One kid cried because he didn’t finish his Math facts before his brother. Full on meltdown up in my homeschool classroom this morning. Three kids at the table. Each doing Math, one crying because his brother finished before him. Yep. Not even an hr into our homeschool day, and someone was already crying. BUT. BUT. We got through the meltdown, it was such a teachable moment, and we ended on a very high note! I just began week 3 of homeschooling 4 kids. Well sorta. In my previous blog posts, I’ve talked all about staggering homeschooling. We are adding one kid per week to our homeschool routine! So we started 3 Mondays ago, with our Kindergartner! We had a special surprise and celebration for her, with all of her siblings singing to her and celebrating her special “Homeschool” day! I homeschooled her for one full week, getting her into a routine, and then the following Monday, I added her brother, Beckham who started 2nd grade. Today, I started our 3rd grader Grayson, with the same special celebration, song, and gifts. He had so much fun! So here are my tips for moms (or dads) homeschooling multiple kids! Let me first say: IT IS POSSIBLE!

Stagger Homeschool! OMG! Y’all this has been my saving grace! By staggering homeschooling, you’re getting one child in a good routine BEFORE adding another child! It has been absolutely fantastic for our family. We like to get balloons, a few gifts, and start whenever that child wakes up!
Start the day all together with Bible or a subject that you can do together! Like a Read Aloud! During this time, everyone gets to sit at the table or on the floor, or wherever, and listen to Mom (or dad). Starting together gives you an opportunity to go over expectation, instructions, and schedule for the day. We like to start the day with breakfast, and while my kids are eating breakfast, they get to watch Superbooks (bible Stories) on Amazon Prime on the TV. They love that, and they get to listen/watch different biblical stories. After Bible, each of them begin with Handwriting, while listening to me read from ABC Bible Verses. That’s how we start our day each morning!
Simplify your day! When starting out homeschooling for multiple kids, simplify your day based on what your states guidelines are AND what your family’s goals are! When I first started homeschooling many moons ago (we just started our 9th year), I wanted to get ALL the subjects in each day/week. We had 10-11 subjects! STOP THE MADNESS! A lot of times, we put unnecessary pressure on ourselves and kids because we want our children to learn all the things, and the biggest is that they learn to LOVE learning. And they begin to be lifelong learners and see mom (or dad) enjoying learning, laughing, and enjoying time together. Oh man. Guys, years ago, I hated homeschooling. I had 3, who were three and under, and then an older 7 year old, and I hated life! Because I made it too complicated. Now our daily schedule is Bible, Language Arts, Handwriting, Reading, Math, THAT IS ALL! I’ll add science and social studies later in the month, but for now, we are keeping it simple! By simplifying your day, you are taking away the things that aren’t as important to focus on what truly matters to your family AND the core standards! I would love to add Music lessons to the equation, but ain’t nobody got time for that with travel baseball, two restaurants, worship practice, and baseball practice or games 5-6 days a week! Nope! Not happening in this season of life! Simple!
After completing 2-3 subjects or when you notice your kids getting antsy, I would say 30-45 minutes (longer for older kids), allow free play or creative play (this is play-doh or puzzles or blocks for us). They are usually at my feet while I’m working with someone who still has his focus. Usually my older child. This is usually when I “TEACH”. Two kids are playing together quietly, and then I work on Language Arts or a subject that requires “Mommy time”. So today, while my oldest and I worked on Language Arts, my youngest two played play do quietly nearby. Then usually I switch, when my oldest is finished with his “Mommy Time” usually 15-30 minutes of instruction, I’ll teach one of the younger kiddos Language Arts, while Grayson goes to play quietly with another sibling. After that, we break for outdoor play which means Mommy needs a little mental break before continuing.
Clump the subjects you can do together back to back and get those done first. So for us that is Handwriting and Bible (I’m reading to them during Handwriting), Math. So we do those together at the dining room table. We do those first. Then when my younger two are all tapped out, I work with my oldest son (while the younger two play).
