The title basically says it all. My kids are all so different! I've almost always had them in the same history/science but I'm having a really hard time finding curriculums that are studying the same history/science that look like a good fit for that child, which defeats the purpose of a custom education right? (a benefit of homeschooling). I'm also not really sure if it's easier on me, which is why I did it in the first place. Thoughts? What do you do?
What is it exactly that's not working for you, do you think? Would it be possible to keep them all on the same content, but put variety into the output style? (One child prefers worksheets while another prefers a project...?)
That's what we've been doing but for example next year I was thinking about using Notgrass World History for my oldest but I haven't found any curricula for my younger kids that covers the same content. Sorry I didn't clarify better.
It depends on the age of the kids..... but mine would kill each other.. Seriously - I was thinking of putting them in the same Core from Sonlight and my husband looked at me like I was nuts! Of course he was right They'd fight over books etc. SO - even when they were in 5th & 3rd grade I had them doing different things. Now we did outside science experiments together (I love making bottle bombs - but that's just me!).... the rest - readers and other things... no way.
When Rachael did Notgrass, she did it basically on her own. My other two did something totally different (ie: MOH Vol. 3). This year, Phillip is doing MOH 1, and Faythe is doing Streams of Civilizations. They CANNOT be combined!
Right now I'm combining them, but mostly teaching to the oldest and the youngers are along for the ride but mine are still quite young. I do not anticipate keeping them all together throughout. I do somewhat anticipate keeping the middle two together if possible since there will only be one school year separating them where as there is 2 between the oldest and 2nd and 2 between the 3rd and 4th. But we'll see.
I put together my own plans for most of our history and science studies. I try to come up with something that will work for both of my kids and I sometimes give them different things to do. Next year I will plan with my youngest in mind so I'll have 3 levels and 3 different learners. I suspect my oldest will be doing some more independent reading while I read to the younger.
Hello everyone! For years, I tutored two other kids along with my own. When I started, they were in 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grades. I taught them all the same history and science. At first, I made different tests for the youngers and olders. After that, I discovered that the youngers could handle the olders' tests. It really simplified our homeschooling to combine all the students in those subjects. We played a lot of games to help them learn. Sometimes, I would let the students design their own game board during their free time. They had to answer a question to take their turn. Other times, we used game boards from familiar games. My daughter is in college, and she still seeks out online games to help her learn the material. We used a lot of other strategies to make studying a little more fun. The youngest student was enrolled in public school for high school and was immediately put into honor's classes. My two are in college now. Well, my son just graduated from technical college and has decided to join his sister at the local university this fall. I think it is going to be a little strange for both of them. My daughter is two years younger than my son. She will be a sophomore in college this coming year, and my son will be a freshman again---lol. If anyone has any specific questions, I will be glad to answer them. I am not an authority on homeschooling, but I have had years of experience. We can all learn from each other. I am no longer homeschooling, but I still learn new strategies for my students from reading your posts. These days, I teach "other people's kids" (OPK) as Lindina calls them---lol. Happy homeschooling, Susan
I have two children. We initially had planned on them doing things separately, but DD, only a year younger than DS, would want to be with us while we were doing lessons, and after a few years she was at basically the same level. For a few subjects I separate things based on standard, but Science and History are two that we do together. This wouldn't be the case (nor would it be as easy!) if their ages were further apart, or if they were any more prone to impromptu wrestling matches and other ways of distracting each other. But you could try to have them do things which are the same topic but in different ways suiting their age and learning style, like 2littleboys suggested. If you're using a set curriculum, and it's just too hard for the younger one, then it doesn't sound easily doable.
