New to HOD - lots of questions

[juliepasiecznik]

Hi. We are gonna do HOD this coming year and I have some questions I am hoping can get answered here!!! Please bear with me cause I think of new ?? all the time!!
I have 3 boys(9,11,13) who I have figured out will be doing Beyond, Bigger and CTC. I know with their ages this is not where they should be exactly but we have been behind and I want them to feel confident in their skills and succeed. We have been homeschooling for 6 years now - always followed CM philosophy and teaching style but I am just tired and need help making sure they are getting everything they need! We have moved every year for the past 5 years so we are behind in school but ahead in life - if that makes sense!!! We are moving to South Carolina in June and WILL NOT be moving again - ever:) There has been no consistency in our lives or schooling so this year we are going to play catch up!!
We have always done all our subjects together - except reading and math - so I am really struggling with having to teach each of them separately in those subject areas!!! Any suggestions for how to get my head wrapped around it????
**I am wondering if its ok to mix and match titles from the classic interest and boy interest sections?? I have a lot of the books already but not all from one section so want to mix and match without having to buy new books! I think I am understanding that these are the books we would read during story time?
**Since my oldest has had no grammar/mechanics at all - which rod&staff english should I start with? just copywork, some dictation and some spelling is what we have done until now
**my oldest is just starting with ctc in what would be considered8th grade. thinking ahead - I wont be able to finish all the through time books before he starts high school. would i use the extension packs and finish them or would i just start with the high school books come 9th grade?
**i know you don't recommend combining, but could i do the learning through history from bigger with the 2 younger ones together and then do the basics separately? I know the oldest will need to be on his own and I am ok with that!!
**i dont quite understand how the drawn into reading fits in? it seems that in the storytime block of the TM it describes what genre we are reading and gives me the info I would need to discuss it with them? so what does the drawn into reading add to it??
I am excited to get started and use this but I am also nervous to sway from what we have always known!! Its a matter of sanity for me and for me to stop trying to reinvent the wheel year after year piece by piece and just use what someone else has already done for me!!
thank you sooo much for any help you ladies can provide

[Gwenny]

Welcome to HOD! You found a great curriculum. I've been using it for a few years now and I love it. It is completely different from what I used for the first 17ish years of home schooling--and I keep wishing I could go back and do it with my older children. We used to do everything together also and now I see some of the pitfalls from that. We have to remember that there are different seasons in life and different needs, etc.

So, I'm assuming you have looked at the placement chart and that is where you decided on the guides you selected. My children are all in the older range for the guides. It's okay. I'm wondering if you could put both younger boys in Bigger and then do math/english on their levels. We call that the "right side" of the guides. Typically, if you are going to combine you would place the younger and use extensions to beef it up for the older. Does the younger solidly place in Beyond? Maybe we could hear a bit more about him and see about that.

Drawn into the Heart of Reading is a separate program for literature study.It is typically started when the children are reading independently. Some start it in Bigger or Preparing, depending on their ability. It is great, but I would recommend you get started on the guides and then look at starting that later. Bigger's storytime is a lot like DITHR which is why some wait until Preparing. You definitely need it starting with that guide.

You can definitely mix up the storytime titles. I pick out ones from all three sets--whatever I think we will be most interested in.

Check back and there will be others who will chime in to help you get the right placement in the guides. That is the key to a great year.

[StephanieU]

I think it is a common misconception that HOD doesn't suggestion combining ever. Carrie and Julie actually do suggest combining sometimes though. The key is that the kids should be at similar levels and work well together. They actually don't recommend running back to back guides most of the time, as these are the times when combining makes the most sense.
So, the question becomes why you chose the levels you did. What on the placement chart made you decide to place the youngest in Beyond? One thing I LOVE about HOD is that you can customize the math, grammar, spelling/dictation, and literature. That allows you to pick history, science, and Bible that is age appropriate while not advancing or lagging in areas when needed. So, if you could share a little about why you picked those levels, maybe we could help decide which level to combine the younger two in, as it does seem like they would be fine combined.
As for the oldest, you said you wanted this year to be a good one for getting them back on pace. So, since there don't seem to be learning difficulties (just life issues), I would probably just do CtC as scheduled, probably with the lower grammar option. You could buy the extensions, and add those in once things are going well. Then, at the end of the year, you could see where he places on the placement chart with fresh eyes after a solid year of schooling. There are ways to beef up RtR-MtMM for high school, and it isn't that hard because of the extensions. I think the hard parts are figuring out how you want to label the material for transcripts and then making sure you get the "right" sciences in. But, Carrie and others have done a lot of that work already, and there are a series of posts "pinned" to the top of the main board with how to do that.

