advice Using BHFHG for young 7 and old 9yo

[TinainOK]

I love all I see on HOD, and I'm interested in using it this fall. My dd (average) will be 7 in June and ds (advanced~loves to learn, but still all boy and loves when he's done w school too:) will be 10 in late Sept, just passing the suggested average span of 2 1/2 yrs for one program. I really want to do them together (not use 2 programs) to enjoy the process of learning together and discussing together. I've always managed to do this with my older 2 and these two as much as possible, seperating for reading, writing and math levels and tweeking where needed. Anyone have any advice that this could work with using extensions for the older and different levels of math, reading and writing?
GRAMMAR: The will be 7 yo dd has had no grammar and the will be 10 yo ds very little informal so I was thinking of both doing R& S 2?
HANDWRITING: The will be 7 yo still needs practice on neater printing and the will be 10yo just about done with a light yr of cursive instruction. Is there enough copywork/dictation for both to just practice what they know at this time and ad cursive for dd when ready?
WRITING: dd writes 1-3 written narration with guidance (sounding out, correcting for neatness) from me almost daily~ sometimes with happy heart other days not so much. DS-does a variety of writing, on average 2-4 days a wk, 4-6 sentences written narration or information w little to no help~ will write more when he is allowed to type; doesn't care for the physical process of writing with a pencil as much.
DIHOR~ do you do this with read alouds or readers? Could I do none with the dd-she needs emerging reader set ( I read a post that said some lit study is included in BHFHG), or dd in level 2/3? Could I do 4/5 with ds who is an excellent reader and comprehender? I read that you can meet together and discuss same genre but different bks so that makes me think they go with readers? Both ds and dd are use to challenging read alouds and enjoy.

Any advice appreciated! I really like what I see, but I really want to work together ~esp read alouds for that bonding time.
Tina
mom of 20 dd
17 ds (graduating May)
9 ds
6 dd
wife to dh~25 in May!

[TrueGRIT]

I'm not sure how to help you, but I'll bump it up for you.

[MitchellFamily]

I am doing Bigger Hearts right now with my avg 7 year old. I would think you would be ok with extensions for your older one. It has a cursive program in the schedule that your son could do, but my daughter I felt needed a bit more printing, so we are holding off on the cursive and doing printing a tad longer. We choose to do the copywork from the poem and writing the weekly verse. About DITTHOR, your son would probably be perfect in the 4/5 but if daughter is still in emerging, she will use the discussion questions for those listed in the schedule in the back. So the 2 is still a little advanced as they are for an avg 3rd grader if I remember right. The R&S language is pretty basic, but you could always try it and see if he needs more of a challenge. It's perfect for my 7 year old though. These are my experiences, so I hope they help a little!

[chillin'inandover]

Tinainoklahoma,
Since you asked this is just my opinion. My 7 yo would not be able to do Bigger. It is suggested to place in the younger child's guide and beef up for the older. With this in mind I would go with Beyond. If you get the Bigger guide you will have some skills your 10 yo will need. This includes a dictation list, lab reports for science, and language arts. You could add Rod & Staff 2 or 3 (prefer this) for 10 yo but 7 yo will be fine with the gentle introduction in Beyond. 10 yo can begin cursive, I enjoyed cheerful cursive. DITHOR 2/3 is a good start to lit study but you can use the level of books your 10 yo reads at either 2/3 or 4/5. The student guide and books read don't have to be the same level. R& S, cursive, DITHOR done daily should be enough extra. Not sure about science as it will be light and we love science in our home. Maybe add option 2 books from RTR (God's Design our Weather and Water) since this is just scheduled daily for x number of weeks, it could be spread over the year. If I would recommend anything else it wouldn't be per HOD policy as in something they don't offer but could be Apologia they don't use in other levels.
I have a 7 yo and a 10 yo in 1st and 5th grade. Will yours be 2nd and 4th next yr? Mine are light years away skill wise. I also have a 19 & 20 yo who hs together. Both are attending same college. I am glad I kept them together when I could. They are 2 years apart in grade level. My other kiddos are 4 years in grade. Just depends on where the birthday falls. Hope you figure out a plan!
Tammy

[chillin'inandover]

Tina,
You also asked about read alouds. I love the Beyond read alouds. My 10 yo will listen in to his favorites for fun. DITHOR is for those already reading. It is story time in each guide that is read aloud by you. Since 10 yo can read and needs to exercise those muscles the extra science you do would be read by 10yo. That way they can still do science together as written but 10 yo would do extra on days not scheduled in guide. 7 yo would be learning to read in emerging reader and not in science yet. They would be together for history, rotating box, story time, Bible, and poetry.

