heartofdakota.com

I need some encouragement from some of you amazing mamas! We had a tumultuous year and we are not finished with our current guides. In my heart, I want my kids to finish the guides that they are in. In my Type-A mind, I want to be done with the year, wrap everything up with a tidy bow, have a great summer, and start with exciting new programs next year. We are at the young ages of the guides (my ds is in Bigger as a 2nd grader) and I think it would be great for him to finish it up and not jump into Preparing. But, *I* want to jump into Preparing, lol! I feel like I am so unorganized if I am not starting/finishing our guides with the start/finish of the school year. Does anyone else run guides that don't necessarily coincide with your school year? Is it working for you? Any words of encouragement would make me feel better.

What has helped me a lot is to realize that we don't have to have a school year like the ps system. In fact, our school year is roughly from mid-July to mid-July of the following year. There are times I still get it in my head that we should be finished with a guide by May, but I remind myself of all the times we don't have to be confined to a schedule like everyone else, and that eases my mind some. To be honest it is more for myself that I want to move on, and less on my children. For the most part they don't really care. None of our guides coincide with a 'regular' school schedule.
I would highly recommend finishing the currents guides in preparation for the skill level in the next guides. Hth.

I have actually found it to be WONDERFUL to continue where we left off with a guide at the beginning of the school year after a summer break! My oldest DS has been doing this since BHFHG and it has been great! He knows what to expect, we don't have the need to "ease" into the guide for the most part, and it is like seeing an old friend again! Let go and try not to worry about it...it is better to finish what you start than to jump ahead and miss some GREAT learning opportunities in the last part of Bigger...it will pay off immensely to finish it and solidify his skills and then start up Preparing (which is A LOT more independent than Bigger), maybe in fresh and new January?!? HTH!

We school year around and have no begin or start date - it is whenever one guide is finished. I have felt the need to go 1/2 speed several times and have changed my plan for a guide more than once. That is the beauty of homeschooling, you can tailor specifically to your child's needs. Having just started Preparing with my oldest I would add that I would definitely finish Bigger before beginning Preparing. Don't worry, many homeschoolers have released themselves from the ps schedule of education and have never looked back.

Such wise advice and encouragement has been given here already! I find myself nodding as I read each of these ladies' thoughts. I have made, and remade, many plans all the way through high school for our dc through the years. Sometimes the plans work, and sometimes something in our lives causes them to change. The Lord is teaching me to have patience and to be able to change my plan to adjust for 'life.' Last year, my dad had a major surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, and I visited him and my mom at the hospital every day for about 37 days in a row (I was at a book fair in the middle, but then my other sister came). This caused my homeschool 'plan' to change, but I was so thankful homeschool allows me to be able to adjust our schedule as needed.

I am wondering if you would like to share what unit # you are on in each of your guides, as well as the ages of your dc and when you would like (ideally) your year to start? Do you have scheduled breaks in your year? That is key for me and for our dc! That may help us help you map out a tentative plan - but only share if this would be helpful! Otherwise, the short answer is, your dc are on the young side of the age ranges, you don't have to be on the same schedule as the ps, and you can just pick up where you left off and be fine!

In Christ,
Julie

Last year when we finished up with Beyond, there were 8 units left in the guide. This was partially due to me having a baby last March, school was kind of spotty after that for a while. It worked out great. We will finish in the same spot this year, about 8 units from the end of the guide. So I guess we did a whole guide this year. I have read on here several times that if you do one guide a year, and if you start with LHFHG in K, then there is an extra year in there for them to finish up before high school. Meaning, you have a year of flex time to stretch out in case life causes you to not finish, or your child needs to slow down or something. I guess I shouldn't have kept that in mind, because then I'm more likely to use it! but I think it has been perfect for my DD and for the whole family this year.