How do I teach two homeschool guides?

How do I teach two homeschool guides?

Children far apart in age and ability often benefit most from each using their own appropriate homeschool guides. If your children obviously need different levels of guides, you may be wondering, How do I teach two homeschool guides? Similarly, if you used to combine your children in one guide, but now clearly see it would be best to separate, you may also be asking, How do I teach two homeschool guides? If so, this post is for you!

As a homeschool mom of three children farther apart in ages and abilities, I have always taught three guides. The past 20+ years of homeschooling Preschool through 12th grade have been amazing! Along the way, I have learned some important lessons about teaching multiple guides that I’d love to pass on to you. These tips are not difficult, but they do make a world of difference! I hope they help make your days of teaching two (or more) homeschool guides as enjoyable as mine have been!

Tip #1: Pick the right curriculum.

When teaching two or more homeschool guides, be sure to pick the right curriculum. Some homeschool curriculums make using more than one guide nearly impossible! They include way too many books, not enough independence, hazy directions, hard-to-follow plans, and lots of prep and planning. Watch out for these pitfalls when choosing a curriculum! I use Heart of Dakota as my curriculum and always have. Smaller suggested age increments for each guide make sure the amount of books are appropriate for each level. Incrementally taught independence, clear directions, easy-to-follow plans, and open-and-go guides ensure success for children and parents alike. Take time to pick the right curriculum!

Tip #2: Pick the right guides.

When teaching two or more homeschool guides, be sure to pick the right guides. Children need to be able to do the work in their respective guides and do it well. If the guide includes independent reading, writing, and direction-following, can the child handle that level of independence (or grow into it rather quickly with a little support)? If you find yourself thinking, I’ll just read that aloud instead… I’ll just write that for my child instead… I’ll just do that whole independent assignment with my child instead… red flag. Choose an easier guide for that child. If you’re between two guides, pick the easier of the two. Heart of Dakota makes this easy with convenient placement charts and with free consultations with placement specialists. Take time to pick the right guides!

Tip #3: Consider length of time.

When teaching two or more homeschool guides, be sure to consider the length of time it takes to complete each guide. Younger children’s guides should take less time to complete each day. Older children’s guides should take more time to complete each day. This matches attention spans and necessary workloads to proper ages and maturity levels.

Guides should gradually increase in difficulty and in workload time each year, so students can adequately prepare for high school level work. A good rule of thumb is for guides to increase about 30 minutes of work time in total each year. For example, kindergarten may take about 1 1/2 hours a day to complete. First grade may take about 2 hours to complete. Second grade may take about 2 1/2 hours to complete, and so on. This way, when students reach high school and need to earn time-based credits, they can readily and successfully do so. Heart of Dakota uses this incremental progression of times in guides, so our sons were well prepared for high school (and for college after that)!

Tip #4: Consider the amount of independent work. 

When teaching two or more homeschool guides, be sure to consider the amount of independent work in each guide. Younger children’s guides should not contain much independent work. Short increments of teacher-led lessons help little ones maintain focus. Teacher-led work also prevents children from forming poor habits (i.e. improper letter formation in writing, incorrect patterns of solving math problems, etc.).

In contrast, older children’s guides should contain more independent work. A balance of independent, semi-independent, and teacher-directed work is best. Heart of Dakota’s guides ensure a balance of work by labeling plans “I” independent, “S” semi-independent, and “T” teacher-directed. Clear, step-by-step, routine directions written to the student make independent work a success.

When guides include the right length of time and the right amount of independent work, your job of teaching two or more guides is easier. Older students do their independent work while you teach younger children. Younger children finish earlier and can go play. Older students can have a say in the layout of their day. Early morning birds can start their independent work early, while late night owls can complete independent work later.

Tip #5: Start slowly. 

When teaching two or more homeschool guides, plan for a learning curve. One easy way to plan for transition time to get used to several new guides is to start slowly. Take two days to do one day of plans. With Heart of Dakota, you can do this by simply doing half the boxes of plans one day and the other half the next day. As plans span one two-page spread, dividing the boxes on these pages over two days is easy to do.

Continue taking two days to do one day of plans for the whole first unit of each guide. Taking two weeks to do one week of plans gives you time to read directions carefully and get any initial startup things done properly. It also gives you time to help your children with any questions they have. Finally, it makes the first two weeks of homeschooling less hurried, more leisurely, and more enjoyable.

Tip #6: Make a simple plan.

