Large Families
Homeschooling in a large family is both a joy and a challenge. Learn how to manage those challenges, while meeting the needs of everyone in the family. Here you'll find information on keeping your home running smoothly, tending to toddlers while homeschooling, teaching many different grade levels at once, and avoid burnout.
Homeschooling a Large Family
Affording the Large Family Homeschool
For any family seeking a private Christian education in the home, money quickly becomes an issue. While programs like K12 and other public-school umbrellas exist, they do not offer the freedom of choice so many homeschoolers are looking for. Nor do they offer a Christian education.
Most homeschooling families opt to buy their own curriculum so they can truly be in charge of their child’s education. When a homeschooling family has many children, curriculum buying becomes an exercise in creative frugality.
Here are a few ways you can save and stretch money in your homeschool.
Large Family Workbox System for Homeschool
An example of an organizational system for a large homeschool family.
Homeschooling and the Large Family
What do you do when you have older children who need your help, while the younger ones need your attention too. How do you get it all done and keep your sanity? The key is finding what works for your family and doing it.
Tips for Homeschooling Multiple Ages in a Large Family
Heather Bowen shares some tips, tricks, and shortcuts for homeschooling multiple ages within a large family.
How I Teach a Large Family in a Relaxed, Classical Way: Science
Family style learning is a great way to tackle lots of different subjects, including science.
How I Teach a Large Family in a Relaxed, Classical Way: Language Arts
Tips for teaching language arts (writing, grammar, handwriting) in a large family.
Multilevel Homeschooling
Most moms of several children become experts at multitasking with experience. We often are asked how we manage homeschooling multiple learning levels and I find it difficult to explain. It's like preparing a seven course dinner--how do you tell someone exactly how to prepare everything in such a way that it's all ready at the proper time and stays the proper temperature? I suppose you could lead them step-by-step through all the directions and it would be easier, but still experience is the best teacher.
Identifying Priorities in a Large Family Homeschool
Teaching six children can be a challenge. How do you prioritize? Where do you focus your time? How do you make sure they all learn to read, write and tie their shoes? It is not impossible to teach a large family. It takes thoughtfulness and flexibility. It will keep you on your toes and keep you humble.
Introversion, Large Families, and Homeschooling
The introvert can homeschool! Here are some tips for those whose nature is more introverted. Especially helpful for those homeschooling a large family.
Large Homeschool Family Blogs
The Bates Family
This beautiful family of 19 children shares their journey with this blog.
My Blessed Home
This blog shares homeschooling help and encouragement, parenting tips and insights, organizational tips, and more, all while chronicling the joys and challenges of raising a large family.
Large Family Learning
Follow Amber and her children as they enjoy large family learning.
Raising Arrows
Join Amy Roberts as she shares her tips and ideas about homeschooling and large family living.
Raising Olives
This blog shares tips, ideas and some of the ups and downs of managing a home with lots of kids and raising children for the glory of God.
Peace Creek on the Prairie: Large Family Homeschool
This site offers articles, resources, free homeschool printable, and curriculum information.
Support for Homeschooling Large Families
Large Families Home School
This list is to encourage and support those who homeschool many children. How many? To some 3 is a lot! If you have a large family (whether natural, adopted, foster or blended) and homeschool, you know that there are a lot of unique challenges ranging from orchestrating family harmony, dealing with multiple ages, trying to homeschool in a sometimes chaotic environment, keeping up with the never-ending laundry, transportation, cooking, chores, and more. This is a Christian list.
Large Families Forum at BabyCenter
Do you come from a large family? Are you planning one? Share the challenges and joys a big family can bring.
Pregnant Again
This is a list for all who are pregnant for the third or more time and are having a large family by choice. Discussions include the difficulties of having several at home when dealing with sickness and fatigue, homeschooling, and more. This is a supportive list where people believe that large families are wonderful.
Lots of Kids
A place where families with four or more children can find friendship, fun, and support.
Big Families Recipes
A recipe group list with recipes that big families can enjoy. Discuss recipe successes and failures. Feel free to upload your own recipes or download others.
Magnum Opus
Raising a large, Catholic, homeschooling family is a great work (Magnum Opus) and a great deal of work!
Hopefully this email discussion group will be a place for parents of four or more to help each other with the nitty-gritty details of raising and educating a large, Catholic family.
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Featured Resources
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Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
This radical treatise on public education has been a New Society Publishers' bestseller for 10 years! Thirty years of award-winning teaching in New York City's public schools led John Gatto to the sad conclusion that compulsory governmental schooling does little but teach young people to follow orders as cogs in the industrial machine. In celebration of the ten-year anniversary of Dumbing Us Down and to keep this classic current, we are renewing the cover art, adding new material about John and ...
Real-Life Homeschooling: The Stories of 21 Families Who Teach Their Children at Home
The book that shows homeschooling in action! What does it really mean when parents say they homeschool their child or children? For Rhonda Barfield -- a homeschooler for the past 10 years -- the definition is as diverse as the 21 families she studies in this eye-opening book. Real-Life Homeschooling From the city to the country, apartments to split-levels, you'll enter each household and see education in action. Discover the challenges and rewards of tailoring instruction to each child's nee...
For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry
For the Good of the Earth and Sun is for teachers at all levels, especially for those teachers who feel anxious about introducing poetry to students. Georgia Heard offers a method of teaching poetry that respects the intelligence of students and teachers and that can build upon their basic originality. She explores poetry from the inside as it is: a powerful and necessary way of looking at the world, and one of mankind's most durable inventions. Her book provides detailed, organized information ...
Home Organizing Workbook: Clearing Your Clutter, Step-By-Step
Failing the Mary Poppins' snap-the-fingers approach to cleaning, here's the next best thing: an utterly practical handbook that offers lasting results for anyone looking to banish clutter from every room in the house. Home organizer par excellence Meryl Starr offers up her hardworking organizing solutions in The Home Organizing Workbook, a straightforward guide to getting organized. The room chapters begin with targeted questionnaires that help the reader identify specific organizational problem...
For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School
Shows parents and teachers how children's learning experiences can be extended to every aspect of life, giving them a new richness, stability, and joy for living. Every parent and teacher wants to give his or her children the best education possible. We hope that the education we provide is a joyful adventure, a celebration of life, and preparation for living. But sadly, most education today falls short of this goal. For the Children's Sake is a book about what education can be, based on a Chris...