I have seven children, at least one in every stage of schooling, and I homeschool them all. One of the things I realized early in our homeschool journey was that I needed to teach them all at once. I needed to invest my time into their lives and school time but I couldn’t do it just on a one on one basis, I needed to do the majority of it as a group.
What is Multi-Level Teaching?
Multi-level teaching is when you teach the same lesson or concept to a group of different aged children while intentionally targeting their specific ages and development.
Over the years as I have perfected my method, not only did I realize that this was the practical way to do it but it also benefited the child and our homeschool greatly.
Purpose of Multi-Level Teaching
Saves Time
With as many children as we have, if I had to teach every child individually it would take forever. Just think if I gave every kiddo two hours a day it would be a fourteen-hour school day for me. Just to be frank, I wouldn’t last a week at that pace. Multi-level teaching allows me to teach all of them at once.
Lays a Good Foundation
I am teaching several age-level concepts all at once, and so it is absorbed and learned by everyone. All of my children are hearing me teach whoever is older than them and even though they may not understand it, it is preparing them for when they are ready to learn the topic.
Introduces Concepts Early
My preschooler is being introduced to concepts she would have never even heard of at her age because she is being exposed to it as I teach her siblings. Whenever the concepts are introduced to her in the future, it isn’t quite so shocking because she has heard it before. This goes for every child regardless of their age.
Encourages the Love of Learning
One of my goals as a homeschool mom is to develop and encourage the love of learning. Teaching my children all at the same time helps me accomplish that goal. When they see their older siblings fascinated by what they are learning, they can see for themselves how interesting it is.
The excitement fills the air and it is contagious. It doesn’t matter if the concepts are way over their head, if big brother is learning something cool, everyone wants in on it.
Creates Unity within the Family
When we were fostering children, I noticed that if we did fun and engaging things together, they became a part of our family a lot more quickly. I would often include them in our learning times because they became involved in what we were doing and it created memories.
When you work and learn together, it unites you as a family. I cringe when I think of sending my children to different corners of the house to learn by themselves because it is much more fun sharing it with everyone.
Do you want to know how many times a child has helped another child learn the concept by something they said or did during our group teaching time? More times than I can count! You see, siblings have special powers that parents don’t have and they get to use those when we are all together.
What subjects do I multi-level teach?
As a general rule, every child needs to have their own level of math and language arts curriculum. Because these subjects are specifically geared to the development of the child, it is harder to combine them to teach together.
That being said, I will share with you how I do multi-level teach these subjects too. However, each one of my children has their own math and language that they work on independently. Everything else is taught as a group.
Unit Studies
Unit studies are my number one way to multi-level teach. A unit study is topic-driven and so you can drill down and explore every area of that topic. The child is getting exposed to all subjects as they learn about one topic.
For example, we did a unit study about Ben Franklin. The kiddos learned and explored Mr. Franklin in the following ways:
- Ben Franklin was a frugal guy and so they examined ways to decrease spending in our grocery bill. With a trip to the store, they compared the pricing of a vegetarian meal compared to serving meat.
- The children hosted a food fair complete with fake money and business plans. They had to figure out what food they were going to prepare to sell and how much they could sell it for in order to make money. They had to make their own signage and organize it all for some of our family and friends. Oh, and they had to learn to count money as they provided change when the people paid them for their goods.
- Of course, you can’t explore Ben Franklin without learning about electricity. They learned how it works and got to work on electronic snap circuit projects as their hands-on learning experience.
As you can see, we have covered a variety of subjects like math, language, science, history, art, and life skills. That’s just to name a few.
History
I always multi-level teach history because it is full of great stories and people. I like to gear my teaching toward the people in history and learn about the events they were a part of.
Now, I will say there are some things in history that are hard to share with a younger child. I am sensitive to this and try to plan to have them occupied with something else during those times.
Science
With the exception of my high schooler, science is taught as a group. Sam, age 16, is participating in their science with them and doing his own high school level independently.
We are currently studying the human body and breaking down each system. A good friend of mine is writing and teaching this unit study and the kiddos are loving it.
There are some systems that will not be age-appropriate for my preschooler and kindergartner, so on those days, I will plan for them to participate in another activity.
Bible
We do our bible study time all together using the Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) Program. BSF is a worldwide program that encourages the whole family to study the bible. They offer men’s, women’s and children’s groups. I attend a women’s group at a local church in our area while all the kiddos except Georgie Lou attend their children’s program.
Let me tell you how it works. Everyone is given a lesson and works on it throughout the week. The adult lessons are divided into six days while the children’s lessons are divided into three days.
You do your homework at home using only your bible to answer the questions. Then, once a week, everyone attends their own small group to discuss the lesson, how you applied it to your life that week, and what God revealed to you through your study. After the discussion, the adults attend a lecture given by a teaching leader summarizing the lesson for the week.
I love this program for so many reasons:
- Everyone has their own age-appropriate lesson but we are all learning the same topic.
- My children are taught the same concepts that we have learned as a family by their teaching leader. To me, this tells them that someone else shares this belief besides just mom and dad.
