A candid look at the challenges and joys of raising a large family in a hostile world. This article is written from a Catholic perspective, but has food for thought for any parent of a large brood.
This beautiful family of 19 children shares their journey with this blog.
A recipe group list with recipes that big families can enjoy. Discuss recipe successes and failures. Feel free to upload your own recipes or download others.
In a large family, it is inevitable that the older children will help guide the younger ones. Here are ideas on how to capitalize on that system.
Most moms of several children become experts at multitasking with experience. We often are asked how we manage homeschooling multiple learning levels and I find it difficult to explain. It's like preparing a seven course dinner--how do you tell someone exactly how to prepare everything in such a way that it's all ready at the proper time and stays the proper temperature? I suppose you could lead them step-by-step through all the directions and it would be easier, but still experience is the best teacher.
This podcast features Amy of Raising Arrows who currently has seven children on earth and one in Heaven. She shares ideas and encouragement for anyone who is homeschooling more than four children.
An example of an organizational system for a large homeschool family.
An artist, blogger, painter, and mother of six (that's right, six) kids from ages 5 to 13, Denise is the queen of multitasking. In addition to managing a household of eight, the Southern California mom homeschools her three oldest boys – Noah, 13, Diego, 12, and Solomon, 10 – teaches art, and does duty as a baseball mom. There's no such thing as a set-in-stone schedule in the Cortes family. But within the swirl of noise, chaos, laundry, and huge grocery bills, this 38-year-old mom is obviously doing something very right.
This list of practical items and virtues are great for a large homeschooling family.
There is nothing like the summer break to step back from the madness and take a good, long {and honest} look at your previous year of homeschooling. It can be difficult in a large family to accommodate everyone’s individual desires, but you can at least listen to them and try!
Follow Amber and her children as they enjoy large family learning.
Between the meal prep, homeschooling, laundry, and constant demands for our attention, how do we ever find a moment of peace?
A homeschooling mom of seven children shares her approach to successfully home educating in a large family. She emphasizes routine over schedules, taking advantage of teachable moments, and resisting the temptation to over-control.
For the most part, the more well ordered days are the more smoothly the day will go. Not only does it require planning on our part as homeschooling moms, it requires diligence and perseverance – daily.
For any family seeking a private Christian education in the home, money quickly becomes an issue. While programs like K12 and other public-school umbrellas exist, they do not offer the freedom of choice so many homeschoolers are looking for. Nor do they offer a Christian education. Most homeschooling families opt to buy their own curriculum so they can truly be in charge of their child’s education. When a homeschooling family has many children, curriculum buying becomes an exercise in creative frugality. Here are a few ways you can save and stretch money in your homeschool.
We have to cover subjects that go from reading and writing to foreign language, math, science, history and then to music, art and computer. For those of us with several children, it can be even more challenging, trying to meet all the instructional needs of each grade level every day.
Great ideas and strategies for managing a large homeschooling family.
Sometimes, raising and homeschooling 8 kids (ages 21 to 2) seems totally manageable--even easy--especially when compared to other, larger families made up primarily of younger kids. At other times, homeschooling our brood proves to be the hardest thing ever.
This Facebook page is a big support group of large family supporters who talk on a regular basis.
Any mom in or near Iowa (Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Missourri) with 4 or more children living at home is welcome here. Discussions include household organization, homeschooling ideas, frugal living tips, child training, Christian living, modesty, and general encouragement.
It's daunting to think about schooling many children, all different age ranges, in a busy house. These tips and tricks can give you smooth sailing days when homeschooling a large family.