heartofdakota.com

Hi, I'll have a 2nd and 5th grader in the fall and I'm looking to combine them because I'll also have two little ones (newborn). So would this be doable? My 2nd is a great reader and will be 8 three months into the year. The only thing she doesn't meet pm the placement chart is being able to write in script. I plan on teaching her this year. Is this a deal breaker?

I would not combine them, but you could try it and see how it goes

Thanks for your reply. Could you give more detail as to why not? I can't fully grasp what would be too old for her. Do you think bigger would be too young for a 10 yr old?

Could you give a little more info about the kids? When you say 2nd and 5th--that's a big gap and is tough to combine. What are their ages, and where would each place on the placement chart if you look at them separately? Then we can look at the possibilities a little better. Welcome!

Thank you.
So they are 2.5 yrs apart. My younger will be 8 Dec 6th. My older just turned 10 mid June. My older isn't a big reader ... maybe on a 4th grade level for language arts abilities. Neither know how to diagram...they both know the basic nouns/verbs/punctuations. I plan on doing cle l.a with both in sept. The older was in private school. ..the younger homeschooled. The younger reads maybe arounf a 3rd grade level. The older knows cursive...younger doesn't. Older is brilliant in math. ..younger is at 2nd grade level.

It seems that Bigger would be a good fit for your younger one. There have been many 10 year olds doing Bigger. At that age you would want to do the extensions if possible. Your younger one would be on the lowest end of the age range for Preparing--actually lower. That's difficult to jump into that guide with HOD at that age, and the main issue would be that she would be really young to do the next guide.
Have you checked to see if your 10 yo would fit in CTC? I think if he could do that guide, it would be great to place them in Bigger and CTC. If you really need to combine, it's best to choose the guide the younger fits and then "beef it up" for the older.

Let us know if you have other thoughts! Placement is definitely key to be successful in HOD--and having a great year.

Welcome to HOD!!

Is there a reason why you want to place your children together (financial)? That is a pretty big age difference....I have tried it with both my girls 2.5 years apart) and my boys (2 years, 3 months apart) and it did not work out for either (other folks have done it successfully though). Most kids do best when placed where they fit (and if your kids are competitive, it is really hard to have them together!). Sometimes it is easier to use 2 guides than 1 and having children combined (it was for my boys!). Using 2 guides is not that bad.... I am using 3 guides for the second year and it is working OK (some days are tough)......You know your kids and if they will work well together!

That being said, you should check to see where your youngest places and then you can also put your older one there (with the extension books). I did Bigger with my girls (for about 1/3 a year when I realized that it just was not working for my younger one due to her low comprehension of things being read to her)....my older one was 10 and 5th grade but she did like it. It was almost too easy at times but she LOVED the science and the extension books). If you have to combine them, I would recommend using Bigger instead of Preparing (they start doing independent items in Preparing and she is probably not ready for that....that is to prep them for CTC!). If you do use Bigger, for LA you will want R&S 2 for the younger one and R&S 3 for the older one (or choose your own LA). Also for reading, you might need the Emergent readers for the younger and DITHOR for the older. Math can be individualized as well.

FYI - Most people use Bigger for 3rd grade (an advanced 2nd grader can do it also, sounds like yours is advanced), Preparing for 4th grade, CTC for 5th and so on....

As someone else mentioned, if you older one places in CTC I would place him/her there (you will want to start slow as it is totally different from other curriculum). What is nice about this level is that there are many independent things the child can do. My son can't wait to start preparing this fall (he is 10 and will be in 4th grade) because of the independent work.