Large Families
Homeschooling in a large family is both a joy and a challenge. Learn how to manage those challenges, while meeting the needs of everyone in the family. Here you'll find information on keeping your home running smoothly, tending to toddlers while homeschooling, teaching many different grade levels at once, and avoid burnout.
Homeschooling a Large Family
Affording the Large Family Homeschool
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.
Homeschooling a Large Family: Keeping Sane, Simple, and Scholarly in the Stresses of Life with a Handful
This is an audio recording of a presentation by Amy Beckstead Leonard. Amy gives strategies and ideas for large families that are homeschooling.
Homeschooling: How We Do It
This article details how Bob and Erika Shupe homeschool their nine children successfully.
Homeschooling the Large 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.
Identifying Priorities in a Large Family Homeschool
Teaching six children can be a challenge. How do you prioritize? Where do you focus your time? How do you make sure they all learn to read, write and tie their shoes? It is not impossible to teach a large family. It takes thoughtfulness and flexibility. It will keep you on your toes and keep you humble.
An Organized Large, Homeschooling Family
Having a house of order is not the easiest goal to attain when raising a large family and homeschooling on top of it. Here are some ideas and tips for doing it all successfully.
Catholic Homeschooling Multiple Ages in a Large & Busy Family
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.
School Room Organization for a Big Family
There are so many benefits to having a large family, too numerous to count. However, one of the very few disadvantages is that a mom has to really stay on top clutter, particularly a homeschooling mom! It can be challenging to find a spot for everything. Organization is key when school six children.
Homeschooling and the Large Family
What do you do when you have older children who need your help, while the younger ones need your attention too. How do you get it all done and keep your sanity? The key is finding what works for your family and doing it.
Married (with a lot) of Children
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.
Planning for the Large Family Homeschool
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!
I Am Not Getting It All Done: Homeschooling multiple children and multiple subjects
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.
Organizing the Large Family Homeschool
This article offers a smattering of simple ideas to help keep homeschooling materials organized.
Planning a Homeschool Routine When You Are Homeschooling Multiple Children
How do you structure a homeschool day with four children? Do you teach each subject separately with each child? If not, what do you do together? This mom shares her strategies as she shows a day in her life.
Large Family Workbox System for Homeschool
An example of an organizational system for a large homeschool family.
How I Teach a Large Family in a Relaxed, Classical Way: Math
A look at a tag team approach to teaching math in a large homeschool family.
How Do I Teach with So Many Kids?
This series includes a look at schedules, schooling year round, busy bags, teamwork, and surrendering to God.
How I Teach a Large Family in a Relaxed, Classical Way: Science
Family style learning is a great way to tackle lots of different subjects, including science.
5 Ways to Tell If You Fit the Large-Homeschooling-Family Mold
Ways to know if you are a large homeschooling family.
How to Homeschool During the Post Partum Period
If you are going to be a homeschooler and continue to grow your class size, then you need to be prepared and you need to be flexible. Adding a new family member during the school year can be a smooth transition. Explore these ideas and tips to help during this time.
Large Homeschool Family Blogs
The Bates Family
This beautiful family of 19 children shares their journey with this blog.
Our Busy Homeschool: Large Family Learning at Home
Tristan is mom to eight children whom they homeschool.
Raising Arrows
Join Amy Roberts as she shares her tips and ideas about homeschooling and large family living.
There's No Place Like Home: Homeschooling my large, crazy family
Shelly is the mom of eleven children and is homeschooling. Share in her journey.
Our Full House
Carrie shares life with her 14 blessings, offering a glimpse into the daily life of their family.
Little Earthling Blog
This beautiful family has grown through adoption and birth. With fourteen children, they homeschool and share their adventures on their blog.
Get Along Home
This blog follows Cindy and her family as she talks about homeschooling, large families, and parenting.
My Blessed Home
This blog shares homeschooling help and encouragement, parenting tips and insights, organizational tips, and more, all while chronicling the joys and challenges of raising a large family.
