Homeschooling one child is challenging enough. Now imagine trying to teach more than one or even several. There are things that become more complex but also more efficient with the addition of each new member to the homeschooling context.

It Gets Easier Each Time

When you begin to teach the second child it is surprisingly easier. You have learned from the mistakes made teaching the first child and are familiar with the curriculum. The content is probably fresh in your mind and you’re no longer trying to remember how to do all of these basic skills that are now automatic for you such as reading and counting. You also have learned shortcuts and other tricks that make your teaching more efficient.

The second child has also probably watched you teach the first one. When this happens they learn a lot of the content almost through osmosis. I have seen three years playing with how to write when the older sibling could barely write at five years of age. Just watching the older sibling sped up the development of the younger one.

The second child is also more likely to be eager to learn from watching the older child be in school as well since there is a culture of learning in the house now. They can’t wait for their turn to learn and this also makes things easier. Combine this with an experience parent and adding an additional student is not as burdensome as it seems.

Working Together

To be efficient and not stressed out many families teach non-core subjects (history, science, art, PE, etc.) to all children at the same time. The reason for this is that often in non-core subject the order the content is learned is not as important or linear. For example, in science, if a second grader learns about the weather before learning about plants it probably will not cause too much damage in their development if any at all.

Core-subject (reading, math) are taught separately because the difference in skill in the subjects can be extensive and there is a clear linear development in these subjects. The exception to this would be to have the older sibling serve as a teacher or tutor for the younger one. This really helps everyone involve in developing a better understanding and reduces the stress on the parent.

Independence of the Senior Student

With the addition of the second child to the homeschool, this calls on the oldest to become more independent. There is less one-on-one time to support them with the time that is no given to other children. Therefore, the older child will have to sometimes figure things out on their own. The benefit of this is the development of autonomy which is a hard to find skill in this world.

Instead of watching everything they do the parent is now more of a monitor who drops by to check progress rather than watch every academic move. This places some of the burden of learning on the child which is good for developing a sense of responsibility.

Conclusion

With a combination of experience, efficiency, and the help of older children, homeschooling multiple children is highly doable. The key is to get everyone working together to achieve the educational goals of the family.

Parents frequently have questions about homeschooling. In this post, we look at three common questions related to homeschooling.

1. How do you know if your child has learned
2. What do you do about socializing
3. What about college

How do You know if they Learned

One definition of learning is a change in observable behavior. In other words, one-way a parent can know that their child is learning is through watching for changes in behavior. For example, you are teaching addition and the child begins to do addition on their own. It is evidence that they have learned something. There is no need for standardized testing in order to indicate this.

A lot of the more advanced forms of assessment including standardized test was created in order to assess the progress of a huge number of students. In the context of homeschooling with only a few students, such rigorous measures are unnecessary. governments need sophisticated measures of achievement because of the huge populations that they serve which would be inappropriate when dealing with one or two elementary students.

Another way to know what your child has learned is to look at what they are studying right now. For example, if my child is reading I know that they have probably mastered the alphabet. Otherwise, how could the read? I also know that they probably have mastered the most of the phonics. In other words, current struggles are an indication of what was mastered before.

What about Socializing

The answer to this question really depends on your position on socializing. Many parents want their child to act like other children. For example, if my child is 7 I want him to act like other 7-year-olds.

Other parents want their child to learn how to act like an adult. For them, they want their 7-year-old child to imitate the behavior of them (the parents) rather than the behavior of other 7-year-olds. A child will only rise to the expectations of those around them. Being around children encourages childish behavior because that’s the example. Again for many parents, this is what they want, however, others see this differently.

The reality is that until middle-age most of the people we interact with are older than us. As such, it is beneficial for a child to spend a large amount of time around people who are older than them and understand the importance of setting an example that can be imitated.

All socializing is not the same. Adult-to-child socializing provides a child with an example of how to be an adult rather than how to be a child. Besides, most small children would love to be around their parents all day. They only grow to love friends so much because those are the people who give them the most attention.

What about College

This question is the hardest to answer as it depends on context a great deal. Concerns with college can be alleviated by having the child take the GED in the US or local college entrance examinations in other countries.

It is also important to keep careful records of what the child studies during high school. Most colleges do not care about K-8 learning but really want to know what happens during grades 9-12. Keep records of the courses the child took as well as the grades. It will also be necessary to take the SAT or ACT in most countries as well.

Conclusion

Homeschooling is an option for people who want to spend the maximum amount of time possible with their children. Concerns about learning, socializing, and college are unnecessary if the parents are willing to thoroughly dedicate themselves and provide their children with a learning environment that develops their children wholistically.

Some may be wondering what does it take to homeschool. Below are some characteristics of the homeschool.

Time management

Being able to adhere to a schedule is a prerequisite for homeschooling. It is tempting to just kind of doing things whenever when you have this kind of freedom. However, in order to be successful, you have to hold yourself responsibility like your boss would. This is difficult for most people who are not used to autonomy.

