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that seperating the kiddos is better/more fun than family learning. We have children 2,5 and 1,5 years apart.
It's either HOD for us or a k-8 curriculum(I'll not mention the name as its not really relevant).

blessed3 wrote:that seperating the kiddos is better/more fun than family learning. We have children 2,5 and 1,5 years apart.
It's either HOD for us or a k-8 curriculum(I'll not mention the name as its not really relevant).

Welcome to the HOD Board, blessed3! I won't try to convince you that separating kiddos is always better or always more fun than combining dc, as with HOD you can combine or separate dc, based on what's best for your situation. HOD's placement chart really helps make it clearer if combining or separating dc is best for your individual situation. Some families use the placement chart and come to the decision that combining is right for them, and some families use the placement chart and come to the conclusion that separating is right for them. You will find both decisions well represented by the families on this board, and you will find both enjoying HOD.

We have 3 dc, and I can share the placement we have found to be the best for them within HOD. My oldest is 12 yo and doing "Revival to Revolution", my middle ds is 8 1/2 yo and doing "Preparing Hearts for His Glory", and my youngest ds is 4 1/2 yo and doing "Little Hearts for His Glory" half-speed. They are all around 4 years apart, and combining would not meet their needs well at this time. We LOVE our homeschooling days with HOD! Everyone is happily doing their guides, sharing what they've learned, and feeling successful in their learning. Their guides are appropriate for their ages, and vary accordingly in the following...

length of day (i.e. shorter for younger, medium for middle, longer for older), difficulty and maturity of reading material and follow-up assignments, type of hands-on activities (i.e. shorter and lots of movement and not much writing for younger, longer and more in-depth for olders), amount of independent vs. teacher-directed work (i.e. all teacher-directed for younger, a mix with more teacher and less independent for middle, and a mix with more independent and less teacher-directed for older), and level of maturity of Biblical concepts (i.e. introduction to Bible stories and memorization of single Scriptures for younger, meshing of Bible stories /devotions/ shared Bible Quiet Time/ shorter BIble passages memorization for middle, and Biblical Worldview / Godly character traits application / Journaling / Independent Bible Quiet Time daily /longer Bible passages memorized and applied to Biblical Heroes of the faith study for older), etc.

Our home is abuzz with what our dc are learning. Everyone is interested in sharing, discussing, showing what they've each learned, and no one feels "better" than the other at their school. We've said we don't expect the same results from each child, so there is no comparison that someone has done "less" and "failed", because the parameters we've chosen already make clear we don't expect the same from our 12 yo as we do from our 8, or our 8 yo as we do from our 4 yo. We couldn't be happier with our homeschooling than we are with HOD, and this is because HOD is a wonderful curriculum, but also because we have our dc accurately placed.

So, that brings me to the placement chart. This is your best friend in choosing whether to combine or not with HOD. Are you saying your dc are 2 and 5 yo, and 1 1/2 years apart? I was confused about that with the commas. If dc are closer in age, combining becomes a better possibility, but again, age is a rudimentary way of choosing a level, as skills of a child vary widely within the same age set. I am going to link the placement chart here, and you can share what you find out. Most families pay closest attention to the first page of the chart. Some print it off and circle within the columns where each child falls, to make sure they are considering each child's needs carefully in the placement process. Then, ladies share what they've found out here, and we all chat through options...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I'd be glad to help more after you've shared a bit about each of your dc, and I know the other gracious ladies on this board will do the same. BTW - this board is one of the many things I love about HOD too - great place to meet great people. One other thought I had in answer to your post here - Carrie (the author of HOD) has some excellent thoughts about this in her Series of Common Questions post. These questions came to mind when I read your post...
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=934242

