Question about the guides

[HSMom03]

Hi all!
I have a question about the guides. I am relatively new here, actually I haven't even ordered or started HOD yet. My son places in Little Hearts for this coming year (starting K in the fall, will turn 6 late, late fall). I am confused b/c it seems that if we stay on this track then he will reach Preparing for the 3rd grade. However, I found some posts saying that Preparing is a lot of work for a 3rd grader. Also, it seems that if we stay on this track that would put us in the newest guide (Missions to Modern Marvels) for 7th grade. I know that HOD is planning high school guides but does that mean just 4 more guides will be written? What would we do for 8th grade (or 12th grade) if we just continue on in the guides? Does that make sense? I guess what I am saying is that it seems as though HOD will be one guide short if you start with Little Hearts for K and progress on, 1 guide per year. I may be analyzing too much but I tend to do that Thanks in advance!

[pjdobro]

It's true if you start LHFHG in K and do one guide a year without fail then you will reach the new Geography guide, the first high school guide, in 8th grade. From my understanding, there will only be 4 high school guides, so in theory you would finish high school early. I know this has been talked about before and many feel like an extra high school year to explore other interests or starting at a junior college a little earlier would be a good thing. I think many think too though that it is nice to have that extra breathing room. By knowing that you have a little bit of leeway, you can feel free to start a guide at half-pace if needed or stretch it out over 1 1/2 years instead of doing it in one year. So it gives you a lot of flexibility.

We didn't find HOD until my dc were in 1st grade, and we started in LHFHG. So doing one guide a year puts us finishing the last guide in 12th grade. I think it's nice to have that extra flexibility that you have with starting LHFHG in K, but what I think I would do if I had it do all over again and found HOD in K is do the first 3 guides, LHFHG, Beyond, and Bigger for 4 days each week. That stretches them out over 4 years instead of 3 putting you into Preparing in 4th grade. I have loved the 4 day week schedule since we started Preparing. It allows us to catch up if we need to and to add some other fun things like educational games or other interests. So if I was starting from the beginning again, I think that is what I would do.