Homeschool is growing, not glowing, experience

Most Friday nights we watch an episode of “Little House on the Prairie.” I sure admire that Miss Beadle. She manages to teach kids of all ages and levels at the same time, and she makes it look so easy.

Every now and then, Caroline Ingalls fills in, and the kids love her too. In fact, those kids enjoy learning so much that when Caroline fills in, she positively glows at the end of the day.

There isn’t quite so much glowing at our house.

In that one-room schoolhouse of yesteryear, there is never a bad day, rarely a cross word. Any dispute on the playground is quickly resolved.

Fast forward to our version of a one-room schoolhouse, and the picture isn’t always so rosy. For starters, my husband Brian doesn’t look anything like Miss Beadle. The children he teaches need only to roll out of bed and pad down the hall, but they don’t always arrive as eager to learn as the kids we watch on television.

Schooling multiple ages at once is a challenge many homeschooling families face, and some methods are more successful than others.

Outsourcing isn’t just for high-tech companies. My musical experience consists of getting kicked out of piano lessons and playing the crash cymbals in high school. I can barely tell one end of a horse from another, and I don’t know a plie’ from a releve.’ With the help of professionals and friends, our children have learned to sing, dance, ride, and have studied a few other subjects we don’t feel competent to teach ourselves.

Building brain power and keeping kids focused are keys to learning. No matter how our day is structured, we always try to get in some time for motion (also known as physical education) and solid nutrition. Nature walks and outside play are staples of any good day, and we make it a point to include high-protein, low-sugar snacks to keep all our brains in good working order.

For us, it makes sense to use all the resources we have at hand, and big kids are one of those resources.

My 14-year-old dreams of becoming a teacher, and she loves to teach the younger kids. She puts them through a rigorous schedule learning their ABCs, basic counting and math facts, and even some writing. She also likes to read to them, invent art projects and get them to act in little plays she writes for them. Because this is a natural interest for my daughter, she often asks for time to work with her younger siblings, and the little ones love the attention.

Older kids tend to be more independent than the younger ones and can often complete assignments with minimal assistance after some basic instruction is given. When the younger kids nap, we have time for more intense instruction with the older set.

While the “divide and conquer” routine covers some of the basics for the younger ones, we do have times where everyone works together. Field trips are a prime example, but we also combine some literature and history time. In those instances, after presenting a basic lesson, we can assign work that is appropriate for each age group.

For example, reading “Charlotte’s Web” as a group led to a discussion of pig care (supplemented by caring for our own pigs and comparing their life to Wilbur’s), a book report, multiple coloring pages and endless discussions of spiders. For fun, we watched the movie and compared it to the book.

It takes some creativity, a lot of planning and a fair amount of flexibility, but somehow it all gets accomplished. I think Miss Beadle would be proud.

Rose Godfrey is a speech pathologist and homeschooling mom in Hallwood. She can be reached at homeschoolmom@thespeechworks.com.