How I Combine Subjects Across Ages Without Losing My Mind (Most Days)

A homeschool survival guide from a former teacher turned multi-age ringmaster

You know that moment when you sit down with your color-coded homeschool plans, your freshly sharpened pencils, and your optimistic belief that today will be the day everyone learns the same thing at the same time?

Yeah. Me neither.

Welcome to my world: homeschooling a 12-year-old 7th grader, a 6-year-old 1st grader, a 3-year-old preschooler, and newborn twin infants who believe sleep is a suggestion, not a biological requirement. I’m a former early childhood and elementary teacher of 15 years, which means I have the professional training to know exactly what I should be doing… and the lived experience to know that reality laughs in the face of my credentials.

But here’s the good news: combining subjects across ages is not only possible—it’s the secret sauce that keeps my homeschool from collapsing into a flaming heap of worksheets and tears.

(Usually mine. Let’s be honest.

Let’s talk about how I do it without losing my sanity, my sense of humor, or my will to teach phonics while bouncing a baby on each hip.

🌟 Why Combine Subjects? Because I like surviving.

Look, I love my kids. I love teaching. I love learning. But I also love not running five separate curriculums like a one-woman academic circus.

Combining subjects is how I:

• keep my 7th grader from finishing an entire novel while I’m still sounding out “cat” with my 1st grader

• keep my preschooler from wandering off to start a plumbing project

• keep the twins from staging a coup

• keep myself from Googling “can you homeschool from a blanket fort and never come out”

Multi-age teaching isn’t cheating. It’s strategy. It’s survival. It’s the only reason I still have the energy to blink.

🪐 My Secret Formula: One Topic, Many Levels

Here’s the magic: everyone learns the same topic. Everyone does it at their own level.

It’s like a buffet. Same food. Different plate sizes.

For example, if we’re learning about space (because obviously, ORBIT):

⭐ 7th grader

Researches the history of space exploration, writes a mini-essay, and debates whether Pluto deserves a comeback tour.

⭐ 1st grader

Builds a model of the solar system out of construction paper and glue sticks that mysteriously disappear every time I need one.

⭐ Preschooler

Sorts planets by size, color, or “vibes,” depending on her mood.

⭐ Twins

Contribute by drooling on a board book about the moon. Every team needs morale boosters.

Same topic.Different expectations. Zero guilt.

🧠 Teacher Tip: Depth Beats Difficulty

As a former classroom teacher, I can tell you this with my whole chest:

Kids don’t need harder work. They need deeper work.

Depth is what lets you combine ages without anyone feeling left out or left behind.

So instead of five separate lessons, I choose one big idea and let each kid explore it in a way that matches their brain, their age, and their current emotional stability (which, let’s be honest, fluctuates wildly for all of us).

🎨 Hands-On Activities Save Lives (Mostly Mine)

When in doubt, I go hands-on.

Hands-on learning is the great equalizer. It keeps the 7th grader engaged, the 1st grader focused, the preschooler included, and the twins entertained by watching the chaos unfold.

Some of our greatest hits:

• Science experiments (everyone loves watching things bubble, fizz, or explode responsibly)

• Art projects (the 7th grader gets fancy; the preschooler finger-paints the table)

• Storytelling (each kid adds a sentence; the twins add sound effects)

• Nature walks (aka “science class disguised as fresh air and survival”)

Hands-on learning is the closest thing I have to a universal language.

🛠️ Let Go of Perfection. Embrace the Pivot.

Some days, combining subjects feels like a beautifully orchestrated symphony.

Other days, it feels like I’m conducting that symphony with a spatula while someone cries because their crayon broke.

Both days count.

Both days are for learning.

Both days are enough.

You’re not doing it wrong. You’re doing it real.

❤️ You Can Do This—I Promise

If you’re trying to combine subjects across ages and it feels messy, chaotic, or like you’re herding caffeinated squirrels, please hear me:

You’re not failing. You’re homeschooling.

This is the work. This is the magic. This is the part your kids will remember—learning together, exploring together, growing together.

You don’t need perfection. You need a plan that bends with your life instead of breaking under it.

And you’ve got this. I’m cheering for you, laughing with you, and building systems right alongside you.