How to Teach Different Aged Children

Chances are that you have (or will have) multiple children at some point, and if you are doing preschool at home or homeschooling then you will have children at different ages and different grade levels. So, the big question is…

How do you teach multiple ages?

Does teaching more than one child require more work? A little bit.

Is it possible to teach different ages? Definitely!

Do I need an education background to teach multiple ages? Not at all.

Can you spend enough time with each child? Yes.

Here are 6 key things to help make the process of preschooling/homeschooling multiple-aged children a little easier.

1.Create goals. It’s important to think about the goals you would like for your children to accomplish. This can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even yearly goals. For example, you might want your 5 year old to begin learning to read, while your 3 year old begins to learn letters, and your 1 year old builds his fine motor skills. Once you have these goals in written down, it will be easier to plan and pick out activities that help your children meet their goals. You will be more organized and prepared to teach your children.

Typically, if you are teaching a grade level student, the goals for that child are set in place by the standards that they need to meet in each subject area for the grade level.

2. Combine learning topics when possible. This will make planning and school time just a little easier on you! For instance, your theme for the week might be apples, so each morning do calendar time as a group and then read Ten Apples Up on Top from the library together before dividing up into one-on-one learning time.

3. Create a plan. Once you have goals for each child, it’s time to create a plan. This can be a weekly plan or a monthly plan. (When I’m creating my plans, I really like to get a teacher or homeschool planner to help me stay organized.) In your planner, write out your themes for each week, and then pick activities for each child that go along with the theme and help them reach their goal. Not all activities can go along with a theme (like reading), so it is ok to pick activities that help your child meet their goal but don’t follow the theme.

With the above goals in mind, see the below example as a reference. You’ll notice that the same activity is being completed by two children—that’s because it’s an activity that helps each child get closer to meeting their goal (BONUS: it’s a little less planning for mom!)

4. Create a schedule. I LOVE schedules! Schedules are my friend! To help keep yourself accountable it’s beneficial to create a schedule of when you plan to have your learning time. It doesn’t have to be a strict schedule by the minute—it’s more like a structure to your day.

For example, our schedule right now doesn’t have times on it, but it has structure:

• Calendar Time

• Reading Time

• Bible Time

• Art/Spanish/Computer Time

• One-on-one time with oldest, Independent work for 2nd, Free time for youngest

• One-on-one time with 2nd, Independent work for youngest, Free time for oldest

• One-on-one time with youngest, Independent work for oldest, Free time for 2nd

5. Let older children work with younger children. This is a good idea because it allows the older child the opportunity to put into practice what they have previously learned, and when they can “teach” the skill/concept, they have learned it. It also benefits the younger sibling because they get to learn through the instruction of someone else. Allowing the older sibling to take a break from their work and join a younger sibling offers a nice break for their brain. And plus, it’s always fun to do activities as a group!

6. Teach children to work independently. This is a skill that takes time to master, but is very beneficial as life progresses and even as you are schooling multiple children. Slowly, begin to instruct your children and then allow them the opportunity to practice the concept independently. This allows you the opportunity to have more one-on-one time with each child and helps build your child’s confidence in his abilities as he completes activities on his own.

For instance, after you and your 3 year old do the Upper and Lowercase A Matching together, then you could ask them to look through a picture book by themselves and place a stick on each “A” they see in the book.

These are some key items that have helped me to teach multiple aged children over the years without losing my sanity. I would love to hear from other moms that teach multiple aged children—what makes your schooling at home successful? Please comment below to share!