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I have ordered an received PHFHG for my ds who will be 9 at the end of this month and will be in the 3rd grade in the fall. I am new to homeschooling and I took the placement and he fell into the PHFHG category, however I see where some people are doing BHFHG for kids this age and even older....I am not sure if I made a mistake or if I am freaking out over nothing. He was in a school last year, so homeschooling will me new to our family. I LOVE the fact this curriculum is Christ centered, and perfectly layed out for me, but I need to know I have not made a mistake with my ordering.....will he be ok?

Hi cdrx4 ,

I don't think you can go wrong with either Bigger or Preparing. I did Bigger last year with a 7 and 9 yo, and I will be doing Preparing this year with an 8 and 10 year old. Probably, your child would enjoy, thrive, and be challenged in either book. Everyone hits these books at slightly different ages and many moms are combining kids in a book which causes variations in the age span. Agewise, your dc fits fine where you have him. After looking at the curriculum, do you feel like it will be too hard? You could start out half speed if you think the adjustment will take some time. Some moms do this so that the left side is completed one day and the right is completed the next day. Are there other reasons besides age that are causing you second thoughts?

Sarah

You should be just fine, the programs are designed for a range of ages with Bigger and Preparing having Extension Packs available for an even larger age range. Some moms like to keep their children together while homeschooling so that's the one of the biggest reasons you will see older children using Bigger. If the work load is too much for your child, just slow things down a little bit until he is ready to handle more. Blessings!!

I'd be doing bigger or preparing if my oldest was my only HS'd one. But I'm combining a 1st and 3rd grader. If you checked the charts and he matched up for preparing, I'm sure you'll be fine.

I was doing the opposite...being concerned that Bigger isn't enough for my 9 y.o. next year. She places perfectly into Preparing, but with both 3rd and 4th graders (and being new to HOD) it really makes sense to for us to combine in Bigger. Now that we have all the materials I can see how well Bigger will work, but I think Preparing would have been just as good a fit for older as well. So it seems like a 9 y.o. can often do either program, depending on where they fit on the chart as well as other family dynamics.
Enjoy

Thank you all so much for your encouraging words. I think I am just having a bout of serious doubts and realization of homeschooling. I think its more nerves than anything. I know this is what God wants for our family, but I am being attacked by satan with inadequacy, doubt, and just overall being overwhelmed. I will be new to homeschooling (with much excitement, I might add) and my 2 kiddos are both coming out of a school setting. I know it will take months to get into a routine of things and in a sense "de-schooling" the kids. I am very much a person who is going to need structure, set time, etc. However, I am thoroughly confused about how I am going to work 2 separate kids at the same time. It seems so overwhelming to me. Also my dd is one of the kids that are above and beyond "The strong willed child" when she chooses to be, so I feel that we will have days that are going to be epic battles between she and I.
My ds will be doing PHFHG and my dd will be doing LHFHG. Oh, my, I feel like I have just let a bunch of nonsense off my chest, but I have to tell you...it feels good:)
I apologize for this being long, but again, I really appreciate the encouraging responses!
Thanks:)

We will also be doing LHFHG and Preparing together in the fall. I have been homeschooling 4 years now, and I'm a little nervous as well!! It will be my first year SERIOUSLY homeschooling 2 different levels at the same time, and I also don't know exactly how it will work. My biggest advice is, go into it knowing that you will have a learning curve as teacher and that your kids will have a learning curve as homeschooled children. Expect to spend time working out a schedule that you then have to make adjustments to or scrap and start all over. It's ok, it's all part of the process!! I do wish we'd found HOD earlier on, because it starts you off so well-balanced. I started with a curriculum that gave more than enough and told you to pick and choose activities. That stressed me out to no end, and I never knew if I was doing "enough."

Even though hs-ing is a lot of hard work (and even some tears occasionally!!) it is SO REWARDING in the long run. I look forward to running into you on the message boards as we both work out the bugs in our schedules!

Ladies,

If you get a chance to peek at my schedule in this thread (scroll down to see "Carrie" for my LHFHG full-speed and Preparing full-speed schedule), you may feel MUCH better. It will show you how more than one program can be done, and you can still enjoy life and be done in a timely fashion each day. Link: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

P.S. I'll be running 4 programs next year (CTC, Beyond, LHTH, and piloting our new medieval guide), after running 3 programs for years, so I know you can do this!

Blessings,
Carrie