Doing a program at half-pace question

[my3sons]

Could you do the left side of Beyond with the 2 of them, and then have your 6 yo do the right side of Beyond, and your 9 yo do the right side of Bigger? You could just pick 1 Storytime to do. Or, in answer to your next post, would it meet their needs well to do Bigger half-speed, making sure your 6 yo would be 8 years old when starting PHFHG? It would be fine to do the left side one day, and the right side the next. This is what we did when going half-speed, and it worked well. Or, maybe you could have your 4 and 6 yo combined down the road? If so, you could have your 9 yo do Bigger Hearts and your 6 yo do Beyond half-speed. Then you could have your 4 yo really work on the 3 R's, and see what happens there. Maybe the 2 of them could meet up in Bigger Hearts down the road?

In Christ,
Julie

[sted]

A couple more questions for Carrie or Julie,

1. With combining 8 and 6 yr. old in Beyond, I would used Bigger for the 8 yr. olds language arts and science etc. Then next year I'd hopefully do Bigger left side with both and right side of Preparing for 8 yr. old. However, looking ahead, where does that leave the older of the two the following year in terms of the right sides? CTC is kind of a program of it's own and by the looks of it, doesn't look like it could be split up as easily?

2. What's the difference between Cheerfully Cursive and the other Handwriting program HOD sells (can't remember name).
Are they both "traditionally formed" letters?

3. If I were to choose only one story time for both girls next year, would I use the Bigger Story Time or the Beyond story time (or CTC storytime which I think would be too difficult?)

4. Just curious as to why Poetry isn't on the right side of the plans but rather on the left.

5. Last one, what about Bible memory verse, would I use Beyond or Bigger to simplify or should I seperate them for that?

Thanks for you help,
Shannon

[sted]

Also,

My four year old does not know letters, sounds or numbers yet. Would I be able to add Little Hands for him along with Beyond and CTC? How much time does Little Hands take? I could spread it out over two years.

And, one more: Looking at the R&S samples, my 8yr. old (will be nine) while she'll be using Bigger Right hand side, I noticed R&S 2 looks too simple for her. Could I easily substitue R&S Level 3, using a similar schedule?

Last one, For my oldest daughter, who will be doing CTC, with beginning a new program do you recommend starting DITHOR at the same time or waiting for awhile (a year?)


Thanks,
Shannon

[my3sons]

1. With combining 8 and 6 yr. old in Beyond, I would used Bigger for the 8 yr. olds language arts and science etc. Then next year I'd hopefully do Bigger left side with both and right side of Preparing for 8 yr. old. However, looking ahead, where does that leave the older of the two the following year in terms of the right sides? CTC is kind of a program of it's own and by the looks of it, doesn't look like it could be split up as easily?

With CTC, I think it would be nice to do the top left box of the right side of the page along with CTC. That box rotates between the Bible Study box marked "T", and Geography which is linked to the history and CTC. The science box ties in nicely to the history as well, but I still think you could do that a year earlier and be fine.

2. What's the difference between Cheerfully Cursive and the other Handwriting program HOD sells (can't remember name).
Are they both "traditionally formed" letters?

We used Cheerful Cursive, so I can tell about that. It was fun, short, and easy to teach. One year of it was enough for my ds to stop doing a cursive workbook. In PHFHG, he only needed to glance at the capital letters (which I wrote on a paper for reference for him), and otherwise, he did great with his cursive and does not need anymore formal instruction. I appreciated Cheerful Cursive had him look at a model in manuscript and then write it in cursive, and also look at a model in cursive and write it in manuscript. This has made it easy for him to do in school now - since most directions are written in print, and yet dc need to write their work in cursive at times, this has been wonderful. It also has a box that showed the way cursive letters could look different from one another - which has helped him realize that each person's cursive will have a different look, and that's o.k. as long as its legible. The other cursive is Italic. I have not used it, but have also heard good things about that!

3. If I were to choose only one story time for both girls next year, would I use the Bigger Story Time or the Beyond story time (or CTC storytime which I think would be too difficult?)

