Has anyone tried to do four programs at once?

[beverett]

Hello,
First of all, I am new to HOD, but i can not believe i did not find it sooner. It is eeeeeverything i have been trying to do. I just LOVE it. What a blessing. So, I am very excited and have done a LOT of research. I just need some help.
Has anyone tried to do four at one time? My children are going to be ds-14(ninth gr.), ds-9(fourth gr), ds-7(second gr.), ds-4(preschool), and ds 1 yr old I have homeschooled for a long time but have been using other curriculum. After looking and looking and looking, I have really decided that I would like to put them each in different levels of hod. I will do CTC with my 14 yr old(but beefed up for highschool with the suggestions from carrie), and after looking over all of the placement charts and reading over many posts, and printing off the samples of each program, I think it would be best for the next two to be in Preparing (for the fourth grader) and bigger( for the second grader), then i would put the 4 yr old in LHFHG!! whewww sounds like a lot.
I just need to know if it is doable. I thought also about putting 2nd and 4th graders in preparing together and doing 2nd grade handwtiting, la and math and emerging readers? but i really dont want to pull the fourth grader down, and bigger sounds perfect for the 2nd grader. From what i have read CTC will pretty much be independent and the LHFHG does not take very long at all?
So anyway, hope that is not to much, but any thoughts or suggestions would be sooo wonderful...ANd thank you all so much for this board and your input and experiences!!!

[water2wine]

I might be wrong but I believe Carrie has done 4 programs. CTC is more independent but it is still stuff to look over and narrations to hear or look at. I think I would really try to get to three if possible but I do think four can be done. I just think it is a lot. Would it be possible to combine the 7 year old and the 9 year old in Bigger or Preparing depending on where they land but in my mind I am thinking Bigger. You could maybe use Preparing just for dictation and that kind of beefing up for your 9 year old if you want. I used Bigger with a 6th grader that reads well above grade level, two 4th graders well on target for their age and one special needs child. That went very well.

Just something to think about. I think 4 can be done but I think you would be stretching yourself thin and combining within two years usually works well. I personally find three very comfortable but I also do not think I would personally do four. I do have one with special needs though and that takes extra time. It is hard for me to know what I might do if that were not the case but I am thinking I still might strive for three.

In the end you know best. And everyone has different comfort levels. Praying you find the best for your family.

[inHistiming]

My recommendation would also be to try to combine the 9 and 7 yr olds in Bigger...you could use the extension pack for the 9 yr old if needed. As for your 14 yr old, CTC should be fairly independent for that child. He would probably be quite capable of doing all of it on his own, and there are also extensions available for CTC. With this plan, the bulk of your work would be with the 3 middle children (doing Bigger and LHFHG), with some 'checking in' on the 14 yr old as you deem necessary....so essentially just two programs for you to have to do much with. If you haven't already it may be a good idea to check the placement chart to find out where each child fits. Here is a link to that:

http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I hope that's helpful. I'm sure others will be along with their suggestions soon, too.

[3boysandagirl]

I'm gonna go against the pp's and say, "Yeah, I think it's doable." The only reason I think that is, you are an experienced homeschooler. You are already doing multiple things, probably not things as well organized as HOD, so why wouldn't you be able to do it.

Saying that, make sure that each child fits well in the level you choose. Proper leveling seems to be key, you certainly don't want to combine if another level fits the child better. No matter what you do, I'm sure you can make this curriculum work for your family. Welcome and Good luck!

[mskogen]

I agree with 3boysandagirl. We will be doing 4 manuals this fall because it is where my children place. Also I tried to combine and found out half way through the year I shouldn't. Now I have split them up and it has made a world of difference. Our days are much better. We actually get more done in the same amount of time. You know what is best. I pray God gives you clarity and peace with your decisions.

[ncmomof5]

I think doing 4 programs is doable, as well, but I did wonder about putting the 4 yo boy in LHFHG. I have a little boy whom I waited to start LHFHG until January even though he had already turned 5 in July. I wanted to make sure he was ready. Now, I don't know your son and I don't know when his birthday falls, etc., but I just wondered if taking it a little slower with him and doing LHTH, instead might help you out while you are getting your feet wet with HOD.

Also, I might consider putting the 7 yo in Beyond instead of Bigger. I did Bigger this past year, and it requires more time from Mom than most of the other HOD programs. Again, I don't know your children, but this is one change that might help you pull off 4 guides a little easier.

Placement is key (I've learned this the hard way) and I think it's important to consider which 4 you are doing together at the same time ( especially for your first year with HOD).

I hope this helps. Welcome to HOD. You're gonna love it and so are your kids.

[jenntracy]

I agree with 3boysandagirl and ncmomof5. combining works for some. i had thought about it and my kids are closer in age(16.5 months apart). I feel very confident doing 2 seperate programs and in another year it will be 3 programs.

Placement for children is very important and i believe my children will thrive without combining and less stress on me trying to beef up or make something easier.
I would just make sure your children are in the best guide for their abilities and also depending on how old your 4yr old is (did they just turn 4 or about to be 5) i would consider LHTH and beef it up with some "K" math and reading if they are ready for more in those areas.

I can see that i will have to do that with my now 2yr old. i won't do LHTH til she is about 3.5 (late summer 2011) and then when she turns 4.5 yrs i plan on doing parts of LHTH with some "K" options. (Her b-day is in February).

Jenn D.

[beverett]

Thank you all soooo much!! oh and I meant to say I would be putting my 4 yr old in LHTH. He just turned 4 and although he is very smart, he is alllll boy. We are working on sitting still for longer periods of time, don't remember having that issue with the last two And for the suggestion of looking into beyond for my 7 yr. old, I am going to go back and look over that. It might be a thought, because i was even thinking last night that his fine motor skills might need to wait a little longer for cursive? But i will go back and check beyond out thoroughly ( i dont think i even cnsidered that one before)..
Someone mentioned the 4 at once might be doable because of the oranization of hod. I have always done sonlight cores in the past which are scheduled for you, but i also do lots of different stuff which i put with it according to Susan Wise Bauer, and just kinda scheduled it myself. I think you are right it might be a lot easier since everything looks to fit together so well in hod.
Again thank each of you for the thoughts. oh and i really did give a lot of thought to putting them (the two middles ) together in bigger, but after reeeeally looking over the placement charts, i felt like they dont really fit into the same program. I could do that if i have to though. just would get the extesions for a 4th grader.