I would be in bed, but....

[8arrows]

I am looking at the new program instead and trying to decide whether to combine my children or use this new program for my oldest (oldest of the middle ones) who will be in 6th grade. The other middlers will be in 2nd and 3rd. I already have materials picked out for the two oldest (high school) and my younger ones.

[Sharon]

Hey there night owl what did you decide?
When I saw the new program I wanted to put my soon to be 6th grader in there too. I already have plans for her to do a beefed-up Bigger with us starting in March because she has not really had any American history. This will complete the history cycle we stared 3 yrs ago...but wow does the program look sooo good! We school year around so I was thinking we will be finished with Bigger by the end of the year so she could start in January.

[mansmom]

HTH looks amazing...if I had older kids I would have to put them in it I think...good luck in the decision process!!!

[8arrows]

Sharon, I am not quick at decision making. I like to sit on it a while, pray, and ponder. The "suffering" is part of the process(smile). Actually, it isn't suffering anymore as I enjoy the pondering. I will have two high schoolers, two toddlers, an infant, and the three middlers next year to school and mother. I want to do what is best for everyone without extending myself too far. Bigger looks easy for my 6th grader as she has read most of the extension pack. Preparing would be a stretch for the 2nd grader. So, do I put the 2nd and old 3rd grader in Bigger and the 6th grader in Ancients (where everyone would place) or do I combine in Preparing and adjust a little? The two boys have done Beyond this year which has gone great. The 6th grader is finishing up the MFW cycle. Decisions, decisions, decisions. I am not too concerned as I think either would work with modifications. I would need to supplement even Preparing just a little for the 6th grader in science in writing. I would just use the new Ancients program with her basically as is (not sure about the extention pack).

[my3sons]

8 Arrows - a.k.a. night owl - just thinking over what you said here. If your 2 did well with Beyond, they would be accurately placed and doing great in Bigger. I like your Bigger for the 2 and Creation to Christ for your older idea. I think that would actually be easier to do than them all together in PHFHG. But, that's just my thoughts thus far. A lot could change by then - and you are so right to ponder and pray. You'll know what is best overall for you and your dc. Can I just say I am in awe of you with your 8 arrows? I am trying to imagine having a high schooler and a baby and know I would need a lot of prayer to do that as well as you are doing it. Hats off to you!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[inHistiming]

I too am pondering whether we should combine in Preparing...we combined in Bigger this year...or if I should keep going into Preparing... with dd and move older ds (going into 6th grade/age 11) up to CTC.... It's tough to know (at least for me!) what would be easiest for me, while also wanting to make sure both kids are getting the most out of the program, at their appropriate level. If I did this I would be using three programs next year, and have a 6-month old (or there about) when school starts back up. I know many ladies do it and they say it gets easier as the year progresses...and I'm sure that's true...but it is a big step for me. I do think the new manual is looking so good, and it might be a better fit for all of them to be in their own level. Praying about it still; we won't be purchasing until June. Good luck in your decision-making, as you have twice as many children to consider than I do!

[8arrows]

If I do split up my middle children, I think I would need to put the youngers in bed at 8 (with books to read or look at on their beds). This would be a treat. Then I could do the teacher directed part for an half an hour with my daughter (ahead for the following day). When she went up it would be lights out with a CD for the 11 and under gang. I do plan to target her at the beginning of next year anyway, and this would give me some special time with her. I targeted the 6 and 8 year olds at the beginning of this year, and they are blazing away now. Now I am targeting my two oldest. These are my thoughts for now. I don't need to decide until June, and by then the new baby will have been here for a few weeks and I will have more of a feel for how our new addition will affect our days (Yes, it's always a surprise, even after you have already had seven!) Let me know what the rest of you with 6th graders decide to do.

[Carrie]

I'm going to bump this to the top of the board, as I want to answer it but don't have the needed brain cells to devote to it right now. If anyone else has thoughts or insights, share away. I'll come back to it later when I'm more fresh.

Blessings,
Carrie

[deltagal]

Let me know what the rest of you with 6th graders decide to do.

I have my 6th grader currently in Preparing, which is a perfect fit. I, for a short spell, considered combining him with his younger sibling in Bigger, but I'm so glad I did not. He is enjoying doing his own thing. And the amount of instruction he needs from me is minimal. IF your 6th grader is an advanced writer than I think I would recommend looking at CTC, otherwise Preparing would be a great program. And the youngers can roll on into Bigger when they finish Beyond.

[Carrie]

8arrows,

I'm thinking we corresponded about this by email earlier this evening, but if I didn't get back to you, I'll gladly answer you on the board.

I know it is a process that really takes time to find the right answers. Each year is different and you have much on your plate. I will pray that you will have clarity on the best route to take for the upcoming year. Maybe by the time you need to make a firm decision, you'll have a better idea about the temperment of the newest addition to your family.

I know that made a difference on what I did on a "new baby" year. However, I'm sure you have learned to take that more in stride than I ever did!

