Homeschooling boys with multiples ages is one of the best multitasking jobs a mom can place on her resume. That’s what we homeschool moms are doing, or allowing ourselves to be changed by our children. My children help me grow, and since I have all boys’ there is a lot of personal development that is happening. Teaching my boys’ has been one to the best life experiences that I have had the opportunity to partake in.
Most school classrooms teach one level and all of the kids’ are close in age. Homeschooling looks different and my classroom has a 15 year old, 13 year old and now a 10 year old. We work well together to develop good habits for kids. We add in reading aloud, hands on activities and multiple homeschool electives. Our day is set up so that we have group studies and then individual studies. I try very hard to hold as many classes together that I can. Math and Language Arts are currently independent studies.
Group Studies and Read Alouds
We do our read aloud in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, and include various topics of reading. For our house we also read independently and we take our books to music practices so when one is in piano or guitar practice the others’ are completing their individual reading time. Since my children were small we have held read aloud time every day that we can. The books have changed and the kids’ have grown up, but we all still like to sit down after lunch and take 30-40 minutes while I read.
Utilizing read aloud time is important when homeschooling boys. It gives mom a chance to take a break and they have can listen while not having to think to much. Homeschooling Boys’ are keep me active so I don’t read longer than 40 minutes. Usually that means it is time for a moment of relaxation.
Hands On Projects for Homeschooling Boys
As we work through history and timeline I have my kids’ work on projects. One week my oldest son made Stonehenge, the next week we made a Spartan battle scene. We have many great ideas they have exhibited over the years. I keep a box of recycling materials in our garage. They are able to use these for their projects.
Other items that I keep on hand for them to create something is yarn, pool noodles, glue and random lids. I love to see what ideas they come up with for the weekly topic. Boys’ love to be busy and work with their hands building something. Homeschooling boys’ means lots of hands on projects.
Spelling Bee’s Give Us Movement
Our spelling starts out boring, not really but sometime’s they think so. On day one I have them complete a word search. From that we use the words and write them on cards. Day two we play beat the timer with the spelling cards and bananagrams. I give them 5 minutes to spell all of the words on the cards. It is a fun way for them to work on spelling. Day three they stand up and I read the cards that they have for each person. Each stack of cards and the word searches are equivalent to their level.
As I read through the cards they stand up to recite them back correctly. It really is fun and gets entertaining. I have them write their names on the board and for each word they get correct they get a point. At the end of the Spelling Bee when all of the cards are used we count up the points. The winner sometimes gets a piece of chocolate for winning.
Multiple Age Teaching
I try to accommodate each age group in our lessons. Then for the independent lessons I sit down with each one of them to help, watch or guide. If they are flying solo and totally get the lesson then I move on. They are free to follow the schedule on the board and work at their own pace. When they are finished I ask them to always make sure they have done their best work. I would rather them write one great paragraph than five paragraphs that say nothing and are messy.
Teaching more than one age group is a good way for moms to stay on top of their game. Don’t knock it until you have tried it! For more tips on affordable ways to homeschool sign up for my newsletter.
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