On a random Tuesday morning.  Last Tuesday, to be precise.

Iain with a fraction tree in progress.

Elijah working on a diorama.

And the little folks playing at being “bubble factory workers” (an idea blatantly stolen from Kyrie of “Are So Happy“).

Not pictured: me baking Cinnamon Bun Muffins, because I’m still on my giddy cinnamon buns are a part of my life again kick but needed something at least a bit more healthy and a lot less high maintenance.  It’s not the same, but a reasonable substitute in a pinch.

Anywho.

One of the things that I get asked a lot is how I balance caring for and teaching 4 children of different ages and stages.  Which I always find kind of funny, because it’s usually asked in a what-a-ridiculous-thing-to-even-attempt sort of tone, that makes me want to respond by asking the student to teacher ratio of their local school district.  That said, it is true that it can be a challenge.  The structure of home is  very different from that of a school where everything is set up with teaching many children at once in mind (case in point, I don’t tend to make the kids line up to go places).  But I think that there are plenty of ways to make it work and I actually relish the challenge.

Our days go smoother when I’m well prepared, well rested and in a peaceful and reasonable state of mind.  I suppose all that is pretty obvious in theory, but there is a big difference between knowing these things to be true and actively cultivating a life that allows for those things.  I’ve learned time and time again that my state of mind can make or break a day.

From a practical point of view, it helps to have a little metal list, or even an actual list of things for each child to accomplish in a day, with thoughts towards what one child can be doing when I’m otherwise occupied.  So if Iain finishes with his math practice and is ready for his Main Lesson work, but I’m still involved in work with Elijah, I can suggest he go do a certain chore to get it out of the way or get a head start on some other independent work.  Handwork fits in well here.  Other times I’ll request that one of the older ones read to or otherwise entertain one of the younger ones.  We all work together here to make our home, our family and our education work.

Which brings me to perhaps the most important part of fostering an atmosphere for multi-age learning; respect.  I talk about it a lot, with even the littlest of the kids.  They know that when I’m working with one child that they need to be patient and not cause disruptions and in turn their siblings will do the same for them (clearly there is a bit a leeway here for very young people, but they really do start to learn this surprisingly early).

So that’s a very general overview of how we try to find balance and make things work for us all.  Tomorrow I’ll be sharing some of the things that we’ve been working on this year.