heartofdakota.com

Hi Ladies. I came to you all with the issue of placement for my 2 daughters a few months ago, and I thouhgt I'd made a decision, but now I am having second thoughts. As school approaches (Monday!), I find myself almost dreading the schedule we have to keep to get everything done in a day. I am already feeling sad about the amount of time I have to plan for my little ones to be "without me" during the day while I school the oldest two. Here is a summary of where they are academically (sorry to re-hash all this...you are all so patient!):

dd 8 - finished Beyond, R&S2, DITHOR2 - but immature for her age, prefers to be with younger children, doesn't deal well with "bad guys" in books/TV, plus other developmental challenges
dd 6 in Sept - halfway through Little Hearts left side, finished Little Hearts right side, reading chapter books like crazy, very organized, self-motivated, mature kid
ds 3.5 - going to start LHTH half-speed this year
dd 1.5 - little sweetheart
baby to come in January!

My original plan was to continue where we left off. DD8 starts Bigger, DD6 finishes Little and goes into Beyond. I know it should be possible to fit into a day, but with my younger kids I am just struggling with it all. Plus, now that my 6 year old has taken off in reading, I feel like my girls are so similar that it might make sense to combine them. The only area where my 6 yo is behind her sister is spelling. Her handwriting is amazing (she signed her library card in cursive...not that I ever taught her how, mind you! She just watched her sister learn.). If DD6 were just coming to HOD and I looked at the placement chart, she would place into Beyond. BUT, how do you combine after you've started uncombined? The scenarios I can think of are:

1) Put both in Beyond. DD8 repeats history, Bible, science, timeline, poetry, art but has new DITHOR, storytime, math, health (required here), R&S English plus co-op classes once a week. She is also going to start a typing program we got plus a free language program through the library (online).
2) Put DD6 in Beyond full-speed. Put DD8 in Bigger half-speed. At some point the two will meet, but not until next year. Still, it would free up time.

Does anybody have any thoughts? Would you try to combine or just forge ahead with the original plan? Thank you so much for bearing with me in this. I want to do what is right for my girls, not just what is "easiest" for me, although there is some overlap in those two things. I really, really appreciate any/all help. Thank you!!

Erica

I see no one has responded yet, so I'll take a swing...if nothing else it will bump this up there for someone else to see it and add their insights for you!

I think I'd lean toward your 2nd option, just because I don't think I'd want to repeat the History and Science and Bible portions...you don't want to discourage your older sweetie by making her feel like she failed it the first time and has to repeat it all again! Try to put them together for storytime and anything else that you can, but proceed with your older one doing Bigger half speed and your younger doing Beyond full speed. If you're sure about combining.

For me I find a schedule on paper to be much more intimidating than it is to carry out on daily life. Maybe since you're planning to start Monday and had a plan in place you could proceed with your plan and just see how it's playing out. If you end up keeping them seperate you'll be better off with them a guide apart...How well do they work together? Does it inspire an improved relationship between the two, or bring more detriment to their relationship (jealousy, unhealthy competition, will the younger pass up the older and make her discouraged or feel like she doesn't measure up?)

I like your option 2 as well.

Can you tell us a little bit more about 8 yo's reading, writing, math? I guess with a fresh eye looking at the placement chart's first page, where does she place in each area soundly? I am trying to figure out if she is solidly placing in Bigger Hearts or not. Thanks!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you for the replies. Sorry to be slow in betting back to you all! Mom23, your words were very wise and helped me a lot. You are right about the idea of repeating being unappealing to dd. I spoke with her about the possibility and she was pretty down about it. She was really excited to move on to Bigger. Julie, to answer your question, she places very solidly in Bigger according to the placement chart and also by preparation (been through LHFHG and BLHFHG completely). Mom23, I also appreciate what you said about schedule and relationship issues. I needed to hear both of those things. I think I am just feeling overwhelmed with the needs of my littler ones right now. They are all wonderful blessings and I desire nothing more than to be their Mommy, and yet it can be a role that uses every last resource I have within me. I suppose I will be praying for God's resources to supplement mine a lot this year! Also, as I was praying about what to do, I was not finding peace about either of the options I outlined, and it dawned on me that the best thing to do would be the last thing I know God showed me. So...we started school today with the girls uncombined, just where we left off previously. It was a full, eventful day, but I do feel peace about their placement. DD6 was so excited about everything (she loves school!) and DD8 showed me how much she's growing in skills and independence. Much to my delight, she kept taking books from me (history, science) and reading them aloud herself. She is really excited about science, in particular. We also had a delightful time of singing songs from LHTH, LHFHG and BHFHG at breakfast this morning. Yes, it was challenging for my 1 yo to stay occupied for more than 10 minutes, but hopefully she will grow into the things I have planned for her. I am one tired but thankful mama right now. Thank you again for listening and thank you for helping me get over this particular hump. I am thankful for this board and for HOD!

Blessings,
Erica

P.S. If you'd like to hear dd8 on the radio stumping the host with a trivia question, here's a link! I'm so proud of her sweet, well-spoken self! http://www.1049theriver.com/blog/are-yo ... lie-81012/

I'm glad you decided to forge ahead with your original plan . Yes, those full days can be exhausting, but really worth it when your kids are getting what they're needing. I understand what you're saying about the little ones; I think a blessing of homeschooling in our home is that it forces me to pay attention to the older ones, too. It's really easy for the urgent demands of the littles to crowd out time from those who can atleast feed and dress themselves. I forget that the older ones need me, too, until I start to see my lack of attention cropping up in their behavior...

Nothing drives me to the end of myself, and my need for God's strength quicker than parenting! FWIW, though, it sounds to me like you probably made the right decision. I've found those "second thoughts" that creep in after you've had peace about a plan are not often from God. Lots of times just my own brain kicking in and questioning the plan that He's already shown me to be best, even if not easy!

There are some really profound thoughts here...

mom23 wrote:... I think a blessing of homeschooling in our home is that it forces me to pay attention to the older ones, too. It's really easy for the urgent demands of the littles to crowd out time from those who can atleast feed and dress themselves. I forget that the older ones need me, too, until I start to see my lack of attention cropping up in their behavior...

Nothing drives me to the end of myself, and my need for God's strength quicker than parenting! FWIW, though, it sounds to me like you probably made the right decision. I've found those "second thoughts" that creep in after you've had peace about a plan are not often from God. Lots of times just my own brain kicking in and questioning the plan that He's already shown me to be best, even if not easy!

Thank you so much for sharing this! Your words really spoke to me today mom23.

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks, Julie! I'm so glad I was able to encourage you-made my day