This is not to say there should be no flexibility. Rather, the schedule should not be cheated because of laziness. There must be a set schedule for studying for the sake of behavior management of the children. If the child doesn’t know what to expect they may challenge you when you flippantly decide they need to study. Consistency is a foundational principle of homeschooling.

Discipline

Discipline means being able to do something even when you do not feel like doing it. In homeschooling, you have to teach whether you want to or not. Remember, sometimes we had to work at our jobs when we didn’t feel like it and the same with teaching in the home. If you’re tired you still have to teach, if you’re a little sick you still have to teach, if you’re angry you still have to teach.

The child is relying on you to provide them with the academic skills needed to compete in the world. This cannot be neglected for trivial reasons. Lesson plans are key. Either buy them or make them. Keep track of completed assignment and note the progress of the student.

Toughness

As a homeschooling parent, you are the only authority in the child’s life. This means all discipline falls under your jurisdiction. One reasons parents enjoy sending their kids to school is to burden the public school teachers with their own child’s poor behavior. “Let the school deal with him” is a common comment I have heard when I was a k12 teacher. However, when you teach as a homeschool parent only you have the pleasure of disciplining your child.

Discipline is not only about taking away privileges and causing general suffering for unacceptable behavior. Discipline also includes communicating clearly with your child to prevent poor behavior, have clear rules that are always enforced, as well as providing a stable environment in which to study.

Patience

Homeschooling also requires patience. For example, you are teaching a basic first-grade math concept to your child that takes several weeks for them to learn.  Naturally, you start to get angry with the child and yourself for the lack of progress. You may even begin to question if you have what it takes to do this. However, after waiting for what seems an eternity they child finally gets it.

This is the reality of homeschooling. No matter how bad you think you are the child will eventually get it when they are ready. This requires patience in the parent and some confidence in their own ability to help their child to grow.

Conclusion

There are many more ideas I could share. However, this is sufficient for now. In general, I would not recommend homeschooling for the typical family as the above traits are usually missing in the parents. Many parents want to homeschool for emotional reasons. The problem with this is that when they feel bad they will not want to continue the experience. Homeschooling can involve love but it must transcend emotions in order to endure for several years.

Teaching a child to count and do simple math is much more challenge then many would believe. Below is a simple process that I accidentally developed from working with kindergarten home-school student for two years. Keep in mind that often these steps overlapped.

1. Number recognition
2. Counting
3. Counting with manipulatives
4. Flashcards with larger numbers
5. Writing numbers
6. Adding with manipulatives
7. Subtraction with manipulatives
8. Visual math

1.  Number Recognition

Number recognition simple involved the use of flashcards with the child. I would hold up a number and tell the child what the number was. Memorizing is perhaps one of the easiest things the young mind can do as critical thinking comes much later. This initial process probably took about 6 months with a four-year-old to learn number 1-20.

2. Counting

With the numbers memorized, the next step was to actually learn to count. I did this by holding up the same flashcards. After the child identify what number it was I would then flip the flashcard over and have them count the number of objects on the card. My goal was to have them make a connection between the abstract number and the actual amount that could be seen and counted.

Again it took about six months for the four and half-year-old student to master this from numbers 1-20. It was a really stressful six months.

3. Counting with Manipulatives

The next few steps happen concurrently for the most part. I started to have the student count with manipulatives. I would show or say a number and expect the student to count the correct number using the manipulatives. This was done with numbers 1-20 only.

4. Flashcards with Larger Numbers 

At the same time, I worked with the student to learn numbers beyond 20. This was strictly for memorization purposes. This continued from 4.5 to 6 years of age. Eventually, the child could identify numbers 1-999. However, the never discovered the pattern of counting. By pattern, I mean how the 0-9 cycle repeats in the tens, how the 1-9 cycle repeats for the tens when moving to 100s, etc. The child only knew the numbers through brute memorization.

5. Writing Numbers

Writing numbers was used as preparation for doing addition. It was as simple as giving the student some numbers to trace on paper. It took about 8 months for the student to write numbers with any kind of consistency.

6. Adding with Manipulatives

This involved me writing a math problem and having the student solve the problem use manipulatives. For example, 2 + 2 would be solved by having the student count two manipulatives and then count two more and then count the total.

My biggest concern was having the child understand the + and = sign. The plus sign was easy but the equal sign was mysterious for a long time. However, the learning rate was picking up and the kid learn this in about 3 months

7. Subtraction with Manipulatives

Same as above but only took one month to learn

8. Visual Math

At this stage,  the child was doing worksheets on their own. Manipulatives were allowed as a crutch to get through the problems. However, the child was now being encouraged to use their fingers for counting purposes. This was a disaster for several weeks as the lack the coordination to open and close the fingers independent of each other.

Conclusion

This entire process took two years to complete from ages 4-6 working with the child one-on-one. By the age of six, the child could add and subtract anything from 1-30 and was ready for 1st grade.

I would recommend waiting longer to start math with a child. Being 4 was probably too young for this particular child. Better to wait untili 5 or 6 to learn numbers and counting. There more danger in starting early then there is in starting late.