How to Balance Homeschooling Multiple Ages

As you work to balance homeschooling multiple ages, there are times when you feel like you’ve got this, and other times where you feel like you’re drowning. No one is free from this yo-yo affect, but it does get a bit easier the longer you keep at it and the more you employ the following tactics for a smoother homeschool day.

Strategies for homeschooling multiple ages

Forget the desks and use a table

While separate desks look cute, gathering around the kitchen table can make keeping tabs on the younger scholars a little easier. I like to keep my youngest ones on either side of me, while some of the older ones are further up the table from me. They stay at the table or near-by until they are older and able to complete their work more independently.

Keep your homeschool supplies close to your learning area

Moving between subjects has the potential to create chaos – especially when you have to leave the room or even move to a different part of the room to get your supplies. Once you get up, the children see an opportunity to disperse and then you have to spend extra time gathering everyone back again. When you keep your supplies close, you avoid the chaos and move from subject to subject much more smoothly.

My younger children each have a crate that holds their subjects and moves to the table with them. The older ones have their books in backpacks that they can take to a different part of the main floor to do their work. We also have basic supplies like pencils, scissors, glue sticks, etc. arranged in small mason jars in the middle of the table for easy access.

Group similar ages together for some subjects

If you have kids that are close in age, they can all do some of the same subjects together! This works really well with subjects like science, history, and electives, especially in the elementary years. This year, my 5th and 2nd graders are working on the same science units, and my 5th and 9th grader are working through the same history program. While you could create your own science or history units, curriculums like The Good and the Beautiful help make it a lot easier with their open and go units.

Let older kids help with younger kids

If you have a range of older children and younger children, don’t be afraid to have your older kids help out. Many times, having the older child teach the younger ones, actually enhances the learning experience for the older child. The younger children also benefit because their instruction isn’t being constantly interrupted by the needs of another student (at least not as often).

Older children can also benefit from helping with infants or toddlers if you need to spend some 1:1 time with one of your other children. They get to learn how to care for another human being and gain some very important life skills in the process. Just make sure that they still have time for their own course work.

Stagger work based on amount of parent involvement

In other words, rotate 1:1 time. Work with one child at a time and schedule in some independent work or independent play for those you are not actively working 1:1 with.

Encourage independent work

As each child gets older, they are able to handle more and more of their course work independently. Helping them learn how to work independently of you teaches both time management skills and resourcefulness. This doesn’t mean that you aren’t there to help them, but they have the ability to work through some things first.

Each of my kids have varying levels of independence. The highschooler and middle schoolers are 95% independent and come to me when they have questions. I also check in on them and their work to make sure that they are meeting my standards. Sometimes I have to pull them in when I start to see impatience or sloppiness in their work.

My elementary level students are a little more hands on, but have more and more independence with each advancing grade. There is always something I can have them do independently while I switch to a different student who needs my help. Even my Kindergartener can work on her handwriting while I help one of her brothers.

Don’t be afraid to cut a subject or switch curriculum

After all of the hard work you put into preparing your curriculum, the last thing you may want to do is cut a subject or even switch to a different curriculum for a particular subject altogether. However, it’s okay. Sometimes the things that we really wanted for our kids aren’t always the best fit for them or for the flow of the day, and it’s okay to switch it up a bit. Just be sure you don’t swing to the other side of the situation and throw out everything just because you reached a snag.

When you first start to have doubts about what you are using, give it a few more weeks to determine what it is that’s causing problems. Is it really the curriculum? Is it the whole subject (especially true for electives)? Or does it just need to be tweaked or worked on at a different time of day?

Once you’ve answered those questions and still want to depart from it, determine what (if anything) would need to replace it and what requirements that replacement would need to have before you go buy something new.

Create a daily checklist, but don’t be afraid to go out of order

At the beginning of every new school year, once all of my curriculum has been decided on and ordered, I create a “schedule” of how I think the optimal day will go. Many times the curriculum will indicate how long each subject should take, and I take those into consideration.

