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Currently we are using RtR (11 year old ds), Beyond (6 year old ds), and LHTH (4 year old ds and 3 year old ds). Our year is going pretty well using 3 guides with a detailed schedule, and I find myself already looking toward next year.

Next Year:
Our oldest ds will then be 12 using Rev to Rev.

Our 6 year old ds will at that point be a young 7(July birthday) using Bigger. I'm trying to decide at what point should I slow him down. I can't imagine him doing CtC when he is 9. I know I should just take each year as it comes and see how he progresses. He might surprise me and be ready for CtC by then.

My main question is with our younger 2. They will be 5 (March birthday) and 4 (turning 4 September 2012). Our current 4 year old who will be 5 will definitely be ready for LHFHG. He is already doing Reading Made Easy at a slow pace (1-2 lessons per week). He loves LHTH and is engaged the entire time. Then there is our now 3 year old who will be a very young 4. He loves to be a part of school, but I don't think he will be ready to handle the "Learning the Basics" of LHFHG. Would you combine them in some areas of LHFHG but not everything, keeping the youngest a year behind on the basics but combine the other areas? Or is there just enough of an age gap that I should separate them completely?

Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.

I am open to doing four guides, but our youngest two enjoy working/playing together. If there is a way to combine them for some of the things I know they would have fun.

I think you will have to wait and see what your 2YO will be capable of next fall. My DD4 has tagged along with her sister through LHFHG (she was 3.5 when we started it) and now in Beyond a bit, but I know she doesn't comprehend the readings or follow along with the concepts of science, history, geography that we are covering. She's going to do LHFHG again next fall when she will probably be ready for it. She liked the Burgess books too but I could also tell just by interacting with her that she did NOT understand what she heard most of the time. Which was fine. It wasn't on her level.

And having been through LHFHG and now part way through Beyond I find it difficult to believe actually that a 3YO could follow along with some of the stuff. Because my two DDs, like your youngest 2, enjoy doing things together and it's more of a hassle for me to keep them apart, she has participated in them (especially of course crafts, science experiments, and other hands-on activities), and I'm sure she has learned some things, but again, I know she will actually get it when it's on her level. I feel a bit stuck because I don't really want to hold my 6.5 year old back so I can combine them, but on the other hand, I love when they do this stuff together and think they both do gain from that. I am praying and trying to seek God's wisdom in how I might get them together in a guide some day, without shorting either of them on learning where they are at.

Also there's a pretty big leap from LHTH to LHFHG in terms of time spent and skills/demands on the child, so maybe your 4YO who will be 5 won't be completely ready for it either (have you already done LHFHG with any of your other children?). If you did it 1/2 speed you could possibly expect your 2YO who will be 3 to actually be engaged and ready for it by the time you were done. I hope that makes sense.

This became a bit more of a sharing on my part, hopefully it's helpful to you in some way, but again you'll have to see where your kiddo is at and what might work best. At this age they mature at such varying speeds its probably impossible to say what might be possible next fall. I have this dream of combining and see in some ways how it might work out really well, but next year won't be the year for us.

Thanks for your sharing your thoughts. I probably shouldn't even think about it until the end of this year. Children at young ages grow so much in one year. We used LHFHG last year, and I'm pretty sure our 4 year old who will be 5 will be able to handle it. I will probably end up letting the younger one tag along for the left side and storytime but set aside some time specifically for just him.

I just kind of figured out your kiddo isn't 2 turning 3 next fall, he's 3 turning 4 next fall. I think LHFHG is probably a stretch for all but the most advanced (and patient) 4 year olds too, but it seems like more of a possibility. If he's showing a lot of readiness or maybe just almost there but not quite I think 1/2 speed would be a good way to go. Not impossible to have him go through it, but to really learn what's there, would be quite a challenge! Anyway, may you have God's grace as you try to figure it all out!