Moms of Many who combine: A ? about late middle school

[abrightmom]

Ladies,

If you combine your children, especially in the upper guides (Preparing on up), what do you do with your younger student who would finish the Modern guide before the end of 8th grade? If you have a year or even two years before High School what would you do if you plan to stay the course with HOD?

[8arrows]

In my case, I have two that would be done before their 7th and 8th grade years. However, since we combined, they did not do CTC. We will uncombine for that one year. The older daughter will do world history (HOD high school), and the younger boys will do CTC with extensions. They have never had to do extensions before. Also, I have a lot on hand from their older brothers if they need anything extra. I will do Apologia Science with them that year. They next year all three will do the Geography guide together for 8th, 9th and 12th. Then the older girl will graduate and the next two are set up perfectly for high school. For me keeping them together makes my life so much easier for all the other years, that this seems like the best scenerio.

[abrightmom]

In my case, I have two that would be done before their 7th and 8th grade years. However, since we combined, they did not do CTC. We will uncombine for that one year. The older daughter will do world history (HOD high school), and the younger boys will do CTC with extensions. They have never had to do extensions before. Also, I have a lot on hand from their older brothers if they need anything extra. I will do Apologia Science with them that year. They next year all three will do the Geography guide together for 8th, 9th and 12th. Then the older girl will graduate and the next two are set up perfectly for high school. For me keeping them together makes my life so much easier for all the other years, that this seems like the best scenerio.

Okay Melissa, you have me thinking that there are more combining scenarios that might work. I only have 4! But, they do not seem to match well for combining right now. Each child is so so different. I am stumped and my previous combining scenario flopped . I didn't consider that if necessary we could cycle back around and re-visit a guide with extensions and beefed up 3 R's. Have you placed your younger children in a guide that they're barely ready for? I would LOVE to combine my boys but I must keep my oldest on track to complete all of the guides. Frankly, he needs the challenge. But, the next boy is technically a half a grade behind where he should be to place in the guide. Age wise he's fine and skill wise he's close. It seems possible that the guides will get too hard for him as the challenge level goes up significantly with CTC. Do you have any thoughts or experience in this? I want to use HOD but no matter how I spin it the combining scenario is "off" based on where my children are at grade wise right now. **I do foresee my oldest DS needing more hand holding based upon his particular, unique traits . I do not expect him to work as independently as some students might. We work toward that goal but I expect to be involved in reading materials out loud and doing more team work with some subjects. He needs more of this, at least for now. The training may take hold earlier rather than later but I am preparing myself to be more involved than the upper guides schedule. I anticipate that some of the "I" boxes will be more like "S" or even "T" for him out of necessity. This means that I could take a multi-teaching approach with the guides and tailor it just a bit for my younger student rather than expecting as much independence as is scheduled. Does that make sense? It's my way of talking myself into the possibility of multi-teaching with HOD but keeping my oldest in mind placement wise.

My DD 5.5 is not quite "there" with LHFHG. She may rise to the challenge later but it's not fitting her now. Combining her with DS7 didn't flesh out. I haven't tried again.
DS7.5 is ready for more than LHFHG and would rather combine with DS9. He loves to write and is asking for more. But, we held him back last year and he's not finished with 1st grade math yet. All other skill areas are a fit for Bigger though.
DS9 is under challenged with Bigger but he does enjoy the content. I am making adjustments in writing to increase the challenge and he's reading the extensions as well. This is putting the guide at a very good level for him. Adding the writing component and extension reading has rounded it out for him. We have to move on to Preparing in 4th grade for him and this is non negotiable here. That means DS7, who will be 8y3m at the time, would have to begin Preparing at the youngest end of the guide. He's the child that would finish the Modern guide at the end of 6th (technically he's not following the traditional school calendar as he began first grade last winter. He's on the older end for his grade now which is quite helpful.) Based upon how meaty Carrie's guides are this seems unthinkable!! Rev2Rev looks so full and meaty that I cannot imagine my 5th grader in that guide!! He'd be 11 when he begins Rev2Rev!

