Toddlers, Tweens, & Teens, Oh MY!

Let me just say that Heidi St. John is my new hero!

She is so down to earth, refreshing, & real! 

She gave a very encouraging talk about how to somehow manage teaching multiple kids at the same time. She should know, she has 7 kids!

First & foremost, we need to remember the goal of homeschooling is discipleship. When its all said & done, it is more important to develop our relationships with our kids & help cultivate their relationship with God, than to struggle over long division & Civil War reenactments.

At the end of the day our children will NOT remember everything that they have been taught. That’s right, moms. No amount of time, effort, or money will ensure their memorization of multiplication tables or appreciation for dissecting cats on the kitchen table. What they will remember is HOW we taught them.

Do we teach them with love & respect? When we are reteaching how to diagram a sentence for 4th time this week, are we patient & encouraging? Or do we run around with "our hair on fire" screaming to just do the work?

As busy homeschool moms, we can make our lives a little bit simpler by choosing to incorporate multilevel teaching. We can integrate our Bible study with multilevel teaching & our overall lessons may appear less fragmented. It can be less time consuming. We can also enlist our older kids help to mentor to the younger kids. Yeah - maybe they will actually like each other for a little while!

Unit studies, notebooking, lapbooking, & reading aloud are all easy to do with different age groups.

Teach to your oldest child by using a school bus method (no - this doesn't mean that you get to put your kids on that bus!). Start simple & progressively get harder. Let each child "off" at their stop.

Quit trying to do it ALL! Learn to exchange time. If you want to add something, be willing to take something away, at least for a little while.

Keep your eyes on the goal! You want your kids to develop a lifetime of learning.

What are the Lord's expectation of you? Remember you are the PERFECT parent for your child!