Peace Creek on the Prairie: Large Family Homeschool
This site offers articles, resources, free homeschool printable, and curriculum information.
One Thankful Mom
This mom of 12 children shares her challenges and blessings at this blog. She shares about adoption, attachment, Sensory Processing Disorder, homeschooling, marriage, life with a large family, and more.
Support for Homeschooling Large Families
Lots of Kids
A place where families with four or more children can find friendship, fun, and support.
Magnum Opus
Raising a large, Catholic, homeschooling family is a great work (Magnum Opus) and a great deal of work!
Hopefully this email discussion group will be a place for parents of four or more to help each other with the nitty-gritty details of raising and educating a large, Catholic family.
Large Family Logistics
This group offers a discussion of Kim Brenneman's book Large Family Logistics.
Large families are amazing, and I have one
This Facebook page is a big support group of large family supporters who talk on a regular basis.
Large Families Forum at BabyCenter
Do you come from a large family? Are you planning one? Share the challenges and joys a big family can bring.
CM for Moms of Many
An email group for homeschooling moms using Charlotte Mason's methods. Focuses on homeschooling larger families.
Pregnant Again
Are you pregnant? Do you have a large family? Do people look at you like you're crazy? This is a list for all of you out there who are pregnant again for the third or more time. This is a supportive list wehre people believe that large families are wonderful.
Pregnant Again
This is a list for all who are pregnant for the third or more time and are having a large family by choice. Discussions include the difficulties of having several at home when dealing with sickness and fatigue, homeschooling, and more. This is a supportive list where people believe that large families are wonderful.
Large Family Logistics
The purpose of Large Family Logistics is to help Christian homeschooling mothers with the daily tasks of home management.
K12 Large Families
This group is for large families using the K-12 curriculum created by Dr. William Bennett. Both homeschooling families and Virtual School families are welcome. It is particularly intended for families with more than 3 children in K-12 as well as additional teens, toddlers and babies. Discussions include both the curriculum and the challenges of implementing it in a large family.
Featured Resources
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Homeschooling on a Shoestring : A Jam-packed Guide
So you want to homeschool but don't think you can afford it. This book is a compendium of ideas for the family that wants to start or continue homeschooling on a tight budget.
Includes ideas for making money as a stay-at-home mom, sources for inexpensive curriculum, affordable teaching tools, and ideas for low-cost field trips. Also discusses ways to run your household more efficiently and with less cost.
Home Education: A Homeschooling Classic
Home Education consists of six lectures by Charlotte Mason about the raising and educating of young children (up to the age of nine), for parents and teachers. She encourages us to spend a lot of time outdoors, immersed in nature and handling natural objects and collecting experiences on which to base the rest of their education. She discusses the use of training in good habits such as attention, thinking, imagining, remembering, performing tasks with perfect execution, obedience, and truthfulne...
Organizing Plain and Simple: A Ready Reference Guide With Hundreds Of Solutions to Your Everyday Clutter Challenges
Desk drowning in papers? No room for the car in the garage? Santa still sitting on the roof in May? A less-is-more philosophy is great, but we all still have way too much stuff. The home office swallows up whole rooms, as does the family computer station. Then there's the home gym, the TV room, and the playroom, not to mention our collections - books, CDs, toys. Time management experts agree that when the minor things that take up space in the mind are eliminated, there is room to think about th...
The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas: 500+ Fun and Creative Learning Activities for Kids Ages 3-12
Fun and Effective Home Learning Activities for Every SubjectAs a homeschooling parent, you're always looking for new and creative ways to teach your child the basics. Look no longer! Inside this innovative helper, you'll find kid-tested and parent-approved techniques for learning math, science, writing, history, manners, and more that you can easily adapt to your family's homeschooling needs. And even if you don't homeschool, you'll find this book a great teaching tool outside the classroom. You...
The Grammar Of Our Civility: Classical Education In America
This book explains the history of classical education in America and offers a vision for the role of classical education in 21st century America.