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

If I do split up my middle children, I think I would need to put the youngers in bed at 8 (with books to read or look at on their beds). This would be a treat. Then I could do the teacher directed part for an half an hour with my daughter (ahead for the following day). When she went up it would be lights out with a CD for the 11 and under gang. I do plan to target her at the beginning of next year anyway, and this would give me some special time with her. I targeted the 6 and 8 year olds at the beginning of this year, and they are blazing away now. Now I am targeting my two oldest. These are my thoughts for now. I don't need to decide until June, and by then the new baby will have been here for a few weeks and I will have more of a feel for how our new addition will affect our days (Yes, it's always a surprise, even after you have already had seven!) Let me know what the rest of you with 6th graders decide to do.

I like your ideas here - doing the teacher-directed part the evening before would let your dd get right to it the next day and give you special time with her - excellent idea! I also believe in the "targeting" concept. I have this mindset as well. This past year, my target was to get my middle ds to read and also to work on his character training, especially in the areas of being diligent with chores, self-control with emotions, and obeying my dh and I right away and completely. I am seeing the fruit of working on this things now. (Though these goals still remain!) He is so much more content and feels good about his accomplishments too. The year before, I had targeted my older ds to become more independent with his homeschooling, since PHFHG was coming, and I wanted him to be able to do the parts he was supposed to do independently by himself. He learned to use the BHFHG guide and check off the boxes, though I was still teaching my parts, he became more and more independent with it, and PHFHG has gone great this year now. We'll keep thinking on this this with you - I know you'll come to a peaceful decision over time!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

From our correspondance earlier, I'm leaning toward you doing the new ancients program with your 6th grader and doing Bigger with your boys (who are finishing Beyond right now).

I do think that if you are able to pull off having your daughter do the ancients that it would be the best fit for her overall. I've felt that from the beginning of our discussion placement-wise, however the "best" placement must also take into consideration the overall dynamics of everyone within the family.

I know you've had your will be 6th grader riding along with your older sons in MFW, and I can see where you wouldn't want to turn around now and have her riding along with the younger boys instead (especially since she'd be one year beyond the target age range in the Bigger guide anyway). At times it is necessary and even successful to have kiddos ride along with older or younger siblings. However, it is easy to tell if that has run its course for a particular kiddo, as you'll be feeling the need to allow that child to branch out into her own program in order to come into her own.

I agree with what my3sons's said about targeting which kiddos really need fine-tuning or targeting the most in any given year. I do think you're right in targeting this particular daughter for the upcoming year. It sounds like she would be ready for her "own thing" and also is ready to feel like her curriculum is on her correct level.

I'll be praying for you and your decision-making process. I know that decisions like these ARE a process and that the thinking and prayer are an important part of it. Thanks for sharing your heart with us.

Blessings,
Carrie

[8arrows]

Thank you for all of your thoughtful replies. They are so helpful. We have been in Kentucky visiting the Creation Museum, so I have had a couple of days just to ponder. The boys are doing so wonderfully in Beyond, I do think it is best to just continue with them sraight into Bigger. Plus, they are so easy to combine. I am going to have my older daughter do Ancients (After all, she still will be on the same year of history as her older two brothers, so she could always discuss things with them (just at her own level as they will both be in high school and using different materials). I am even looking forward to having time with her alone in the evenings to get her started for the next day. I think I will go ahead and do the readers with her and let her do the girl pack with DITHOR as reading is her strong point. Are you supposed to cover all 9 genres at this level, or only half? Do the Ancinet read-alouds cover all the genres? The girl and boys book packs are labeled by genre, but I have not noticed that on the history pack. At this point I am thinking about just saving the extension pack for her for high school when she hits Ancients again. She will probably be using SMARR at that point, but her older brothers often mention that it would be nice to have something a little lighter and fun to read alongside their literature studies. I might include Peeps and Famous Men as we already have Famous Men. She will be eleven all but the last two month of school next year anyway. Does that sound reasonable? Again, thank you for all your help. I really approeciate a sounding board (as my husband can only take so much curriculum discussion (smile)). Carrie, I did get your e-mail; somehow it just got held up and didn't arrive for a couple of days.

[Carrie]

8arrows,

I think your plan sounds very good! DITHR is scheduled 3 times a week in the ancients guide, so your daughter would get through 6-7 genres (depending on how long you spend on the projects at the end of each unit). At our house, we sometimes choose to go a bit longer than the 5 scheduled project days.

The Boy and Girl Sets for the Storytime are categorized by the 9 genres, however the History Interest Set is not. I do think that your daughter wouldn't need to have the Extension Pack, since you'll be doing the History Interest Set for read-alouds. The Peeps and Famous Men book would do a good job of furthering her understanding of Greece and Rome though, so I agree that those would be good for her to have in her study to take the information a bit further.

How neat that you got to visit the Creation Museum. We REALLY want to take our kiddos too.

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

8arrows - I am celebrating with you! Your plan sounds great, and I am glad you've been able to come to a decision. Now, for the fun part - it's smooth sailing from here on out. Once placement is figured out, everything else flows easily. It is a whole year of your life though, so I'm glad we spend time on placement here on the HOD board. We probably bat ideas around for a few weeks, but then that becomes the plan for the next whole year! Pretty important stuff. Anyway, I'm excited for you to begin!

In Christ,
Julie