Homeschooling multiple grades can be a juggling act and requires your mom multitasking skills. A lot of moms, when starting out homeschooling, make the mistake of assuming homeschooling is public schooling at home. We picture ourselves standing in front of a white board, with our well-behaved kids sitting properly at their desks. And we teach our hearts out. When you are homeschooling multiple grades this is just not an accurate picture.
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Mindset for Homeschooling Multiple Grades
Here is the secret for homeschooling more than one grade. You are not a public school, so you can do things your way. If you first grader wants to sit on floor and work on his schoolwork then let him. We homeschool so our kids can learn in a way that fits them the best. We don’t need a one-size fits all solution. We need a solution that fits each child individually. Here is a great article on The Four Main Learning Styles so you can get an idea of how each child learns.
Remember, we aren’t called to be experts in every subject. But we are called to be experts in our kids. You are the best experts in your kids. You know how they learn best, and what works for them.
How do you Homeschool Multiple Grades
I am currently homeschooling a high schooler, jr higher, two elementary students, and I have a toddler and infant. Working from home with kids is always a challenge, but add in homeschooling and you are really doing a balancing act. Each child uses a different curriculum. It would be so much easier if they all used the same curriculum. But, I realized something one day. Part of the reason I homeschool is so they can learn in a way that fits their personalities, and in a way they enjoy. My goal is to cultivate a life-long love of learning.
1. Pick a Curriculum they Like.
This is very important. If they like what they are doing it will make it easier to motivate them to do their schoolwork. If they hate it that is one more obstacle you will need to work through every. single. day. That doesn’t benefit you or your child.
I’ve picked curriculum that didn’t suite their personalities, and we all suffered. Through the whole year.
My high schooler is using Sonlight curriculum, (use referral code JP20474092) and he really likes it. I think we’ve finally found a curriculum that really works for him. He gets a lot out of it. He is doing well. And he likes it. As a disclaimer, they don’t always love school, but he likes this better than any other curriculum we’ve used for him.
In contrast, if I gave my jr. higher Sonlight curriculum (use referral code JP20474092) he would die. He uses Monarch for his core classes (except for math, I didn’t care for their math). Any time I ask to change his curriculum, he tells me no. Everything is online and he gets most of his grades back immediately. This gives him the opportunity to correct his wrong answers, which is very important to his learning process.
2. DVD Courses.
These are a life-saver. There are so many options out there, and you don’t have to buy the whole curriculum pack. For all of the kids, I usually get Math and Language Arts as DVD courses. They are all from different curriculum, but they are video based. This helps them to be independent, and they don’t have to depend on me so much. Even my first grader uses DVD courses. I help him with the book work, but he gets the teaching and the concepts from the DVD.
When you are running a business and homeschooling multiple grades these can be a major help for you and your kids. Decide what you want to teach one-on-one, and then use a DVD course or an online course for the other subjects. There are so many options out there.
3. Strengthen their Strengths and Work on their Weaknesses.
If your child is great a math, but struggles at reading. Then let them work independently on their math, and you work with them on their reading, so you can strengthen that skill.
You don’t need to be involved in every single subject. There are exceptions to this rule. If your child struggles with a learning hiccup, then he will require more one-on-one attention. But if they don’t, then give them the freedom to learn.
This will change every year. Right now, my first grader requires most of my attention. But there are still a number of subjects that he is able to do on his own. Once he knew where to find everything, he took off. It is important as parents that we give our kids the freedom of responsibility. So they can begin to own themselves.
4. Give them the Freedom of Responsibility.
This will eliminate so much frustration for you and your child. If they are constantly waiting on you for the next step, this doesn’t help you or your kids. Depending on their age, they should have some responsibility for their schoolwork. This gives them the ability to work as slow or as fast as they want. If they finish quickly then they can play. Or if they are slow, the consequence is not as much free time. But they are directly responsible for themselves. This also teaches them time management skills. Which is a necessary skill for life.
This will change every year. Right now, my first grader requires most of my attention. But there are still a number of subjects that he is able to do on his own. Once he knew where to find everything, he took off. It is important as parents that we give our kids the freedom of responsibility. So they can begin to own themselves.
5. Curriculum that Combine Grades.
Yes, they are out there. I’ve personally never used them, but I know families who have and they love them. Usually, literature and history are combined and then there are age-level worksheets. Sonlight is one of the most popular curricula that does this.
Literature based curricula are the easiest to combine grades. The basis for the curriculum is actual books for most of the subjects taught, not textbooks. These typically include a lot of read-alouds, which are fairly easy to combine grades.
Homeschooling multiple grades can be challenging, but it can be done. Every year is a new adventure in homeschooling. Just when I think I have it all figured out, something changes and I have to figure it out again. But each year, I learn something new.
If you are struggling to homeschool more than one grade, let us know. Or if you have a great tip, tell us in the comments below!
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