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Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:34 pm
by Mom2Monkeys
I'm using MFW ECC (Year 1 of 5 yr cycle) with my 2 oldest. I was trying to be economical and get something I know I'd use again which I why I put my 2nd grader and 4yo in ECC. I find ECC to be going well, but my youngest is being a little neglected. It doesn't suit him. So, he mostly plays with 2yo brother. Now that I'm in MFW, I think the following years will be too much for my kids this soon. I'd like to switch to HOD for next year, and then switch each child to the MFW cycle once they reach 4th grade. My daughter, having already completed one year of it, will switch to it in 5th. This swich is of course, assuming HOD is stopping at Preparing. So, until then, they place as follows for next school year: 3yo ds, LHTH ; 5/6yo K ds, LHFHG ; 8yo 3rd grade dd, BHFHG.

I plan to use phonics pathways and Singapore Earlybird 2A/B for K'er who is starting to blend to read CVC words, physical writing is very weak. For dd, I plan to use Queens Lang. Lessons Very Young 2/Primary Language Lessons 3 in place of Rod and Staff English (we're more CM on the grammar), Singapore Math 3A/B, Latina Christiana 1 at half pace, and probably All About Spelling 2...she NEEDS the rules and reasons and her spelling is weak. Her reading is WAY above grade level though. She already writes cursive. Youngest will be doing 2 years of LHTH, one with younger activities and one with older.

I love MFW b/c I can teach one plan, except each child has their own language arts and math. How can I do THREE different HOD books for my 3 kids. Can they be combined at all? They seem too spaced in age and abilities to me to be able to put them into 1 or 2 books.
I've heard HOD is going up to 8th grade (is that with extension or actual grade-- if its true of course) and others have said up to high school...any truth to any of it?

Re: Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:45 pm
by MamaMary
Hi Mom2Monkey's, (cute name)

Welcome to the HOD boards. You have lots of wonderful options. You definitely could use multiple programs with no problem. The lesson plans are written out so nice and in small little bites that you could do it. I always always always try to combine if I can. This year we are doing Beyond with all three of my boys 6, 8, 12. I beef up a bit for the 12 year old with our read a louds. We use ACE and Time4Learning for our Math and Lang arts and so I found that I could combine the bible/history/science/art with multiple ages. I wish I could use all of Carrie's recommendations for math and LA, but we have a good groove going and I hate to change it. I am open to switching if the Lord leads us down the road.

I absolutely adore HOD. In 11 years of homeschooling this is one of our favorite experiences EVER! I love how much FUN I have with my children. We are not just building their academic skills, but forever memories through the FUN and easy activities. If you go over to the Week In Review forum you can see all kinds of exciting pictures. I look forward to getting to know you better...., Mary

Re: Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:33 pm
by Samuel'sMommy
I'll let others answer your questions about combining as I only have one little guy right now and don't have any experience with that. But, I can answer your questions about future guides. Carrie is currently working on the guide following Preparing which will cover the Ancients. I believe her plan is to have 4 guides following Preparing which will cover the history cycle. They will go up to 8th grade. Carrie has said she plans on stopping at 8th grade, however, several of us are secretly praying that she will change her mind and go through high school :D Hope that helps!

Re: Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:16 pm
by anointedhsmom
Hi Mom2Monkeys,

Welcome to HOD boards. You came to the right place to ask questions. I did want to let you know that Mrs. Austin is planning/writing further guides past the Preparing manual. I don't remember any info if at all on the web page but in the HOD catalog there is a scope and sequence of the curriculum all the way through 8th grade if I remember correctly. I don't have my catalog handy and can't get it right now but I do encourage you to order a catalog if you haven't already.

I am very familiar with MFW having used a couple of levels and also looking extensively at the older levels. If ECC is working ok for you then I would stick with it but I think you could put your 2 year old and 4 year old in LHTH now. It would mainly be for your 4 year old and the 2 year old could join in anything that he/she wanted to. Now if ECC is not what you want right now then you could do Beyond or Bigger with your 7 year old (depending on placement) and LHTH with your 4 & 2 year old right now. These are just ideas and not meant to sway you right away to HOD.

I also want to encourage you to call HOD and talk with Carrie. She is wonderful at helping you sort through all these decisions. And one last thing. If MFW is not working for you right now please don't feel that you must stay with it for the whole year. MFW has a very good resale value and you have options with HOD. Combining HOD manuals is not as hard as it appears. Many HOD users are combining successfully and you can do it too :D

Pray for wisdom and I know that the Lord will supply all that you need.

HTH and Blessings to you and your family!

