I had no idea that this was a controversial subject in the homeschooling arena. We have survived on encouraging our children to work together. It has allowed me to homeschool all of the children at once. I have even (double gasp) had my oldest child read to my youngest child.
Against Working Together
In fairness, I shouldn’t quite say that moms are against children working together. What I should say is that there is a section of the home schooling population that feels like it’s unfair to the older children to have to always do things with the littler ones. They feel like that is time that could be spent on more demanding subjects. Finally, one mother even said that it was the mother’s job to teach and not the child’s.
To some extent, I have to agree. I don’t lay all of the responsibility on teaching the twins for example, on my oldest daughter. It’s not her job not to mention the fact the the attention that the twins seek is mine and not their older sister’s. However, pairing my children up and having my older two children work with the little ones has been, in our home, a very positive experience.
Since my children are all only two years apart, it allows my oldest daughter to review concepts. It is a big confidence booster for her to see where she’s been and how much she knows now as compared to two years ago. I think it’s also good whenever kids can do something that involves other people and helping. It helps them break out of their own egocentricity. It also allows me to teach five children and meet all of their needs. I cannot after all, split myself up so we have to get creative.
As for those who would say that’s selfish. . .I think it’s better than sending them to public school!
So where do you stand? Do you let your older children help their younger siblings?
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Homeschooling Multi-Aged Children: Setting Up a Preschool Learning Area