And, yes it is definitely fine to mix and match titles for read-alouds/storytime. I know in Beyond, there are even more suggestions in the appendix of the guide, and I bet the same is true for Bigger. Carrie just put together sets to make ordering easier.

[MomtoJGJE]

I also wonder why you chose the levels you chose so that I could get a better idea.

Have you looked at the placement chart for each of them individually (and honestly with yourself... that was my hardest thing to do)? If you are between guides on a choice then it's best to go to the lower of the two guides.

How well can each read? How much can they write?

Story time is the section where you read to them and they have to practice listening and comprehension from listening while going through the different literature genres. DITHOR is THEIR reading program. Teaching them how to look for different things, compare them to the Bible, and study through the genres while they read it themselves.

In my opinion story time is a great place to cut down on some time because you can EASILY combine different ages. That is something I do. I read one story time book to all three of my big girls at bedtime and then during school we do the discussions and activities.

I would start though by looking at the placement chart and seeing were each places individually based on the chart (not thinking of outside stuff going on) because when they are properly placed into guides they are quite successful.

[raindrops]

Oh I never noticed the extra storytime titles in the appendix of Beyond..! "Kildee House" sounds adorable...

[my3sons]

Hi juliepasiecznik, and welcome to the HOD Board! I too would love to hear about each of your dc in regard to the placement chart with the first page of the chart in mind especially - reading, writing, grammar, and math - if you get the chance. Id feel so much better giving advice then, as I know the other ladies will too! This board if full of encouragement, so if you could please take a moment to share about each of your kiddos, we will have some super ideas coming your way for fine-tuning your choices and paving the way for an awesome year with HOD!

In Christ,
Julie

[juliepasiecznik]

thanks for the input!! it's been a crazy week so I haven't had a chance to get back here till now! I didn't even know there had been so many replies!! I checked the box to get notified of replies but was only notified of the first reply:(
I did do the placement chart and that is how I figured out where they should be!
Thomas,9, placed in beyond. Ben,11, placed in bigger and Stephen,13, placed in ctc
the two youngers are not strong readers-it's been a struggle. just taking it day by day!!
we have never done grammar we only do copy work.
we use teaching textbooks for math. we tried life of Fred this year but they didn't like it! they r used to TT and don't complain about doing it so we will just keep doing that!! they r all about 1 year behind in math. I'm not too worried about that.
I'm not sure what else to tell you about them;)
thanks so much for your help ladies!!!
julie

[StephanieU]

Do you think the 9yo could do the writing in Bigger? If so, I would personally go with Bigger for the 9 and 11yo. Students aren't required to read outside of the "reading" box in Bigger, so that wouldn't be an issue. And the grammar in Bigger should be fine for a 9yo even without any grammar in the past. It starts with the first Rod and Staff book, so nothing is assumed really. And you are already using your own math, so that isn't an issue either.

[my3sons]

You could begin with the 9 yo and 11 yo together in Bigger Hearts, and if it is too much for the 9 yo, you could easily have the 9 yo move into doing Beyond Little Hearts instead. They both can do R & S English 3 for grammar. They can keep going with TT for math, as that is working well. For reading, "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" would probably help so much! We have loved using that for many years, and it has increased our dc's reading comprehension, passion for reading, and ability to read. The reading levels are listed for the DITHOR book packs behind each of the books, so that may help choose books. A fun thing to do through the summer that increases reading ability is to have dc listen to audio books while following along in the matching books. This can often increase reading ability, vocabulary, and overall confidence in reading. For spelling, there are 2 options in Bigger Hearts. Spelling List 2 could probably be used for your 9 yo, and Dictation Level 2 could be used for your 11 yo. As far as your older child, CTC sounds like a great fit! What are your thoughts though?

In Christ,
Julie

[juliepasiecznik]

thank you all so much! I am going to try bigger with the 9&11 yr old and do the different levels of spelling,etc that Julie suggested!!
now I just need payday so I can order it all!!!
I will be around here so hopefully will chat with all of you again!!!
julie

[juliepasiecznik]

I love the idea about the audio books and following along!! we listen to a lot of audio books but never with the book in hand!! I'm excited to try that this summer!!!!