realistic? or not?

[Momma Aimee]

ok 2nd try

DH has been talking about Homeschooling a lot recently and this makes me as it took him a while to get on board with it.

He is currently working on professional dev corse work for his job and sharing with me a ton of websites and so on ... to make puzzles and stuff. saying "this will come in handy when we are schooling the boys". He even said "we shold use lots of games and make things as fun as we can, since they will be home and we have the ablity"

so last night he was "I know the boys are two school years apart but i would think you would try to combine a lot of their work"

the boys are 23 months apart. (DS1 is SN and a bit immature in behavior -- but is some area he is already "ahead" and in others he is behind)

I told him that WAS / IS my plan.

but now i am a little and wnat to do a reality check.

We are offically homeschooling now -- at prek level -- DS1 has an IEP and his stated classroom is "homeschool"

We are not pushing academics -- despite my on again off agan stress outs about ti that you all get to read --

my "plan" and tell me NOW if tis is unrealistic ....

TOGETHER

Bible
Social Studies / History
Literature
Copy Work
Science
Art

On thier own (i know it will still be with me)
learning to read / phonics
math

other
I will pull Voc workd from what we read (might be the same)
I will pull spelling -- to master the phonice / spelling rules -- from our reading ...but they will have their own lists.

am I realistic? or should i re-work my thinking NOW?

[momtokea]

It's very realistic. In fact, it's almost exactly what I am doing with my 10 and 12 year old dd's. They are 20 months apart. They do everything together except for math and grammar. I use Sonlight and use one Core for both of them. They do all their reading, history/geography, and science together.

[elizawill]

my kids are 2 1/2 years apart (8 1/2 and 6), and this is my plan as well. This year my little guy is only in kindergarten, so my main focus for him is just the 3 r's. anything else is just "gravy". but my goal is to put them in most subjects together, aside from Math & LA. next year we'll do history, geography, science and art together, adjusting it as needed to meet their needs.

[kittie313]

Pretty much how I'm doing it here. We focus on math and phonics one on one with the kids (all 4 in different places, dd3 is learning sounds and counting to 20 while dd4 is learning her abc's by sight and counting to 5) The rest in OUR home is extra until they develop a firm foundation in phonics, then we'll do research projects and such for the other subjects. DD1 is already solid enough in math that I am getting ready to order Teaching Texbooks 3 for her (fairly independent program) so that's one less thing I have to do now with 4 kids and 4 levels LOL

Just take it slow and focus on the R's, and treat the rest as extra until that foundation is laid. You'll do great!

[jduggan]

My kids are 14 months apart, so you'd think we could school together, since in public school classroom kids are not much further apart in age right? Wrong!

My daughter is an exceptional student, my son's abilities are lying in different areas right now. Next sept. I will have a child half way through grade 2 and one child just starting kindergarten, even though they are so close in age. I am surprised, since I expected to have them both in the same grade, or at least only 1 grade apart, but it has not worked out that way. One would have to be held back and the other pushed too hard in order for them to learn the same thing at the same time.
Just some insight on how age can space the learning in unexpected ways.

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by jduggan

My kids are 14 months apart, so you'd think we could school together, since in public school classroom kids are not much further apart in age right? Wrong!

My daughter is an exceptional student, my son's abilities are lying in different areas right now. Next sept. I will have a child half way through grade 2 and one child just starting kindergarten, even though they are so close in age. I am surprised, since I expected to have them both in the same grade, or at least only 1 grade apart, but it has not worked out that way. One would have to be held back and the other pushed too hard in order for them to learn the same thing at the same time.
Just some insight on how age can space the learning in unexpected ways.

I had thought of that, but given the fact IF we used public school I suspect we'd hold THeo back a year (start in '12 not '11) ue to his immaturity and speech and other issues -- even if they went to school they'd be "next door" in grades.

I don't expect they will ever be on the same level (I do hope little one is not always ahead big brother ) and won't forect them to be the same -- jsut trying to make things run smooth .......and I think if we do say, science, together then they each get more time on it than if i had to do it tiwice and i can do more for them doing it once not twince.

but you are right, we'll have to see

[Smithie]

I think that's very realistic. Next year, my "special snowflake" will be doing 1st grade and my "typical developer" will be 4 years old (and the baby will be toddling about underfoot). I plan to leave the 4 y.o. alone for another year, teach her to read when she's five but not do formal kindergarten, and have learning science and history right along with us for those two years. When she starts first grade, she'll jump right in with the period of history that her older brother is at (SOTW3) and the field of science he's studying (chemistry). She'll just have simpler assignments to do.

