Post
by farmfamily » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:34 am
We decided to put my older daughter in LHFHG along with her sister, while continuing the Grammar (R&S 2), dictation, DITHOR 2/3, and math that she was doing in Bigger. We now strictly limit math to 30 min a day, no matter how much (or little!) is accomplished. We are also adding poetry copywork, where she chooses her own poem from a book that we have and copies it. (She decorates it on her own time - she really enjoys this). We also read one book per week from the Optional Literature Supplements - I bought them used & cheap on Amazon! My younger daughter does all of LHFHG exactly as written (except we do a different math program - she works on math for no more than 15 min a day). My older daughter is now with me for ALL of her work and we don't attempt to do anything independently. She is still very distractable, but we are working on that!!!
I would say that the new way of doing school is working really well. I still wish we were done a little sooner (we usually go from 9am to 3pm - including piano practice, chores & a short recess), but our days ARE shorter than when we were trying to do Bigger - and infinitely less stressful for me! Also my older daughter is doing DITHOR 2/3 properly now, while we were giving it scant attention before.
I often feel really thankful for how things have worked out. It's ironic: I definitely think I placed my daughter "wrong" last fall, but I know that if I had placed her "right" (i.e. in Beyond), I probably never would have been able to combine her with her sister with HOD, since I would not have wanted her to repeat a full year. My older daughter is currently repeating about 10 weeks of LHFHG - and though she remembers some of it, it feels different this time around - plus we have the supplemental readings. I really think the combining is working really well for both of them - they are both really social little girls and they LOVE doing things together. I make sure to alternate the comprehension questions, giving some to each of them and not allowing the other to answer her sister's question (even if her sister is unable to answer it). This way I hope to encourage my younger daughter to think for herself. My older daughter is no longer distracted by her sister's school, because it's her school, too! I am very much looking forward to starting them in Beyond in the late summer, after my younger daughter turns 6.
I truly love HOD and feel blessed that God led us to this curriculum. So thank you, thank you Carrie - both for your wonderful curriculum and for your thoughtful advice on this board! Also thanks to Julie for her encouraging words.
blessed to be married 17 yrs to my hardworking farmer dh, mom to:
daughter 13 MTMM
daughter 11 Rev to Rev
son 10 CTC
Enjoyed Little Hands, LHFHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, Res to Ref, and Rev to Rev!!
In pondering your situation, if you desired to combine your kiddos (in simply looking at the age of your kiddos), you could ponder combining them with the younger student in mind. In order to do this, you'd need to pull your older student back to combine with your younger student in LHFHG for the left side and probably the Storytime on the right side.