How To Homeschool Multiple Grades…And try to keep some Sanity

Today, my friends, I bring you a guest post from Hopkins Homeschool. I met Amanda a few years ago on our family Facebook group. We come from the same family tree although quite distant. Second cousins once removed I think. Amanda didn’t homeschool back then. Or blog. Or do oils. Now she does all of that!
I am super excited to have her guest post today and hope I can talk her into more!

If you are a homeschool blogger and would like to guest post here at MamaKautz.com please shoot me an email MamaKautz at gmail dot com. I would love to have you!

Without further adieu …

How To Homeschool Multiple Grades…And try to keep some Sanity

Every homeschool is different. You can have the most organized, cleanest and the best behaved children in the world. Or, you can be like me. You can search for that one paper your child needs in the mess you call a house while your children fight over who gets to watch what on Netflix. Either way, it is homeschool. Now, add more than one child to mix and it gets harder! Here are my tips for homechooling multiple grades.

1. I include everyone as much as I can.

 I love spending time with the kids and having us all doing something together makes it so much easier. We are able to spend time together and learn at the same time. When you include everyone, everyone is happy and there is a lot less stress for mommy!!

2. I love having older grades.

 Moe Man is able to do a lot of school on his own. This helps me to focus on Little Miss or Ray Ray and of course Baby Girl!

3. Multiple computers!

I know this is silly, but when you have more than one student, you need more than one computer. If you have more than one computer, you can double time the work that gets done. Two students working at the same time, gets schoolwork done faster than waiting to take turns.

4. The support of my husband.

If I didn’t have my husband to support me, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this! He makes sure to help as often as he can. Even if it is over the phone while he is over the road. He has always stood by my side and helped me in knowing that I made the right choice to be with our children almost 24/7.

5. Real Life

Without real life there wouldn’t be any good homeschool. What do I mean by real life? Well, a nice trip to the grocery store includes many lessons. First, you have to plan the meals, and figure out the supplies you need to make those meals. Those meals should be healthy and include all food groups, ahem…health class anyone? What about budgeting for the trip? Making sure you shop right and have enough money for the supplies…real life math? This kind of real life can happen anywhere. You don’t have to teach from a book, you can teach your child how to live their life.

6. Field Trips.

And as many field trips as you would like. No schedule you really have to plan, just making sure you have fun and the kids learn something is all that matters.

7. Netflix

Do you know how many educational movies you can find on Netflix?!?! And when you find the right one for the right child, they will watch and you will have time to work with your other kids! No, the tv does not do my teaching, and is not my babysitter, but I love to watch a good movie, and if my kids do too AND they learn from it, who’s to argue?

8. Schedule

I hate schedules! I will admit that. But when you have multiple children and one teacher, you need something. That schedule is for them as much as it is for you. With that schedule you know what you should be doing during what time. With that schedule your child knows what they should be doing at that time. Knowing an idea of what needs to be done helps everyone accomplish what needs to be done for the day. This schedule doesn’t have to be strict, to the minute. But it should show an idea of when and how long something should take.

9. My faith

You can’t do anything without a little help from above! I would never be where I am today in homeschooling all my kids if it weren’t for those “God grant me patience before I kill this child” moments! You know the ones, one child, or all, are picking on you and each other (since they are classmates, friends and siblings) and the only way to get past that moment is to pray!

I love my time teaching all my children. I love being with them as they learn and I love letting them learn at their pace. Homeschooling multiple children is hard. It is not for the weak at heart. Homeschooling is for those who have a strong foundation and know that they want more for their children, whatever more is!

I would love to know how you homeschool with multiple children. Do you have a special tip that works in your house? Please share those tips in the comments for all to see!!

Amanda is a homeschooling mom from East Central Minnesota. She loves the hustle and bustle of homeschooling multiple grades, although sometimes she thinks she might have lost her mind! You can read more about the adventures of Moe Man, Ray Ray, Little Miss and Baby Girl over at Hopkins Homeschool.