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Angel
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| Posted: Dec 07 2011 at 6:37pm | IP Logged
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I am hoping y'all can help me brainstorm. I have 6 yo twins, an 8 yo who isn't reading, and a 4 yo who likes to work at the table. I also have an 18 month old who is now into *everything* and likes to climb.
My problem is trying to organize the "have-to" subjects for my 3 kids who can't really work independently, while keeping my 4 yo busy, and keeping up with my 18 mo. "Have-to" subjects here are reading, writing, and math. (Math not so much for the 6 yos, who love math and do it for fun, but.... they really need their time organized to some extent because they tend to get in a lot of trouble on their own sometimes.) My 8 yo also has to do vision therapy.
What seems to happen is that even when I think someone ought to work independently, it ends up being not possible (or the children in question do not all show up at the same time when they're supposed to, but that's another issue.) For instance, all 3 of the school-age boys are using Teaching Textbooks 3 (my 6 yos love math). But my 6 yos still kind of need someone to sit beside them so they can follow directions. So if I'm trying to do vision therapy with my 8 yo, have one of my twins do handwriting, and the other math, someone is always interrupting to say, "How do you do this? Mommmmmmyyyyy...."
Throw in a 4 yo who changes his activity every 5 minutes and an 18 month old trying to climb on the counter and it can easily devolve into chaos. I seem to be able to do reading for 2 kids, but not 3 in a morning. I started thinking about it, and if I spent 45 minutes with each boy , that would be over 2 hours of dedicated in the seat time for me. I'm not sure how to organize that, since they all seem to be at sort of the same level. We do get a late start, and I do have trouble with dawdling, bickering, etc. Activities that are too planned by me also do not always go over well. I've thought about just teaching them together as a class, but... not exactly sure how I would go about that either. They *are* at slightly different places in learning to read, writing, and math.
Ideas?
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Elena
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| Posted: Dec 08 2011 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
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I've been where you are! The good news is it gets easier. 
The only way I could figure it out was to:
- do as much as possible before the little ones get up
- Make good use of mandatory nap times.
- Sometimes after dinner when daddy is home
You might even have to make use of all three of those times, one with each kid! When you are working one on one with a child, I'd go ahead and let the other siblings entertain each other in a different part of the house. I still use that one.
It might be hard to do the 6 and 8 year olds as a math class, but they could certainly do other things as a class, especially science, history and religion.
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Elena
Wife to Peter, mom of many!
My Domestic Church
One Day at a Time
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Willa
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| Posted: Dec 09 2011 at 12:02am | IP Logged
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When my kids were all younger and more dependent, I usually just rotated through them, either working with one kid at a time in all basic subjects, or else working by subject (oldest doing math, then second, then third, or whatever). I never had much luck teaching multiple children at one time unless it was something like read-alouds or catechism discussion or hands=on projects. Mine didn't really like "formal" things either so it worked better to keep it lowkey and conversational.
I don't think I ever got all the way through everything I wanted them to do in a day. I made a simple checklist -- childrens' names across the top, subjects listed vertically. So if at the end of the week my oldest got four days worth of each basic subject, and the younger ones got 3-4 days per subject, then I felt like we were at least progressing.
With 6 year olds, it seems to me that reading is the main agenda (if they seem basically ready to learn). Handwriting and math seem easy to catch up on later. Reading is too, but it's nice to have kids able to read because then they can do that on their own.
So if you could get reading and a little math and handwriting done 4 days a week with your oldest, and reading at least done with your twins about 4 days a week (maybe even doing a little on Saturday sometimes) then you have most of the important bases covered. You could plan a handwriting intensive for the summer once they are reading a bit, and for math, do a few minutes of flashcards or let them work at their own pace out of a simple workbook.
I really applied Charlotte Mason's SHORT LESSONS idea with my youngers. If we got 10 minutes in I felt like it was something. It adds up over time. I remember someone on the Catholic Charlotte Mason list saying "baby steps" and that really helped me! Even a tiny bit of reading practice every day adds up in the long run!
Just some ideas!
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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kristinannie
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| Posted: Dec 09 2011 at 9:56am | IP Logged
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I don't use Teaching Textbooks so I can't speak to that. I can tell you that my DS5 does two math programs (McRuffy Color math and Miquon) because he is gifted in math and I want to give him that challenge. Each one takes 10-15 minutes. He doesn't have an attention span longer than that. I try not to spend more than 15 minutes on a subject before moving on (often it is only 5 minutes).
Could you possibly rotate your day so you are working with one of the three on a subject, the second kid is doing an independent subject like handwriting or phonics while the third kid is playing with the 18 month old?
I have a 19 month old who wreaks havoc during school. This is my new plan. I have a gated off living room that is mostly child safe (we have a marble fireplace that he sometimes climbs on). I have a few toys that he only gets during school that really keep his attention. I put one in there and that usually buys me about an hour. He will sit in his high chair when we do read alouds or a unit study or a craft in the kitchen. Most days, I do put him in his exersaucer and let him watch a show while we do school as well. Hopefully I am not ruining him for life. 
Be patient with yourself. This season in life doesn't last forever. Luckily, the kids are mostly younger when it is happening so it isn't like it is that damaging to their education. Pray about it. Talk to your husband about it. You will find what works for you. Just be kind and patient with yourself!!!!
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John Paul 8.5
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Katherine Elizabeth 8 months
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Dec 09 2011 at 8:21pm | IP Logged
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We do the short lessons, too. 5 minutes for handwriting, both boys sit down together and do it. Often times they are copying the same poem (I use StartWrite and make custom worksheets for each of them). I hang around to make sure they stay on task and answer questions.
We do 10 minutes on math, and while DS1 is doing something independent I do something with DS2. I also try to occupy the 3 1/2 year old and the 18 mo with SOMETHING. A toy in their room, or a specific task (they like to wipe the baseboards with damp washcloths? I think they play Cinderella or something.)
We use a variety of materials and a timer to keep things on task. So I might set up DS1 on the computer for 20 mins, and go sit down and do a living math book, a phonics lesson, a religion reading, and a fun story book wtih DS2 in those 20 minutes. Then I set DS2 up on the computer for 20 mins and do history (with a narration), catechism, and Primary Language Lessons (orally) with DS1. Then we will come together for a nature reading and some poetry reading or something like that.
Also, I will get a free audiobook from Overdrive or Librivox of classic children's literature and play it during lunch. A lot of the public domain books are available on librivox for free in audio format. You could invest in a few inexpensive mp3 players if you don't already have them and have them listen to their lessons that way while they color or build legos?
Anything I can combine and include all the kids in, I do. Anything that is individual has to be kept short and sweet, and I have to have something for the other kids to do in the meantime.
I also ditto taking advantage of naps!
Do your six year old do a lot of the same things? Can you combine science, religion, writing time, etc for all three of the older kids and keep the lessons short? Can you create a routine of readings, like a morning basket, that includes short readings that cover a lot of subjects and everyone can be a part of?
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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Erin
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| Posted: Dec 10 2011 at 1:55am | IP Logged
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Angela 
Oh I relate although my life doesn't seem quite so chaotic with this bunch of readers for some reason, personalities I think.
Well it was already suggested that perhaps you rotate the boys so that this means they will be doing reading 3-4 days a week. You could also consider getting the 'third' child to read to you of a night as you tuck them into bed.
Regards Maths, could your older two sit next to the twins, using that time to do a lighter subject for themselves that they wouldn't mind being occasionally interrupted for?
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Erin
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Organizing time for multiple non-readers?
