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I'm jumping the gun and getting ahead of myself, but I'm wondering how you all use multiple guides? We've only recently started Kinder with my DD, and I still have 2+ years to go before my son joins in on "real" school using HOD. Still though, I can't help but wonder if I'll be able to handle two separate guides? I suppose I'm doubting my own ability. How do you teach using multiple guides? How do you find the time to teach each child what they need? We plan on having more children (God willing), so I'm just trying to picture my day in the future using multiple HOD guides and maintaining sanity.

Thank you!

One of the pinned posts at the top is for schedules. It is great to see how others do it. The good thing is the early years seems to be short. We will be doing LHTH and LHFHG this year, and total that shouldn't take us more than 2-3 hours a day. And then once they get to Preparing I think it is, the kids have more independent work. Supposedly the hardest years on the parents are Beyond-Preparing. I know Julie said it was easiest to have the kids in plans at least 1 apart if not two so that you aren't having to do so many of those hard (on the parent) guides at the same time too.

StephanieU wrote:One of the pinned posts at the top is for schedules. It is great to see how others do it. The good thing is the early years seems to be short. We will be doing LHTH and LHFHG this year, and total that shouldn't take us more than 2-3 hours a day. And then once they get to Preparing I think it is, the kids have more independent work. Supposedly the hardest years on the parents are Beyond-Preparing. I know Julie said it was easiest to have the kids in plans at least 1 apart if not two so that you aren't having to do so many of those hard (on the parent) guides at the same time too.

I'll check out the other thread. Thank you.

The thread mentioned will be very helpful. I found it best to think of school with a broad view, so as I line up my two boxes (I have 2 kiddos), I include recess and chores along with independent work. So one box is one-on-one time with me and the other corresponding box is a child either having recess, doing chores, or working on independent work. I also have one pair of boxes that are "semi-independent" with me going back and forth between. That can be a little hairy in the younger guides, but it is working. As you get into it you will be surprised at how well it works, but planning has huge benefits. I spend time on my schedule for each year and usually tweak once or twice as the year progresses. I also strongly recommend stagger starting each child if it is the first time you do a guide. I would actually do one week with one child, give the first child a week off, then do my second week with my other child. This will give you a great idea of how it is all going to work and help you tweak your schedule.

It seems like not very long ago I was in your shoes, looking at what I was doing with my oldest in LHFHG and thinking "wow how do those moms do it that have several who are school aged, and even littles to take care of at the same time?" They all assured me it was a challenge but definitely do-able. Now that I am doing it - my 4YO is not "school-age" but she is so eager and ready to do school and I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to do it with her just because she is so much trouble to me if I don't get her involved in school somehow - it's really fun and easier than I thought. As they grow they can do more on their own, LHFHG and the K year is intensive because it requires your full attention while the child is doing school (but they do it for such a short time, an hour each day is about what LHFHG takes for us now). Not starting new guides with all your children at once is a helpful hint. My children aren't at the same place in their guides... for various reasons, so we basically will be this way. My 6YO will be starting Beyond this fall but my 8YO won't move into Preparing until Christmas. The guides are definitely more work for you when you are starting a new one, you just need time and it's more work to help the child learn how to do each box properly, whereas once you've been doing it for a month or so they know what to do for each part.

Thanks, everyone.

What do you all do with your toddlers during school time? So far, I have a basket filled with laminated sheets and a dry erase marker he can use. A peg board, a few books, and a few toy cars to play with.

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Carrie copied one of her posts which is a classic for me on this topic, I go back to it over and over as there are so many ideas and ways to keep little ones busy.

Key for me is moving him around and keeping him busy. I trained him for "blanket time" which right now is 8 minutes where he needs to stay on his blanket and he gets some toys he is particularly fascinated by that are reserved for this time. Or I dig out some dishes or something that again he loves but rarely gets to play with. I also do let him watch a 20 minute cartoon, usually the 4YO watches with him. I used to be able to trap him in the jumparoo during cartoon, but I don't know if I can do that now.... he is so mobile!

I guess I just do it! You know how it was when you had one kid and you were overwhelmed and then you had two and you adjusted. It is kinda like that. If I all of a sudden jumped into teaching through 4 guides it would be very overwhelming, just like it would be if you all of a sudden had 4 kids.(Of course some people do this to and it is doable just harder.) You slowly grow into it over time. Homeschooling is very important to my dh and I so I commit a good chunk of my day to it. School for us happens mainly between the hours of 8-3 ish and I'm able to get through all of our guides and a little bit extra in that time especially if I stay focused and get stuff ready the night before. In order for me to have a smooth school day I need to get up by 7:30 and eat breakfast, read bible,check email/facebook, etc. The goal is to always start by 9 and stay off the internet and phone during that time except during lunch break if needed. Also I don't do housework during school. My oldest is becoming more and more independent which is another thing I love about HOD it gently moves them towards this and he almost always starts his independent work by 8 before the other kids are even up and dressed. Some other things that help are having daily chore time for the kids right after school, staying home during school hours(we do school 4 days a week with a 5th day for fun family co-op etc.), and cleaning up the house and setting out guides and books in the evening before I go to bed. I have one fabric bucket for each kid that I fill with everything they need for the following day right after we finish school for the day. HTH