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

HTH - and I look forward to getting to know you better here!
In Christ,
Julie

blessed3,
I have a feeling I probably have done the K-8 curriculum that you are looking at. I thought I would NEVER uncombine my kids. They are 9, 11, 13, 15 and 19. My 19yo is doing College, so she is no longer in the mix. This is our first year with HOD and this has been by far the best year for us. I am doing Bigger, Preparing and Rev. to Rev. this school year. My kids are loving it and they are all doing really well because they are being met where they are at. I thought it was crazy to think about splitting them out, but it works for us a lot better than having them combined. They each have a sense of freedom that they are doing something a little different than everyone else, plus they are working more efficiently because we are not trying to lower or beef up the material so that everyone will "get it", if you know what I mean. Every year by this time, I am seriously rearranging and trying to get our school back under control. But NOT this year. It has flowed for us so smoothly, even during hectic patches, because the kids know what to do and can do a lot independently. This helps us to stay on track. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that it is do-able to "uncombine" your children and still feel like they are getting a rich education and time with you. My older kids love to read the storytime books to my younger two boys since they did not read them. So we still have family read-aloud time. They also like to share the poems in various ways with one another. They are not isolated in their own little school world by any means! We share a lot as our day goes on with eachother!! Also, if you haven't already done so, I encourage you to pray, pray, pray and maybe discuss things with your husband. I also know how it feels to be unsure, and God will show you the way!

I'm not sure the people on this forum are the "convincing" types. I will tell you my experience. I was/am really drawn to combining curricula and that philosophy because for example my oldest two love to learn together. And I figured that would streamline my time spent schooling, because I could do things together with all the children. However, reality has turned out different for me and I am starting to see the wisdom of the HOD approach (of course I am also starting to see why every curriculum would like you to start with them in Kindergarten or before, because once you start off with a certain philosophy, if it works well, you would tend to stay with it). The wisdom in each child having a whole curriculum together that reinforces what they are learning and is at their level. The fact that it is actually FASTER sometimes to do two separate curricula/levels with two children when it is on their level and you get the chance to work one-on-one with them, than to try to combine and make sure each child is getting what they can/should from the material (thereby taking a lot longer for discussion or the follow up work with those materials because you have to quiz two children instead of one). That there is still lots of fun and togetherness even if they aren't doing the same things in their schoolwork. And the final thing, for me, obviously each child still needs to have their own level of reading, writing, and math and do their own work in those areas. Whether you use a curriculum where your children are all "combined" for the things they can be or not, if you have a child who struggles in one of these, they need your attention and focussed time, or until they can do work independently they need help. So how much time are you saving? The read-aloud time, that's mainly it.

I am amazed with women on here who have well-run schedules where their children can do work independently, or entertain younger children, so that each part of each guide can get done. I think reality is, children close in age and skills can and should be combined and that gains you some of your time savings in read-aloud material you have to cover. But I'm not sure that combining all is saving as much as it might seem from the initial look. I hope this makes sense.

I haven't had to do more than one guide at a time yet but I am feeling more and more that it will be a blessing for us when that time comes (next summer).

I think Melissa is right! My two youngest boys are only 19 mo. apart, but they are VERY different n their skills and abilites. I have to start off by sayng that I had bought The Bigger Hearts set and Preparing set last summer. I needed to look at both to figure out which would be the better fit. The whole time I had intentions of combining them. My 11 yo son (who just turned 11 a few weeks ago) could have done Bigger with the extensions without any difficulty. He begged me to do Preparing on his own. He is very independent and needed the challenge that Preparing has been for him. I have seen him take off in his skills and abilities this school year. My 9 yo son is a wiggly worm, and while he may be bright, he has a pencil allergy and can be very frustrating for my 11 yo to deal with if he has to wait on him during the school day. My 9 yo is highly distractable and fidgets a lot. So I decided that I would see how it worked uncombining them, and if need be, recombine them in Bigger if it got too overwhelming. Needless to say, this has been the best school year thus far, for them both. Because I can hit each childs needs much better and my 11 yo has gained a sense of independence that he never would have if he had stayed with his brother, school is actually easier for me to get through with them. My younger guy loves having the alone time and he has really come along way. He enjoys sharing what he is learning with his siblings. My 15 and 13 yo's are combined in Rev2Rev wth extensions and some added things to make it Highschool credit worthy. They work very well together and have great discussions about what they are learning. My 15yo is a boy and the 13 yo is a girl, and they are more evenly matched in the skills areas, my daughter is slightly more advanced in some areas than her brother, but combining works well for these two. I think it is a kid by kid basis as to what works for your family. This has worked really well for us and I am praying that it continues as we move on. I hope some of this made some sense, I am in exhausted Chritmas baking mode at the moment so I am hoping this sounds at least somewhat intelligent!

Sorry I didn't reply sooner! Thank you so much for all your replies they're really helpful. Im still considering both curricula and will let my DH read your replies as well. The problem is that I own the other curriculum, BUT I have an opportunity to buy the guides I would need with HOD. Well...I'll ponder and pray about it a bit more!