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After reading this thread I have a few questions. I will be doing Preparing with both my dc next year. Ds will turn 10 in June and dd will turn 8 in July then we will start school in August. With that said, I had planned on reading aloud the history portion to both my dc, but after reading that thread, I'm not sure that I should. Maybe ds should be reading it himself as suggested by CM. What would you do if you had a younger dc that you were already going to be reading to? We will be doing the history read-alouds and then they'll both be doing the deluxe package on their own.

Then I was also wondering about the science portion. Would you have them do the experiments together or require them to do them individually? Thanks, ladies.

I'm sort of in the same situation. I'm going to be starting Preparing soon with my two oldest boys - 11 and 10. When I've had them in programs together before I read to them. Of course, they were younger then. It was one of the first things we did and was a nice way to kick off the day, everyone would start together, and take it from there. I didn't realize until just recently when I read another post that I could let a 9 year old do his own reading. This year though I will be reading to my 10 yo because he is dyslexic and he still needs some of that. So I'm not sure what I will do yet. I think it is up to you and what you feel your children need, what they can handle or what works for your family. I may just read to both of them and then have them do their independent history on their own (my oldest will use extensions) and try to have them do their science together (as long as they don't argue or fool around too much ). I have two youngers here also (ds4 and dd2) so I will take their schedules into consideration as well. I may just need to read the history to both olders to save time or I may have ds11 play with the youngers while I read to ds10.
It will be interesting to see what some other ladies suggest.
Kristen

John'smom wrote:After reading this thread I have a few questions. I will be doing Preparing with both my dc next year. Ds will turn 10 in June and dd will turn 8 in July then we will start school in August. With that said, I had planned on reading aloud the history portion to both my dc, but after reading that thread, I'm not sure that I should. Maybe ds should be reading it himself as suggested by CM. What would you do if you had a younger dc that you were already going to be reading to? We will be doing the history read-alouds and then they'll both be doing the deluxe package on their own.

Then I was also wondering about the science portion. Would you have them do the experiments together or require them to do them individually? Thanks, ladies.

I am doing Preparing with my dc - ages 8 and 9. I read the History to both of them. Though my 9 yr. old has the capability of doing it himself I am continuing to do it so we can do it all together. Sometimes I will have them take turns reading it out loud, but I am still sitting with them while the reading is happening. My kids really enjoy working together and do their science and independent history (deluxe package) together. They've been doing great!

Stephanie

Thanks, ladies, for your opinions so far.

Anyone else want to chime in?

I would read it to them. They will be doing their own history reading in CTC. I look at it in that guide as more of an option. If you need your nine year old to read their own history, they can.

I am still reading the history portion aloud to my two who are 9. They'll be 10 in a couple of months and I've been considering having them read the history themselves but haven't done it for a couple of reasons. The first reason is purely selfish. I have really been enjoying the history lessons this year and have been learning a lot. I don't want to miss out. I know I could read it by myself, but surprisingly it seems to be harder for me to get it done that way. Another reason I haven't switched to them reading it themselves is that I enjoy that time of reading and discussion that we have together. Many times it's kind of like a round table discussion, and we all seem to gain a lot from it. I don't know if we would have that same level of interaction if we weren't reading and discussing it all together at the same time. I suppose our discussions might be similar but I fear it wouldn't be the same if we hadn't just read the passage together. I also have my dc reading the extension books so they are already doing quite a bit of independent reading on their own between the independent history and extensions. We're nearing the end of Preparing so I think we'll finish out this year with me continuing to read the history then next year let them take over that part in CTC.

For science, my dc usually do their science experiment together. They still do their reading for it separately and get their lab sheets ready on their own. Then they coordinate their time together to do the experiment. They enjoy working together in this so they choose to wait until their sibling is ready so they can do it together. It's really nice too because then they can clean up together, and I don't have two messes going in two different places or at two different times.

I agree with the previous posters recommendation of reading it together. While I only did Preparing with one child, he was 10 at the time. He probably could have done it himself, but we really treasured that time of learning together. There is a lot of other areas in the guide where children are exercising independence in reading and other work. This is a great time of sharing in the lessons through history.

There were countless times that I was so thankful that we read through it together, and were able to share in discussion about the story or about things that branched out from the story. We may not have had that if we didn't do this together.

Now in CTC, my son is doing all of his history readings himself. We do still have certain boxes in the guide that we do together, but it isn't the history reading. We have very happy memories of our time in Preparing.

You, of course, will know your children and your situation better than any of us, and should do as you see best!

I have a ds9 and dd8 in Preparing and I read the history to them both even though the ds9 would be fine doing it on his own. It keeps the two of them together and we have good dicussion with having various opinions to ponder. Also, many times they work on science the science experiment together. I do have them both answer the question independently after I found my ds9 just writing what his sister put But they have learned to work as a team and its a blessing for me to see We have enjoyed Preparing so much this year!!

I like the way PHFHG has parent/dc share the responsibility of reading the history, and also the way PHFHG has dc be solely responsible for the science readings. This has been a great way for our dc to prepare for the increased responsibility of reading in CTC. Your dc are both in the target age range of 8-10 yo for PHFHG, so I would just have them be responsible for the reading noted in the PHFHG plans - the Independent History box and the Science box, as well as DITHOR. This will be enough prep for CTC for both of them, and you will enjoy reading the "Reading about History" resources aloud to your dc. If large families have many dc and are doing quite a few multiple guides, then it is sometimes more feasible for dc to do the reading themselves, as they are able, and this frees up some time for mom. However, having several dc that are doing the same guide, I'd personally just enjoy reading the "Reading about History" one more year in PHFHG before having them take over their reading in CTC. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Well, the majority seems to be saying the same thing. Thanks so much for you all taking time to respond. I'm looking forward to sharing in on the history with my dc.