Engaging Multiple Ages in Your Homeschool

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When we think of working with multi-ages,

many of us think of the unit study type arrangement where we work with the kids all together at different levels.

Certainly, when all of our children were younger (though still multi-aged, of course), the unit study approach was the foundation of our homeschool.

There comes a time when that approach doesn’t work easily anymore.

At a certain point, what my older kids wanted to drive and learn became more important than my desire and convenience to keep everyone together.

So, we have looked for other ways to come together as a family with our homeschooling.

Using Collaboration to Bring Together Multi-Ages in Your Homeschool

Collaboration includes any activity where our students share ideas and receive feedback.

I enjoy seeing my kids collaborate with their siblings to solve problems, gather input, and share accomplishments.

Here are a few examples:

• My 11th grader might get feedback on his latest novel character from his siblings.
• An older sibling agrees to film a tutorial my 4th grader wanted to try making on making paper boxes.
• Our high school junior mentors our FLL team which includes his two younger brothers. He helped the 4th grader reach out to experts in a particular field last week by coaching him on phone etiquette and helping him to form interview questions. He was ready as a scribe while our 9yo made the phone call and could concentrate on the talking while Ethan would get the notes down.
• Our high school freshman will often give sewing tips and the use of her machine to a sibling who wants to make a costume- most recently a Union sash for a Civil War uniform.
• Our kids are great at lending a listening ear to a piece of writing.
• Any of the kids are eager to jump up to our slate chalkboard and have a go at an explanation- the receiver is always appreciative.

I love to watch our kids work together to help make each other perform better.

It isn’t always in the form of the older kids teaching the younger ones.

It goes much deeper than that!

They offer feedback to help each other reach a goal in simple and not so simple ways.

Collaboration brings out some of our kids’ best qualities.

Or the worst!

It takes time to build the sort of homeschool relationships that foster this behavior.

Sometimes you have to work with the stronger personalities to help them as they work through it.

But, when you get collaboration in your homeschool right, it is GOLD and worth every moment to get there.

It’s authentic and builds this life skill in a very real way.

Using Project Time to Team up Multiple Ages

No homeschool day is complete at our house without project time.

Each of our students has a Project Workspace where they can leave out their work and spend a lot of time working and researching.

Project time doesn’t always mean being completely independent.

Sometimes our kids will choose to draw on each other to complete a task.

Project time might include things like:

• Following a tutorial
• Learning a new computer programming language by reading and testing it
• Designing a new model rocket or custom mini-fig
• Pinning a new insect
• Drafting a fashion design
• Reading & Researching on a topic
• Building a machine like a catapult
• Testing a hypothesis
• Writing to add to stories and novels
• Attending seminars and workshops related to an area of study
• Collaborating with each other on progress of their work

All of these are born out of their interest in a topic & represent the amount of time we’ve poured into these interests.

Much of our homeschool day is wrapped up in project time.

Not only is this the time when I get to be a mentor and consultant and listen and encourage their efforts, but it’s a time for our kids to team up to solve a problem.

Taking Field Trips as a Family Engages Multi-Ages Together

My rule of thumb when it comes to field trips is to arrange them and take them as a family.

Unless we don’t have the opportunity to do so otherwise, I avoid taking field trips with a group.

What are the advantages of striking out on your own?

• Arrange a trip when it is most convenient to your family and with what you’re studying.
• Taking spontaneous field trips means enjoying the best weather!
• Smaller groups get more attention from curators and garner the most available to you from a venue.
• Many places will accommodate my family without having to be part of a group- I once called about a local public event and when I could not make it, I was invited to see the exhibit on off hours and the curator happily pulled out artifacts we’d see at the public time- and more of them! It was a golden opportunity!
• My students pay attention to the venue when they aren’t excited to be with their peers. It’s true. I often tell my kids that they can enjoy a playdate another time when it’s fun to play and you aren’t just sneaking it in while you are supposed to be paying attention to something else. For field trips to yield the most, go alone and make a playdate for another time!
• Allows me to help my kids focus on what we came to see through the lens of our personal studies without the distractions of their peers!

Learning Together During Our Homeschool Day

Of course, being a unit study family for many years and still today, we love to learn together with all ages.

We come together on a few things whenever we can:

• Fred Math– With all of our students immersed in Fred’s world, there is always something to discuss about Fred at the dinner table. We can engage about Fred any time, but often he comes up at dinner where our kids share what they’ve been working on.
• Geography– We are using NorthStar Geography this year and while our two high schoolers will earn a credit, our younger boys will join in when they can.
• Read Aloud Time– We love to hear stories together. Often times I have my teens read to us and my 11th grader loves to read to me! Reading aloud is a great way to begin your homeschool day and to get started and focused again after lunch. The benefits of building this time into your schedule are numerous.
• Earth Science– This year we’ll be tackling earth science as a family. The younger boys (4th & 7th grades) will be studying earth science with their Adventures in the Sea & Sky curriculum while the high schoolers will be following the course set by CK12 Earth Science for High School. You might like to read more about our curriculum choices for 2014-2015 if you missed it in August.
• Current Events– We often discuss what’s happening in the world around our dinner table or whenever it comes up as our day moves along.

If you’d like to see more about how we implement our homeschool day, click in to:

• How to Implement an Independent & Authentic Learning Homeschool Day.
• Teaching Shakespeare to Multiple Ages– It can be done. Check out these resources and tidibits.
• Fostering Collaboration with Morning Meeting Time– a stand by at our house long before Morning Time was all the rage.
• 10 Things That Make a Great Homeschool Day Podcast Episode– You don’t have to have all ten for it to be a great homeschool day!

Bright Ideas G+ Hangout on Homeschooling Multi-Ages at Once

Need more ideas on how to implement homeschooling with lots of different ages?

Bright Ideas Press Hangout on Homeschooling Multi-Ages at Once.

Homeschooling families with multiple aged kids,

there’s no need to panic!

Take some tips you can use,

and you’ll develop some of your own.

Homeschooling more than one student at once

can be a rewarding experience

when you see it all come together.