I am often asked how I do it, “how do I teach all those children?” I usually remember to respond with the Lord’s help. Some days that is easier than others. Some days I feel I don’t do “it” at all. I am so very glad these children came one at a time, very small and I didn’t have to jump into this “homeschool mama to six” all at once. Those earlier days were tough ones. Not the days when I had a few little ones and we could just play and read and snuggle all day. Those days, I thought I could handle it all.
Then, our eldest reached “school age”. For the most part, we tried to keep that same feel: family closeness, to our day. The only problem to my perfectly laid plans? My girl had trouble learning to read. Nothing we tried was working. I was getting frustrated; she was getting frustrated; I was failing her. After spending a couple of years banging our heads and getting nowhere. I was led to wait. Don’t push her. We waited, and I didn’t want her younger sisters to get ahead of her, so I didn’t do much reading instruction with them. Praise the Lord, they “got it” anyway. They learned to read despite me. Hmm… maybe this isn’t about me after all.
That’s when I learned it isn’t about checking off lists; keeping to a plan. It is about guiding them towards becoming who the Lord is making them to be. I can utilize various tools, but the plans are the Lord’s. I can have my goals, but success happens when we yield to His direction. This is so applicable to much more than homeschooling. (Probably why our homeschooling style is more of a lifestyle for our family) I don’t know if I would have learned this same lesson had it not been for me trying to conform my little ones to my grand plans.
When they are reading, life becomes so much easier. We are starting to see the fruits of the labor of those early days. The older girls can get their independent work done, handle most of the chores, meal prep, etc. This gives us plenty of time for our family learning (Bible, history and science) and other activities (you know, the fun and games!). I am usually able to spend one-on-one time with each of the children several times a week (yeah, not usually everyday, but that’s alright–really!).
In a nutshell, what I have found works (for us) is to be flexible. Seek the Lord in everything. Use the tools you have available as tools, not taskmasters. Not all of the advice out there will be helpful to you. Know when to keep it and when to “chuck it” (this works for clothes and toys storage too!) That advice I heard often about spending time with the youngers first really seems to be truthful in our family. My inclination is to spend time with the child that is needing the most help (often and older one) first, then do something with the littles. Too often, they wouldn’t get any focused time with me.
Somehow in between all this, we get the laundry done (well, as much as laundry is ever done), meals on the table (often “on time” even!), and keep things generally picked up. It is not always easy, but I wouldn’t trade a minute!
Linking up to the Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog Cruise. Read more posts about large family homeschooling (goes live Tuesday, August 14th).
