Sierra,
I know when I began homeschooling, I heard much of the same advice that you've most likely heard about keeping your kiddos together for history and science and teaching to the olders and just letting the youngers come along listening in as you go. In fact, I heard it so much that I didn't think there was any other way to do it!
While I agree that keeping kiddos on the same time period and having the little ones trail along does work for some families, it is not "the only" workable option, and often isn't always the best option.
When I added my second little guy to the homeschool mix, I tried combining him with his older brother and had very limited success. I ended up frustrated with trying to water down the more mature content in a program in order to have my little one come along with us. My older son ended up taking over and didn't enjoy being distracted by my little one, and my little one was just swept along without ever being really being engaged on his level. As the year passed, I could see my younger one wasn't getting a chance to be a little child, but was instead sitting in on an older child's school. It was stealing his joy and mine!
At HOD, we do still believe in combining, however we look at combining in smaller age increments. We look at each of your kiddos as individual people and work at finding the best fit for each one. We also weigh your family's goals and the dynamics of your kiddos when seeking to find the best fit for your family.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are many more things to consider when weighing placement than keeping kiddos on the same time period. In the long run in life, it won't matter whether you all studied Rome the same year, but it will matter whether your kiddos basic skills are firmly in place! Often in our search to combine at all costs, we lose the individuality of each child's needs. So, at HOD we strive to look at each kiddo and then find the best fit for your family overall (whether that means combining or not), with the history cycle being much further down the list priority-wise than the other more important academic areas.
After 20 years as a teacher, I guess I'd consider myself a seasoned homeschool mom. My kiddos are each in their own guides, and we have found that to be a wonderful fit for us. I don't have to do any tweaking, as the level of the 3 R's is right for each of my kiddo's within the guide they use. I had a hard time letting go of the "everyone all together" on the same history cycle mentality, but when I did I was relieved at how easy it was to teach multiple HOD programs that were actually at each of my kiddo's levels. I know that other moms choose to combine instead with HOD and that works too! However, I just wanted to give you another option to think about that is rarely talked about in other homeschooling circles.
Blessings,
Carrie