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DS is doing Little Hearts now, he's 6.5, in grade 1. Our daughter is only 3.5. She technically has one more year until Kindergarten (by law she has to start by 5 here). I really do not want to be doing two different programs/currics for the kids. So this year I'll do something with DS and do pre-K with DD. Once DD starts K, I want them doing the same thing. But... with 3 years between them, it really doesn't seem to work out well with HOD. Is there a way to do it? Has anyone combined students with a 3 year age gap in the same program before? How would you go about doing it?

The year I'd want to start combining would be K/3 (ages 5 & 8 ). I have thought of maybe taking this year off from HOD, and maybe I could combine them in Beyond that year? It would be bumping her up a year...

I know it's over a year away, but... I was originally planning doing Beyond this year with DS, but if combining them would be possible, then I'd hold off.

In my opinion, you would be holding your son back for quite a while to combine. I wouldn't do it. It is a big age gap and skills and abilities play a lot into it. A kindergartner and a 3rd grader are just so far apart in skills and abilities as well as interests and maturity. At the rate you are going, the year you would want to combine would be the year that you would be closer to independent work for your older child. 3rd grade is a big jump in any curriculum in skills and expectations of a student. Kindergarten is basically about learning to read and write and basic math. So to me that is just 2 very different goals. I know I am much happier building independence in my older students than trying to combine an older child with a younger child.

I would also like to encourage you that having them separate is extremely doable and will probably be more pleasant. I thought I was that homeschool mom would wanted everyone combine. Coming from a curriculum where that is what you did, let me just tell you I was disappointed and not loving it. I switched to HOD so that I could have them totally separate. I would fear that your youngest may feel overwhelmed at the schedule and then your oldest may be bored. I also agree with Tidbits - 3rd grade is an odd year for kids. There are a LOT of changes happening there. My son is finishing 2nd grade and I can already see some major changes within him. His attention span is so much longer than it used to be, he reads so much more...independently and willing and (gasp) for fun! He also is so much more aware of everything around him and applies what he has learned to his environment by reading signs everywhere, apply mathematical concepts, and he gets actually getting the witty jokes in movies now. My youngest is doing Beyond with him and she is gifted so she is fine but he just a step a head. I actually don't plan to keep them together once my son moves to Preparing in 2 years. I had planned actually to split them both next month but don't think I will have time in schedule to do so. Bigger and Preparing are two most teaching intensive levels and the ages of my two youngest are just teacher intensive. I did buy Bigger already and after reviewing it thoroughly, I think my youngest dd will be able to do it once it we finish Beyond. But I think with a 3 year age difference in your two children, they will be much more different in abilities. The beauty of it is though is that your 5 year old will only have school for about an hour a day. And then the older child will have school 3 hours a day with some that being done independently. It should hopefully be pretty smooth sailing even with running two guides.

One principle that stands out strong from this board is the fact that when a child is properly placed in a guide everyone is happy. Being a momma that has made a mistake or two along the way I can attest to this. The only way you could combine your kiddos at ages 5 and 8 would be to place them in Beyond. In that situation your 5 yr old would be a year behind the recommended age and your 8 yr old would be at the end of the age range and presumably beyond that if he is doing LHFHG now. You could beef Beyond up for him by having him do the right side of Bigger, but you now have two children who are not accurately placed and require tweaking. Although a 5 yr might make it through Beyond, I would not place a 6 yr old in Bigger and it would only become more of a problem from there. So instead of saving yourself time and hassle you are actually creating undue stress by going into a situation that isn't ideal. I would keep them in separate guides and I think you will find it is very doable. Two guides with HOD really are not bad and in the end I think everyone will be happier.

Our dc are each 3-4 years apart in age, and we have always done separate guides. We have loved our homeschooling years with HOD!!! I want to encourage you to read these posts as they speak well to this topic and are written by Carrie, HOD's author...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9342
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7019

We have an 8th grade aged ds doing 9th grade HOD and a 5th grade aged ds (as well as a 1st grader). I honestly cannot imagine any of them being combined well in any curriculum! They are miles apart. I think this becomes an ever-widening gap as dc reach middle school and high school. I want to encourage you that HOD's author has 4 sons herself and writes with the busy homeschool mom in mind. As older dc are growing and maturing and needing more independence, your teaching time becomes less. This gives time for you to focus on your younger dc, who are not so independent and need more teacher-directed time. We find our days very enjoyable and not difficult in terms of length of time. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie