need to argue. 😄 And at least for us, the way it has usually been is that once the person gets connected with a resource that meets their developmental need, they enjoy it and don't care so much what it's about. 

[8filltheheart]

I was never successful at combining kids.  For me it was always easier to have everyone doing their own thing or combining just a couple at odd times.  

[LauraClark]

We combine for science until 7th grade and then they are independent. Instead of history for my 7th grader I'm having him do geography independently (he researches the history of a country), but the rest of my kids do history together (my 5th grader has some independent reading to do in addition to me reading). The rest are doing the same country/region as the oldest, but do their geography separately. On Fridays (our light and fun day) I read Life of Fred as our math to my 2nd and 5th grader. Bible and memory work is always together.

My 5th and 7th grader are reading the same book (and I'm having them do a lit guide), but they prefer to do it independently...although as I type this I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to do it with me...might help them get done faster.

If it helps, it doesn't seem like there's enough of me to go around either 😕 I try to find as many independent things as I can, even though I treasure the time that we work together. The younger ones definitely get more one on one time than the older ones, but their school doesn't take nearly as long.

[caffeineandbooks]

I hesitate to post because I only have 3 and I know it's not the same.  However, I also have one who does best when read to, so I thought it might be worth reminding you that audiobooks can be your friend.  I use them to give my voice a break, or so my hands are free to wash dishes etc while we all listen, or assign them to that kid instead of a physical book sometimes.

I also want to acknowledge that toddlers and preschoolers are tough!  Once my youngest was big enough to play with siblings, things got much easier.  Hugs to you in a difficult season!

[SilverMoon]

When everyone was little that worked for a few years. When the oldest one hit upper elementary/middle grades it crashed and burned. At some point it became less work and more peace for everyone to have their own that was best for them. Some years a particular pair of kids would share a course, but it was a case by case basis. 

[macmacmoo]

I have four. We have done everyone all together and everyone separate and all the variations in between. Depends on season of life. 
 

the year my husbad was deployed and the kids were 3-12 we did winter promise sea and sky. 
 

We need a “morning basket” we have to have some sort of coming together else the only time anyone talks or interacts with someone else is meals. Sometime our read aloud basket is history driven, or a premade booklist bundle or some years it’s just a collection of books that had a specific kid in mind when I added it to the basket but it’s all beneficial to the everyone else. 
 

I found when comparing schedules it helped to compare when their youngest was the same age as my youngest or their oldest was the same age as my oldest. 
 

so this was when we had a newborn, 3, 6, and 9 and husband was deployed 

7:30 nurse 

8:00 brush teeth, get dress what up any kid who isn’t awake yet

8:30 breakfast

9:00 morning shuffle: clean off table, bigs empty dishwasher, start load of laundry, sweep kitchen 

9:30 baby nap, phonics/handwriting and math with 6 year old, 9 year old educational apps, 3 year old play

10:00 lesson with 9 year old: grammar, math and reading, 9 screen time 

11:30 nurse. 12 gets screen time 

noon lunch prep

12:30 lunch

1 clean kitchen 

1:30 to 3:30 quiet time aka leave mommy alone 

3:30 nurse

4:00 kids outside (neighbor kids were home from school. Back when they still came out to play) 

5:00 dinner prep

6:00 dinner and clean up 

7:00 baby bath 

7:30 nurse,kids brush teeth and get ready for bed 

8 read to 6 year old, check on 12 year old, read to 3 year till he fell asleep

9 shower 

 

this is when eldest was 12 and youngest was 3 and hubby was also deployed 

9:00 breakfast 

10-1 I worked one on one for an hour three kids on their 3rs or what ever they needed me for. the rest had study hall a menu of independent work they could pick from. 
 

1p—4  prep, lunch, tidy the house 

4-6 two hour rotation. I picked four rooms and four activities and they cycle between them. Aka no kid was in the same room as another aka they can’t get in trouble for fighting. (Screen time in tv room, read on their bed, crafts on the kitchen table, movement in the basement) thirty minutes in each room then rotate. Because they all wanted their full 30 mins on screens things ran rather smoothly.

6pm one on one lessons with kid who didn’t get lessons earlier

7 dinner 

8 one on one fun time with a kid or whole family activity 

9:00 sea and sky 

10:00 bath, brush, book, bed 

 

both schedules the kids only got thirty minutes of screen in the first it was a reward for finishing their one on one lesson with me and the later was part of their two hour rotation. We have since loosen up on screens and looking back I wish we could have kept it to thirty minutes a day. (Husband is the weakest link lol) 

[Condessa]

What has worked best for me was combining kids at a similar level and running 2-3 groups.  (During the pandemic we had foster kids and I was homeschooling 6 or 7 kids grades 1-6).  Trying to keep everyone together wasn’t possible with the difference in levels, but having 2 or 3 together worked well.  My oldest was her own group.  History was the same era, but not the same topic.  Everyone was welcome to listen in on read-alouds.  My oldest would often choose to listen in on read aloud, though she also had assigned independent reading at her level.