Tammy

[twoxcell]

From what you have written here I'm really thinking it would be better to do Preparing with your 9 year old and Beyond with the 7 year old. You could possibly combine them in Bigger but it may end p being too easy for the older and too hard for the younger. Running two guides is really doable and your days will be much smoother if they are properly placed.

[beverett]

Tina,
First of all, welcome to HOD!! We absolutely love it and I am certain it will be a blessing to your family as well! I personally did Bigger hearts with a 7yo (2nd grader) and 9yo (4th grader), Both boys. We were just starting HOD and were going to be doing 3 guides if I had not combined these two. It worked very well for us, as it was what we needed to do at the time. I will say that my only regret is that my older son will miss out on the last HOD guide by us having gone this route. I know he will still get everything he needs though and that I have not "ruined" him=). What is most important I think is that they both fit into this guide according to the placement chart. My fourth grader could have easily fit into Preparing and my younger child fit into Bigger so we combined giving the older child the extensions. So where does your daughter fit into the guides on the placement chart?

Brandi=)

[beverett]

I also just wanted to add (someone may have answered already?), that for Dithor the children read either to you or on their own, then do workbook exercises. The 2/3 guide has them read to you more than the 4/5 guide and so on. You do some instruction with them from the teacher guide then they read to you or do a combo of reading to you and reading on their own or they are reading independently (directions in the teachers book). HOD sells Dithor book packages which we have all LOVED and highly recommend!

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD Board, TinainOK! As you can see from the ladies' helpful responses here, you have several good options to consider. HOD is so flexible and offers many options so you can find the right fit for your family. Several good options have been shared here.

Option 1: Combine dc in Beyond Little Hearts, using Bigger Hearts to extend the LA/math for older child.
Option 2: Combine dc in Bigger Hearts for His Glory.
Option 3: Have older child do PHFHG, and have younger child do Beyond.

I think it comes down to a few things. Focusing on your younger child, what guide fits that child best? If it is for sure Beyond, then I think Bigger is going to push too much, and Option 1 or 3 would be better. If it is Bigger Hearts, then Option 2 would work.

On a personal note, I have a 6 1/2 yo and a 10 yo, and for our situation, there is absolutely no way they could be combined because they are very far apart in skills and needs. The same is true for my 10 yo and my 13 1/2 yo. I want to encourage you that should you discover that the best placement is for the two of them to do different guides, your day is still full of wonderful, shared moments of learning. HOD also writes guides that are totally no prep, open and go. We have used 3 HOD guides for the past 4 years, and our days have not been long. We have LOVED our past 10 years homeschooling with HOD! I am very excited for you to begin using it, whatever placement you decide upon. One other think I'd like to do is link you to some excellent posts Carrie has done in her series of commonly asked questions. Read whichever ones most seem to pertain to you, and keep praying, and I think the Lord will provide clarity!

Question 1: What are we considering, when you ask us which guide your family should use?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9338

Question 2: Why do we ask you to look at the placement chart for each of your individual children when considering the best placement for your family?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9339

Question 4: Why don’t you recommend having children younger than the target age range of the HOD guide simply listen in with the older student’s guide?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9341

Question 5: What would my child be missing out on if I did choose to combine him/her in a guide that doesn’t fit him/her well on the placement chart?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9342

Question 6: How will we be learning as a family, if we do separate guides?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9343

Question 7: How can I get my different-aged children into the same guide, or how do I know if I should try to combine them?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7019

HTH, but what are your thoughts now?
In Christ,
Julie

[TinainOK]

Thank you to all who have helped me with wonderful info! I have been bogged down with a convention week, and a graduate and much other misc., but I will soon study over all the tips!