Write down a loose daily SIMPLE schedule, BUT give yourself grace if you don’t complete everything in that day. Sometimes we don’t get to everything scheduled and that’s ok. Sometimes the teachable moments of sharing, and waiting your turn, or having a kind heart is so much more important than that worksheet they didn’t complete. You put it on the to-do list for tomorrow.
Schedule Outdoor Play DAILY! Every morning after a few lessons, my kiddos go outside to play for at least 30 minutes. In addition to outdoor play, I usually do a family bike ride at some point with them every morning. I have noticed my kids do so much better if they get some exercise in during our mornings! Some days it’s before school. Some days its in the middle of school Figure out what works for you and get it done! Outdoor play is our saving grace for homeschooling multiple kids. We have a gated backyard, so they go outside and play while I’m in the house picking up always keeping a watchful eye on them!
Schedule in chores and pick-up time into their daily schedule! This is a must-have! During our morning routine, our kids have to brush their teeth, make their beds, get dressed, pick up, before breakfast. But then during the morning, our kiddos have to clean bathrooms, clean the kitchen, put away dishes, load the dishes. We schedule those chores into their mornings and afternoons, so we are not waiting until the afternoon to do everything. Everyone has an assignment, has jobs, has tasks that need to be completed and are usually checked by an older sibling before mommy checks! You can read more about our Chore System Here!
Schedule in your workout, devotion, or quiet time! Now, if I could give any advice at all for Mommas with Multiple kids homeschooling it’s this tip here! I usually try to get these done early am SO that I can be my best BEFORE my kids wake up! Now, it doesn’t happen every single day before the crack of dawn, but that’s my goal! I do get my workout in and devotion in every single day MOST days a week because I am better, my mood is better, I feel better, so therefore, I am better for my family! This has been transformative in our homeschool journey! FOR ME! For my kids! Giving myself 30 minutes to an 1 hr a day of quiet time of rest and solitude with Jesus as well as working out (usually Beachbody on Demand and/or bike riding with the kids), is the best form of “self-care” there is to me! Jesus + exercise in the am before school starts = A VERY HAPPY and usually calmer mama!
Evaluate, adjust, change it up! If something isn’t working out for you after a set amount of time, switch it up! So before we even started, I bought a Language Arts curriculum that I knew my son would hate, so I ordered a new one! Well it was free from the Good and the Beautiful! So I printed it, took it to Office Depot, and got it bound all up! Because I know my child’s learning style, the book I had purchased without seeing was going to bore him out of his little mind. So based on my evaluation, I chose something else! And you can too! You are the parent! You can make choices based on what you feel is best for your child without guilt! That’s the beauty of homeschooling. If after 4 weeks, you see your child hates the Math curriculum you chose, make up your own, or if its in the budget, find a new one. Or find a free one online! There are so many free resources out there! Or perhaps you notice that certain subjects just don’t clump or go well together in your homeschool morning, maybe you need to adjust some subjects until after a rest time….which I highly highly recommend. Did I talk about our mandatory 1 hr rest time where every single person in my family goes in their rooms for 1 quiet hr per day! Yep! That rest time, friend, is going to be your best friend, so use that hour wisely! That would be my 11th tip! MANDATORY REST TIME! You get to decide the time. One hour to 2 hours depending on your child’s age. Make sure you have put up the toys or dangerous things so you don’t have to worry about them getting into something. :) My kids are a little older, so I don’t have to worry so much about those things. Usually my kids are reading a book, playing quietly, and I’ll have my own rest time or I will use it to clean.

Goodness, there is so much info on homeschooling to cover! So if you have any questions, let me know! I had no clue what I was doing when I started. No clue. Goodness, I felt like a mom failure so many days, and cried or had wine so many nights. But I got through those tough years, and so can you! I still have “bad days”, but we revamp and reset! And the next day, there is new grace and new mercies! So! You can do this friend! No matter how many kids you have, it is possible! And I pray you have the best homeschool year ever!

PS. I’ll be sharing what we are using this year later blog post or follow me on Instagram!