Homeschooling Techniques: Teaching Major Subjects to Different Ages

Teaching major subjects to different ages can be done! With this homeschooling techniques post I will show you how to do just that!

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How do you homeschool multiple grades at once?

The biggest fear I had before starting homeschooling was that I have three different ages of children that I would need to teach, so does that mean I need to teach History three different ways? What about Language? And Science? MATH?? OH MY! A fear of teaching major subjects, three different ways and all in one day, would likely cause anyone to pull their hair out! Luckily, this is not the case! One of my ah-ha moments came when reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (From the Little House Series found here) to the boys.

The main character, Almanzo, attended a school made up of one classroom with grade levels ranging from kindergarten through high school. All of these children would sit through class together day in and day out. I would imagine the teacher wouldn’t give different lectures for different age groups all the time. Rather, he would teach a bulk of what he could as a class and then give age appropriate work for things like: math, spelling, and language. Keep in mind that language at the older grade levels is self paced readings with directional writings. Ah-ha! Of course–this is how they did it in the past! And this is how we should go about doing it ourselves.

How to Teach History to Multiple Grade Levels

Let’s start with History. This is a subject where I use books that are categorized as Living Books. These types of books teach you history by putting you into the story. You actually feel as though you’re there watching important events happen all around you. Mind you, I am reading books geared toward their ages. I have a first grader, a fifth grader, and a seventh grader.

I chose a book that is at a middle school level and read it to all of them. The first grader does very well following along. I credit the fact that it’s a living book and they are so much fun to read! I do stop at the end of every few paragraphs or at the end of a page to ask questions and make sure he’s still engaged. I do this also for the fifth grader, and the seventh grader, although they are excellent now at following along as they are used to being read to and have had the most experience of sitting and listening. This helps to mold them into great listeners!

At the end of the chapter I ask them to give me a summary of what was read, and when we finish a book, I have them do a creative writing assignment that places THEM in the actual events that took place in that time. They will write about their life during that time and what is happening to them as these important events unfold, such as Thanksgiving. It’s fun to see how creative they can be!

After reading the Landing of the Pilgrims (found here), my seventh grader wrote about how he and his family escaped from England due to religious persecution to live in Leydon, Holland, and how he held a newborn baby named Rembrandt (we studied him in art) before leaving for the New World. Yes!–all the same timeframe!  What an imagination! A book series I highly recommend is Rush Revere (found here). This is enjoyable for all ages!

How to Teach Geology And Language to Multiple Grade Levels

Geology is another being taught to both at the same time thanks to the living history books and a curriculum that I use from Simply Charlotte Mason found here. They are used to using maps and referencing them when studying a new artist, composer, or poet. This gives them a great knowledge of other countries as they are learning about these artists.

Another major subject I teach simultaneously to the two older ones is Language. The curriculum I highly recommend for all age groups is First Language Lessons For The Well Trained Mind (found here). The teacher’s guides are a must have in order for the workbooks to work! It is completely scripted and easy to follow.

How to Teach Science And Math to Multiple Grade Levels

Science is yet another one we do as a group. At the moment we are working on the stages of plant life and as a project they’ve made a composting bin. These teachings will really come in handy when it’s time to plant the garden–our next big project! Some books to get you started are found here. The boys are also in 4-H where they are learning animal husbandry and animal science, not to mention their everyday life of helping run our farm!

Math is a subject that I do teach them separately–don’t think there’s any way around that! The curriculum I like is Christian based called Horizons Math (found here), in which I would really recommend buying the teachers guide (found here), as you don’t want to spend your day figuring out problems. There are also extra practice worksheets in the back of the teachers guide, if more practice is needed. A definite con for me regarding this curriculum is that the “short” lesson is located in the students workbook. I really wish they’d have a more informative instruction in the teachers workbook. It only states the concepts, objectives, materials, and activities.

How to Teach Handwriting to Multiple Grade Levels

They all do handwriting workbooks. The two older ones have learned how to write in cursive and the younger one is perfecting his print. They also have copy work they do from classical books to also help sharpen their writing skills, spelling skills, vocabulary, and handwriting.

What Electives to Teach Homeschoolers

Things we also do together that are not major subjects, although we treat them as though they are are: 

Picture Study – Studying a great artist, done once a week.

French – 30 min study daily

Personal development – Studied twice a week.

Piano – Practiced daily by the older ones for 45 minutes and 20 min for the first grader

Poetry – Studying a poet and reading his poetry twice a week.

Art – Studied twice a week. (here)

Family Read – Fun book series read daily such as Little House Series (here), Percy Jackson (here), and The Chronicles Of Narnia (here)

Can you mix and match homeschool curriculum?

Originally I had thought that I needed to buy a full curriculum from some website, so I did, but once I got the hang of it I started venturing out and tailoring it to what works best for us. I also thought it needed to mimic the school system, which I did that too, but quickly realized that if that was the case then why did I take them out to begin with? The truth is, we all learn differently and at a different pace and nobody knows my children better than I do. I know how they learn and how to keep them focused and engaged. And I can honestly say that they are flourishing with this lifestyle and growing up to be outstanding human beings that my husband and I are very proud of.
Check out my recent post on How I Make Homeschooling Different Ages Work.