# homeschooling multiple young kids?



## UUmom2many (Apr 21, 2009)

I have a child going into second, one going into K and another supposed to be VPK. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with homeschooling multiple age levels that are close together. 

WE dont even have a farm yet and it's becoming challenging. My 1st grade graduate is on a 3-4th grade level so his work is much more intensive. my K is still struggling to read and add. I feel like i'm spending more time with the oldest because he's actually school aged, my second dosen't technically HAVE to school until august. So her works been goign on the back burner. 

We started a new program in Feb and of course started in the begining so we're only in the mid-semester of my oldest's work which by them he's not done 1st grade sci or history but he's started multiplication and division (he just turned seven). 

I'm just trying to figure out how to balance these kids and their teachings and still do what's needed for the house and the other three kids. Any stuggestions?


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

I have. My kids are 6, 10, 12, & 14 (twins) now, but we homeschooled all of them from the beginning. My best advice is to combine things you can do together and get into a cycle so that you hit key subjects multiple times over the years. 

I use BiblioPlan For Families. I keep everyone together for history, mapwork, family read-alouds, Bible and under 7th grade for science. Each child has their own level of math and language arts. I like BP because it is set up for 3 days a week. Use the same math & LA curriculum for everyone if possible.


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## Teri (Jan 13, 2003)

With younger kids I focus on teaching them to read well. That's the first priority. A little work out of a math workbook everyday will keep them on track with that. For writing, journaling: a nature journal, a "blessing" journal, keep a journal of library books read, write letters, keep lists, etc.
Keep it simple. Too much structure drove me crazy with so many little kids to care for (for years I had a nursing babe, toddler and preschoolers all at once). Have a daily read-aloud time if you can manage it. Google "lifestyle of learning" or read some Ruth Beechick books.


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## rootsong (Jun 22, 2008)

I don't have any advice as I'm not quite there yet myself, but I always read these sorts of threads with great interest because I get so overwhelmed imagining the future! I'm pregnant with #5 but my kids are so spaced out that so far I've only really schooled one at a time. I have a grad, an 11 yr old, and then my 3 yr old, 18 mo old, and fetus.  And another family member (or two, who knows!) may join us someday in the future. So, SOMEday, I'm going to have a whole herd of munchkins schooling at once & I can't even imagine how to do it! 

Cheryl mentioned some helpful things I think. Since mine will be so close in age, hopefully I can teach them some subjects together. 

Anyway, I'm sorry I have nothing helpful to add & have just taken this time to blab about myself.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

Yes, Cheryl's idea of combining things works. I always combine history (I use Tapestry of Grace for that currently). It is sort of like Biblioplan. 
Other ideas...
1) We also make judicious use of co-op classes so that we can do grade-level work on certain things without too much trouble. It is also where we get classes that would be hard to do from home, like Art. (We have an incredible art teacher at our co-op.) Those subjects are taught one day a week at co-op to a group of kids, and all I have to do is keep up with the homework at home. I do teach some classes, but in my co-op I could have chosen a different job if I had wanted too. Our co-op has classes for pre-school, and also a nursery (though most moms just keep their babies with them.) 
2) Also, as the kids have gotten older, we have farmed out some of the teaching to online schools. Unlike a regular school, you can choose what classes you want your child to take and only do those. Nowadays, since homeschooling is becomming more mainstream, we could do that with the younger kids too if we wanted to. So that is an option with young kids.
3) We make use of local resources. If you have a parks and rec. department, you have an easy source for P.E. through league sports. Also, local community or children's theater can become a source for elective classes in drama (if your child auditions for a part). We take music lessons here locally, but I will say we spend WAY too much money on that because it is important to us. Oh well, other people buy cars, we buy music lessons. 
 If you can find a way to barter that out, that is a much better option. But we just moved here, so we didn't know of a way to do that last year. 
4) Sometimes life happens, you gotta do what you gotta do. On those days, focus on English (reading and writing), Math, and reading aloud extremely high quality literature, using Books on Tape, or librivox.org, or watching high quality literature based movies if you must. Netflicks has an amazing number of those. Do not allow those things to go undone. Everything else is easy to "catch up" on if you need to. Those few things are easily done while a baby naps.  
5) Think outside the box and be flexible. Do school on a schedule as much as possible, but change the schedule to suit the needs of the family. There was a time when I did school during naps and after my husband came home from work because I have five kids, and the two little ones at 3 and 1 and a half needed me to *not* be schooling when nobody could watch them! (My oldest child was 8 at the time.) That was what worked at the time. 
6) Buy a membership to zoos, aquariums, and children's museums in your area for days when you just need to get out of the house. If they offer recipicol memberships in other relatively nearby towns, that also makes a field trip out of any travel you do. Best way to do that is *not* to buy your local membership. Use the reciporcation rule to your advantage. Go online to the reciprocol list (AZA website, I think), and hit the websites of all the member zoos or what have you. Buy the least expensive membership from whatever zoo that is. You will be supporting a smaller zoo probably in great need. Then sign up for your local zoo mailing list. In this way, you get a year of zoo trips (and activities) for free. 

