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We're just about to finish Beyond with my 7 yr old 2nd grade ds. I plan on doing Bigger this fall. And LHTH with my 4 1/2 yr old.

I was just looking ahead and wondering. If I do LHTH with dd, then LHFHG for K, then that would put her at Beyond for 1st grade. Where ds used Beyond for 2nd grade. And that got me thinking how do the extension packs work? I thought they were just so you can have two kids doing it at once and the older one can do more.

Is it designed to really just do one book per year? How does it work when you repeat a book? Like this fall when we do Bigger, won't he then move on to Preparing the next year? How would it look to repeat a book? Wouldn't the child be bored doing the same projects again?

I'm trying not to think too much into it and just do next year where they each fall in the placement chart. But I'm curious about these things.

katherine
ds (8 in a week!)
dd 4 1/2
dd 23 mo

Yes, you do one guide per year, unless you do it at a slower pace and take longer. You won't repeat the same guide with the same child. They continue to move forward. The extension packs are for children that are just outside the age limits of the guide and allow them to join in with younger siblings and extend the learning to their level. My 1st child did Beyond in 2nd and is doing Bigger for 3rd (that was our first year to use HOD so I placed her where she was then having never used the HOD methods). But, my next child is starting from the beginning with HOD and will do LHFHG in K, Beyond in 1st, and Bigger in 2nd. It's just where they fall...if they complete a guide successfully, they really should be ready for the next one after that.

HTH!

Yes, thank you! That helped a lot. I needed to hear that from another HOD user.

Thank you
Katherine

The placement chart is the best way to find where your child 'fits' in the HOD programs, but once you've completed a manual your dc should be prepared to move right into the next one. My dd completed Beyond in the 2nd grade, but I feel sure my oldest ds could have used it for 1st (he didn't because we were not yet homeschooling when he was that young ). I am going to use Beyond for my younger ds in 2nd as well because even though he's turning 6 in June, we're only part way through LHTH. We'll finsh that, then do LHFHG in 1st for him. Also, not that it is a huge concern, but doing it that way will allow ds 6 and dd to complete all of the manuals by the end of middle school. So, each family uses HOD differently and it still works great!