Need a little advice

[Juli]

I am going through a little wave of self doubt and could use a little advice. We love HOD and have used multiple guides very successfully. Here is a run down of my kidos current status: Oldest son graduated and moved out, my oldest daughter (11)is currently working in the Resurrection to Reformation Guide with extensions and doing great (although sometimes more independently than I would like-she does so well that often she gets the least amount of my attention), younger daughter (9) is working on PHFHG-she is doing fine with a lot of assistance on my part (she still needs me to read a lot to her), son (3)....is currently working on his comedy relief and wrecking ball skills (probably could use some more challenges...he has taught himself the alphabet, how to spell/write his name, his numbers 1-100, and beginning to read 3 letter words-BUT I don't really want to start schooling him-I am more from the let them play and be kids as long as they can camp-who knows if I just let him go maybe he will learn all he needs to on his own LOL-I also do not have the time...I have to single mom it a lot because by husband works out of town), I also have a baby due right after Christmas.....which brings me to my self doubt....I am afraid after the baby comes, I will be struggling to meet everyone's needs and school may become a complete mess. I am worried about finishing this year as well as how to handle next. I don't believe there is no any to combine my girls as the older is advanced and the younger is slightly delayed in her reading/writing skills. Any advice you all could shed on the situation would be great. I have read some of the posts of other moms with multiple ages, but I am struggling to find any with older kids.

[MelInKansas]

A new baby is such a big change, it's completely understandable to have some self-doubt, to wonder and worry about how having a new little one in the house will change the way you do everything!

I think the advice for those of us with little/grade schoolers is the same, and of course the grass is always greener, but it seems to me like with olders too it might even be easier. My SIL had their last baby when her others were 16, 14, 12, 8 and 6 and she said for sure she got to sit and enjoy that baby a lot more than the others (she was homeschooling them also, now the oldest 2 have graduated). If you're organized, have a schedule, and your kids are in a good routine for when they get their schoolwork done I think it would work out well. One thing I know about having a baby around and trying to do school (even though last time I had a newborn I was just doing preschool with the 2 older ones) you do have to be on your game and it requires a lot of energy. But depending on how you like to deal with newborns, for me, I used a Moby wrap and when the baby wasn't nursing she was nestled snugly in there. I am not one to schedule my baby's naps, but when she was wrapped up all snug she would nap better than she did anywhere else, and I found it pretty easy to get around and do school with my kids. Of course there were lots of nursing breaks in there, it's a good thing the different subjects in HOD don't take very long to complete!

If you are a baby scheduler and that works for you then you can schedule school (the parts of school that require your involvement) either for while your baby nurses (I would read to my kids while nursing, although I do admit that short storybooks are much easier to do this with than some of our school materials would be), or while the baby sleeps. Or even baby's awake time, again, I think wraps/carriers are pretty handy for this.

I actually found it a lot easier to school with a newborn baby than I have found it since to school with a toddler around! At least babies sleep a lot. Also I think having a baby around provides lots of "school of life" opportunities. I don't know if your older kids did this much when your 3YO was a baby, but my kids are always asking interesting questions about why the baby does this or that, or watching with me fascinatingly while the baby learns something new. I think human development is one of the most amazing thing God has made! Maybe you could get some books and incorporate that somehow.

[pjdobro]

It sounds like you are doing great! All of your dc seem to be flourishing and doing well. I'm sure that will continue. It sounds like the only difficulty you are having right now is that it is taking a little bit more time than usual with your 9 year old. I am noticing this year with my 9 year olds in Preparing that they are really taking off in independence. Bigger really prepared them well for this. Did your dd do Bigger last year? Was she able to do it fully? I'm guessing that your dd is going to take off and start gaining more independence in the near future. I would make that your goal to help her learn how to do each of the independent boxes by herself, then work on the "S" boxes and get her more independent with those. As the year progresses and she gets more independent with Preparing, your teaching time will go down significantly. If you think it would be helpful, you might even consider dropping back to half-speed for a while until she is able to gain more independence in the "I" and "S" boxes. I'm noticing that my teaching time this year is down to 1 1/2 to 2 hours tops. I think by next year when they are in CTC and they are doing even more independently that will drop even more. So I'm thinking that by next year, your older two are going to be pretty independent so you'll be able to more readily focus on your younger two. I think this is the beauty of HOD. Carrie has planned it so that as dc mature they take over more of the learning and that frees up time to spend with the younger dc getting them reading and building those early skills. I think you're heading down the right path and it will work out fine. Hang in there!

