I have sanity-saving homeschool hacks about how to teach multiple ages. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter.
And having specific how-tos is a must. Today, I have rounded up 6 homeschool hacks teaching multi-age children.
Look at these specific ways to teach multiple ages of homeschooled children.
Tried and Tested Teaching Tips
1. Let the kids take turns reading.
When kids on the same reading level hear each other read, there may not be any motivation to improve.
But when a younger sibling hears an older sibling reading, it’s personal and can inspire an immature reader to keep improving.
And when an older sibling hears a younger sibling reading, it can reinforce key or basic points about an idea or teaching point in a book or story.
Try reading round robin while each child takes a paragraph and it will keep all of your children learning and it’ll add some fun and spice to your day.
2. Listen to a motivating audio reading together.
Have you ever listened to a story told by Jim Weiss?
If not, you may be missing out. Learning while a story is being told or listening to a book being read is an essential skill to lifelong learning.
Interest is a key point in learning to listen and so it’s important to hear stories that your children are all ears to listen to.
Don’t just pick things to listen to willy nilly and don’t underestimate the value of learning how to listen well.
3. Do Map work.
Map work can be done together while each child works on his own skill set.
The key to not becoming completely stressed out is to find one theme or time period for all the kids to work on together.
For example, if you’re studying the American Civil War then choose one or two maps from that same time period.
Older children can locate battle sites within a certain region or choose battle sites by year. Younger children can label the states involved in the war.
When my boys were younger, they also drew animals that lived in a certain area like deer or birds.
A map can be a project when your child goes beyond just labeling.
Drawing in local foods, animals and landmarks also makes it coming alive.
We would spend a few days working on maps for a certain period.
And by keeping the maps all within the same theme or time period, each child would put what piqued his interest about that area.
It was a great learning experience because my kids would learn from each other as child focused on something differently.
It was an enriching experience for all of us.
Too, instead of all the work being on my shoulders, the children learned research skills and were responsible for their own learning.
4. Do ONE lapbook or notebook for ALL of your children.
Don’t think each child has to do a lapbook. Our Civil War lapbook is a joint project.
Each child added pages and the lapbook turned out unique and memorable.
In addition, learning how to collaborate together, especially with a sibling is a lifelong skill.
More Homeschooling Multiple Ages Tips
If a child can’t get along with his brothers and sisters, he will have a hard time transitioning to a career or college which almost always involves collaborating.
5. Memory work.
Learning poetry or memorizing lists is another easy and valuable way to teach multiple ages.
Each child can memorize an amount of lines or words that corresponds with his age.
This is a ton of fun and more than I realized as we did it through the years.
Each child is normally adamant about repeating back his lines correctly and each sibling listening is equally adamant about correcting him if he falters.(wink)
Look at How To Teach Your Homeschooled Children Shakespeare to grab a helpful resource.
6. Virtual field trips.
For the most part, my boys looked forward to field trips because it meant they could see other kids.
And in today’s technology filled world there is no choice to have to attend only a physical location.
Having a choice of attending a virtual field trip without having to leave your home is a wonderful tool we need to embrace.
Virtual field trips that are interactive allows your kids to learn together without the stress of trying to leave the house when you’re zapped of energy or finances.
Look at my post 7 Benefits of Virtual Field Trips that May Change Your Perspective to get some ideas.
Whether you’re using a boxed curriculum or an eclectic curriculum, these 6 teaching shortcuts will keep learning fun and easier.
Also, grab some tips here 5 Days Of The Benefits & Challenges of Teaching Mixed Ages Together and grab my free form on that page for showing you which subjects are best taught together.
Hugs and love ya,
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I love the idea about letting the kids take turns reading. By the end of the day, I’m just sick of hearing myself talk after we’ve had our morning basket of reading, then lessons in the afternoon, and bedtime stories. I can’t wait until my 6 year old is ready for more reading aloud!
Hey Shannen,
Glad to have you here and I loved when they took turns. I hear ya about reading aloud..lol I know it seems like the time will not come when you can stop bedtime stories, but my time for that has ended :(. Don’t rush it!