Does anything in the above scenario strike a chord? I'd love to fudge placement a bit and risk putting DS7 and DS9 together rather than separating everybody. It's so hard to run 3 guides at this stage and it's not really how Carrie intends it to run. My BIGGEST concern is having a child in a guide that is beyond him or her skill wise. The ONLY way to avoid this with my oldest 3 is to have each child placed in a separate guide, with a guide between them. This puts each kid in each guide at the ideal age/grade and eases the stress of teaching guides back to back. However, it is still 3 guides with a fourth little one coming up the ranks.

Can you share more about how you combine, especially with your children on the youngest end of the guides? What about those meaty upper guides?

[Carrie]

Katrina,

I'm heartsick as I had a whole response typed which I somehow lost! I'll do my best to recreate my thinking. As I read through your thoughts, it came to mind that it takes time to find the right fit with HOD. One of the things that will definitely make a difference in finding the right fit will be knowing whether it is more important to combine your kiddos or whether it is more important to have the "perfect fit". Either goal can be the primary goal, but it is important to know which one is first for you personally for this year, or you will be continually flip-flopping between options wondering which way is best.

If it is more important to combine, then you'll have to know that you will most likely not have a "perfect" fit in every area. If combining is first on your list, then I would lean toward combining your 7 and 9 year old in Bigger. To make this combination work well, I would do Bigger 4 days a week and leave each 5th day free for a family learning day. In doing Bigger 4 days a week, you will not be able to start Preparing Hearts at the beginning of next year, however this plan would allow your 7 year old the needed time to grow up before heading into Preparing, would allow you to keep your 7 and 9 year old combined for the long haul, and would allow you to have a family learning day each and every Friday. Keeping the 7 and 9 year old together in Bigger would also keep you on a pace that would allow you to eventually use the upper guides more closely to the way they were written, hopefully making sure your kiddos could do the "I", "S", and "T" boxes as written. The readings do get much longer and harder, so we don't want you to be reading aloud readings coded as "I" or it would take over your day! This plan would also allow you to begin your 5.5 year old in LHFHG whenever she is ready at her own pace.

If, on the other hand, it is more important to have each child have the "perfect fit", then you would instead consult the placement chart and place each child where he/she fits best on the first page mainly of the placement chart. Placing kiddos in the guide that seems to be their "perfect" fit can actually be less time-consuming than anticipated as there is much less tweaking and adapting. In reality, you can just open and teach. Remember the perfect fit also does not mean being challenged in every area but rather having 1/3 of the guide each day be a challenge, 1/3 be just right, and 1/3 be review or not difficult for the child to complete. However, if it is your heart's desire to combine, then the perfect fit plan will never make you happy.

Wih this is mind, I'd spend some time pondering where your heart and your spirit really are to discover the best fit for your family. This may change from year to year, so I'd just ponder what you're feeling about this particular year, and then stick with what you decide for one complete guide (rather than a complete school year). After you've completed the guide, then assess again. Completing a guide will make a big difference in your assessment of your children and your understanding of HOD. Each guide is part of a continuum, making the HOD path a journey that comes to fruition one bit a a time. The more guides you complete, the more of the incremental skill-building you'll see. I pray you'll find the fit you're seeking for your family.

This thread may also be of help to you as your question was to moms of many. Link: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9325

Blessings,
Carrie

[abrightmom]

Dear Carrie,

Bless you! I did not want to bother you with any of this. Not at all! You are so long suffering with us.... Thank You!

Your challenges and questions are always worth thinking on.

We have had an interesting 2011.... God is good and He is on His throne. He has allowed us to struggle much in many areas.

