I mentioned a few months ago that I’d started homeschooling my kids for preschool. (Preschools cost a bit more here than they did in Texas.)
Not gonna lie, it’s a serious struggle. I mean, sure, I have a teaching degree and all, but it doesn’t make it any easier (especially when it’s your own kids you’re teaching!). My kids are different ages, so I’m still trying to figure out the balance between their current knowledge and skills and their learning styles. What I’ve started doing is more one on one stuff — I sit down with one daughter while the other plays. It kinda works. It works with my oldest daughter, but when I’ve got my youngest down for her lesson, my oldest wants to “help,” which basically means she wants to sit next to her sister and call out all the answers.
Which, as you might guess, is just plain awesome.
I’m using bits and pieces of the High Reach multi-age preschool curriculum and supplementing with workbooks. I’m also doing my own art projects with the kids, like painting and things like that. Art is their favorite “class,” but we’re still working on the other stuff.
Any of you homeschooling parents have any ideas/suggestions about how to teach multi-age/multi-level kids? I know it’s just preschool, but it’s still important!
I have kids at 8, 5, and 1 years old. All boys. We went totally unschool so we could use all of our time more wisely. Most of our classes are integrated so multiple ages learn at the same time, except for more advanced lessons. We try to make it fun. Right now I’m working on a unit study using the Borg from ST:TNG to teach science.
How did you integrate your classes for the different ages and levels? Also, how are you doing the Borg unit? Because AWESOME!
Hi there! Sounds like you are doing a wonderful job already. My kids are 31/2 and almost 5 and because they are so close in age (as it sounds like yours are) they enjoy a lot of the same activities, stories, songs, etc. So we do ‘circle’ time or whatever you want to call it together where we read a story or two, sing a song or do action rhymes, etc. that go with the theme of the week. Then we head to the table for activities (file folder games, match activities, sorting, preschool ‘worksheets’, etc.) I generally have some different activities for each of them since the youngest is just learning numbers/letters/shapes, etc. but the oldest is already reading. While you are working with your youngest, maybe try to keep the oldest distracted with activities she enjoys (ie. assign a specific task rather than just telling her to go play) so she doesn’t interrupt with the answers – some things my kids enjoy are sorting (buttons, coins, jewels, anything!), play dough (try to tie it in with your theme), stickers, lacing, or if the craft is something she can do fairly independently then let her get a head start on her own, or I give my daughter spelling words to copy or simple math to do on the whiteboard. Or give her scrabble tiles and have her find all the letter “P”s or whatever, or find the letters in her name, or depending on her age, give her some words to spell. Or give her a challenge – how many of these balls can you throw into the bucket? (or pennies into the jar? beans into the egg carton? etc.) If none of these work, there is always duct tape! LOL.
I like the duct tape… lol kidding (no, really!). I’ll try giving her an independent task and see how that goes. She likes knowing she can do things her sister can’t (oh the rivalry!) so math problems or Scrabble tiles just might work with her.
Thanks for the tips!