3 Tips for Teaching Multiple Ages in Your Homeschool {Ancient History}
Disclosure: I was given free products and compensated for my time. The opinions contained from here forward are my own and in no way influenced by the sponsor.
I remember the days when I was only homeschooling one child. I remember the adjustment that her and I had to make so she could see me as both “mom” and “teacher”. I remember thinking that I was going to pull my hair out because things weren’t going the way I wanted them to. Mostly, I remember feeling pure joy watching my baby girl learning new concepts and how beautiful it was when she wrote her name and read her first book. That was 11 years ago.
Today I am a homeschooling mom of three vibrant children. The two youngest children are very busy boys that surely keep me on my toes from sunrise to sundown. So in these last 11 years I have managed to figure out some ways that I can streamline teaching my children the same subject at their individual grade-levels. While this is no easy feat, I have found some ways that have helped our family and hopefully may give you some insight as well.
This year in our Classical Education cycle we are learning all about Ancient History. I knew there were some solid areas that we wanted to cover, but also knew that there was no “box kit” that would cover it all. So I went and took a peek at my favorite online homeschool store Rainbowresource.com to see what we could find. As usual I was able to find a bunch of goodies to aid me in teaching my children ranging from 2nd grade up to sophomore in high school. Today I am going to share with you three ways that we are able to streamline Ancient History for multiple homeschool ages.
3 Tips for Teaching Multiple Ages in Your Homeschool
Get your hands on content rich resources.
One thing I am always looking for are books that give an in-depth look into the subject I will be teaching so I can pull grade appropriate lessons from them. We also really enjoy books that are Internet-linked so we can explore more off the page. Having rich content helps make the lessons more meaningful for a larger age-range. It is easy to assign my high school student a narrative essay while my 2nd and 3rd grade students do copywork or make their own “book” about what they are learning. The possibilities are endless when you have rich, in-depth content to work with.
Some of the books we are using for ancient history this year are: Ancient World Illustrated History, Greeks Illustrated History, Eyewitness Ancient Egypt, and Romans Illustrated History.
Get read-alouds to incorporate into your school day and bed time routines.
Reading aloud is one of our family’s favorite pass times. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t read aloud in some form or fashion. A typical day in our family includes several stories read aloud during meal time, school time, and bed time. As many of you already know, reading aloud as a family is a great way to bond as well as relay information that we are learning while increasing memory, comprehension and discussions. Because this is a family ritual, all of our children regardless of learning styles, look forward to read aloud time. It is for this reason that I have selected some great books to read aloud while teaching Ancient History this year.
The books that we are using for Ancient History read aloud time are:
Get supplements that all students can enjoy to help reinforce what they are learning.
In my experience in teaching single subjects to multiple ages, I have found that getting things that do not require endless amounts of reading, writing, or vocabulary help make the experience more fun. I have found in my own family dynamic that switching things up a bit gives each learner the chance to “shine” when it comes to their particular learning style. While one of my children thrives off of reading and comprehension, another flourishes in all-things art, and the other is an auditory learner with a photographic memory. In order to make it fun for my different children, I found some tools that each of the children could gain something from while unifying their learning experience together. And they all feed off of one another’s enthusiasm.
This year, the first supplemental tool I chose is Draw and Write Through History which doubles as history, handwriting, and art. This fun book not only teaches how to draw key elements of Greek and Roman history, but it also offers handwriting practice as well as factual information pertaining to Ancient History. This is a wonderful supplement for all ages! I am able to modify it for each child to fit their specific needs.
The second supplement I am using this year is a game we found on Rainbowresource.com called Ancient History Memory Game. What I love about this game is that it not only uses pictures for matching from memory but also terms as well. This game is not only fun for the children, but my husband and I enjoy playing it too! Whats more, I often find our youngest playing a mini-game by himself so that he can “catch up” with big brother and big sister. You have to love that!
We also use documentaries and other videos about the time period we are studying that we mostly find at the library or on Netflix. These also help keep interest high and discussions going on as they are able to connect the dots in a variety of ways.
I hope that these tips can help someone who is feeling uncertain whether or not they can teach Ancient History (or anything for that matter) to a variety of different ages and grades in their homeschool. You can do it! And it always helps to have a wonderful resource like Rainbowresource.com where you can get all of your products at once and for a discounted price! Who doesn’t like a discount?
You can learn more about Rainbowresource.com by visiting them at:
What are your best tips for streamlining while teaching multiple homeschool ages? I’d love to hear them!