I hope that helps. 

Cindyc.


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

@ Teri - can you elaborate on how you do a blessing journal for a small child? I have a 6 year old who is just starting to read and write. She's also starting to do a lot of complaining about how mean we are and how she has to do all the work around here. I'm thinking a blessing journal might be just the ticket.

Sorry for the OT, that just perked up my ears, lol.


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## Iluvboers (Feb 26, 2009)

The best way is to schedule time. I'm in the same boat as you are: K, 1st, 3rd. I'm looking at scheduling a certain amount of time for each child for: covering new material and going through what they are to do independently, listening to them read, and drills. I figure kids can help drill each other. I also look at 1st grade as taking the most help and am planning on pushing 3rd grader to take over more independently. Most people with more kids combine science, history, bible.


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## Teri (Jan 13, 2003)

Re: the blessing journal. Walmart sells primary composition books with paper that have penmanship lines on the lower half of the page and are blank on the upper half (they have the marbled cover). They are great for keeping a journal for a small child. For my 6 yo, I'm planning on having her write what her blessing is, could be just one word or a simple sentence like, "Thank you, God for the french toast we had for breakfast." I will write this for her in her book to copy. Then she can draw a picture to go with it if she chooses. I probably will not do a "blessing" everyday, since I try to post a blessing for the whole family everyday on the frig. Some days she'll do copywork from her reader, some days it will be a nature entry, etc.
I think it's important to cultivate an "attitude of gratitude" in children starting at a young age. I try to model this myself. Of course, some days I fail at it pretty miserably.


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## BlsdMama (Dec 28, 2008)

We have four five and under. And a new baby on the way. And then three more that are school aged. 

The good news is that you can keep it relatively simple. My kids didn't do more than 1-2 hours of structured school for several years. I'd suggest looking at something like Heart of Dakota or Five in a Row. Read aloud - a lot. Do the one on one things during naptime.

Make a plan of priorities and then build a flexible routine so that you know what needs to get done and have a plan of when to do it. For example, phonics/reading practice is important. But, that needs to be done one one without interruption so during naptime would be best.


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## maps1350 (Jun 29, 2009)

WE had our four in five years. Currently 3-8. We teach them all together. We teach at grade level with the oldest, and the rest trickles down. Their individual seat work (vocab, math sheets, etc) are grade appropriate. However, I teach them all together with very little trouble. 

We use a unit study system that is literature heavy and chronologically based in history. So......what this means is we study two different major time periods a year. During a time period, we read books that are more like text books, ones that are like the DK eyewitness books, historical fiction pieces. Our vocab comes from phonics when the children are under grade 3, and then in grade three turns into more unit-relavent words. (meaning, one child might have the word "split" during a medieval time period because we're learning about consonant clusters including "spl".....but another child who's older will have words that come from our "text".). Our science and arts come directly from our text as well.....inventions, explorations, scientists over the ages...we learn as they learned in history. Our arts come from our history as well.....such as architecture...did you know that we have the Romans to thank for aqueducts, indoor plumbing, and a central A/C that works by running water through pipes in the floor and walls (that my MIL actually has in her home!)? Very interesting. So that's how we do everything except a few things:

Math...we have a unit study method for this as well. We study an aspect of math (such as fractions) all together and the younger children have different seat work and expectations than the older children. 

PE.....we practive Tae Kwon Do daily and the children are invovled in other sports and activities. On top of which, we work out, play outside a good portion of the day, and will do active type things as a family such as playing tennis, swimming, biking, etc. This is all we do for PE, however, it's MUCH more than even the BEST public school! We're an active family and I"m OK with not much of a PE plan! lol

Piano is taught by my mother. Swimming is taught by me. 

Work doen at a desk per day is probably about 2 hours tops. Work including extra-=curriculars might bring it up to about 4 hours tops. Learning including gardening with mama to learn about pests, diseases, plant identification, germination, pollination, and seed gathering is endless. Learning is ALL AROUND YOU. Make EVERY moment a teachable moment. I've been known to correct grammer while I'm correcting a child who's name calling another child ("She's the worsest sister ever" should be "She's the worst sister ever." lol). There are ways to learn in everything. There is science and art and history around us all day long. There are tons of books at every library in the nation just waiting for you to check them out and open them up (meanwhile, learning proper grammer, punctuation, and spelling). There is "social studies" all around us, and there's not a whole lot of need for "the birds and the bees" when there's always so much talk around the house about breeding this animal or the other or hand polinating this plant or collecting seed from the other. No need for a governement class as we learn about all sorts of gov't through our history text as well as from hearing mama and daddy talking all day long about this administration, going to tea parties, watching mama vote since she couldn't get babysitting. 

HOmeschooling is a lifestlye. You do it all the time. Us personally....we odn't spend too much time indoors. We're "solar powered". We like it outside. And no one has ever told me "you son needs to be medicated". Because he's not forced to sit still for 8 hours a day. 

April


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## happydog (May 7, 2008)

Thanks Teri! I'm going to do that.

Also thanks to everyone else. I'm going to be homeschooling a 6 and 3yo together so this has been a very helpful thread.


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