This guest post is taken from our homeschool co-op newsletter. You might find this article especially helpful if you are homeschooling and using the services of other teachers from outside the home. The author, who is also co-director of the co-op, has four daughters ages thirteen, ten, eight, and six. I thought the ideas in the article were so helpful that I asked Melissa if I could reprint portions of her thoughts here at Semicolon.
How Do I Get It All Done?
Well, first of all, I don’t (my house is rarely clean and picked up at the same time, I don’t cook as often as I should, and my husband does the laundry and ironing—gasp!), but our schooling takes priority and that (usually) gets done by God’s grace. Having four students this year, I hope that I can share some ideas with those of you who have multiple children in multiple grades, classes, workbooks, activities, etc. that help me get MOST of it done. So I thought I would give you a glimpse into a day in the life at the V— homeschool.
First, let’s just make sure everyone understands that my children aren’t perfect. They don’t always do exactly what I tell them or when I tell them; they aren’t the greatest geniuses; and the biggest weakness in our homeschool is probably their primary teacher. Let’s just be honest, there are always so many things that could use or need my attention: the laundry, the sick widow from church, the neighbor who needs childcare for a day, the list can go on and on.
Each of my children has different needs and works differently. One is pretty independent at this point (praise the Lord!). And as great as she does about getting her work done for her co-op or other outside class teachers, it just doesn’t translate equally for the math that she does for me. YOu’d think I was asking her to do what no other child has ever done —finish one math lesson per day. So I must stay on top of that. I don’t usually adapt any lessons from other teachers. She is now learning how to complete work on her own, without constant parental supervision and how to work with teachers of different styles, personalities, and requirements.
Then I have one that needs me to sit right next to her, walk her through every step of every subject, except math. So we make some modifications for some of her homework. For example, she’s having a difficult time in language arts class. I read the story to her, and she answers the comprehension questions as we read. I have her read other books that relate to the geography we are studying which aren’t quite as difficult for her, and she isn’t looking for answers to specific questions. She does complete the daily work for the spelling and vocabulary, but I don’t test her on it. And sometimes I find that I just have to give her the answer to a particular question. I find that sometimes it goes more smoothly if I write the words in the blanks for her as she calls out or points to the right word. It seems any amount of writing can be a lot for this particular child.
Another of my children completes her language arts material on Monday afternoon when we get home form co-op and announces that she’s done for the week. I use other spelling words for her, so I pretty much consider her done at this point. By the way, she’s not that independent on anything else though.
Two of my girls are in zoology, and they haven’t learned to pull definitions from the paragraphs yet. So the night before they will work on it, I write out all the vocabulary words and their defiitions on the white board. Then all they have to do is copy it. They read the book themselves, taking turns reading aloud. This gives me time to work with my youngest who is still learning to read and needs lots of individual attention when it comes to her schoolwork. I do have to work through the questions at the end of the zoology sections with them. They haven’t yet learned how to find the answers in their reading if they don’t just remember them.
As for the geography, we do it first thing and all together. It’s the only subject that all four of my girls are doing. We do all the reading aloud together, except for the seventh and eighth grade bookswhich my oldest reads on her own. I find that with me guidig all of them, we can complete the assignments quicker. Even with the read alouds, geography never takes more than an hour and usually only takes 20-40 minutes if I’m prepared before we start and don’t have to go looking for a particular book we need.
I hope you see that I adapt things for my children that fits my family and that it will still work with co-op. You may have your children find the definitions on their own in zoology; you may need to fill in the blanks or write what your child dictates on some of the language arts assignment. Maybe you need to eliminate an assignment from a class. All of this is okay. My point is that you are the primary teacher, and you adapt each class to fit your child’s needs.
Oh, and about all those other things that I think need my attention —sometimes I must remember that I am not the only one capable of meeting those needs. I need to let others receive the blessing of serving as well. Other things get done, but maybe not when I’d like or to the standard I prefer. I am learning that God has given me these four wonderful blessings, and they and my husband are my priority for now. There has been time in the past and will be in the future where my services can be made more readily available to others. We should not forget that or a season, service to our families is what God desires from us. Through prayer God will lead us through all the distractions and opportunities that come our way.
Alaska is a popular subject these days, courtesy of you-know-who, so maybe this book, set in rural Alaska, will ride the wave of Alaska-love, especially if Sarah Palin happens to become Vice President of the United States. 
