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I've read it isn't recommended to do back to back guides such as Bigger and Preparing. Does this apply to any other guides? Is it fine to use Preparing and CTC, or say..CTC and RTR?

Thanks!

Bigger and Preparing are the most teacher-intensive and therefore would be the most difficult to run at the same time. I have heard people say that when they run back-to-back guides they get tired of the material and when they are teaching it the 2nd year it can be a little hard to put the right energy into it or finish it like you should. I would say this is probably less of an issue with the older guides because 1) there is so much to them and 2) the child is doing a good amount of it independently, so if you had read the books already you wouldn't be reading them again (except read-alouds).

I like having one guide between the guides I am doing, but even then I feel like I might get tired of the guides before too long. But my children are all 2 years or more apart in age and I haven't been able to figure out how to combine them, especially at the very young ages. So, we just keep plugging ahead.

I completely agree with the momentum. But at some point I will have my two youngest doing back to back guides. My kids are all 1.5 years apart and while I could combine, I find it easier to keep them separate especially once the youngest in Preparing and the other 2 are older. I would think burn out of reading the same book over and over again is the challenge. But I will say this - I am reading the book American Pioneers and Patriots for the second time in a row this year and I actually still like it. So I think it will be fine. And if I get burnt out - especially with the higher guides, my husband and I have talked about him taking one or two of the readings each day with the middle child. This way I don't have to read everything over and over again. Plus, my dh may like some of the stuff he is reading. Who knows LOL. But I am not minding the reading of things again and again.

Does the chance of burnout decrease if the guides are upper level?

At the upper levels you are doing way less teaching so I would say that the burnout would be less.

For me it helps to that each of my kids are different. Teaching it through a second time in a row (at times we even have overlapping guides) doesn't really get old for me because of my kids' responses to the readings. It's also neat to hear the older ones say "Oh I remember that story!!" and then they discuss it later.

I think the chance of burn out really depends on the parent. For me, I doubt it will bother me. With having 3 kids 1.5 years apart, I am already teaching the 3rs practically back to back. I don't mind that at all. I have already read few stories back to back and don't mind that either. I have listed to my kids read the SAME books back to back and that has been fun too. So that is why I say - I think burn out depends on the mom