Homeschool World Forum

[MissLisha]

My have husband and I are really considering HS next school year, but I have 5 children (9, 3, & 2 year old girls and 7 & 5 year old boys) and 3 are in school right now and the younger 2 stay at home with me. How would that work as far as 5 different age groups and 3 different grades???? We really feel strongly that this HS is what we want to do, but is it possible with our situation?

[Ramona]

Hi!

I homeschool and I have 6 kids. They are doing 5 different grades' curriculum right now and the youngest is still nursing. I have a son doing 12th grade, and daughters doing 11th, 8th and 2nd. My youngest daughter will start Kindergarten next month. She's been doing pre-K stuff. My baby boy is 2 today and doesn't do any curriculum yet, although he participates in our group activities quite a lot and thinks he's at least 12.

I have always homeschooled, so I've done it with all sorts of different age combinations. When I first started my oldest doing pre-K stuff, his little sister sometimes listened to stories I read him and almost always did all the dancing games and activities with us. We added in one more child at a time gradually.

I've read tips and suggestions that even if you're starting with several school-age kids already you could still start lessons with just one of them for at least the first week or two and then add one more child at a time until you have everybody working at a level you're comfortable with.

Homeschooling doesn't have to be like institutional school in terms of everybody starting on the same day and going through a grade on the same "schoolyear." My oldest and third and fourth kids go from September through July each year, my second goes from May through March, and my 5th will start on a January-through-November schedule. Some grades have taken more than a year because of family circumstances and that's been fine. Occasionally someone has taken less than a year and that's fine too.

Go to the board here called A Day at Our House and look for my thread called A Day with 6 Kids to get an idea of how we do things now. (We've changed somewhat many times over the years.)

To answer your questions, it would work however it works out best for you and your family, and it's certainly possible in your situation!

Ramona

[MissLisha]

Thank you, that really inspires me. As I'm going over this forum it seems as though I have a lot to learn as far as what it takes to HS (laws, curriculum, and how can there be truancy with HS?). However I have faith that God will put whatever we need in place, so whenever my husband says, we will begin.

Also..................Is classroom structure needed or do you set your own schedule when HS??

[Ramona]

I've been trying to follow the truancy thread and I find it very confusing. Since I never had my kids in institutional school in the first place, I don't know much about the problems of pulling them out.

Classroom structure is not needed. You can do it or not--whatever you please. You set your own schedule when HSing. I find I'm sort of in the middle. A lot of people are way more structured than we are and we are way more structured than a lot of other people. Some families get school-type desks and do all work sitting at them. We do ours lying around on floors, beds and couches or sitting on the porch swing, etc. Some families have no grades or subject lessons at all. We have both.

To be in compliance with the law, you should know exactly what your state requires (I'm assuming you're in the US) but some states don't really require much.

Ramona

[Theodore]

Truancy can come into the equation when you don't notify the school system you're pulling your children out, and they count each day your children are gone as a missed day of school. The law as to whether you're required to notify does vary from state to state, but it is in my opinion a good idea to notify the school regardless so as to prevent any potential problems of this sort.

Also, send the notification certified mail, since paperwork has been known to occasionally "disappear". An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and all that
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[MissLisha]

We have decided to go ahead begin HS starting next school term. Thank you for the advice. I just found out that I will be having another little one , so any advice will be gladly appreciated. Now that I know that it can be done its a matter of doing it. And I hope to get to know everyone soon. Thanks again.

[Mark]

congrats.. both on your decision to HS and on the pending arrival of
another little one.
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