Which guide to choose?

[Jamie]

I was hoping I could get some advice on which guide(s) to purchase for this upcoming school year. This will be the ages of my children when our new school year starts...

1. 9 years old - 4th grade
2. 7 years old - 2nd grade
3. 6 years old - 1st grade
4. 4 years old
5. 2 years old

What guide or guides would you all recommend for me to use?

Thanks!!
Jamie

[StephanieU]

Definitely check the placement chart to male sure they are ready for the guides, but I would suggest Preparing for the 4th grader, Beyond for the 1st and 2nd graders, and LHTH for the younger two.

[Jamie]

Thanks for the reply back.

Yes, I was thinking that the 2 littles would do Little Hands to Heaven, in fact I ordered that one today.

But my concern would be in doing 2 different guides for my other 3 children. Is that too much? Would it not be best to all be doing the same history, read alouds, etc... together? If we went with the suggestion above, that would be 3 guides and 3 different bible, history, and science programs. Am I right?

You all are the Heart of Dakota experts so please tell me.

One more question... My oldest 2 children have just finished studying the 1st cycle of creation with another curriculum and they really want to study knights and castles so would the Resurrection to Reformation guide just be completely over their heads?

Help, Please!!!!!!!

[StephanieU]

I would definitely stay within HOD's recommended ages. Sometimes families with exceptional children will use a guide with a child SLIGHTLY younger than the suggested age range (less than 1 year), but Carrie planned the guides with age as a consideration (maturity for both the history and Bible study).

As for running three guides, it actually isn't that hard from what I have read. And yet I am having a hard time running 2. But, my problem is more the younger two not wanting to do school (and I don't want to push the 2yo). My 4yo does workbook things though even if we don't get LHTH, so we are doing 2 guides worth of work.
LHTH will take about 30 minutes a day (5 days a week)
Beyond will take about 2 hours a day (5 days a week)
Preparing will take about 4 hours a day (4 days a week)

So, that is a total of 6.5 hours a day. But, some of the items can be done simultaneously. Copy work, math, and spelling/dictation are semi-independent things, so the older three can be doing those together. Many families do at least on storytime during breakfast or lunch (20 minutes). And the Preparing guide has an independent box, which is another 20-25 minutes a day. So, you are down to 5 hours or less of school work a day. Most families find that do-able. I don't think you would ever have more than 6-7 hours of school work running multiple guides unless you are running Bigger, Preparing, and at least another guide (Bigger and Preparing are the most parent-intensive guides).

Another thing many people on the board have mentioned is proper placement. When they tried to fit children together that weren't somewhat close in skill (2 years or less apart) it was harder than separating. When you use the guides as written, it is actually fairly easy since all of the planning is done for you.

[Jamie]

Stephanie,

Thanks so much for all your help today!! I really appreciate it.

[TrueGRIT]

Welcome to the Board!
StephanieU gave a lot of great advice. You would not want to do a guide above the skill range of your child. You checked the placement chart?
The most important thing is making sure they can complete the writing, narration, etc. and not where they are history wise. Grammar and math are also customizable.

Preparing actually gives you a study from Creation to the beginning of the 1900's in bite-size chunks. My oldest is doing that guide and we are about to start learning about the Vikings. He is excited about that.
It is totally manageable to do 3 guides when you have a proper placement - aside from the first 2-3 weeks of becoming accustomed to a new guide/curriculum.
I would also recommend stagger starting them - meaning start the oldest and get him going, then start the next guide. It makes it easier for everyone.
Until a couple weeks ago I was running 3 guides - LHTH, Beyond, and Preparing. We only had about 4 hours in school once we got a good routine going. Soon I will have 3 guides going again.

Hope this gives you an idea from someone who has run those particular guides. Have fun with LHTH!

[Jamie]

Thanks Mikki. I appreciate your feedback.

I only have 1 real "bummer" with all of this. We were planning to do the Apologia Astronomy, which appears to go along with the Reformation guide. That is another reason that I was hoping we could jump into that particular guide but according to everyone that is just not the best fit for us

Jamie

[twoxcell]

HOD placement is based on skill and age and not on history cycles. Res to Ref is intended for advanced 5th graders, 6th graders and for 7th-8th with the extensions. There is no way your kids would be ready for it. Have you looked at the placement chart on the HOD web page? It is best to see where each child places individually and then decide if any of them are close enough in skills to be combined. I do not combine any of my kids but many people do. As for the ages you listed I would say Preparing or Bigger for the oldest and if you want to combine the 6 and 7 year old then go with Beyond. It might also be possible to combine the oldest two into Bigger if their skills are closer. I also recommend running the guides as they are written without trying to add or subtract too many things. Your year will go so much more smoothly that way. As far as the Apologia book if you plan to stay with HOD I would not use it before it is scheduled. Your kids will be in that grade level before you know it.

[Nealewill]

I agree with Twoxcell. I would not do Res to Ref. One thing you could do though is go to the library and get lots of books about Knights and have the kids read about them on their own.

I am guessing you came from MFW maybe? I did too. I find that I love HOD because my kids love HOD LOL. My kids are the same ages as your oldest three. This year, we have completed Beyond and Preparing. My 6 & 7 have done very well in Beyond and have been loving it. My 9 year old is doing very well in Preparing. For me, I do a separate spelling, math and reading for my younger 2 and then the rest is together. We are always done in less than 2.5 hours (which is what the guide states it make take for that level). I spend about 1.5 hours with my oldest DD max a day who is in Preparing and her takes takes her 4 hours max. I think it is very doable to do separate guides for each child. However, many have recommended that if your kids are 1 year apart in school, you should place them together. You want at least 1 guide between children. So for the 6 and 7 yo, I would personally have them complete Beyond next year (if they both place skill wise). If you school 4 days a week versus 5, (that is what I do and many others - even Carrie who wrote the guide), then you are looking at that guide taking a little over a year to complete. Then you could complete Bigger the same way. Then your kids would be 9 & 10 or at least very close to it by the time you get to Preparing. So that would be used for 4th and 5th grade. With your 7 yo that you talked about - you could always keep 6 & 7 yo together all the way through MTMM by modifying it slightly to make it 9th grade worthy or you could have that child skip the MTMM level and go straight to WG if they are ready for it. It is very flexible and totally up to you. I personally will cross that bridge when I get to it LOL.

I also had originally planned to not keep my two younger together because I didn't like them going through each level together. But it just makes sense to keep them together. Plus, Bigger and Preparing are the most teacher intensive years. You wouldn't want to be teaching both in one year at your house, which will happen if you don't keep them together.

I hope all that makes sense. And welcome to HOD.

[Nealewill]

Thanks Mikki. I appreciate your feedback.

I only have 1 real "bummer" with all of this. We were planning to do the Apologia Astronomy, which appears to go along with the Reformation guide. That is another reason that I was hoping we could jump into that particular guide but according to everyone that is just not the best fit for us

Jamie

I love apologia also! And while we do have to "wait" to do it, I love the way that Carrie incorporates so much thought and activities into each level. I think if you are willing to wait, you may find that book so much better for everyone! One thing I love about HOD is that it is so doable for each of my kids at their level. I hardly have to help them with any activities like this. Don't get me wrong, I love being on the ride with them, but by waiting, my kids will read this book on their own and can do all of the activities alone without any help. It is such a beautiful thing for me to see and an awesome accomplishment they feel when completed it.

Just a thought.