[deltagal]

A quick chime-in agreeing with the idea of taking Preparing back to half-speed and giving your daughter more time to academically mature into the guide. Really focus on making the independent boxes, independent, otherwise it will just get MORE time. My 12 yo does all the reading on his own in Preparing and it is still a very time-consuming guide. You have plenty of time to finish the guide over a 2 year period and your daughter will still learn lots. Focus on progress.

[Juli]

Thanks for your thoughts. I had already been considering making Preparing into a 2 yr program. My main hang-up has been my own crazy thinking....we love HOD so much that I don't want her to miss any future guides ....I know that is silly, but for some reason I get a little obsessive . I am going to go ahead and try half speed for a little while and see how it goes before baby gets here.

[deltagal]

Hi Juli,

I know what you mean by not wanting your daughter to miss out, but in all honesty I have my high school freshman (14 yo) in RTR and he is studying information in history that I didn't learn until graduate school. If you can somehow find peace with allowing her to bloom where she is you will both be blessed by it. And even if it takes you 2 plus years to do Preparing you will still have lots of time for more guides. One more thing to note is that the better equipped she is when finishing Preparing will make future guides that much more enjoyable for you and her, especially since you have some others to attend to. Focus on making progress in skills and moving forward through the guide. You'll both be blessed!

[Juli]

Thanks so much for the encouragement and advice! So what I needed to hear right now!

[my3sons]

This has been such a good thread - such wise words of advice here from these moms! I think it is a good idea to go half-speed to let dd grow into the areas she needs to be independent in in PHFHG. One thing to keep in mind is that going half-speed does not mean PHFHG has to be a 2 year program. You can, at any time, have dd go back to full speed. We have done this, and found that when we have gone half-speed, we have never needed to do so for 2 full years (other than in LHTH, which I planned to do that with as they were little).

One other thought for your older dd, you'd mentioned she is successfully doing RTR quite independently. Good for her, and good for you! This is a natural progression as dc mature, and it is necessary in order for them to gradually prepare for the independence of high school. One thing that I have done this year in RevtoRev is added in check-up times within our daily schedule. This helps me periodically check my ds's work throughout his independent work times, and it helps me be very in touch with what he is doing. So, for example, at the start of my first teaching block of time, I start by checking what he has done before that independently (which is science and Bible Quiet Time). For science, I use the answer key to check his EE workbook and help him revise his "theory" if need be. Last time, I told him he needed to have the chapter heading in his answer for his theory (i.e. action and reaction, centripetal force, etc.). This improved his theories so much! For Bible Quiet Time, I have him say his verses he's memorized for me, and check any work in his Hidden Treasures... book. If it's an oral narration day, he does that next for his Inventor Study, as he just read that. Then, we go into my teaching time by doing dictation, R & S English, Biblical Worldview/Music Appreciation together.

After this he does more independent work, and then at the start of my next teaching block of time, we go through the independent work together first, checking it together. Then, we do our teaching time together. This helps me stay in tune to what he is doing and correct his work in segments. I'll attach my schedule here, as it may show what I am trying to say better than I am saying it here...


I agree that a good schedule is a mom's best friend when teaching multiple dc. I also agree that making sure dc can be independent with what they need to be doing independently is the next best thing. I hope something here helps, but I think it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job, and I can tell you are an attentive homeschooling mom that gets the job done as you are already planning for the changes a precious babe will bring to the day!

In Christ,
Julie