Special Snowflake is an ambitious reader and mathematician, so I don't think Typical Developer is going to catch up with him in those arenas until they are teenagers. I'd really like to have them learn Latin and Hebrew at the same time, but I don't know if that's going to work out. We're doing Song School Latin this year, and we'll see where that takes us...

[Lillian J]

In regard to this part:

other
I will pull Voc workd from what we read (might be the same)
I will pull spelling -- to master the phonice / spelling rules -- from our reading ...but they will have their own lists.

I wouldn't begin with these things, especially for the younger one. You might find a time when it feels like a good idea to address some spelling rules and guidelines, but they'll be learning vocabulary as you go along. Simply telling them what a new word means as you use it will be enough. My son got a near perfect score on his SAT's verbal section, and he never studied vocabulary at all, not even in prep for the test. I realize he may have exceptional verbal skills, but the point is that if he could do that well, yours will be able to do much more than you think at this point.

Have fun! Lillian

[Adamsmama]

I think it sounds good ... our boys are 22 months apart ... oldest is 7 and middle son is 5 -- oldest is SN and delayed, middle son is neuro-typical. We are going to combine most of the work -- even phonics and math because DS1 is almost at a kindergarten level (except for reading/comprehension).

[ChinaDoll]

Originally Posted by momtokea

It's very realistic. In fact, it's almost exactly what I am doing with my 10 and 12 year old dd's. They are 20 months apart. They do everything together except for math and grammar. I use Sonlight and use one Core for both of them. They do all their reading, history/geography, and science together.

Exactly! We're using Sonlight to combine our 6 and almost 8 year olds into one Core (history/geography/literature) and one level of science. Then they do math, reading and language arts at their individual levels. Under 2 years is the perfect age span to combine with Sonlight. Core K is designed for 5-7 year olds, and then there are 2 preschool cores, so you could start with

P3/4 when they're 3 and 5
P4/5 when they're 4 and 6
Core K when they're 5 and 7

and so on ... their ages would fit with Sonlight's recommended age ranges from then on

I think Tapestry of Grace also allows you to combine children easily. Both of these are Christian curricula, but many people use SL secularly. And then you could look at Well-Trained Mind for other suggestions to combine around the history base of Story of the World ... very, very doable, easy for Mama, and so much fun for the kids as they begin to play based on what they learn together

[Fairy4tmama]

Take my advice for what its worth (we don't start any lessons till around 6 and a half and we are very relaxed). So while I think that eventually we will be able to combine using a unit study approach (ds 1 and ds two are 23 m/a and ds2 and dd are 26 m/a), I expect a lot of lag time before that happens. I think that the impact of being able to read and write competently will separate them, as well as developmental readiness. So for us I don't really combining until each younger sibling turns 8. They are welcome to join us on anything they're interested in but I am also planing for them to be working on different skills and interests.

So glad to hear your dh is getting excited

[cappuccinosmom]

I think for many of those things you can cover the same ground even if one is a little behind in grade level. For social studies and science, you can cover the same concepts with them, and if one needs a little more challenge, add some extra work or a more in-depth project. IE: Teaching life-cycles, the younger one can learn the basics and the older one maybe be assigned to detail the life cycle of particular animal.

A lot of curriculua run on a 4 year cycle, so that every 4 years you cover the same subject but at a deeper level.

I think your list of "together" subjects is perfect. The only one's you'll really have to work on and maybe adjust are Science and Social Studies. No problem for Bible, copy work, and literature--my kids get read to every night by my dad, with classic literature. They are way ahead of most middle schoolers in that area, and because dad doesn't simplify the language (he does explain a word they don't know), they're also getting a nightly vocabulary lesson as well.

[meetoo]

That's what I do. We do the 3r's separate and everything else together via FIAR.

[kgianforti]

One other thing to keep in mind (as a comfort!) since this seems like PreK and K levels with both children....it's easy to "drop" something if it gets to be too much. Stuff like copy work and spelling could wait until 1st grade for example.

We are starting K in the fall and are concentrating on the Bible, 3R's and science.

[Believing God]

My oldest two are 16 months apart, with my boy being older. That said, they have been doing the same school work since the day I pulled them out of public school. DD has had absolutely no problem being on the same level with her brother, and in fact, could probably move ahead. I believe I'm going to give her that option this coming fall, since she is capable of independent learning now. Who knows, it might give her older brother (the reluctant learner) some incentive to get a move on!

Aimee, I think I met you on a Yahoo group! I remember a mama with a little boy named Theo who has speech delays.

[ebethmom]

My kids do FIAR together, and math and phonics/grammar separately. Some days it works better than others! I am glad to have a curriculum that lends itself well to mixed ages.