Question for those who homeschool multiple kids....

[Hoosiermomma]

How in the world do you keep everything graded and have the lesson plans all lined up? I homeschool four of my five kids ranging in age from 9 up to 18. I cannot keep up with the lesson plans and grading. Thank goodness the two oldest have a structured online curriculum but the two younger ones do not. I am finding it very hard to keep up. How do you all do it?

I'm lucky if I get in bed before 2 every night. I welcome any suggestions.

 

[DuckyBoys]

Quote:
BTW - Love your avatar!

I am only schooling one now because my oldest graduated, but when I was doing two it was hard. I have since learned that self grading programs like Teaching Textbooks works wonders for my sainity. As does Rosetta Stone. I gravitate towards those types of curriculum so I don't have to grade stuff.

I used to let my oldest grade her own stuff in front of me while I was helping the younger one. That helped too. it is hard to homeschool many children, so I feel for ya!

How many years have you been homeschooling?

 

[Hoosiermomma]

This is my first year homeschooling all of my kids, second year with my two oldest. What do you mean by self grading? The two oldest use Seton, the middle one a mix and match and the younger Abeka.
I am starting to let my two older ones grade each other's papers. That has helped a little but I need to get caught up on their daily homework. LOL I'm so behind in it. Oh well I am going to definately work on it this weekend so Monday we can start the second quarter off fresh.
I would love teaching textbooks for Math. I've heard they have a really good math program. I have also heard alot of good things about Rosetta Stone too.

 

[Chicks & Turks]

If they are close in grades maybe have them peer grade? They learn from the others mistake type thing? Also, multiple choice makes it easier than critical thinking

 

[PotterWatch]

We're supposed to grade things?

Since we are on the unschooling side of things (not totally unschoolers, but certainly not structured), we don't grade anything and I don't do lesson plans. Are you required to grade things for your state laws or do you just choose to do it?

 

[Hoosiermomma]

No I don't have to grade, I just choose to. With my kids having been in school I felt the need to keep things fairly routine for them as they do well with structure. It's me who doesn't. LOL I am just not used to having all of them around all the time and not having the quiet time I am used to, to get things accomplished. I will adjust, I guess it will take time.

 

[gumpsgirl]

I do not keep up with grades. No way! As long as I know they are doing their work and understanding it, that's good enough for me.

My high schoolers are different though. I have them enrolled in high school programs. My oldest just finished doing the American School program and my second oldest is doing Penn Foster High School. They do the work and the school keeps up with the grades and transcripts! Much less stress on my part.

My 3 younger ones do history and science together. My first year homeschooling, I didn't do it that way until I had run myself in circles and so crazy that another homeschool mother told me I was going about things all wrong! lol! She was the one who told me I needed to combine those two subjects and it has made things much easier.

Hang in there! You'll get the hang of things and find what works the best for you. That's the magic of homeschooling.

 

[saddina]

Ok we need details to help here:

ages/approx. grades?

I bet we can chunk some of it, and find something that'll do prek for your toddler too.

 

[LA~Poulet]

What curricula/systems are you using that you have to grade so much? Are you grading on a daily basis? That is something I wouldn't want to do... I look over my kids work & if there is an error we go over it together (sometimes I'll give them more practice or examples) but they aren't receiving actual grades on daily work.

My mother homeschooled all eight of my sibs, but she was very low-key about it. (Don't be afraid to do what works for your family, if it doesn't work for you, you won't want to keep it up, even if it is going well for your children!).

Older children (in my experience!) can grade their own work-we used Saxon Math, and each day there were about 25-30 problems to do, a cumulative assortment. After about grade 6, we would grade our own, and go back and correct what was incorrect, up to three problems each day. If we had missed more than three, we went over the lesson together. If not, mom would just glance over our (graded & corrected) work and we were done with that subject for the day, and moved on. That is what I plan on doing when mine advance in grades & maturity (my oldest is in 3rd grade and all our lessons are still very interactive). I think letting a child go over their own work is empowering and leads to child-led learning, and encourages them to seek out understanding as opposed to being more passive receivers of information, which are very important skills for higher learning (as long as you are making sure everything stays on the up & up!).

 

[AngieChick]

My eldest son is taking a few classes at the high school (physics, advanced pre calculus and French 2) and we are homeshcooling the rest of the subjects. My middle schooler is completely homeschooled.

This is our 2nd adventure in homeschooling. The first time was at the beginning of their education. Our approach at that point was completely different. I was very uptight about making sure that we were following a set curriculum and grading their work. This time we our taking a more creative view. The only set curriculum we have is in Math. We're using Key Curriculum Press booklets for Algebra and Geometry. It only takes about 20 minutes to cover a couple of lessons. I explain it to him, and watch as he works to see if he understands the concepts. It's pretty obvious if there is a gap and we need to continue to work on it. I don't worry about grading. I feel that the point of education is knowledge, not grades. At the end of each booklet is a test. If there are any blocks of problems that he missed, then we reteach those areas. We also combine science and history at this point, through Joy Hakim's science books. This year we will also be working on some ecology projects on our property. I'm a big fan of applied learning.

For my oldest son I am teaching him how to cook and we will be challenging each other in creative writing assignments. We are also taking turns choosing a book to read each month. He chose "Shadow Country" this month, which is very dense and rich in history.

To get the most out of homeschooling, we are taking a more creative approach. If you are up until 2 in the morning prepping and grading, I think it may be time to rework your schedule and figure out if it's time spent with quality learning happening or if you are making yourself crazy with busywork. You have to do what will work for you and your family for the long term.