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For those of you with more experience and farther down the HOD road. ......1st year hsing. I am running two guides back to back. They are Little and Beyond. I have been researching options to get the two kids combined somehow. They are vastly different on skills. My latest revelation was to possibly keep my older (8yr) in Beyond again next year. I would continue to move forward with her Grammar/Spelling/Reading/Math skills. She is currently doing Building English 2 and using the Emerging Readers. I am not using the spelling in the guide. I have something else and will continue to move her onto the next level. We would go on to the next level of Building English and start DITHOR 2/3 and continue on in the next level of math. What she would repeat with her younger brother is history and bible. I am looking at other science programs for next year too. The younger will continue with another phonics program for next year and then when he gets to Bigger he will most likely start the emerging readers and she will be in the next level of DITHOR. I purchased the "girls interest" for our storytime in Beyond this year. I could purchase "boys interest" for next year for younger brother. This would give her something different to listen to. Does that sound like it would work out in the long run? Can two kids share a Bigger guide? Will we run into problems with them both needing their own individual guide to complete their daily work? Will I eventually need to purchase 2 guides in the high levels of HOD? I guess that wouldn't matter so much if they did need their own guide eventually. I understand the guides move to more independent work. Experience/Opinions?

Are Little Hearts and Beyond really good fits for your children this year? If so, and you don't feel like the older one should move up, then yes I would say maybe repeating Beyond with them both next year would work out, with different storytime and with added on stuff for the older one. You would not need two guides in Bigger as everything there is still Teacher directed and I assume you would be working together with them on most subjects (except what is added for the older, reading, etc).

Definitely by CTC level if you can afford it two guides would be nice. My DD used her guide a lot in Preparing even but I can see how there is still enough teacher involvement that Preparing you could share the guide between the two.