Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Sharing subjects, teaching older kids to teach younger ones, keeping the focus and attention of your students—all these are elements of early America’s one-room schoolhouses. On today’s Home School Heartbeat, host Mike Smith talks to author Carren Joye about how these traditional teaching methods can help your homeschool.

Mike Smith:
Carren, in your book Homeschooling More than One Child, you talk about the “secrets of the one-room schoolhouse.” What are these secrets and how can they help a parent homeschool?

Carren Joye:
Well, the secrets of the one-room schoolhouse are just basically taking advantage of multiple ages there in your own home, giving your children opportunities to learn from each other and to help each other. If you envision an old fashioned one-room schoolhouse, each age group would be doing a different activity and the teacher would just move from group to group. It’s the same way with homeschooling, you start with your youngest child first while your older ones are working on something they can do independently. And if they can read directions and understand them, then they should be able to work independently. Otherwise, a secret of the one-room schoolhouse would be combining grades as much as possible and do subjects together. A whole family can share history and science and Bible. You might be the little ones are too young to get anything out of it, but you would be amazed at how much they retain. And finally, and my favorite, is that older students make wonderful teachers assistants. They don’t have to be that much older, just a child one or two years older can help a little brother with math, or listen to their little sister reading while you’re working with someone else.

Mike:
Well, Carren, thank you so much for joining us this week on Home School Heartbeat. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.