How to Homeschool Three Kids All Different Ages
Are you thinking about homeschooling but overwhelmed wondering how on earth you’re supposed to teach all your kids that are all different ages and grade levels and all at the same time!? I was there too. I am a list person haha so I am going to give you a list of three things I do to help this process run smoothly and efficiently for our family. Keep in mind every family is different and one of the most amazing things about homeschooling is that YOU get to choose what’s right for YOUR family. What a freedom to have right!? I love it so much. Ok so here we go :)
Everyone has their own morning baskets.
We start our days with our own version of “morning baskets.” You’ve probably heard this term and wonder if it’s necessary and honestly for us it is…. I have yet to see a video that looks like our “morning time,” but maybe that will be coming in the future (this is me winking hahaha). I LOVE OUR BASKETS. Everyone has their own special basket that they pick out at the beginning of the school year. I fill it with things specific for each child ex: my daughter has her super cute and girly youth Bible, her special journal, art notebooks, pretty pens and stickers, her writing book (we use the good and the beautiful), a few small reading books, and her MP3 player with headphones (we put worship music on there for her and she loves it for her special time with Jesus). The boys have similar things but of course specific to the boys interests and their ages. When we wake up every morning every little has their own basket and does their own things while I make breakfast. This is where they all do their Bible reading, journal entries for the day, writing lessons, and art/extra reading - all together - at the same time - all without my assistance! (unless of course they need something but the point is they do it on their own). It’s so great because not only are they all working together but also it creates consistency. We wake up, brush our teeth, and get our baskets out. It’s a very relaxing and chill routine because mama loves a slow morning. I don’t do well with a get up and go go go morning…. I like a relaxing ambiance and time to get into the day and so do my kids.
We do THEMES for each month.
I love a good theme y’all. Sometimes I will buy unit studies - more specifics on those in another post - and sometimes I just put it together myself. Lets say we are doing “all about farms” for the month…I focus everything around the theme like field trips, art/crafts, books, podcasts/vlogs, fun activities we do at home, movies we watch, family projects like planting a garden etc.. I feel like this is something that has really helped my kids love learning TOGETHER. We are all on the exact same topic and learning about the exact same things - everyone is just doing their own “assignments” if you want to call it that. For example, Aria, my eight year old, will maybe do an oral presentation from a book we just read, while Josiah, my six year old, works on building me a scene from the book using blocks and stuffed animals, and Jaiden Reign, my four year old, colors me a picture of something related to the book we just read. Everyone is on the same page just at their own level. I love it and it’s become something we all look forward to!
I keep them busy at the same time.
When we go upstairs to do our “core” work like Math and English I give everyone something to do so I can give individual attention to each child. Does someone interrupt me and ask me for snacks or for something else to do sometimes? - yep lol but for the most part this has worked for us really well. So a typical day would look like I ask Aria to grab her English and math book and come sit with me and I give Jaiden and Siah a puzzle to do or a craft. When Aria’s done I will rotate and now have her read a book or two to Jaiden Reign while I help Josiah with his core work and so on… if things get wild one day I will put on a superhero themed kids workout video and it always does the trick :) I tried to use learning apps on my iPad for the kids to do at one point and it worked for a little bit, but ultimately I felt like it was a distraction and honestly there are a BAZILLION studies on how screen time is so bad for children and their brains so I said “never mind.” I’m not saying my kids don’t watch movies or shows, but we don’t use iPads and learning apps for school.
I hope these three things help you get your days running smoothly and allow for joy and peace to dance through your home. Remember, no one knows your family as best as you so choose things that are right for YOUR family. You may be a house full of morning go getters and enjoy doing math first thing and if that’s you - GO YOU! Do what’s best for your little homeschool and it will be sweet!