- Not only are you learning but BSF teaches you how to study the bible and apply it to your life that very day.
Check out the Bible Study Fellowship’s website to explore their program and find a class near you.
Reading
Reading is an easy one in my opinion because there are so many amazing and interesting books to share with your family. You can delegate this to an older sibling too. In fact, I would recommend it because it is a great way for them to increase their fluency and learn to animate the story to make it interesting to listen too.
We live in the country and so we have plenty of time on the road as we travel to wherever we are going. I like to give a purpose to that time by listening to audiobooks.
We love our Audible membership for this reason. Whenever I need a book to listen too, there is a good chance I have an available credit to buy it with. Just a quick tip, check for the book’s price before you apply a credit because it may be better to just buy it outright because it is cheaper than your credit price.
We play this little game too. We listen to a chapter and then stop the book. Everyone age six and above needs to think of a question to ask the group. This helps them focus and teaches them how to ask appropriate questions.
I am always surprised when our two youngest children answer and participate. It is a lot of fun when they can stump each other too.
Vocabulary
I love to teach vocabulary with hands-on activities so everyone can learn. I had this idea when I had a kiddo who was really struggling with reading comprehension. I figured out that I need to demonstrate that words meant or did something.
After about six months of doing these vocabulary exercises, a lack of reading comprehension was a thing of the past.
Here’s how I do it:
- Pick a word preferably one that can be acted out. Action verbs are a really good place to start.
- Plan an activity that demonstrates to the child the meaning of the word.
- On the day of teaching, tell them the word and look up the definition together.
- Have a child read it aloud for everyone.
- Discuss the meaning of the word.
- Do the hands-on activity.
- Follow up with a discussion about how it went and what the word means.
For example, during our Ben Franklin unit study, one of our vocabulary words was efficient. The word efficient means to achieve the maximum result with the minimum amount of effort or expenses.
For my hands-on activity, I planned to demonstrate this concept by having them do a chore inefficiently and then repeat it thinking of a more efficient way of doing it.
It went like this:
- We defined the word and discussed it.
- We went outside and we spread about sixty balls throughout the yard.
- I told them I wanted them to pick them up one ball at a time and put them in the basket.
- I would time them on a stopwatch to see how long it took.
- After they were done, I told them to brainstorm about a more efficient way to get the job done and save time.
- They discussed it as a group and made a plan. The girls would pick up and carry as many balls to the basket as they could hold. The boys would use their shirts to transport as many balls as they could to the basket.
- I timed them again as they executed their plan.
- We went back inside and compared our times. By doing things more efficiently, they saved over two minutes.
This vocabulary word lesson is one I still remind them about all the time when I encourage them to do things the easiest and smartest way possible.
Writing
I teach writing to all my children at the same time. We are usually writing about whatever we are studying in our unit study for history.
For our unit study, China, we studied various parts of ancient history, the culture, the food and the animals located there. I had divided these into weekly lessons and so each week, we would summarize what we had learned. For the elementary-aged students, I required about three or four complex sentences about what we had learned in the lesson. I would expect a short essay from Sam, my high schooler, about what we had learned as well as some additional facts that he researched for himself.
During this time, my preschooler is generally playing by herself. My kindergartner is practicing her handwriting with the letter I call orally to her. I usually try to make it centered around the words we learned in our unit study.
Math
While math is definitely a subject based on their age and development, I still teach some concepts as a group. I have a couple of examples for you:
- Right now, my middle children are all struggling with place value in different areas of their math. I am planning to have my high schooler, Sam teach the concept to everyone with a Place Value Workshop. They will sort beans into containers for the ones, tens, and “hundreds” positions. Nikki, age 5, and Georgie Lou, age 3, will help by focusing on counting to ten with their beans. In the end, we will combine all their containers and build the “thousands” positions.
- When we were preparing for the food fair during our Ben Franklin unit study, the kiddos had to sort and count the coins in order to make the change for their customers. They all helped with the sorting while discussing the value of the coin while Georgie Lou, age one at the time, put them into the assigned containers. She was perfecting her motor skills while everyone was learning math.
Language Arts
I love teaching Grammar to all the kiddos at once. It’s important they know the different parts of speech in order to build good sentences. Nikki and Georgie Lou join us for these lessons while we play games.
We tell them that an adjective is a word that describes something and a noun is a person, place, or thing. I will hold up an object like an apple and have everyone describe it using adjectives. Then we talk about how the apple is a noun as well as the tree that it came off of. We may draw and color the items as we talk about it. I will print a coloring sheet off for Georgie Lou to do during this time since she is unable to draw.
Another activity to do with everyone is painting spelling words, letters or numbers. Everyone can have a painting session at their own level.
Library
We make a trip to the library every other week because my kiddos love to read. I give them a list of six different book genres and they must pick one book from each of those categories. This is a good way to ensure their “diet” of reading is well-round and they are being exposed to different styles.
