Thinking aloud here and need advice...

[Tree House Academy]

I pulled my older son out of ps after 3rd grade to homeschool. Last year, we did a hodge podge of curriculum and a whole lot of filling in the gaps. This year, we found HOD and I went with Bigger because of the American History. Older ds had never had any American History to date. Last year, we did CHOW as our history because we started out using Calvert.

So...moving on to next year....I had fully planned to move ds on to CTC (skipping Preparing because of the already used CHOW thing) and go from there. Now, I am not sure if I will do that or just continue through the manuals. Ds has a late birthday and could have really been a 4th grader this year if I had let him start K when he was 5 instead of 4/almost 5.

My question then becomes, okay...I do Preparing in 6th grade (the grade we report him as being in), CTC for 7th grade, RTR for 8th grade...and then what? Do we stop? I have read here that HOD is only supposed ot go through 8th grade. Is it not suitable for highschool once he gets there? Would I want to just do history and Science from HOD for 9th/10th grade or would I be missing something with him?

When I was in highschool, I took 2 years of History. It was a brief rundown in a condensed timeframe. Then, I took US government and economics. I took literally nothing from any of those classes and really was never exposed to true and enjoyable history until College.

Advice? Please?

If you were me, would you repeat CHOW since it will have been a year since we did it and there are other great books and the guide follows Bigger so nicely, or would you go on with CTC so you could get through the 4 year cycle no later than 9th grade?

(Can you tell I am a planner? LOL)

[3musketeers]

Rebecca,
I know others will give a more complete answer to your question. We are doing Bigger this year and we did CHOW last year with another curriculum as well. When I look at Preparing, it looks so awesome! I sure wish we had just waited to do it HOD way. I think my kiddos are going to love it so much more next year than the way we did it last year. So if you do decide to go with Preparing, we will be right there with you.

Blessings,
Cindy

[water2wine]

Rebecca I have plans for the same time frame as you with my oldest child. I live in a state that does not have requirements for high school as far as units or exactly what is covered. I find I have a lot of success with upping LA and Math and Science as needed. I am seriously considering keeping my oldest in HOD up until 10th grade. It has been said there will probably be an extension for 9th grade so I am one year over how I have stretched it out in my mind. It's not a plan that is going to work for people who have states that have strict regulation and it might not fit with other people's goals but I love what HOD does for our family so much I see this plan as the perfect back drop to then have the freedom to add all the extra Bible, character, and world view material I would like to add and not over load my child. I love that Carrie is thinking a Geography add on which I know my kids will love. I already keep LA, Math and Science pretty high for my oldest. I am honestly thinking why not. Carrie is always so wonderful in suggesting additional reading for older kids I am sure she will have suggestions if not it is an easy time era to hit really. So though this would NOT be an acceptable solution for many people it is sitting just perfectly peaceful for me. And I will tell you this child at this point in her life wants to be premed and I am still thinking it is fine. But I am blessed to be in a state that really has no different requirements for high school than elementary. So that is my crazy or not so crazy solution for the whole thing. We will see when we get there but I have a great peace about it at this point. My child is a book worm so that helps and I find HOD is really easy to beef up if needed. I just love the base of it and the connection that it has with being Christ centered I got to thinking why give that up if we do not have to and can make it work. I will surely be running things by Carrie as we get there but for us that is the plan we are thinking.

I guess I should say having said all that go with the program that you think fits best for now, pray for peace and that God directs you (that gave me completely different answers than my own logic did) and if you can believe He has a plan for the years to come. I am the type that has to know where I am heading but when I find it I can wait and see. So praying that God will give you a clear answer and peace for the future as well. Hoping there is something there for you. It might not be the best answer for you but hoping it helps.

[Tree House Academy]

Thank you both! My heart keeps leading me toward doing another year in CHOW. The way we did it last year, my son enjoyed it, but I can't swear he retained a bit of it. We would just read (on the CD ROM) three times a week. Occasionally, we would do the Calvert history notebook thing, but the activities were usually either too involved or too difficult for him (really hard crossword puzzles and such) and I would let him just stop. I keep feeling drawn to Preparing for now. If we do Preparing, that will put him ALWAYS doing the extensions, though. I wonder if that will wear on him after awhile...especially as his days get longer and tougher overall. Lots to consider...

[water2wine]

If we do Preparing, that will put him ALWAYS doing the extensions, though. I wonder if that will wear on him after awhile...especially as his days get longer and tougher overall. Lots to consider...

I don't think so. To me the extension packs are just a bonus of more great stuff that makes the program even better. He'll be on age range for them and the level and amount of reading are adjusted to be on target. Preparing gets some independence in there then CTC is more independent so in truth you are leading naturally to them reading short sections on their own anyway. The extension packs are broken down in nice bite size pieces. I think you will be fine. Go for what gives you the most peace and seems right for this year. I think you will find the rest will work itself out along with your child maturing naturally.