Re: Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:27 pm
by Kathleen
Hi Mom2Monkeys! :D (I think our kids may have more in common that being close in age after reading your user name... :lol: )

I think you're going to love switching to HOD! I'm using Bigger with my 8 yo this year (after doing something different last year), and we are both really loving it. In fact, just this week he's told me 3 times how much more he's enjoying all the fun stuff we're doing...so much better than last year. :D

If I were you, I think I'd start out with Bigger (for your 8yo) and LHFHG (for the 5 yo...and a little tagging along of the 3 yo). (Now, this is only my 2nd year with HOD, but I've done a lot of thinking about where I forsee my kids heading in the near future. You can of course ignore me though. :lol: ) There are a lot of moms here using this combination, so I know it's very doable! My idea for dropping LHTH would be that it's not really "necessary" unless you're really wanting that special time for your youngest. I think you could easily satisfy him by letting him tag along for some of the great active parts of LHFHG during the day. (And you may be surprised what he'll soak up from that.) I'm planning to do this with my little 2. This year, the 2 yo is tagging along for LHTH and really enjoying it when he's interested. Next year, I'm planning on letting him tag along some for LHFHG. THEN, when he's 4 I'm going to do LHTH with him "for real". It would probably lighten your load a little to drop it...even though it does only take us about 30 min to do.

OR, here's another idea that just popped into my head. You could do Bigger as written for your 8 yo. Do LHFHG at half-speed for you 5 yo. (THis means that you'd do 1 page of the guide per day instead of 2. This would cut the time down you'd need to spend on LHFHG during your days...45 min instead of 90 min. Since he's on the young side for LHFHG, that may work well for you. You could always speed it up to a "whole day's work whenever your schedule allows and/or he's ready for the whole dose.) Then, that may free up the time you want for some LHTH with your little one.

I really like the way HOD is set up. Starting with Preparing (the guide after Bigger), the kids' days are split into independent, semi-independent, and teacher directed work. So, it's moving them towards independence in their work, and saving the teacher involvement for the important discussions that we wouldn't want to miss. :wink: This plan saves your (our) valuable time to have what we need when we're teaching the younger ones and laying a foundation for them in their learning.

I feel like I may be rambling here. Hopefully som e of what I wanted to say came through. You'll have to let us know what you think. The ladies here are so great about helping you figure out what may work for your family!
:D Kathleen

Re: Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:58 am
by Mom2Monkeys
Thanks so much to all of you!

Okay, so here's my thoughts after reading what you all have to say. My questions above pertained to next school when my kids are 8,5,3. This year they are still 7,4,2.

Option 1: I was thinking I could continue MFW ECC with 7yo, and maybe start LHFHG half pace for 4 yr old and let 2 yr old tag along. He already knows so much of his phonics. Plus we're doing Singapore EarlyBird 1B and its too easy for him. Then next year, finish LHFHG with the boys who will be 3 and 5, and start Bigger with dd who will be 8, using the Singapore 3A/B, and replacy R&S Eng. 2 with Queens & PLL. She's an excellent reader, so I'll find a few of the extension books at the library for her to beef up that part. These plans will put everyone hitting the upcoming 4 yr cycle in time to finish it in 8th, then move on to MFW's high school cycle in 9th.

About my youngest...once he and big brother finish LHFHG and big brother goes up to Beyond, where does he go at age 4? Then when brother goes to Bigger and youngest is 5? I want to be sure I work in those great math activities for him.

Option 2: Start boys in LHTH, adding phonics pathways for 4yo. 7yo stays in ECC for now. Next year, keep youngest in LHTH and move 5 yo to LHFHG at regular pace and 8yo into Bigger. Use the math/english I mentioned above.

WHich option seems the most reasonable and doable and still tailored to the kids ages??

If anyone can fill me in on the math, english and science choices for the books after Preparing, Esecially 7th/8th gr. that would be great!!

Re: Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:14 pm
by Kathleen
It's late here so my brain is a little foggy...I'm not quite sure I understand your questions. Were you asking (in 2 years time...) if your 4 yo would be progressing with your then 6 yo through the guides? I wouldn't think that would be a good fit...but when the time comes you could sure see if it looked like it would work. I think I'd plan to have the then 4 yo do LHTH and move the then 6 yo to Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. (It's so hard to advance plan and have things end up the way you think they will though. :D :roll: )

I'll at least bump this up so someone can help you...since I'm not too helpful.

Here are the tentative plans Carrie has shared for the next guide she's working on. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1655&p=12905&hilit=Ancients#p12905 She hasn't shared any specifics for the following guides yet that I know of.

HTH!
:D Kathleen

Re: Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:03 pm
by Mom2Monkeys
Ummm...let me see...it's late here so let me see if I can translate my own "talking outloud"...

I was wondering is my youngest (2yo) tagged along with brother (4yo) this year half pace in LHFHG, then next year (3&5) finished LHFHG. Then the next year (4&6) would I just start 4yo at the beginning with LHTH while 6yo went to Beyond?

OR Should I just do LHTH with both boys this year (2&4) adding phonics/math for 4yo, then next year move 5yo to LHFHG (reg. pace) and repeat LHTH with youngest when he's 3 and again at 4?

ETA: I've been thinking it over more :roll: ...I think I'll do LHTH this year with my boys if I can get my hands on it for a good deal. Next year, 3yo will do LHTH and 5 yo will do LHFHG at HALF pace. My 7yo will finish ECC this year, then Bigger when she's 8. NOW, everyone is lined up to land in the 4 yr cycle for 5th-8th. :D

Re: Placement help with 3 kids

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:04 am
by Carrie
Mom2Monkeys,

I'm thinking I responded to your questions in an email this week, but if I have you confused with someone else with a similar situation I apologize! If I haven't responded to you yet, let me know and I'll give you a response on this thread! :D

Blessings,
Carrie