Author: Heather Khodadadi

“How do you homeschool multiple kids?”

This honestly is one of very few things that has benefited me as a former public school teacher. I was ready and equipped to handle teaching children at different levels.

Family style learning is when you learn together as a family. Usually, school work looks similar yet is differentiated.

It can be super challenging to teach multiple children at the same time. I have four children and have learned that this approach is best for my family. I started implementing family style learning when my oldest two children were 2 and 4.

Back when I had younger children, we would start off our school time with something that resembled “circle time” that I would do in public school. We would sing songs and do our calendar. This would be followed by some sort of read aloud, themed “school work” that I would print off, and crafts. The rest of the time we would play which would consist of fine motor activities, gross motor activities, puzzles, games, crafts, etc.

As my children got older and a third child was added to our family, we changed things up. That is what is beautiful about homeschooling as it can ebb and flow with your seasons of life. We started doing more structured work. My circle time morphed into what we called “white board time”. I probably should have called it something better and cuter like “morning meeting” but c’est la vie.

During this time, we would still do our calendar, but I had two calendars! I liked adding in educational elements to our calendar. Since my older two were almost on the same level, I just needed two different ones. Similar activities yet differentiated. Everyone (ages 2, 5, and 7 at the time) had their own white board. My older two would copy work down from the board while my 2 year old would draw on her white board or match the letters that I had written down. I did what I needed to do to include her and give her things that were age appropriate. We would follow the similar pattern that I had started in the beginning…. books, work, and craft yet now I added in a formal lesson and reading chapter books aloud. My 2 year old was always encouraged to join in with us. Any activity we did, I always tried to have something similar to allow her to be included. When I read longer books aloud, I always ensured everyone had a quiet activity such as coloring, puzzles, or blocks to help keep everyone engaged.

As my children grew (and we added yet another to the mix), our school days changed. I always started off our school day with us together at a table. It still looked similar as what I had done in the past but a little different and more. As the older children needed me more for more structured lessons, I encouraged my younger two to go play, listen to an audio book, or set them up with an activity. Then, I’d pull my younger two to be with me while the older children did independent work. I would still do activities throughout the day to keep bringing us back together whether it was a game, a read aloud, a craft, or activity.

Now, I have 4 children that are all at different levels which can be challenging. I still implement family style learning because it is important to me. Earlier in this school year, we did a study on Ancient Egypt. I really wanted to do this with my older two children (11 and 13) for history yet wanted to include my younger two children (5 and 8). We learned about it together and I gave my older three age appropriate report assignments. My older two were assigned to research and learn about an important person while my 8 year old learned about the pyramids with me. As I was helping them gather resources for their presentation, I printed off extra for my 5 year old. As the kids gave their presentation one night, my 5 year old insisted on telling us about her report too and what she learned.

This to me is what makes homeschooling so great. It allows family to be, learn, and grow together. Is it easy doing school with multiple kids? Well…. it has its challenges, but it is my opinion that it is a lot easier than trying to teach each child a separate curriculum.

Teaching children together and then differentiating their work resembles a lot of what I would do in the public school classroom. Since there is absolutely no classroom where every child is on the exact level, we would present a lesson to the whole class and then pull small groups to work with kids that were on similar levels. During small group instruction, the rest of the students are busy doing other types of independent work. Family style learning is similar to that model except you do not have 25 eight year olds… you have 2-6 children who are all different ages and abilities.

How to Implement Family Style Learning

• Start your school day off all together. This can be something as simple as:
  • reading a book together
  • journaling
  • a morning basket
  • circle time
  • morning meeting
• Look into unit studies to allow your children to learn about something together and then differentiate the work.
• Find ways to include your younger children. Do this by having coloring sheets, play dough, dot paint, etc close by. If you include them, keep in mind that you will probably need to change the activity about every 5-10 minutes (if not sooner) to keep them engaged.
• Consider breaking your children into smaller groups and having some independent work ready for whoever you aren’t working with. This doesn’t have to be actual work as in worksheets. It can be puzzles, blocks, coloring or drawing, games, a craft etc. Have a few options available so they can work independently.
• Find ways to pull your family back together. You can do this by
  • a family game (have younger children pair up with you or an older child)
  • reading a book aloud and having tea or a snack
  • go for a walk
  • play together outside
  • bake something
  • do a craft

Things to Consider When Homeschooling Multiple Children

I pride myself in trying to keep things real. I’m not a perfect mom, wife, or homeschool teacher. With that said, I want you to know that it can be difficult to teach multiple homeschool children. However, I strongly feel that the family style approach is the easiest. Here are some things that I have noticed:

• Doing homeschooling with a newborn, infant, or young toddler is HARD even with the family style approach. If you are going through any of these seasons, just know that it is hard and try to keep it simple and stick to the basics. Naptimes are golden for homeschooling older children when you have babies or toddlers.
• There will be seasons where homeschooling is easier and times that it is harder. Remember that homeschooling is flexible and can look different during different seasons.
• If you are finding homeschool to be difficult, take a break and deschool a bit. You and the children probably could benefit from a break.
• Move around your house a bit especially with younger kids. It helps them stay engaged. For example, if you do your morning meeting at the kitchen table, do an activity there for about 20 minutes and then get up and move to the living room and do something on the floor (yep… the floor.) After that, move to the couch and read a book or if it is a nice day go outside and read. Try to move around to keep all of your children on-task.

Family style learning runs deep in our family since I’ve been doing it for 9 years now. I love it and couldn’t imagine teaching any other way. It is actually why I created my journal series. I knew one of my children would benefit from having a specific journal that I didn’t see available anywhere else (Book 3). Plus, I am particular and wanted it to look a certain way (yep… I’m that kind of person. LOL) I knew what my child needed to write well and stay engaged. However, I knew my other children would want the exact…same…thing. That is how one idea grew into a series of books. I try my best to do this with all subjects with my children…. similar books yet different. It makes my life easier.

Do you have questions about teaching multiple children?

Please leave me a comment below or email me at thelifeschooler@gmail.com.