Having said all that my heart does go out to you. I know the angst of am I making the right move and will it affect the next few years. I think going lower is less likely to do that than going too fast. Pray for clarity. I have found God is so faithful to show me just how He wants me to go when I really lay it all out , all the fears, worries and insecurities I may have and seek Him on it. You're going to make the right move and He has your back.

[sharonb]

My children are younger than your ds, but I wanted to tell you that we read Stories of the Pilgrims less than a year ago, and they haven't minded reading it again for Beyond at all. In fact, they don't even seem to remember reading it before (but like I said, they are young).

In my mind, it's okay to repeat a book that you've done before, especially if in a different context. You know that Preparing will put a new spin on CHOW from what you had before. If it were me, I wouldn't skip Preparing just because you've read one of the books before. There's so much more there that looks great. But that's just my opinion...

[eazbnsmom]

Rebecca,

I would go ahead and do Preparing even though you did CHOW last year. The way it is intertwined with the Bible and Grandpa's box puts a different focus on the world history and is fabulous. I believe I remember reading that Carrie will be including extensions for the higher grades in all her upcoming manuals so you should be able to to use HOD for 9th and possibly 10th grades as well. If not she has some great recommendations to use for High School.

[my3sons]

We'd read CHOW before doing PHFHG, and when we reread it for PHFHG it felt totally different. I really liked the pairing of it with Grandpa's Box. Plus, the activities and Bible parts written to go with it made it much more memorable and enjoyable than just reading through it as we'd done before. I think you'd find this to be true as well, and having had a year in between will have been enough time between rereading. The extensions are really planned in bite-sized increments and are an easy way to up the level of learning without upping your responsibilities timewise. They also parallel the left side of the plans so well, and enrich them appropriately for older dc. Just continue to pray about it, and God will make clear His answer. If your heart is leaning toward PHFHG, I think that would be just fine!

In Christ,
Julie

[Tree House Academy]

Thanks to all of you for your responses. My heart is pulling me toward Preparing. I feel like, if we don't do it, we will feel like we missed a step. I have read, so many times, how one manual prepares you for the next and I want ds to have that feeling of completeness. The beginning of this year was tougher than usual because he had to get used to a totally different approach to school using HOD. Now he is in his groove and doing SO WELL with it. I would hate to have him then skip a whole manual and try to catch up with the curve. I think it is one thing to go to CTC from other curriculum (starting out), but totally different to jump manuals. I am pretty sure Preparing is the way we will go!

[Carrie]

Rebecca,

I'm a bit late to the thread here, but the ladies have done a terrific job of helping you talk through your options. We had also read A Child's History of the World with my son prior to doing Preparing Hearts, and I will tell you that doing it the way it is scheduled in Preparing Hearts was a completely different experience for us from the way we'd just read through it before. So, I will pray that the Lord will give you clarity on His plan for your family, but I just wanted to pop-in to let you know I understand what you're weighing.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Tree House Academy]

Thanks Carrie. I am almost 100% certain that we will do Preparing next year now. I love HOD too much to skip anything, to be honest. I want my sons to have all of that wonderful Bible study, all of the hands on activities, jsut all of it. It is good to hear that so many of you had done CHOW prior to Preparing. I am sure it will help my ds remember more of it too! And it surely won't be as difficult for him to read/understand the second time around. He will do it with all the extensions too, so he will have tons of exposure and extras. I am excited!

Isn't that sad! LOL I am excited about a curriculum that we will do NEXT year...we are only 7 weeks into Bigger! Haha

[Alison in KY]

Hi Rebecca,

One suggestion I have since your son is on the younger end grade wise is just to hold him off from moving up if that will help you any. My son was 5 when we started homeschooling and he was so not ready for formal school, so each year I kept beefing things up but in 3rd I realized my then 8 yr old was not on par with our 3rd grade local schools...so we just stretched 3rd grade out for a year and a half. It was my pressure I was putting on myself to label him a grade level that he really wasn't, and in the end I could've kicked myself for ever assigning that grade level. This may not help you at all, but I just thought if you were worrying about fitting all the programs in before high school then you could just take an extra year with him.

Alison

[Sheila in OK]

Rebecca,
I am in somewhat the same boat as you, except my dd is 6th grade *this* year! She is a youngish 6th grader though (both agewise and maturity-wise). I am combining my two in Bigger this year and it's going really well. Nothing has seemed too 'babyish' for her at all yet.

Anyway, I have been pondering the same thing--even though I'm only three weeks into this school year! LOL I'm trying to decide whether to combine them both in Preparing next year, or move dd up to CTC while ds does Preparing on his own. I would love to have dd do CHOW again, because it's been a few years since we read through it with Sonlight, and I know she didn't retain a whole lot. But I don't want her to get too behind in the cycle. So I guess I have no real advice, just letting you know you're not alone! I'm just going to see how the rest of this school year goes and take it a year at a time. I will say, though, if my dd was in 5th grade this year instead of 6th, I would almost certainly take her through Preparing before moving up to CTC.

Just my rambling thoughts.