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Hello all! A bit of history. My boys are 8 and 10 currently (21 months apart) and we started our homeschooling journey with HOD (LHFHG) several years ago and just fell in LOVE with HOD. We then went on to Beyond together and then the following year did 1/2 of Bigger together. We then fell apart. LOL We left HOD and spent the past two years floundering between homeschooling and sending the boys back to Christian Private schools on and off. We are coming back home in the fall to be together again.

When we put the boys in school we adjusted their "grade levels" to be 2 grades apart, vs. 1 grade apart as we were schooling mainly together at home. So next year my boys will be 3rd and 5th grade.

I've been looking at the placement chart and my 5th grader to be can easily do Preparing and my "3rd" grader can do Preparing as well, just won't be quite as easy as my 5th grader, but not really something I don't think would be too much of a stretch for him.

The main focus of our homeschooling next year is to return to the heart of our family. Being together. Finding commonality in Christ together. I've seen divisions instead of unity with my boys in separate grades at school. I want to foster friendship between them. I don't see that happening as cohesively if they are doing different curriculums vs. doing Preparing together.

My biggest concern though is looking ahead and if we stay on this track that means my 3rd grader would be doing CTC as a 4th grader and so on and so forth. Is that too much going forward??

I'm so confused.

Also, what about Grammar? If you are doing 3rd and 5th in Preparing, what levels would you recommend for each one? Level 2 & 4 or 3 & 5?

Thank you so much!!!!

Would you want to finish Bigger? Were there any areas they needed modification? Mofifications mean extra help beyond the usual learning curve. If you want to go on the Preparing ds are in the age range and you stated they are in the range of skills on placement chart. My ds did Preparing as a young 3rd grader (July bday) he only had trouble because he had not finished cursive and he has a writing glitch (what is in his mind gets lost on the way to the pencil). I only modified his writing cursive and had to help with written narration. He did R & S 3 and went on to R&S 4 without any trouble. For 5th grader you could do 3 or 4, maybe start out with 3 if too easy go on to 4.
Tammy

No, doing Bigger wouldn't be an option for us. I really think Preparing would be the right fit. My 2nd grader now has been learning cursive this year, alebeit it is still atrocious, so he is going to go thru Cheerful Cursive next year in 3rd so I'll probably modify that portion of the guide for him until his cursive is legible.

I'm still not positive about R & S. We did 2 & 3 before and we ALL hated it. Like really hated it. I think my kids learn better with a spiral approach vs. mastery. I'm actually leaning towards CLE LA but I'm concerned that they won't get the writing portion like they'd get with R & S so would they need to supplement a writing program or is the narrations enough?

From what I can gather HOD uses R & S to teach the fundamentals of writing so if we don't ever use R & S will we always be behind the 8 ball there???

I'm so glad you are back, and I really love your goals this year! They are such worthy ones, and goals I can really relate to. Have you done a peek at the placement chart, especially the columns for PHFHG in regard to reading, writing, math, grammar? I'd love to hear a little more about your soon to be 3rd grader. Also, how about the fifth grader? What are your thoughts about his reading, writing, math, grammar? We did PHFHG with our third grader this year and absolutely loved it, but he did fit place there solidly according to the placement chart. Can you share a little more if you get the chance? Thanks - I so want you to get off on the right foot here and have a year to just enjoy together!

R & S English is an excellent grammar program, and more than that, it is a great way to teach solid writing skills. So many needs are filled in R & S English besides grammar - outlining, public speaking skills, using research resources, writing reports, introducing people to one another - there are too many to name. I know some people are adding literally an hour to their day to try to add in these skills in another way when using different grammar programs than R & S English.

We really move along in our lessons with R & S English. We do the 5 oral review questions in the TG orally, read through the lesson briskly, and then do almost all of it orally/on markerboard, saving only one section or half a section for the dc to write answers. This keeps the lessons short, focused, and streamlined. It is not flashy - but then grammar isn't exactly the subject area to try to make flashy - it just gets unnecessarily extended, drawn out, when too many bells and whistles are added to it. I'd encourage you to take another look at R & S English now that your dc are older, and try to just clip along with it, doing a very good portion of it orally and only writing a tad. I bet they'd be fine with it knowing trying to fill these skills another way would result in adding much time to the day. HTH, and I'll try to check back after you've shared about your dc with the placement chart in mind!

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply back to me. Ethan, my soon to be 5th grader (11), actually places in CTC, however, from everything I've read I surely don't want him to miss out on the heart of what Preparing is all about, plus I think he needs a bit more hand holding than CTC allows for. I think Preparing will be a great fit for him. My youngest, Ashton (9) and soon to be 3rd grader fits in Preparing for all things except copy work in cursive. He has spent the last 4 months learning cursive at the school he goes to, but I believe the instruction and reinforcement tends to be lacking and as soon as he's home again we will be starting over in his learning of cursive. The way he writes in cursive is pitiful so he will definitely not be doing copy work in the beginning of Preparing in cursive. I figured he could start with manuscript and as his cursive formation improves he could transition his copy work over.

He IS my child that dwaddles, but I've begun conversations with him about ramping up his output during school. He likes to take the shortest possible route, but I do see his endurance increasing. He technically could be a 4th grader by birthdate, but that is largely the reason we held him back when he entered a highly competitive private school in that he wasn't ready for the endurance required of a 3rd grader last year. Does that make sense?

I, personally, think your plan to go with Preparing sounds very workable. I don't think it would be that big a deal to modify the cursive requirements. Go for it!

Thanks for sharing about your dc! I agree with this advice...

mom23 wrote:I, personally, think your plan to go with Preparing sounds very workable. I don't think it would be that big a deal to modify the cursive requirements. Go for it!

Cursive isn't a make or break deal by any means, and the heart? Well, getting to our dc's heart with the Lord's help is KEY. Sounds like a good decision to me! Enjoy PHFHG - we really love the heart of that guide as well as the history!

In Christ,
Julie