Teaching multiple ages at once is hard.
This is one of the most common homeschool complaints I hear (usually from myself!). The struggle is real: We’ll have a 14-year age span between the oldest and youngest of our children when our next son is born this fall.
Currently, one son is learning to shave while the other is learning to keep his hands out of his poopy diaper. We also share our home with another homeschooling family, so the total age-range of kids educated on these premises will be 18 years.
I also have (wonderful!) aging parents, including a disabled mom, with whom we spend much of our time (there will be an almost 79-year-old age difference between my dad and my youngest son). Our 11-year-old daughter regularly feeds my mom, cleans her hands and fingernails, brushes her hair, and reads aloud to her.
I mention these dynamics simply because they have shaped my perspective on age segregation, and convinced me that although learning (and living!) with a wide age-range has its challenges, it offers priceless benefits that simply aren’t available in a sea of same-aged students.
While I won’t hit on the how during this article, I want to convince you the work is worth it! A few of the great benefits include: {Read the rest over at Simple Homeschool