I'd use either the Bigger or Beyond storytime. Depending on how well your younger child listens to books with fewer pictures - if that child needs to grow into this a bit, I'd do Beyond's storytime selections. If not, I'd do Beyond's. Either way, both Beyond and Bigger have 3 storytime sets to choose from, so whichever you use this time around, you could even use a different set from the same guide next year if that's what fits best. Storytime books are meant to be a level or two about a child's own independent reading level, so that they are a bit challenged by listening and can expand their vocabulary and fine-tune their listening skills.

4. Just curious as to why Poetry isn't on the right side of the plans but rather on the left.

When poetry is on the left, it links to the history. However, poetry is one of those stand alone type things - if you need to do it separately a different year, it can easily be done and still be fully enjoyed.

5. Last one, what about Bible memory verse, would I use Beyond or Bigger to simplify or should I seperate them for that?

This would be your call. My dc are far apart in the maturity of their faith, so I've enjoyed doing separate Bible times with them - but, my dc are also too far apart to combine. If you can keep a very personal Bible time by doing it with both of them, then it would be very convenient to combine. You could always start them together and separate them if if becomes clear it would be better to do so. I look at this time as my time to really share my faith as much as I can in as personal a way as I can. This means I talk more deeply with my older ds than I am able to with my younger ds right now, especially about more mature topics. I like that I can decide at what age each child is personally ready to handle more information. If one child is doing all of the answering, or if you can tell you'd like to discuss things of a more mature nature with your older but are holding back due to the younger listening, than you could separate them. Otherwise, I would guess it could work well together. You will be able to tell and know best.

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Also,
My four year old does not know letters, sounds or numbers yet. Would I be able to add Little Hands for him along with Beyond and CTC? How much time does Little Hands take? I could spread it out over two years.

Yes, LHTH takes 20-30 minutes a day to do and is super easy to add to any number of HOD programs you are doing. You could easily spread it out over 2 years, but you may want to do the fingerplays and letter flashcards daily (which will amount to about 5 minutes of time) to help your ds be able to best remember the letters/sounds. We did this with one of our dc- LHTH 3 days a week, but fingerplays/flashcards daily. It worked great!

And, one more: Looking at the R&S samples, my 8yr. old (will be nine) while she'll be using Bigger Right hand side, I noticed R&S 2 looks too simple for her. Could I easily substitue R&S Level 3, using a similar schedule?

Yes, that would be easy to sub in.

Last one, For my oldest daughter, who will be doing CTC, with beginning a new program do you recommend starting DITHOR at the same time or waiting for awhile (a year?)

DITHOR is an awesome program, but considering you are starting several new HOD guides at once, I'd begin without DITHOR. Then, about half of the way into the year, I'd add in DITHOR. This will give you and your dc time to get into the rhythm of the rest of the guides. Whenever you start DITHOR, you will love it! We've used it for multiple years and still are so impressed with it.

In Christ,
Julie

[sted]

Thanks so much, Julie, responding to all my questions!



A question about CTC, when you say I could hold off for half a year on DITHOR, would my daughter still be reading the books, just not doing the activities in DITHOR? Also, do I need to choose either the History extra package, or the Boys or the Girls pacakges, correct? Not History and the other ones.


Hopefully that's it for now. I'm excited about HOD and looking forward to ordering it soon!

Shannon

[Carrie]

Shannon,

You would choose one of the 3 options to read-aloud to your daughter in CTC, either the Boy Set, the Girl Set, or the History Interest option. I'd lean toward the History Interest Option, since you'll already be reading aloud storytime for either Beyond or Bigger (whichever you choose). If desired, you could have your older daughter listen in to the only the Storytime read-alouds from either Beyond or Bigger (whichever you end up going with for your next two kidds in line). This would give your daughter a miniature DITHR study, until you've hit your stride enough to add DITHR full-blown.

I'd also begin at half-speed with both CTC and your other program to really have time to train your oldest daughter to use CTC as intended. Then, I'd bump up CTC to full-speed first, and later follow by bumping up the other program to full-speed. Mid-year you'd easily be able to add DITHR for your daughter if desired. Otherwise, you could wait a year and just cover her literature study through the Beyond or Bigger Storytime, adding DITHR the following year.

Blessings,
Carrie