- Science book
- Craft, hobby, art, or how-to book
- Biography or history book
- Chapter book
- Cookbook
- A book about another country or state
This is often an investigative mission for me as I look at what they are checking out. It gives me clues about their curiosities and I can use that information to develop my lesson plans.
I always tell parents who are confused about what kind of unit study their child would enjoy to go to the library and see what their kiddo checks out. Then use that information to build a unit study.
PE
This one is an easy one because we can always run around the yard together. Sam, age 16, is always making up games to give everyone a bit of exercise. He is really good at it and makes sure that the little ones have something they can do as well as the big ones. This usually means that the rules of the game are tweaked to accommodate the age of the child.
Brain Breaks
These are my favorite and I do them all the time. I don’t know about your kiddos but my kiddos love to move. They can get very antsy after they have been sitting for about thirty minutes so I plan accordingly.
Let me share with you my two favorite brain breaks to combat those wiggles and make sure everyone is awake.
- Balloon Freeze Dance- Blow up some balloons and play some music. Every time I stop the music, I say “Freeze!” and everyone must catch their balloon and freeze until I start the music back up. I store the blown up balloons in a garbage bag so we can just grab it and have a quick brain break.
- Run around the House 3 Times- This is just so easy! We have such a big family so it usually turns into a race which can be a good thing or a bad thing. When I am teaching and need to have a moment to set the next activity up, then I use this brain break. Sometimes I will mix it up and have them hop, skip or jump around the house.
Homeschool Co-op
We love our homeschool co-op and attend it weekly six months out of the year. Our co-op focuses on elective classes and that’s just the way I like it. It’s an opportunity for my kiddos to meet and play with other kiddos while I get to talk with other like-minded moms.
It does require one full day a week by the time we consider travel time and lunch. We don’t mind and consider it a valuable avenue for our family.
How do we teach them all together?
Let me share with you some practical tips and tricks to incorporate multi-level teaching into your family and homeschool.
Movement
Turn that worksheet into a game. There are several ways you can do this:
- Play an outside game like soccer, baseball, kickball or basketball. Before the child gets their turn, they must answer an age-appropriate question from their worksheet. Once they have answered, they get their turn.
- We have some answer buzzers and we turn the worksheet into a game show. You can ask various questions based on the ages of the children playing so that everyone gets a fair chance. I usually try to pair my children up with someone who is closest to their age and development.
- Play a sorting game. Plan to ask yes or no questions. Label two buckets, one yes and the other one no. Have the child grab a ball and then ask your question. They can answer the question by putting or tossing the ball into the appropriate bucket.
Discussion
I love to sit and discuss what we are learning with our children. As they have gotten older those discussions have become much deeper. However, I am always blown away at the contributions Nikki and Georgie Lou make to these conversations.
Games
Play a board game. Before the child gets a turn, they must answer a question. Not only do they need to think about their answers but they need to consider their next strategic move in the game.
Play a game like Candy Land and your littles can join in too. Another favorite of ours is Uno although sometimes we have to let the littles pretend they are playing to include them.
Digital Media
There are so many teaching avenues available on YouTube and the internet that appeals to all ages. There are radio dramas and audiobooks that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Pick ones that have something to do with what you are learning and you will be surprised how much the kiddos will soak up.
Outside
I love to teach outside when I can because there is so much to do. We have done reading on a blanket with hot cocoa while other times we have had a themed picnic with things that related to our unit study.
We do nature scavenger hunts, nighttime scavenger hunts and have tracked animal prints. You can create or find lists that are picture based for the littles and “words only” for the older ones.
Repetition
I teach a lot of phonics and math tables through repetition. Even though the concept is way over Georgie Lou’s head, she is still hearing it and I hear her saying it with us or repeating during her playtime.
Not only is it meeting the development needs of those who are learning it for the first time, but it is also a refresher course for those who already know it. Plus, I think it gives the child who is just learning it confidence having their siblings say it with them.
Another tip to include everyone is to let the child be the teacher and lead the “class” in the repetition exercises.
Music
Music is a great way to learn new things and helps them remember it. If you have a musically inclined child this is a great avenue into their brain. I remember when we were learning about the moon, I found a rap on YouTube about the phases of the moon. To this day, Andy can look at the moon and tell what phase it is currently in.
Art
Art class is one of our favorite classes around here because we have some very creative kiddos. Everyone is given a project to do and those who are older and more capable are expected to add more detail.
How much time do I spend multi-level teaching every week?
As a family, we spend between nine and ten hours every week teaching them as a group. Rick and I offer individual tutoring sessions for everyone and we spend between two and three hours every week doing that. It’s much better than fourteen hours per day!
They also have scheduled times to work independently on their assignments list too. In my post, Free Printable Homeschool Monthly Assignments List, I detail how we structure their independent work.
Multi-level teaching has been a lifesaver for our family! I would hate to think about all the memories we would have missed out on if I hadn’t started teaching this way.
Thanks for reading!
Written by Kaycee in Homeschool
Thank you for this!! Perfect time! The Lord knows!!
We had baby 5, who just turned a year, and it has become hard to homeschool!!