Homeschooling: Different Ages & Stages
Anyone else homeschooling a variety of ages and grades? Unless you have multiples, I would imagine this is a common issue for homeschooling moms!
I am in the thick of it with a 1st grader and a ninth grader on either end of the spectrum and a fifth and seventh grader in the middle. The difference in learning styles and concepts can be exhausting! My ultimate goal is for my children to master skills and then be able to teach that skill to others, so I spend a great deal of time investing into my older girls who can then teach my younger boys.
Since my oldest daughter is in her first year of high school, I am investing in her education so she can become the model of “lead learner” — soon to be able to teach what she has learned to her younger siblings.
I am inspired by current events in our educational process. For instance, I was able to use the November 2020 election as a reason to dig deeper into the history of American Documents, essays, and speeches including the Constitution, the Mayflower Compact, John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, Abraham Lincoln’s speech “A house divided” and so many others. It was so fun to revisit these historical events and compare it to what I experienced in my own education!
I try to teach to the highest level in my home and hope that small bits and pieces trickle down to the youngest. So far, that approach seems to be working, and the littlest is asking questions about certain topics and learning more history than I ever did in all my years. Find what works for your family unit and stay on that track!
Here are some more ways you can use “trickle-down learning” to homeschool your different ages and stages:
Create “pull-apart concepts” — this is a way to take complex subject matter and pull it apart into easier-to-understand chunks. For instance, if you’re working on geometry with your oldest, you can pull apart those more advanced concepts into hands-on experiments about volume and three-dimensional shapes, like cubes and pyramids, for your younger learners. Same subject matter, different levels.
Read aloud, even when the subject matter is “over their heads” — consider reading more advanced materials, especially those with less coloquial English (“Little Women” is a great example of a book written in an English style that is harder for modern readers to comprehend), aloud to all of your children at once. After reading a chapter, ask your oldest student to explain what they heard/understood to the younger ones. You could even have your older students act it out for the younger ones!
Don’t make assumptions about what is too advanced/too simple for your children — it’s easy to get seduced by grade levels. Remember that sometimes information can be absorbed and understood even by your little learners that may be above their official grade learning level. Offer information, watch for frustration and allow your gut to guide you. It’s a much better tell than an arbitrary grade number!
Get hands-on and in-person whenever you can — tactile and field-trip learning is some of the most easily understood, no matter the grade or age. Science experiments, cooking, hands-on learning with blocks and cubes, and in-person experiences at museums, historical locations, and libraries are some of the most memorable and — the best part? They automatically adjust to each child’s age and stage just through their own level of experience.