A Day in the Life: Homeschooling 7 Kids

This article shares one perspective on homeschooling 7 kids. It’s not perfect, but nothing really is. As you will see, there are quite a few tweaks that continue to happen throughout the year. Yet, we still have a level of simplicity and flow that help our days stay ordered and balanced.

The Basic Rhythm of Homeschooling 7 Kids

8AM: Start School

• I work with the Kindergartener or 2nd Grader (I alternate days teaching with an older child)
• Designated older child helps Kindergartener or 2nd Grader
• Designated older child watches 1 year old
• Other children get started on independent work (usually math): They each have a list they can refer to that helps them know what to work on next.

9AM:

• Kindergartener is usually finished.
• Older helper children start on their school work.
• Kindergartener plays with 1 year old OR plays on ABC Mouse if 1 year old takes a nap.
• I continue to work with 2nd Grader and assist the other children as needed the rest of the morning. It’s not always as smooth as it sounds. Many times I still have multiple children needing me at once. Sometimes I redirect them to something else, and other times I ask them to wait while I finish with someone else.

10:30/11AM:

• I work on non-independent work with specific children. This is dependent on the day: 2nd and 5th grade science on Monday, 5th and 9th grade US Government on Tues/Thurs., 5th – 9th grade Health on Tuesday.

11:30AM:

It’s lunch time! Then everyone pitches in for kitchen and zone clean up – each child has an area they are responsible for.

Afternoon:

• Finish up whatever schoolwork isn’t completed.
• The kids explore their interests – some days that involves gaming.
• Two days a week we go to my parents’ where my mom works with a couple of the boys on some learning skills.
• The baby takes a nap some days.
• I take some time to get projects completed: blogging, bread making, research, etc.

Homeschooling 7 Kids Didn’t Always Look Like This…

At the beginning of the year I was doing it all. All of the kids would start school at 8AM. Instead of having helpers, I was left juggling the baby, Kindergartener, and 2nd Grader plus the needs of the others as they came up. As you can probably imagine, everything took longer, the kids were getting distracted because they had to wait on me, and I felt frazzled by the end of the day.

I kept that up for six weeks. It felt like the longest six weeks of the entire school year. On week seven we had a planned break week and I took that time to re-evaluate my approach to the school year.

Don’t be afraid to tweak things

Quite a few things changed after that break. I realized that my older child could help with the baby while I worked with my Kindergartener. That enabled me to give some of the others more of my attention. However, it still wasn’t until we were half-way through the school year that I also had one of the other older kids help with the schooling of the younger ones.

I also discontinued using some curriculum – specifically Latin. While I think that learning Latin is very valuable in the education of my children, I realized that requiring it ended up being a disservice to some of my children in this season.

It’s okay to make those kind of calls. There are so many good things out there, but we have to discern what is best for each child in each season of our homeschool. Sometimes we will have multiple seasons in one school year. The trick is to be okay with letting one good go, to allow for a greater good to happen.

For us, that looks like cramming in less electives and spending more time on the basics and everyone’s unique interests.

Homeschooling 7 kids is possible….

Is it always perfect? No. Is always peaceful? No. Yet there is a balance between the two – a balance between perfect and peaceful. You won’t get it right the first time or maybe even the hundredth time, but that’s okay too.

Even so, that doesn’t mean you won’t find your rhythm. It doesn’t mean that your kids are better off somewhere else or doing something else.

Trust that God has you and your children right where you need to be in this season. Be open to growth. Be open to learning – you and your kids together. You may not be the best person ever to help your child, but if you have discerned that God has called you to homeschool, then you are the best person to help them in this season.

Lean into that. Let that be your prayer. Ask God for the grace to carry out this calling that He has called you to.

…And a side note if it’s not

If you have a desire to homeschool, but you have discerned that this is not the season you are called to it, then let that be okay. The guilt and shame for not homeschooling has a way of eating at you. Instead of letting it consume you, ask for God’s peace and for His guidance as you determine what is best for your family in this season.

Your plan of action for homeschooling your kids

1. Get to know your state’s laws around homeschooling and what is required.
2. Research curriculum: Use your best judgement on the needs, personality, and learning style of your child as well as your own.
3. Decide on curriculum/method of learning: It may not be the best fit ever, but let it be the best fit for now.
4. Write out 2 flexible plans for your school day. 1) Loosely block schedule your ideal day: What subjects happen when, meal times, break times, etc. Think about how you want it to flow. Do you like rigidity, spontaneity, or something in between? 2) Identify your non-negotiables on your ideal day. Look to these on the days where everything seems to be going wrong.
5. Implement and observe for two weeks and adjust accordingly.
6. Keep going – you’ve got this! Don’t be afraid to tweak something throughout the year as needed.

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