Need help with school planning for 5 children

8 angels…I hear you about not being able to think with a messy house. With the ages of your kids I would think the oldest five dc should be able to contribute fairly independantly once trained. I give each child the same daily chores for the whole year. I train them at the beginning of the school year…alotting extra time to walk them through it so it is done right.

You have a lot of little ones and with a baby on the way I would think the simpler the school schedule the better. I also have an older set- 9th and 6th and a younger set -3rd and K. I actually group my older 3 together and follow the main read alouds for the module. My oldest reads her extra high school books independantly. The oldest also has a half hour slot during the day where she does the read alouds for my Kindergardener.

I am not an organized person. What really helped me was putting it all down on paper. For chores that meant figuring out what needed to be done and assigning them to the appropriate person. For school it meant mapping out our day to see how I could fit is all in and still get done in a reasonable amount of time. I think seeing things visually mapped out helps me.

Oh, I almost forgot!  If you put things together you can get your reading and history together and get those done for the older children. They can be reading their books to a younger sibling. Killing 3 birds with one stone. You can also do this with Science and Reading. (Nature Readers are a good start with the younger ones.)

   Math can be done individually and they can go over the younger siblings match up math. There are some good sites to teach numbers. We make file folders. I have one with balloons and you have to match the balloons with the number of balls the juggler is juggling. I don’t remember the website but maybe you could google it. This is a wonderful tool and older kids could help with that.  I think you could do some things like music and art together also.  Maybe you would be better doing a Unit Study with all of them.  Ok, I will let someone else chime in with some ideas.

                    Blessings!

I don’t have a passel of young kids all at the same time (*smiles*) but all 4 of my kids are special needs, live at home and pretty much keep me hopping all the time. I have a couple suggestions that may help.

1) Chore Check Lists. I recently implemented a similar system to the one on this blog http://madsmemories.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-do-i-stay-organized-let-me-count.html  I have 2 young adult sons living at home who couldn’t seem to remember how to clean the kitchen, but now they have a check list and don’t have an excuse. 😉 The thing I love about them is that they can be such a great tool to instruct, and the last item on each list- double check that you did everything well!

2) It seems like you may need to pick a few non-negotiables and get on track with those, and then slowly add things as you feel more confident. For me, the first non-negotiable would be the habits needed to get through the day with minimal problems. Obedience, attention, cheerfulness, whatever it may be for your family. The next step would be getting through a handful of school subjects each day consistently, then adding more slowly as you are able.

3) Change up how you get things done. Perhaps one of your older kids could do some read aloud during a meal, or you could get an audio book and listen during a meal or  in the car if you ave daily errands. The older kids could take turns with the little ones while you have your one on one time with the other one. Maybe you could do some subjects in the evenings when your hubby is home to help.

4) Try using a timer for chores or school subjects. Once 20 minutes (less for the young ones) is over, its time to move on. Short lessons promote the habit of attention, and help the kids not feel so overwhelmed.

You have a lot on your plate. Be kind to yourself and persevere, I think you will be able to bring some order to the chaos.

I wanted to hop in here to share what we do. I have seven children age 11 and under, the youngest one with medical needs that take care multiple times a day. Schooling in a clean house is totally possible IF:

– you have a realistic expectation of clean. We don’t have things piled everywhere but little ones typically have a toy out on the floor.

– you have decluttered everything so everything has it’s own place and the surfaces are not piled with things. There should not be more toys available for a child than they can put away themself in 5 minutes. Less is better! Get rid of or pack into tubs the rest and change toys every few weeks. Go through books/papers/magazines/dishes and get rid of extras.

– your whole family (mom+kids) works daily on chores.

Personally I feel that if children are not willing to do their chores then everything needs dropped until they do. All extras, all fun, and even school. We also operate on the biblical principle that you must work or you don’t eat. (2 Thes 3:10: For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.) Chores must be done or you do not eat at meal or snack time. If you finish and meal time is over you must wait until the next scheduled time to eat. My kitchen closes and you’re not free to grab food. It doesn’t take too many times fro this one to sink in. 😉

All my children have chores except the 7 month old. The 1 1/2 yr old just picks up things or helps me in my chores. The 3 year old cleans his room with brothers, makes his bed, puts away his laundry, washes table and chairs, picks up downstairs if needed, and loads/unloads the dishwasher, helps set the table. The 4 year old does all that plus can use the hand vacuum and cleans the enclosed porch. The 6 year old does all that and is totally responsible for one bathroom. She helps cook. The 7 year old does those things and is responsible for the other bathroom. (I don’t clean bathrooms at all anymore!) He can also help care for the baby pretty well. The 11 year old can run the house. Literally. She is responsible for floors as her big job (I don’t sweep/vacuum anymore either!). She can care for the younger children including the medical needs of the baby.

Laundry – the baby is in my bedroom and I do his laundry plus mine and hubby’s. Then there are 3 kids in each of the other two bedrooms. They are responsible for doing their laundry from start to finish. Oldest in the room starts it. Next oldest switches load to dryer. Then they all put away clothes (we don’t fuss about folding).

We do 5 minute pickups as needed. The little ones are productively engaged close by during school so cleanup is easily accomplished, there is not an opportunity to make a disaster. We teach them to pick up and put away each thing before grabbing a new one (the 1 year old is obviously still learning this one).

Hold on to hope! It is possible. We’re in a small house for the 9 of us less than 1200 sq ft). Decluttering makes a big difference. if there is too much available to get out then you and the kids will have a hard time keeping things tidy.

((HUGS)) Sometimes it seems too hard to take time off school to get the housework chore system in place and things decluttered, with attitudes fixed along the way, but it is 100% worth it! It reminds me of the Smooth and Easy Days ebook here on SCM, a little bit of work to smooth out those things now gives us less friction and smooth and easy days the rest of the year.