A Peek Into Our Day.....Homeschooling More Than One Kiddo

Over the past few weeks I have seen several people asking about homeschooling large families or more than one kid at a time.  Now while I don’t consider my family large exactly (I know there’s plenty of people who do) I definitely homeschool more than one kid. There are eight of us in and out of our house daily (our family of 6 and two extras), my Husband and I, a friend, our oldest kiddo who is in 7^th grade (12) public school, two homeschoolers 1^st grade (6) and Kindergarten (5), then the two toddlers both 3 one is ours and the other a friend who I babysit each day.  I would like to add that we also have 2 dogs, a rabbit and fish…..AND everything and everyone except me are male.  Talk about being out numbered!! So here we go I am going to give a quick peek into our mostly not so perfect homeschool days!!

 First let me start by saying that structure is a key part of being successful at it and I suck at structure. So I do the best that I can and have learned not stress too much about it when I fall short. 

8a.m-10a.m- Start of our day: Half the time we eat right at 8 and have a good 1.5 hours of school in by 10, the other half we are wolfing down cereal at 10 minutes before 10 and start school immediately afterwards.

10a.m-12p.m- This is when we do the “heavy” part of our school.  I try to spend about an hour working with each kiddo individually but more times than not it ends up being 1.5 hr. with my 1^st grader and a half hour with my Kindergartner (he is just a better independent worker).  This time is spent on Math and Reading.

12p.m-1p.m- Lunch and Free time (they usually all pile up at the table with thinking putty or Legos but they can also escape to their room or even the Xbox if they want).

1p.m-2p.m- Computer/Electronic Learning:  The two older ones alternate between completing their computer work and playing on the Leapster or tablet while I do preschool with the two 3 yr. olds.

2p.m-4p.m- Finish up:  We usually do not have to use this whole chunk of time and sometimes we don’t use any but I leave it open just in case.  This is when I do whatever additional subject we are working on that day (Science, handwriting, Geography, History) and when I help anyone with work they haven’t got finished or need extra review on.

During the rest of the day and over any extra time we have between stuff I throw in supper, chores, playing, cleaning up after animals, etc.  Plus I can’t forget the 3 trips to the barn daily by the 1^st grader, our homeschool p.e. class we take at the local YMCA, any co-op classes we attend, and field trips.  But if I tried to micromanage that stuff I would lose my mind so I just adjust as needed and go with the flow.  Two things that help us out.....  1. We school year round, this gives me wiggle room and helps keep the stress down about fitting everything in.  2. We follow a Monday-Thursday week, on Fridays I usually try to do the extra stuff and if we are behind from missing earlier in the week it can be a make-up day.  Typically it becomes a let’s keep the house from falling in around us day ;-)

Below I am going to pile on the pictures...just a variety of some activities and adventures both alone and with friends we have really enjoyed.  In no particular order....also please feel free to check out previous blog posts detailing our past field trips (adventures) and hands on learning (activities).  There are lots!!!