Split/Combine? I can't make up my mind!

[rgrindle]

I'll give you the nitty-gritty details so you can give an informed opinion.

Older DS (7 at the beginning of October) has always been very verbal, talkative, and the center of attention. He adores math. He is somewhat advanced in all but handwriting... he hates it with a passion! He's been working on the right-hand side of LHFHG (but not Storytime). He's about to finish the math. He just finished The Reading Lesson and we're reading various books from the library for extra practice. He finished the K fine motor and is about 1/3 of the way through the 1st grade handwriting.
Younger DS (5 at the end of May) was a very late talker, and often relies on his big brother to do the talking for him. He's very sly and crafty, and is excellent at spacial relationships and building imaginative creations. He seems very math-minded, though the vocabulary for some of the basic stuff is eluding him. He does not listen to stories very well at all, even ones with lots of pictures. He'd rather move, jump, climb, and wiggle. He asked to begin and enjoys doing The Reading Lesson, though we only do 2 pages/day, with one page of overlap from day-to-day. He's at the beginning of Lesson 6 right now, and it seems to have helped with his pronunciation and vocabulary, so it's definitely working for him! He's been doing some Kumon workbooks and writes/holds a pencil well, but he wouldn't have the patience to finish a page in the Handwriting K book.

My plan from the beginning was to keep them together as much as possible. They're close enough in age that it shouldn't be too hard, right? We tend to do a 4-day week with smaller breaks throughout the year, so it's nearly year-round school. We did LHTH at a slow pace and ODS did the right hand of LHFHG. But now, we'll be finishing up LHTH in 6 weeks. I don't know that YDS is going to be ready. I could hold off starting for a few months, or go super-slowly until YDS seems more ready. Who knows, he might just grow into it as the year progresses. But at what point is ODS too old for LHFHG? I could do the extra books in the back of LHFHG for ODS to add some more, but BLHFHG doesn't have any extension or extra books listed. What do I do then? And would I be doing older DS a disservice to adjust his schedule to the point that he doesn't get to do the last HOD guide for 12th grade?

About 2 months ago, I decided to split them up after LHTH. I purchased "Fruit for Tender Hearts" from Teach Me Joy for YDS to do while giving him time to mature for several months before starting LHFHG with him. I've got manuals for LHFHG and BLHFHG ready to go for ODS. But as I taught them yesterday, I thought about how much they LOVE to be together. They love being able to talk about what they're learning and they spend play time acting out the Bible stories with their dinosaur stuffed animals or teddy bears. I'd hate for them to lose that, so now I'm reconsidering. I've got to make a decision in 6 weeks. And you ladies ARE the experts, here! Thanks for your help.

[Kims]

Ok I said keep them together in Lhfhg because it's such a sweet gentle easy start. He may not be ready for Beyond though when you get there but you could still keep them together on the left side. I am considering that with my two next year. I love LHFHG though so I don't want to miss it with my youngest next year. So still struggling.

[Molly]

I personally would keep them apart. The reason why is because I have a very verbal talkative DD and a quieter younger DD. They are currently combined due to financial issues, but I am going to separate them. I do not believe my youngest daughter is getting the full benefit of the discussions because she always waits for her sister to answer. Despite asking her, she often doesn't bother to think about it because she knows DD1 will answer instead. My younger was also a late talker as your wee boy is and I truely believe that by having the younger one tagging on even if it is at their level does not give them what they truely need. HOD from what I have seen is a wonderful curriculum that develops skills and I worry that DD2 will not gain all of those skills while we are combined.

They will still get plenty of time to play with each other out of school, and there are some activities you can join them together for occassionally. I'm looking forward to involving my girls in some activities with my DS who is beginning LHFHG this week.

[blessedmomof4]

Perhaps a different option-Little hearts for the older one, and Little Hands with the age 4/5 books? Combining is great when it is possible, but they seem very spread in their abilities. Maybe down the road you can revisit combining?
EDIT: whoops, didn't notice at first glance you are already doing Little Hands In that case I agree with Carrie

[MelInKansas]

What I did at that point, doing LHFHG with my oldest and my 2nd wasn't ready for it but she just tagged along for storytime, history, activity, rhyme in motion, Bible verse, all those kinds of things and did her own simple workbooks. She has also tagged along this year in Beyond, with history, storytime, Bible verse, and listening to the poetry selections. Which I guess that is kind of your first option, go ahead with LHFHG. But the change up on that is that she's going to do LHFHG again (fall 2012), now that she is really ready for it. So now we're splitting. I felt like slowing up my oldest was a disservice to her and now I'm glad we went ahead. Their skills are just too different right now for them both to be able to get everything out of the readings and activities of one guide.

[golfmom]

I vote seperate. I started off combining and it quickly fell apart. Once I got them on their own program it got so much better(easier in fact). Good luck deciding.

[Carrie]

I think at this point I'd lean toward finishing the last 6 weeks of LHTH together. Then, I'd head with the pair into LHFHG doing it half-speed for the first couple of weeks (by doing the left side of the page one day and the right side the next).

Then, I'd bump it up to full-speed 4 days a week for the rest of the year. That pacing should allow your 5 year old to grow into the program if he's going to do it. If not, you won't have held your 7 year old back but will keep him steadily moving forward. I wouldn't stretch LHFHG more than that for your 7 year old. I also wouldn't rush to make a judgment on whether it suits your 5 year old well until your are at least 9 weeks into it. It typically takes many 5 year olds at least that long to adjust to the higher level of learning in LHFHG.

I do think it is worth trying to keep the pair together early on if you think they make a good team and love to be together. If the plan doesn't work out, you can always move your 7 year old ahead at a quicker pace (moving to 5 days a week) and then send your younger child back through LHFHG at a later time without much lost.

You will likely need to add a few parts of Beyond for your older child's 3 R's (such as spelling list 1, the Emerging Reader's Set following the Appendix schedule, possibly the gentle grammar lessons, and the hands-on math lessons for 1A/1B).

Blessings,
Carrie

[farmfamily]

I agree - keep them together if you can!

I have just combined my two oldest in unit 20 of LHFHG. My oldest is 7.5 and my younger is 5.5. Combining is working great. If you add in 3Rs at your older child's level, you really won't be holding him back. If you have to go half speed with LHFHG for a little bit, you can still do your older one's 3Rs at full speed - and you can add optional literature supplements to beef up his history portion. We are adding one book each week from the Optional Literature Supplements and we love them! I bought many of them quite cheaply used on Amazon. I have Beyond, and with the additions that my older child is doing in LHFHG, she is actually doing the amount of same work (or even a little more) than if she were doing Beyond right now. And yet, the two of them get to be together for Bible, storytime etc.! When your boys do get to Beyond you can continue to raise the 3Rs level of your older child. In Bigger there are extensions & I think combining will be even easier then.