Placement of Children

[tcdowell]

Hi! I have a 6 year old and a 8 year old. My 6 yr old will be 1st grade and my 8 yr old will be 3rd grade. I am trying to decide what to do...would it be best to combine them in Beyond or use LHFHG for my 6 yr old and Beyond for my 8 yr. old? I have looked at the placement chart for both and I am concerned about how I would handle doing two different guides. Since my 8 yr. old will be 3rd grade, is it not best to use Beyond, but Bigger? Having some trouble in deciding! Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

[StephanieU]

Have you looked at the placement chart? IF so, where does each one place independently? I would look at the three guides you are considering int he placement chart. Then, once you have an idea of where they place, look at the first week, which you can download from the page for each guide. See if the amount of work seems reasonable for each child. If you want to combine, Beyond would probably be the best bet. But, make sure that it wouldn't' be too much of a push for the 1st grader. But, separating and using 2 guides can be just as easy as 1 guide. So, dong LHFHG and Bigger might be a better option.

Placement Chart: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php
LHFHG First Week: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/little ... t-week.pdf
Beyond First Week: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/beyond ... t-week.pdf
Bigger First Week: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-first-week.pdf

[tcdowell]

Thanks! I have the LHFHG guide and Beyond guide. I am trying to prepare a schedule to use in order to organize the day for each child. But after reading some posts on the FB Beyond page, I am kind of second guessing myself. I've read where several people said they have struggled with using two guides and wondered if I should combine both children and use the Beyond guide. My 8 yr. old, I know would not have a problem with Beyond, but then I wonder if he would benefit more from Bigger. I've read that Beyond is more suited for 2nd grade, my ds is going to be in 3rd. My dd is going into 1st gr. and I wonder if Beyond would be a struggle. Is Beyond more suited for 2nd grade?

[StephanieU]

I think each child is different. That is why Carrie didn't put ages on the guides. The books used in Bigger are definitely harder to understand. But, the books used for history in Beyond are still challenging enough for 3rd graders without a question (the publisher of them says 3rd or 4th grade for them I think). We are using Beyond for 2nd grade, but I know families that have used it for 1st and for 3rd as well. As for two guides, it depends on how you schedule your day. If you have two students working together, you have to make sure each child gets a change to narrate, answer questions, etc. For some moms and kids, this is easy. But other families find it more challenging. Overall, doing 2 guides would add some to your day but not as much as you might think. This is because you can plan the day so the kids to overlap. While you are working with one student on reading, the other could be doing copywork/fine motor skills. They can both be working on math together at the table maybe. One can be listening to the verse music while the other is doing history. Even if you didn't overlap at all, LHFHG take about 1.5 hours, Beyond 2 hours, and Bigger 2.5 hours. So, if you did LHFHG and Bigger, that would still only be 4 hours of school a day. Most likely you could get that down to 3 hours with some "creative" scheduling. If you just did Beyond, it would be over 2 hours. So, you aren't saving a ton of time combining.

[my3sons]

tcdowell - Welcome to the HOD Message Board! I'm so glad StephanieU linked you to the placement chart, as this is truly the best way to place dc in HOD! I wouldn't let using 2 guides scare you. We are using 3 guides, and have been for many years, and find our days to be full of making happy memories - not stressful in the least. The key is to place dc correctly. Then, running 2, 3, or even more guides is not difficult, but rather a joy!

So, when you get the chance, please click on each of the links StephanieU provided, and tell us what you find. I'd love to hear specifically about each of your dc individually, especially in regard to the first page of the placement chart (reading, writing, grammar, math). Also, please take a moment to read these threads specific to placement and combining, as I think they will be very helpful in your decision...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9339
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9342
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7019

We'll all check back to see what you share in regard to the placement chart, and then we will have advice specific to your situation! HOD is awesome! It is worth taking a little time on proper placement. An entire year of happy homeschooling awaits!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[MomtoJGJE]

I would not be afraid to do separate guides if that is truly where they place. Right now we are using four guides, and if we continue homeschooling through high school, I will be using five guides. If the children are placed properly it is much easier to do separate guides then trying to combine kids who don't place in the guide.

[Nealewill]

I agree with others. I came to HOD because I could separate the kids. Doing more than 1 guide is extremely doable. I did 2 guides last year and got done with my day in 4 hours homeschooling 3 kids (my younger 2 were combine). Next year, I decided to separate my younger 2 kids and will be tackling 3 guides. I looked at the amount of time spent on each box and estimate that my day will take me 4.5 hours max per day of teaching time. HOD is very easy to do multiple guides. That is one thing that makes it absolutely wonderful IMHO! Since your kids are 2 years apart, I am guessing that they probably each place in different guides. So if they do, I personally would do two different guides.

[my3sons]

Hi tcdowell! I just wondered if you had the chance to check out the placement chart yet? We would all love to help!

In Christ,
Julie