How We Do it with Four

Posted by Christine | 0 comments

If you had told me ten years ago when my first son was born that in 2010 I’d be homeschooling anyone- let alone a fifth grader, second grader, and two preschoolers- I would have chuckled and shaken my head.  Now, here I am, homeschooling my kiddos and loving almost every minute of it.

It’s taken me a few years to feel really comfortable in my role as homeschooling mom.  I started when my son was in Kindergarten with a we’ll-take-it-year-by-year attitude; I liked to always give myself a way out if, come June, I had about had it.  And there were a few times when, especially during the crazy year when my second-born– a little imp named Maddy who has a heart-shaped face, ice blue eyes, and an attitude from here till Tuesday– rebelled against anything that looked like a house rule, I almost did take that “way out”.

But I didn’t.  And here we are.

The beauty of homeschooling is that every home does it differently.  And what works for me might not work for you, but you might be able to take a little here, and a little there and add it to your bag of tricks.

That’s what I’ve done– pieced together a learning collage that is a beautiful reflection of our family, and yet reliant upon those who have gone before us, or are still slugging it out in the trenches along with us.

I consider our family to be classically eclectic with a sincere respect for Charlotte Mason, a Montessori preschool philosophy, and an envious nod in the direction of unschooling (and I’m completely serious about that).  I don’t think my personality would survive unschooling, but I’ve gleaned so much from the writings and inspiration of unschooling resources, that I have become more flexible and relaxed every year.  I guess you could say I’m a closet unschooler who’s yet to take the plunge, and I admit, probably never will.

My brood includes a ten-year-old son, seven-year-old daughter with ADHD, and two little boys, ages three and four, who think they got the raw end of the deal being born later than the other two.  We are fortunate enough to have a full basement that we finished off exclusively to be our school space.  It now functions as a preschool room and school storage.  And don’t even ask how we’re going to keep finding space for everything we need as the kids get older.

No day is really “typical” but I, and the children, enjoy some semblance of order in our week. I like to have a skeletal schedule, they like to know what to expect, and probably three days a week we actually follow it.

I do a fair bit of school planning in the summer months- I try to get through Christmas, or at least Thanksgiving- and end up spending a few hours each weekend fleshing out our school plans.  Those hours are spent preparing works for our two preschoolers as well as workboxes and assignment pages for the two older ones.

We enjoy a rather leisurely weekday morning, though we have early risers.  I try to rise before the troops for Bible reading and prayer time, and everyone has joined me by 7 am.  They play or read till breakfast at 8 am, which my husband is able to have with us.  I will sometimes read a chapter of our current family read-aloud during breakfast (and definitely during lunch) and then while I clean up, the kids have free time.  They must be dressed with teeth brushed by 9 am when we have our circle time in the preschool room.

I began circle time last year to mimic the Montessori classroom that our older two originally attended, and that we all loved.

Our circle time includes calendar work, scripture memorization, songs, games, demonstration of the works for the little ones, and sometimes science concepts or seasonal activities.  After this time, the kids work on their calendar notebooks.  I took many ideas from wonderful blogs such as Mama Jenn, 1+1+1=1 and Homeschool Creations and adjusted them to fit our family.  The calendar notebooks have been instrumental in helping our math-challenged daughter grasp concepts.  Working with coins and place value manipulatives daily in the notebook have given her confidence and helped her progress to where she is now.

After completing their notebooks, it’s time to choose some work.  The preschoolers have the choice between math, language, practical, sensorial, science and craft activities each week.  I get many ideas online from blogs such as My Montessori Journey, Counting Coconuts, The Adventures of Bear and What DID we do all day?, or websites like File Folder Fun, Enchanted Learning, and PreKinders.  While they are working, the older ones have their workboxes nearby. 

Establishing workboxes for the older ones in the preschool room has been by far my best change of the year. Last year it was difficult to motivate my oldest son and daughter while I was busy with the younger two.  Now I give them each six to eight tasks to accomplish throughout the week, and those tasks are often activities that I never would get around to doing with them otherwise, such as logic problems, extra cursive or math practice, writing assignments, and fun things such as solitaire games and free time.  They are engaged, and I can spend quality learning time with the younger two.  Win-win.

We usually spend two hours in the preschool room and then they all have a bit of a break.  After break we all gather on the couch for an hour of reading time and a snack.  We have all come to really love this middle-of-the-day snuggle fest and everyone picks a couple of picture books to accompany our science or history reading and chapter book of the moment.  Often the three year old will ask to play quietly after a while (OK, and sometimes he whines instead of asking nicely) since he can’t stay focused for quite that long.

We have lunch and some more free time so that I can clean up and check some email (and maybe a few blogs, too).  The afternoon is devoted to more academic work for the older two.  I allow them some ownership of their time by writing out their to-do sheet for the week and letting them choose the order.  I give my ten year old son a bit more responsibility in planning his week and let him try his hand at time management.  By the end of the week, if he hasn’t finished his work, he has homework for the weekend.  And the weekend is the only time the Wii is allowed out of its box, so no one wants to have homework!

As a motivational tool I created “credit cards” for each of the kids this year.  I made and laminated pretty cards with their names on them and each week they have the opportunity to gain points.  I have posted way they can earn points, such as “Finished all workboxes”, or “Worked neatly and with a good attitude all week.”  I add the points at the end of the week with a dry erase marker and at the end of every month I set up a “Mom Store” with trinkets I’ve picked up from the dollar bins at Target or Michael’s.  They can spend their points as they wish.  These credit cards have been great for making them responsible for their work, especially when their gently competitive natures kick in!

For academics for my oldest, I used a Well-Trained-Mind framework. He’s a naturally organized, structure-loving guy and after a couple of years trying to stringently follow the structure set forth in the book, we’ve settled nicely into the parts that work for us, and scrapped the ones that don’t.  I use many of the resources from WTM, such as Story of the World for history and their science book suggestions, and follow the four-year rotation in both subjects.  I only use textbooks for math, grammar and spelling, and got those suggestions from the WTM as well.  We also do a lot of copywork, narration and dictation, and a lot of reading.

Then, after getting used to the classical framework I use with my oldest, my daughter came along and broke the mold. If a lesson takes more than 5-10 minutes, she is off in another world.  She learns in snippets through her day and the techniques that worked well for my son don’t work for her.  She’s very strong in reading and writing, challenged in math, and artistically inclined.  She’s also a perfectionist with ADHD.

So our afternoon work looks very different for the two of them.  We do most of the table work in the kitchen, with the younger two doing their workbooks right alongside their older siblings.  There are frequent breaks for the younger three, and everyone is usually done by 4 pm.  I will often take either my oldest son or my daughter aside for individual reading time on more difficult reading material and sometimes we all just play games, have a poetry day, or find enjoyment in a spur-of-the-moment lesson, such as bird-watching or taking a nature walk.  Life is full and fun.

Of course, it’s not always rosy.  My house is a mess much of the time, sometimes I fall asleep while reading aloud, and there are times I have to send everyone up to their rooms in the middle of a stressful day so I can get some peace and quiet.  But on the whole, I feel I’ve finally found what works for us.

There’s a good chance, though, that next year will call for something different.  And we’ll just go with the flow- something that homeschooling has taught me along the way.

Christine Hiester is a Christian, homeschooling mom to three boys and a girl, ranging in age from 9 to 2 years old. She is a musician by trade, eclectic in homeschool style, and continues to grow and learn along with her children in this journey of life and discipleship at home. Visit her blog at Fruit in Season.