As a fan of pioneer books, I used to think it would be fun to attend or teach a one room school. I never guessed I'd really be doing it, but that's what a homeschool with more than one child really is. How I manage that problem is one of the first questions I'm usually asked by non-homeschoolers, or by those planning to start.

I actually started out only teaching my oldest. I had a few years of experience before the two younger children decided to join her, and I'll admit, I was a little nervous. I wondered if dressing like Laura Ingalls Wilder would make me feel more competent.

My two younger children are only fifteen months and one grade apart, so I decided to simplify my life by having them study as many subjects together as possible. Even my older daughter, four grades ahead of the next youngest, could study the same history at the start of the year. I like to know more than my children about the subjects I teach, and I didn't want to spend the summer studying too many subjects, so I decided we could effectively study history and science together, as well as most of the other subjects. Only math and spelling were different at our house, because my younger children read well enough that I didn't bother much with reading lessons. Reading was themed into our other subjects.

Here's how it worked that first year. I had a second grader, a third grader and a seventh grader. We started our day with the group activities, just in case things went crazy later on. I chose a history book for the two younger children that was a stretch for their reading abilities, so we read it together, taking turns, and discussing as we went. My seventh grader was reading a high school text and articles by historians covering the same time period. While the younger ones answered written questions from the book, I could discuss her history with her, or go over her other subjects. If we did a fun project, she joined us, and she planned and taught all the science experiments. This taught her some teaching skills, and insured she learned the material well enough to bring it to a low level. (It's hard to explain material in a basic way unless you really understand it.) While each child worked independently, I could meet with another child on math or their personalized spelling list. There were times when everyone needed me at once, and then I had to get creative. Sometimes my older daughter could stop and help a sibling. Other times, I just had to tell them to work on something else for a while until I was free.

As homeschoolers get older, they become less dependent on a teacher, in a way public school kids seldom do. They learn how to teach themselves new material, and your time becomes less in demand. My teenager needs very little actual teaching time now. I help her with her English compositions and term papers, and we brainstorm project or writing ideas together. I monitor what she's up to, but she submits her work for credit to the district each semester and she takes responsibility for making sure her work will be acceptable. If she wants to take a class I can't teach her, she finds materials that will let her teach herself. She has been self-taught in math all year, because she passed me up. She needs little of my time, and often pitches in to help when the younger children need help. (It's a rule that no one will need help for three hours while you sit twiddling your thumbs, and then they will all need help at once.)

Even my two younger children, now in fifth and sixth grade, are able to work with less help. I go over new sections in math with each child individually, and listen to their spelling one at a time. I also edit writing with each child separately. We do a group math review each day, discuss our history, and read history-themed literature together, or they read it alone and we discuss it. I periodically throw in extra group lessons on subjects that fit in with another subject, but now that they attend the public school half a day, I do less of that. The school is now doing their science and electives.

There are several ways of organizing the time. One family with nine children, (taught by the father, not the mother) is very structured. The father starts with the youngest child and works his way up the ages, covering everything at once. I prefer to bounce between kids, as they get to the subject I need to work on. That means I don't have them all do the same subject at once. They have a list of things they have to get done, and they choose their own order. (Kids can share textbooks that way, too.)

Teaching the same history to each child can be a real challenge. The trick is to have a variety of ways to teach the material. I like each child to get an overview of the material first, which means textbooks, usually. If the reading material is too hard, you can read it to them, letting them read short portions aloud. This does wonders for increasing their reading abilities. Most subjects are repeated throughout the school career, so you should be able to find books at different levels. For example, public schools usually teach U.S. history in fifth grade, and again in high school. A third grader with average reading skills can probably handle a fifth grade book if it's interesting and has a lot of social history-information about how people lived. Middle-schoolers can use high school books, and high schoolers can probably handle college texts. Let everyone read from their own books, and share what they've learned. Supplement that with trade books from the library or book store. For the very youngest history students, try books by Jean Fritz or books about what it would be like to live in that time period.

Try to find activities to supplement each unit, especially for younger children. These can let everyone learn at their level while still learning material they can share with their siblings. Reports should be required regularly, but other kinds of activities can be fun too, and can tie in with other subjects. Art class can be building a Native American village, or painting a Civil War mural. Home Ec? Try sewing costumes from the time period. As long as you have those costumes, why not let everyone-or your budding writer-write a short simple play about the time that the family can act out? Puppet shows are fun, too, and you don't need fancy puppets or a real theater. The back of the couch or a blanket over a card table works just fine. Why not write a book? Let your older kids try to make a textbook or picture book for the younger children. A magazine combines a lot of activities too, or a chapter book with each child contributing a chapter. Time lines can be done on banner paper and divided between kids. Planning activities that can be done by a variety of ages lets everyone work together on a common project while working at their own level.

The real trick to the one room school is to be creative, patient and to have a little fun. If it isn't fun, it isn't worth it. Good luck!