Question for moms with large families/age span

I’ll give this a shot but my schedule isn’t perfect. Our kids are similar in age! My kids are 16, almost 14, almost 12, 9, 7, 4 and a toddler. My two oldest have graduated.

My plan is to start the day paying a little attention to the toddler, then (9 or 9:30) do Bible, Bible memory and one thing from our fine arts loop. That shouldn’t take more than 30 min.

Then we switch to my time with the 4 and 7 year olds doing Five in a Row. I’ll have the toddler with us if he cooperates. Otherwise I’ll beg the oldest to watch him. ?  Then I’ll help the 7 year old with math and reading instruction. While I’m with these little ones my olders will be working on independent work ( math, independent reading, Spelling Wisdom if it’s not a dictation day etc. ) and possibly taking turns with the toddler.

When finished with the littles I make myself available to help everyone who needs it, with math or language arts.

This is our whole morning. I start between 9 and 9:30 and stop for lunch at 11:30 or 12:00. If anyone gets done earlier they can play or get started on daily chores.

After lunch we will do 2 subjects during the toddler’s nap. history and Lit 2 days and science and Lit 2 days. Friday’s will only be history. I decided to plan this way because it’s so hard to read aloud and narrate etc. With a toddler around!

Friday mornings I won’t require much in language arts and instead we will do art and nature study. If they need to finish some of this in the afternoon, they may.

When I have an audio book for our literature selection I may play it during lunch. I’m also going to play our composer’s music during lunch some days.

My 16 yo works very independently and I’ll check in with her/ listen or read narration when I’m helping everyone at the table in the morning or sometime after lunch.

This may need tweaked but it’s the general plan. HTH!

Tracy – I love your kids ages! I don’t have so many older ones. Mine are 15, 11, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, and 9 months. Here is a general hours answer to each of your questions:

Morning Basket: 30 minutes

Table time with Elementary and middle school kids: 1 1/2 hrs (preschool can be there too, with activity boxes like puzzles, paint, playdoh, coloring, etc if they wish).

Read aloud history: 30 minutes

One on one with high schooler: 1 hour

Open office hours for anyone who needs me: 1 hour in the afternoon

Nature study: we don’t schedule this, it just happens when we are outside.

Outside time: this varies based on weather and interest. We’re in town, with a small yard, in an area that is not ok to wander. Some days we’re not outside at all. Other days we spend 1-2 hours outside. Occcasionally we’re out 3+ hours, such as when we do a fire in the fire pit, cook dinner over the fire, play, and watch the bats and the stars come out. Then there are occasional days where we take the kids somewhere to be out in nature.

Honest confession? Outside time is hard for us because 1 child is in a wheelchair (limits movement, though he’s 4 and getting stronger so becoming more able to do all surfaces) and he also does not sweat (medical issue) so he can overheat easily in warm or hot weather. Add in paralysis and poor circulation in his lower extremities and in cold weather he can freeze far earlier than a typical person – without realizing it. So outside time takes a lot more effort on my part than I would like. I have to be present and helping him move around, while also keeping track of the 3yo and crawling baby. 😉 But I try to be consistent at going outside with them all.