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Homeschooling one child is a full time job… homeschooling several kids in multiple grades can feel downright impossible some days. As a homeschool mom of eight, I’ve learned a lot through the years about how to juggle different ages, abilities and needs. I still have much to learn but today I’d like to share a few tips and tricks to help you maintain your sanity while you homeschool multiple grades all at once.
Lots of Prayer
In 15+ years of homeschooling, I have spent much time on my knees. Of our 8 children, 6 of them were born in 7 years. Those years are a blur to me now. I don’t remember much of them. They were difficult and I was exhausted most of the time. I sometimes feel like I failed my kids during that exhausting time, but I then remind myself of the Lord’s providence in my life and how he gave us all those kids are just the right time.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
God’s grace is sufficient to get us through hard times. When life is difficult and overwhelming, we can go to him and find rest for our souls. He will give us the strength we need to complete the good works he has prepared for us.
If you are called to homeschool your children, rely on Jesus for the strength and grace you need to do it well, for his glory. Make sure you spend time every day talking with him. Ask him for wisdom in choosing curriculum, guidance when you are making a schedule, and gentleness when you are speaking to your kids. He is sufficient for every situation.
Rhythm that works for you
Everyone has a different personality. Some people work well with a strict schedule where every minute is planned out for them. Others use a block schedule where they give a specific amount of time for each thing they have to accomplish during the day. My family seems to run best with a rhythm. For the most part, we do the same things around the same time every day.
Through a bit of trial and error you can figure out what works best for your family. My family has gone from a pretty strict rhythm to being much more relaxed. There are a lot more bits and pieces we add in each year as kids grow up and our season of life changes. I would like our next school year to be a bit more organized and scheduled compared to the past couple of years, but I also don’t want to lose the joy of our relaxed homeschool. To be honest, I am having a difficult time figuring out how everything will work for us this year, because it’s sometimes difficult to homeschool multiple grades at once, but I’m sure a few weeks after we begin school again, we will get it all figured out.
Teach Family Style
In my 15+ years of homeschooling we have always done subjects like Bible, history and science family style. Several of my kids have struggled with reading and so it was easier to teach family style than it was to have everyone do things on their own. We have also always had a more Charlotte Mason style homeschool which meant zero to very little workbooks, lots of narration, drawing and notebooking. This will probably be the way I continue to school my children in their elementary years, slowly transitioning them into more independent learning for high school.
Teaching as many subjects as possible family style is a huge time saver for a large family mom. Especially in our family, where several kids have struggled to pick reading up quickly, family style learning lets me teach everyone all at once. It has been a blessing for us and I’m thankful to have learned about family style learning early on in our homeschool years.
Start with the littles first
When my kids get to the age that they are ready to start some of their very own school work I have found that our day goes so much smoother when I begin the day with my littles. For some reason, if I start the day teaching the older kids, my littles never get taught. But if I begin with the littles and work my way up the line, I end up teaching everyone everything they need to know for that day.
Littles require so much more physical attention than the older kids do. Time spent with just them, teaching them their own school, or snuggled up on the couch with a good book, is so special. It fills their little cups so they can be content to head off and play while Mom helps everyone else.
When my kids were too small for school but also not old (or trustworthy) enough to play by themselves, I would strap them into their high chair during school. I made sure they had snacks and they would listen while I helped the bigger kids. This became a vital tool in our home to train our children to have longer attention spans. It helped them learn how to sit for long periods of time without fussing or squirming. Some days were easier than others but eventually it became a normal thing to sit at the table while the big kids did school. They could easily sit for up to an hour (sometimes longer) without making a fuss.
Use checklists
As my children get older they get more and more responsibilities when it comes to school work. Once they hit middle school age they take on more responsibilities. I start making them their own checklist which tells them what is required of them each day of the week. This is a huge life saver when you are trying to homeschool multiple grades.
I have never been great at grading papers so I plan to have my older kids grade their own papers this year. My plan is for them to come to me when they have completed their work. I will give them the answer key, trade their pencil for a red pen, and they can sit down next to me and grade their work. Once they grade it I will look it over, discuss what they got wrong, and then have them correct anything that is wrong. This will give them an extra dose of accountability to complete their work and do it well.
You can even make a checklist for yourself and your younger kids. Checklists are lifesavers in a large family and I have several of them going all the time. For the younger kids who can’t ready yet, you can print off pictures of the books they are required to complete each day and use those for their list instead of words. Get a copy of the checklist I made for myself straight to your inbox by clicking here, or click the picture below!
Focus on reading and relax!
Read, read, read! Read aloud to your children. Let them read on their own. Spend hours reading with your kids and they will be sure to succeed. To homeschool multiple grades at once, take advantage of having everyone together and read to your kids, or listen to an audio book together!
When kids are read aloud to they learn so much! Sentence structure, the art of reading aloud, vocabulary words, expression, compassion and so much more! As a mom with older kids, I’m realizing how much my kids learn when we spent time reading and I relaxed a bit. No need to always be in a hurry. I didn’t need to worry about teaching every single subject for the right amount of time. Your kids will learn when you reading to them. They learn when they read for themselves. Add in a bit of writing and some math and you’re all set!
Learning with Everyone
Most curriculum can be used family style. Some of my favorites in the past have been My Father’s World, Biblioplan and Masterbooks. Really, any book that you can read to everyone all at once can be used for family style learning. You could choose a year of Sonlight curriculum and read to everyone. Each kid will get what they can from the reading.
Not every day is going to be smooth. Someone will spill milk all over the couch, then the baby will need a diaper change. As soon as you think everyone is ready, you sit down to begin and the toddler will throw a temper tantrum. Give your children, and yourself, some grace. Take a break, laugh, say sorry and seek forgiveness when you sin. Plant seeds that will blossom as the Lord grows both you and your children into the likeness of Christ.
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