When teaching two or more homeschool guides, be sure to make a plan. The plan should NOT be teach one child all in a row, and then teach another child all in a row, and so on. Rather, the plan should include alternating teaching times and alternating independent work. Take out a sheet of paper and a pencil. Jot down a start time – or better yet, jot down an end time and work backwards to figure out your start time. Check each guide’s suggested time allotments for each subject. Give each child a simple written/typed copy of the plan. Don’t just let the day happen, or you’ll find yourself still homeschooling late in the day. Plan to succeed!

Tip #7: Make playtimes a part of your plan if you have babies and/or toddlers.

If you have babies and/or toddlers, older siblings can help! Foster close sibling friendships by making playtimes a part of your written plan. Different ages of children can play together at planned times. Let’s say you have four children ages 12, 9, 6, and 3. The 12 year-old can play with the 6 and 3 year-olds for 45 minutes while you homeschool the 6 year-old. The 9 year-old can play with the 6 and 3 year-olds for 45 minutes while you homeschool the 12 year-old. They 6 year-old can play with the 3 year-old for 30 minutes, while  you homeschool the 9 year-old. The 12 year-old can do PreK activities with the 3 year-old for 20 minutes, while the 6 and 9 year-olds help you make lunch.

Routine planned activities make playtimes a success. The outdoor-loving 9 year-old can play catch or shoot hoops with the 6 year-old. The stuffed animal-loving 6 year-old can play stuffed animals with the 3 year-old. The reading-loving 12 year-old can read aloud board books to the 3 year-old and picture books to the 6 year-old. Activities can rotate, but planned activities make playtimes work best. Check out this amazing collection of things to do with toddlers to get you started! Need some ideas for independent playtimes for little ones? Check out these easy learning stations for 3 to 6 year-olds!

A Sample Simple Plan for Two Homeschool Guides

For a child in Little Hearts for His Glory for first grade (i.e. Johnny) and a child in Preparing Hearts for His Glory for fourth grade (i.e. Mary), a plan using the suggested time allotments can be as simple as…

• 8 AM: My Teaching Time with Mary – Bible Study (15 minutes), Reading About History (15 minutes)
• 8 AM:  Johnny is slowly waking up/dressing/etc.
• 8:30 AM: My Teaching Time with Johnny – Bible Study and Music (20 minutes), Reading About History and Rhymes in Motion (15 minutes), Phonics and Fine Motor Skills (25 minutes).
• 8:30 AM: Independent Time for Mary – Independent History Study (20-25 minutes), Independent Science Exploration (20-30 minutes).
• 9:30 AM: Breakfast and chores for all.
• 10:15 AM: My Teaching Time with Mary – Correct/Discuss completed work (5-10 minutes). Do Storytime History Read-Aloud (20 minutes), Math (20-25 minutes), help Mary start Rotating History box (5 minutes)
• 10:15 AM: Independent Play Time and Snack for Johnny. Mon.: cars/trucks, Tues.: playdough, Wed.: mini basketball/hoop, Thurs.: trains/tracks, Fri.: magnetiles/little stuffed animals
• 11:15 AM: My Teaching Time with Johnny – Rotating History box (10-15 minutes), Math (10-15 minutes), and Storytime (10 minutes). Clean-up, put school away.
• 11:15 AM: Independent Time for Mary – Finish Rotating History box (15-20 minutes). Read Drawn into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR) book and have snack (25-30 minutes).
• 12 PM:  Educational show/video and crackers/drink for Johnny
• 12 PM: My Teaching Time with Mary – Correct Rotating History box’s completed work and do teaching part for DITHOR (10 minutes), Dictation (5 minutes), Grammar (15 minutes – do mainly orally, write one part), Poetry (5 minutes), help Mary start History Project (5-10 minutes)
• 12:45 PM: Mary finishes History Project, while mom makes lunch with Johnny helping set table.

Adding a Little One to the Plan

If you are teaching two guides and also have a toddler, plan playtimes with the toddler too! Looking at the above sample plan, after breakfast instead of Mary doing chores, she can play with her toddler brother until 10:15 AM. For part of Johnny’s snack/independent play time from 10:15 to 11:15 AM, his toddler brother can join him. During Johnny’s educational show/video and crackers/drink at 12 PM, little brother can join him.

Or, the above homeschool plan can easily spread throughout the afternoon instead, with playtimes and breaks scheduled throughout the morning and afternoon as needed. Maybe Mary plays with toddler brother from 11:15 AM to noon and moves that Independent Time to after lunch. Maybe Johnny plays with toddler brother from 8:30 to 9 AM and moves that portion of Teaching Time to the the afternoon. However it works best for you, make playtimes a part of your plan if you have babies and/or toddlers!

I hope these seven tips and sample plan can help you homeschool as happily with two (or more) homeschool guides as I have!

In Christ,

Julie

P.S. For my Top Ten Homeschooling Tips, click here!