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We'll be starting HOD this fall. I'll have 3 in CTC and have yet to decide whether to continue with our previous curriculum for my 6yo or put the investment in LHFHG (there are 3 more to follow him). Anyway, my question pertains to the fact that nothing ever goes "as planned" the first week or two of school.

Should I, when looking at my plan for the whole year and where the 35 weeks will lie on the calendar, plan to do the first two or three weeks at half rate? Or would one week be enough for us to know what's expected and to ask them to get things done in the allotted time? (Would 2 or 3 weeks be a good use of time or would it be harder to switch to full rate after that long?) FWIW, I'm planning to do even the Independent subjects all together for at least the first day or two so they can learn what is expected of them, how to follow the guide, etc.

What have you done? What would you suggest?

Blessings,

We started at half speed last year for 1 unit and then are doing half speed for June and probably July this year. I think it is a nice way to start. It gives you time to figure out how everything works, where everything is, and how to do the things. If one day gets messed up by not understanding the directions or something, it is easy to make that up the next day. So I would say doing the first unit half speed is a great idea. Since the guides are only 34-35 weeks long and many states require 180 days of school, doing half speed for 1-2 units also gives you those extra days you need.

Nothing ever goes as planned at my house. We take lots of weeks off. I usually plan for the first few units to go slower. I don't box myself into doing 1/2 speed per se. But I do go slower. Also - I usually school all year long. So we try and go half speed over the summer to some extent. But we usually take off 4-6 weeks as well. For us, we plan for either by mid July or beginning of August to be doing school for between 1 to 2 hours a day of school. Then by September, we are up to full speed and no one is really phased by the additional work. And we take lots of weeks off. So we plan to be done with school my mid June.

LHFHG is a great program, it is very quick and easy, fun and interesting. I highly recommend it for your 6YO, and as you already said, you will get the chance to reuse it with the younger ones.

Stagger starting is something else that is often recommended. Start the older ones first for 2 weeks and then start the next one. There is a learning curve to starting a guide, but there is a strong weekly rhythm so 2-3 weeks in you often have it down and the time it takes to do each task is less. My kids are all on a different schedule of when they switch guides and this is really helpful to me as I really only have to intensely focus on one child who is starting a new guide.

Half speed is great too, especially with CTC or LHFHG. CTC will be very full days probably especially for the youngest one who is doing it. We did 1/2 speed for 2 weeks, went up to 4/5 speed (finishing 4 days of work in 5 days) and then about 8 weeks in we went to full speed (in Preparing). It was a good transition and didn't feel too heavy at any point.

We've always started school on a Wednesday. That gives me Wed and Thurs to do half a half unit and I can use Friday and the weekend to tweak our schedule as necessary. Then the next week we finish up the unit, spending the rest of our days enjoying the last hoorays of summer (park day with the homeschoolers, etc). It eases us nicely into a new year, and has been especially helpful for my son who tends to really not get thrilled about heading into a new school year. LOL.