The Lord knows how much we have prayed, pondered, questioned, observed, considered, etc. Some of the struggle of this year has been due to declining health for me. Praise the Lord we have a clear answer as to WHY and it's being treated. I am already feeling better and should continue to gain energy and strength over the next few months. I can look back and see that MANY of my struggles were due to a lack of energy and other side effects. We will have a fresh start, Lord willing, after Christmas. I mention the health issues because I can look back and see how overwhelmed I was. I KNEW I wasn't handling my responsibilities, school was so burdensome, I was TIRED (so so so tired), etc. The smallest set back or struggle was enormous.

Homeschooling has a life sized learning curve and it looks different every year. .

Combining vs Perfect Fit. Can I have both?? Okay, okay, I know that I cannot but I have stubbornly refused to pick one. The family learning paradigm is deeply ingrained. We started with MFW and when separating gets hard it "seems" like family learning is the "fix". When separating presents challenges I am quick to think, "Well, if we were combining then this or that would be different." I know this is not so. I am inclined toward "the grass is greener" syndrome. Yet, every time I try to leave HOD I come back.

I am going to take that challenge to task and think on it (and pray more!). You have such wisdom Carrie and that is from the Lord. Thank-you for sharing it so freely. I'm amazed at how well you discern the deeper issues...

Thank-you. I am beyond grateful for your long suffering with me. You have taken ample time to answer my many questions over the months. I don't deserve it!

[deltagal]

A bright mom,

I began HOD with some combining and then found in the 2nd year it was time to uncombine. Both decisions were great for that season of our life. My children remain uncombined and it is going well for all of us.

[8arrows]

You asked if my youngest "fit" in the guide we are using. Age wise, no. Skill-wise--almost. I was prepared to help more at the beginning of the year to boost him in any areas that he might need more assistance. Those areas were the drawings and written narrations. I am still helping with the drawings, but he is doing well on the written narrations now. He does all the notebooking and writing in the program. He also does all his own reading, except that I let him listen to the The Story of the Middle Ages online (He follows along.). Is it the perfect scenerio. No. Is it working? Yes. We almost always take 5 days to do the work, and sometimes 6, but we have never needed more than that to complete a week. We are on schedule to complete the book in late May. Remember, I have 2 in high school that I am currently teaching Pre-Calc, Chemistry (11th grader) and Physics (12th grader) to. I also have 5 and 6 year olds combined in LHFHG and a 2 year old. There is only so much I can do. Perfect does not happen here. I feel combining accomplishes the most goals that I have for my family. We also started HOD after all of this set of children were reading proficiently. It is harder to combine when reading levels are more of an issue. In your case, I would work hard to combine the 7 and 9 year olds. I like Carrie's idea of a 4 day week with Bigger. If I did not have the high schooler, I am not sure if I would combine the 3 or separate the oldest girl and leave the boys together. However, I would definately keep the boys together. I hope there is something in this post that is helpful to your situation. Each family is so unique. ETA: I am also not concerned with my oldest getting through all the guides. She will do the last two middle school guides in high school with extentions and anything I particularly liked from her older brothers' school experience.

[Carrie]

Katrina,

I'm so sorry to hear about your health issues. I've had some in the past that really took a toll on my family and involved month long hospital stays, and total bedrest, but mine were all pregnancy related. I know that health can really affect a household and a school year. I pray that you are on the road to getting some help with your health issues.

In the meantime, the only thing to do is to go forward from where you are at now keeping in mind what is feasible with the energy you currently have. I also think that it is wise to remember that health is precious and in order to do what you can to preserve yours, I would look toward the combining scenario if at all possible, while knowing that any combining scenario will require a little tweaking. I'd be careful not to add much to your day keeping the guide as close to as written as possible. Your 5th day could be free every week to pursue your family's own interests.

When your strength allows, I'd also lean toward having your 5.5 year old do LHFHG at half-speed. It can be as simple as doing the left side of the page one day and the right side the next day. This is what we're currently doing with our 5.5 year old, and it is working beautifully. His school takes him about 45 min. a day, and it is a step up from what he was doing in LHTH. Plus, anytime I want him to go full-time it will be easy to do, as I can just do a whole day in a day instead. Anyway, just some food for thought.

Blessings,
Carrie