To combine or not combine?

[kzacarkim]

Hi Ladies,
I'm here again asking for your wisdom! I'm trying to decide what to do for the coming year. I have 2 boys ages 7 and 9 who are on grades 2nd and 4th respectively. Andrew finished LHFHG and Marcus finished Bigger last year. This year we are doing a combination of things but not following any particular guide. They are in the same level in math and reading and they love doing school together. I'm entertaining the idea of putting both of them on Preparing next year with a few adjustments for the younger one. We use CLE for reading and language arts and I plan on continuing that since its working for us. I just wanted to hear from you ladies that combine children. How do you make it work? At the same time I'm sad that my 7 year old will miss 2 wonderful guides, but I don't want to repeat them with my 9 year old. Just a little bit of my background...I'm a full time nurse and I work 3 twelve hour shifts. Plus I'll have my little girl starting K next year. My husband teaches the days I'm working, but still most of the teaching responsibility is on me....so I think combining would help me....Can I please hear some words of wisdom?
Thank you so much!

[StephanieU]

I would not put a 7yo in Preparing. The content starts getting more mature, and the workload increases. ALso, there are independent assignments that may be difficult for a 7yo to do. Carrie has the age ranges for a reason, and I don't think it is wise to put a child younger than the suggested age into a guide.
Honestly, redoing Bigger I think would be a better idea. Add in the extensions for the oldest, and since it will be 2 years since he has done it, it will not seem like a huge amount of review.

[Nealewill]

Can your 7 year old do Bigger now?

This year I originally started my year with my son in Preparing and my youngest in Bigger. I ran 3 guides very successfully last year but I also work from home and am crazy busy this year when compared with last year. I just couldn't do it. I made it to November and then decided to make a change. I decided to combine my 2 younger kids. My son did Bigger last year but I am having him repeat it again this year for the history portion. He is sticking with the science in Preparing. I have switched the story time books. He has moved up in grammar. But all in all, he is repeating history, rotating box, poetry, bible and music. Basically the whole left side is a repeat. I have decided to have him do some of the extension. He is an okay reader and is rising to the occasion. I wouldn't have minded repeating science also but he really liked the science in Preparing.

While it did feel weird at first repeating everything, it has actually been totally fine. I love my schedule and my day. My son has enjoyed repeating things. For me, I plan to maintain this strategy for the long haul. It works really well for us. It also frees me up so that I can do more stuff with my oldest.

[Rice]

Not only would I not put a 7yo in Preparing, I would never suggest skipping Beyond and Bigger! There are just too many skills learned in those years. You would set them up to struggle, expecting them to do what they had not been taught to do, or at least didn't have the practice in to make it second nature.

Carrie always says to place the younger one, based on skills, then, if you want to combine, add the older one with skill-appropriate Math and LA, adding Extensions, if needed.

You could easily choose different Storytime books for a second time through Beyond or Bigger, but you would really want the older one to continue with Preparing (or CTC?) Math, Science and LA. Maybe they could do the left side combined?

I know that combining has not worked for us - even with my advanced 10yo and my 13yo with challenges! (You'll notice in my signature that my 10yo is in a HIGHER guide!) I found it easier to have 4 separate guides last year (our first with HOD) than it was to run 3, where one was challenged to the point of frustration, daily. With 3 guides we never finished an HOD Day in one day. Now, most of my kids can finish an HOD day in one school day (with only the oldest usually having some independent work to do in the afternoon; my youngest 2 aren't quite going full speed as I don't have quite enough time for everyone) - I'm usually done by lunch time.

I hope you can find some arrangement that works with your schedule and time demands.
Blessings,

[LovingJesus]

Hi Ladies,
I'm here again asking for your wisdom! I'm trying to decide what to do for the coming year. I have 2 boys ages 7 and 9 who are on grades 2nd and 4th respectively. Andrew finished LHFHG and Marcus finished Bigger last year. This year we are doing a combination of things but not following any particular guide. They are in the same level in math and reading and they love doing school together. I'm entertaining the idea of putting both of them on Preparing next year with a few adjustments for the younger one. We use CLE for reading and language arts and I plan on continuing that since its working for us. I just wanted to hear from you ladies that combine children. How do you make it work? At the same time I'm sad that my 7 year old will miss 2 wonderful guides, but I don't want to repeat them with my 9 year old. Just a little bit of my background...I'm a full time nurse and I work 3 twelve hour shifts. Plus I'll have my little girl starting K next year. My husband teaches the days I'm working, but still most of the teaching responsibility is on me....so I think combining would help me....Can I please hear some words of wisdom?
Thank you so much!

Hi!

If they are currently 7 and 9 in 2nd and 4th grade I am assuming they will turn 10 & 8 sometime this school year? So are you looking for a 10 and 8 for next fall? When do they turn 10 and 8? Are you shopping for 5th and 3rd grade for next fall?

It looks to me like you are thinking of putting them in Preparing next year for a 5th and 3rd grader who will be 10 and 8 at the time. Did I understand correctly?

I wouldn't repeat Bigger with a 10 year old 5th grader; or even a 9 year old 4th grader who will turn 10 sometime this winter or spring.

I think your plan sounds great. If they enjoying learning together I would keep them combined. My children enjoy learning together too.

It sounds to me like Preparing would be a good place to start next fall. My two that started Preparing in September are 10 & 8. The 8 will be 9 in a few weeks and is in 3rd grade. They actually did Beyond together last year, with some additions from MFW ADV and a different science that required writing. They did skip Bigger, and have done a beautiful job in Preparing together. I am finding it to be a good guide for 10 & 8. They are both well placed, and with HOD I do find that good placement makes a big difference.