Once we get into our school year, I will mentally determine how reality is stacking up to that original “schedule.” If it’s working, I leave it, but many times I end up switching a few things around until our day, or most days, flow smoothly.

Know when to call it a day

Even with all of the strategies, tactics, and schedules, you will still have days where you will struggle to balance homeschooling multiple ages. It’s okay. Every day will NOT be perfect. Some days you may even find yourself needing to call it a day. That’s okay too.

On those days, take the kids outside and soak in the sunshine, have an impromptu playdate with friends, or even have everyone disperse to their favorite personal activities. Schooling can look like so much more than book work. By knowing when to call it a day, you are teaching your kids how to maintain a balanced pace in our frenzied world.

What balancing multiple ages looks like in my home this year

While I am a second generation homeschooler and have homeschooled my own kids off and on throughout the last 10 years, this is the first year in five years where I have had everyone home.

I was both a little anxious and excited to have all 7 of the kids doing school at home with me again. The summer was spent agonizing over curriculum. I knew exactly what some of the kids would be doing, but there were a few that needed a little extra figuring out.

The brutal start

It was finally all figured out and we got started with our school year. But man, those first six weeks were brutally overwhelming. Many times I wondered if I should reconsider my decision to not send some of them to school.

At the start of every day, 5 different people would need me at once, including the baby. I felt like I was constantly rushing from one child to another, bouncing between subjects, and snacks, and naps, to subjects again.

As we went through those first six weeks, I tried to pinpoint my biggest challenges. Then our first break week arrived at week seven and I made a plan.

Things take a turn for the better

The next six weeks went so much more smoothly. At the start of the school day, my 8th grader took care of the baby until her morning nap time. This freed up a little space so that I could work with my 5th and 2nd graders and Kindergartener.

Each of them started with math. The 5th grader worked pretty independently, and the 2nd grader had some independent math work that he could do. While they worked independently, I worked with my Kindergartener on her math. She then worked on handwriting independently while I did the dependent math lesson with my 2nd grader.

From there our day continued. My kindergartener usually finished with her schooling within the first hour. Once she was done, she got to have some time working on ABC Mouse while I continue to work with my 5th and 2nd grader on their remaining subjects. They did science together on a specific day of the week.

I also added my 9th grader into the work flow for specific subjects. He, the 5th grader, and the 2nd grader would all alternate. Many days, my 2nd grader would either finish up before the other two, or he would have a mid-morning break while I worked with the others. If he had a break, I would go back to help him with his remaining dependent subject(s).

Some of my original plans changed

Not only did I switch up the flow of our day, but I also switched up some of our curriculum. Latin is a subject that I really value. Both my 8th and 7th graders do Latin and I also had my 5th grader doing Latin. It ended up being too much of a workload for me and my 5th grader, so I nixed it and it has made such a difference!

I also ended up switching Science for my 9th grader around this time. What I had him doing ended up having more parental involvement than I was capable of giving. He is now using a science curriculum that allows him to be more independent.

As we approached the end of week 12, I finally made the decision to also switch up language arts for my 2nd grader. His original language arts wasn’t having a negative impact on our overall flow, but I didn’t feel like it was the right fit for him. Since switching to a different curriculum, he has been more enthusiastic about reading and I have felt more at peace with what and how he is learning.

Hang in there

Homeschooling multiple ages can be challenging, but it can also be such a great joy when it all starts to flow together!

In full transparency, this is the first year that I have legitimately felt great joy homeschooling my children. While the strategies above do help to create a joyful and peaceful atmosphere, that isn’t why I enjoy it.

I enjoy it because I have learned how to lean into each moment. Instead of my to-do list, I have learned how to focus in on what is right in front of me. I have learned how to be at peace with knowing that what I’m doing is enough.

That doesn’t mean that I shirk other responsibilities, but it does mean that I know the proper place that each responsibility has in my day. And I honor that placement.

This type of peace and joy is capable for as well as you balance homeschooling multiple ages. One step at a time.