Research
Our
best and latest research is in a 20-page report attached to the very end of this
section. You may download this web site and quote the material, but be sure to
credit it, ©International Copyright
Margie Downey 1998-2002. All rights reserved.
If you have infant twins, it is not too early to begin thinking about home school (and
how to tell the grandparents). It will give you time to pray, scout curricula, develop
your educational philosophy, and discover your children's primary learning styles. It may
take you and your husband years to make the actual decision to begin home school.
If you are a home school mom who is now pregnant with twins, EVERYTHING is
about to undergo a change. The twins are going to be fun, adorable, wonderful additions to
the family, but first you have to get them here, and it is NEVER EASY.
Many of us are capable, determined people who keep a steady ship throughout all sorts
of changes. Plan on being mobile only into the sixth month, and essentially on bed rest
after that. Take the time to research this pregnancy- even if you have several children,
this is DIFFERENT. Read the newest books on twins, so as things come up, you can make
informed, prepared decisions with your doctor and husband. You may need a Caesarian
section to deliver the twins, so arrange ahead for all the help you can get (more than
counting on your home school teens). This is a time to have relatives move in with you to
care for you and the family. If you cannot order the curriculum ahead, at least fill out
the order forms and get it all ready for the oncoming school year. For the year they are
born, try to keep up students' reading, writing, and arithmetic- and do other subjects in
the summer or with dad or a friend teaching those.
Get in touch with local twins clubs for their help, friendship, and to buy
multiple clothing and stuff for pennies on the dollar. You may need preemie diapers, which
have to be special ordered (surprise!) in bulk- hospitals can tell you about this.
For those of you who are SUPERMOMS, this is a season to HANDOFF your
extra-curricular responsibilities for months to GROW THESE BABIES. It really will take all
you have to offer. Start getting enough sleep now, while you can. Pray about everything.
Regarding marriage, prepare for one of the greatest challenges it will experience. You
will come through it blessed beyond words, but guarding your friendship and intimacy with
your husband is vital to happiness for you both. Invest in special memories now, as you
will be inexplicably busy with the babies at the last trimester and entire first year. You
may have had good success with breastfeeding earlier, but try to borrow a good breast pump
by Medela with double connections, in case you need to express milk and bottle-feed your
twins (preemies are often too weak to suck mom's nipple).
God bless you! We're here pulling for you! We love you!
You already home school and have twins among your children? Fantastic! Please subscribe
to Home School Families of Twins, come to the quarterly meetings if you are within driving
range of Dallas, TX, send article contributions on how you are doing it all, and please
talk about this new networking to your twin and home school groups and newsletters. We
want to continue to be a blessing, encouragement, and pertinent resource for YOU. Read the
"Twins and Home School" booklet to discover how much our population has in
common. We may be spread out, but we are very alike.
If your twins are about to join a busy home school family life, the preparation for the
upcoming year should be accomplished while you are still pregnant and able to think! You
want your lessons planned ahead. Also, make a list of the field trips, unit studies, and
adventures you want to accomplish along with the course work the students will be doing.
Adult twins who have elected to teach their children (either twins or
singletons) have a special perspective to share. Please write to us at HSFT and submit
articles from your view on life as a home school family. At the end of this
research/information section, please click the icon to read the comprehensive report on
our HSFT Survey 2000, detailing every aspect of home education. After reading any general
topics in this section that apply to you, study the 20-page Survey report for answers to
many of your questions. Permission is granted to make a personal copy for your records,
but the survey report and web site are copyrighted. Please contact HSFT for any further
needs regarding duplication or storage.
Special needs students include twins and their siblings. We will try to address these
families, too. The first issue Dec. 1998- Jan. 1999 had an article about a family who home
schooled one twin and a sibling, but not the other twin, and how they managed it all. Your
articles and ideas on this are invited, too.
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VERY IMPORTANT |
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See
the above for 20 pages of photos, charts, graphs, and original and respected
data to answer your questions about home schooling families with multiples. Find
out for yourself why Home School Families of Twins is the pre-eminent source on
this subject for the finest national twins organizations and publications you
already recognize. Learn why authors are quoting this web site and research
report in books and magazines. Find out for your own family’s sake.
The research report is in PDF format and requires 
in order to be displayed! If you do not have it on your hard drive, you can
download Acrobat Reader for free by clicking on the picture of the Adobe Acrobat
Reader logo.