I wouldn't worry about the guides you skipped since you have been building skills through other curriculum. Yes, it would be nice if we could do everything with our children but sometimes we miss those opportunities and it is OK.

I wouldn't place your 9 too low. I have found too low of placement, which I did with my oldest, to have its own set of problems. He was 11 and in mid-5th when I placed him into CTC, and this fall he has been working on completing CTC for early 6th grade. The guide has been far too low for him, and it has made for a poor fit. HOD works best when they are placed well. Look at the placement chart though and make sure they both place in Preparing before putting them there. I wouldn't look until summer though since they will grow between now and then.

I hope that helps.

Blessings,

[kzacarkim]

Thank you ladies for your input. LovinJesus, you understood me right. They will be 8 and 10 by the start of next year and that's what I am brainstorming about. The other 2 guides are great but my son did Bigger over two years. If I have to do it again it will be 3 years of Bigger for him. I don't think he or I can handle it! I just entertained the idea and he is so ready to move on! I'm glad to see that combining can be done! I know that some of the things my youngest missed will be revisited later on.
Thanks again,

[Mommamo]

I think that combining them in Preparing sounds great. My 3rd child will be 8 when we start Preparing--I don't see a problem with that at all. I also am a working mom and completely understand how helpful combining is. My oldest is completely independent now, and my middle two are combined in Bigger. The 3rd child had to skip Beyond so I could combine them, and that made me sad, but I had to do it. I realize that Carrie and Julie are working moms too but this working mom couldn't run 4 guides. I'm also doing dyselxia therapy (Barton) with my 2nd child, and that takes us about an hour every day. I say do what works for you.

[Nealewill]

Agree about the 8 and 10 year old in Preparing as long as the 8 year does place there and can catch up so that you don't have to modify all year long or keep on modifying. Since you took Bigger slowly with your other child, if you found that the 8 year old was struggling, you could always slow down a bit. My girls have always done stuff on the lower level and not had any trouble. My son, he seems to be thriving on the oldest end of the age range. As I had mentioned, he is repeating half of Bigger again this year. But that is fine. Before decided to combine both him and his sister, I actually asked him what he wanted to do. He said he wanted to repeat it. So he is on board with it and on board with reading the extensions. Truth be told, some of the extensions are even repeats. He has heard me read Buffalo Knife, By the Great Horn Spoon, and Bud and Me. But he LOVED every one of those books! So he will read them this year to himself.

But with your kids, I definitely think having them do Preparing should be fine as long as the 8 year old is ready. The hardest part is that if that child isn't ready and you have to modify, you will find yourself constantly modifying. That would be horrible IMHO. Part of the reason I love HOD so much is because once they get to CTC, the guide becomes even more independent. I am pretty sure that I only had to teach my oldest for about an hour a day. That is my goal - I want the kids to be independent and if they can't, then that is where modifying too much can really hurt.

[kzacarkim]

Thank you ladies for the reassurance. I think that's what we are going to do. Combine both 8 and 10 year old in preparing. With me being a working mom , if I try to do different guides for everyone it's just not feasible. Plus my daughter will be starting K next year, so she will take a good amount of my time.
Thanks again!,

[Mommamo]

Thank you ladies for the reassurance. I think that's what we are going to do. Combine both 8 and 10 year old in preparing. With me being a working mom , if I try to do different guides for everyone it's just not feasible. Plus my daughter will be starting K next year, so she will take a good amount of my time.
Thanks again!,

I think this is a really good plan. I'm not sure how many hours/week you work, but I'm working about 30 (give or take) and also running CTC, Bigger, and LHTH. I realize LHTH doesn't take much time, but still... we are able to get everything done and I don't feel super stressed out. But I think it helps that I'm combining my middle two. If I were running CTC, Preparing, Beyond, and LHTH... well I think then I'd be just completely worn out. We also have moved twice this school year (each was to a different state, one completely across the country), and we still are moving along. I don't think we could be doing so well with anything but HOD.

[my3sons]

Placement is a process to work through, and I just loved reading this thread as each poster said something or asked something that led to this final placement's success! This board is phenomenal - ladies so willing to give of their time and brainstorm. I think you ended up with a good placement, though I agree Bigger Hearts is a tough guide to miss. You know that, having taught it already. However, you have been putting together your own thing, wanting to come back to HOD but not seeing how you could, and trying to juggle working as well as homeschooling. We must as moms do what we have to do to make homeschooling happen each day, and though PHFHG is going to be quite hard for your 8 yo, that child will probably grow into it under your loving tutelage, and going forward 3 guides was not an option you wanted to consider based on life and what it holds for you as a busy mama right now. Each placement is so different, but one thing remains... that which we can do to keep going, to win the marathon of homeschooling instead of the one year race, THAT is the prize. May your marathon pick up speed as your little one picks up skills needed to do PHFHG and press on to be a strong finish years down the road!

In Christ,
Julie

[kzacarkim]

Hi Julie,
You are so inspiring! Thank you for your words of encouragement! I just now saw your reply. We indeed have lovely ladies in this forum. I'm very excited to start the new school year in August and I'm happy with my choices. I think will make homeschooling doable for us. Plus, I was able to change my hours a bit and will be working mostly evenings. That will leave my mornings free to homeschool.
Thanks again Julie and all of you lovely moms for your input and encouragement!