The Quick-Start Guide to Homeschooling Multiple Ages

8 Keys to Teaching Multiple Ages in Your Homeschool

As I look around at our homeschool spaces today (the couch, the big comfy chair in the library, the dining room table, and one solitary desk in a bedroom for a child who just feels more comfortable in a more formal learning environment), I am reminded of the fact that although I've been teaching in some capacity for over two decades now, both in the classroom and out of it, these last fourteen years have been vastly different from the first seven.

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In some ways, those early years of traditional teaching at a brick-and-mortar school were harder because I was teaching 20+ kids in a way that only served to give them random information that didn't always have value to them for the long haul. Not to mention the fact that I spent a great deal of time on tasks that had nothing to do with learning--filling out attendance sheets,  drilling routines and procedures, responding to parental correspondence, and separating the predators from the prey, to name a few. Now, I only teach 5 kids and I do it in a way that leads them to the passions that are hard-wired in them and that will drive the rest of their days. And as an added perk, they like each other, most days!

But in some ways, those early years of traditional teaching at a brick-and-mortar school were easier because I was teaching 20+ kids all learning the exact same things at the same time. For better or worse, my classroom was one big unit that moved and worked in a single, straight direction. Now I teach 5 kids of varying degrees of knowledge and allow them to find their own unique journeys.

8 Keys to Teaching Multiple Ages in Your Homeschool #homeschooling #homeschool101

Teaching multiple ages in homeschooling these past fourteen years has been an exercise in flexibility, especially during the first ten years when it was raining babies in my home. (If you need some ideas for homeschooling with sanity when you have lots of little people who make big messes, be sure to check out Chapter 7 of Homeschool Bravely.) 

But with the help of a few daily practices, it hasn't been nearly as difficult as outsiders imagine it to be. I've gathered them all up for you in one easy-to-read format. 

Boys taking annual assessments

The Quick-Start Guide to Brave Homeschooling Multiple Ages is a 41-page digital download designed to help give you the tools you need to teach many children all at once. Because yes, you may be outnumbered—surrounded by lots of little people of varying ages and stages. And yes, teaching multiple kids while also mothering babies and toddlers will always include a certain level of chaos. But so much of the disorder and frustration can be overcome by making a few simple tweaks to both your schedule and your mindset. I've no doubt that the thoughts I've compiled in this guide will prompt you to persevere and will give you a generous helping of know-how.


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