Other mammas here who HS multiple dc?

[Forever 4]

How do you do it? I have a 3, 2 and 7 mth old. I plan on trying to do cirriculum that will work for all. ANd obviously will have to do some individual work as well. My oldest two are doing well so far but worried once it becomes 3. Tips, advice?

[Mamatoto]

Those are fun ages. :) We do a whole lot of moving and outdoor learning where they can interact and do things together or separate. When I am working with my oldest I always have a version of what we are doing for my youngest if he should choose to join us. It's great to have more than one when you are working with games or rhymes so they can work together. :yes

[illinoismommy]

I'll :popcorn ... we have two, plan to have at least one more child :O ....

[SilverMoon]

When my son started kindergarden my daughter ( a year behind) seemed interested. I decided to let her try and if she didn't keep up, no problem. She can just restart when she was supposed to. Since then, she's only had to redo one year of spelling. When my 3rd started school, I was so worried about how to teach 2 grades. I can't imagine teaching 3 or 4 like some families I know. Well, I would teach one grade, then while that child(ren) were doing their bookwork for that subject, I'd teach the other grade. Flip back and forth through the day like that. School doesn't take more than 2.5 hours for us, so at least it wasn't a long time.
Now, my two oldest are 7th graders and do almost everything on their own. We encountered some competition between them which caused too many problems. I think about 5th grade I started typing up their assignments for the week and they just go through the day's lessons. If they want to go ahead, they can. In letting them do the school day in the order they choose, and on their own, the rivalry almost stopped. One year it was a competition as to who could get done faster. My daughter would be crushed if her brother beat her. That's the year she repeated spelling. Now they just trade books for subjects and there aren't many problems.

[Leslie]

It actually gets easier as they get older because they start reading on their own so the need to work individually with each child decreases. When they start working some on their own, it's not as necessary to keep them together.

We start our day together - we do devotions, Shakespeare and poetry together, and then they split off. The high schooler takes his stack of books to his room, the seventh grader has a few things he still does with me, and the fourth grader still does about half of his work with me - I switch off between the two of them for a couple of hours. Then, in the evening, after the other are in bed, my high schooler and I go over his work and discuss his reading.

At least now, while your kids are still so little, school doesn't take very long no matter how you choose to go.

[blossomnatalia]

:popcorn

[Singingmom]

My boys are 2 yrs apart, and I love being able to teach them science, history, and Bible together. Then they might have different writing requirements, and they do math separately.

At ages 3 and 2, learning should be fun and part of your lifestyle...playing, exploring, listening to music, naming colors and counting real things, etc. As they get older, I think you'll find it saves you time and is fun to combine many of their subjects. :)

[JessicaTX]

Mine are 12,8,6 and 4. I don't know if I do enough though. We read aloud a chapter every day. I require them to write something everyday and I help with grammar and spelling on that. they have to read on their own and tell me what they read about, they have to do a math assignment daily, and they have to do spanish 3 times a week. We kinda just bop along merrily. My 12 year old does his algebra on his own and just asks me if he needs help with understanding something. My eight year old works mostly on her own, well, she's motivated on her own and requires frequent assistance. My 6 year old I have to turn into a slavedriver to get him to produce anything, and my 4 year old absolutely loves anything to do with "school"

We take lots of nature walks as well, and do lots of science experiments on whatever they are interested in at the time. We spent almost 4 months on volcanoes lol. The latest fad has been quicksand :shrug I suppose I lean towards the relaxed homeschooling spectrum.

[heartofjoy]

How do you do it? I have a 3, 2 and 7 mth old. I plan on trying to do cirriculum that will work for all. ANd obviously will have to do some individual work as well. My oldest two are doing well so far but worried once it becomes 3. Tips, advice?


Just include the little one with you until you feel he needs his own program. This year my 3 yo decided she needed to do school too, which prompted the 2 yo to want to be with us as well. So now we all sit down and do something at the table. The little ones color and cut and paste while the big ones do their work. If I am working one-on-one with ds(5), dd(7) will help the little ones with their work until I can get to her. It works pretty well. We keep things short and simple and get done in about 2 hours for a 2nd grader and K-er.

My only other advice would be to have another baby soon so your youngest has a playmate to occupy him. :shifty

[Forever 4]

How do you do it? I have a 3, 2 and 7 mth old. I plan on trying to do cirriculum that will work for all. ANd obviously will have to do some individual work as well. My oldest two are doing well so far but worried once it becomes 3. Tips, advice?


Just include the little one with you until you feel he needs his own program. This year my 3 yo decided she needed to do school too, which prompted the 2 yo to want to be with us as well. So now we all sit down and do something at the table. The little ones color and cut and paste while the big ones do their work. If I am working one-on-one with ds(5), dd(7) will help the little ones with their work until I can get to her. It works pretty well. We keep things short and simple and get done in about 2 hours for a 2nd grader and K-er.

My only other advice would be to have another baby soon so your youngest has a playmate to occupy him. :shifty

My only other advice would be to have another baby soon so your youngest has a playmate to occupy him. :shifty
[/quote] :jawdrop :laughtears :laughtears My dh wouldn't know what to do with a 4th! I would love to but we are living at are ends here at the moment finacially and house/room/space wise. Plus I feel guilty as is now not spending as much 1 on 1 time with my dc. There is just not enough hrs on the day and everyone is so young still and dh works alot of hrs- trying to convince myself out of another baby idea ;) can you tell? :lol

My dc are still so young I just go with the flow right now on what they would like to learn. I don't push. If they show an interest I go with it. The oldest is only 3.5. We do ALOT of nature stuff, walks, play in the dirt, my dc especially dd LOVES :heart :heart :heart flowers, plants, horticulture, botony so we spend alot of time now that the weather is nice talking about trees and flwers what there for what to do, worms and all thw other animals, bugs that live in dirt what there for, do etc, organic natural living, going green etc. My ds LOVES :heart :heart construction machines, motorcycles, trucks, building, taken things apart, seeing what makes things "tick" etc so right now I do alot of cause and effect type things with him, what makes things work and how. My babe well he's happy in his wrap nursing for now :yes

[heartofjoy]

trying to convince myself out of another baby idea can you tell?

:yes ;)

Sounds like you are doing great with your kids! :heart