What would you do? I can't decide between BHFHG and PHFHG..

[playschool]

Here it goes. My ds (age 9, BUT will be in 3rd grade next fall) would fit perfectly in Bigger, would do okay with Preparing though. My dd (age 11, will be 12 in Sept. and will be in 6th grade in the fall) would fit very well in CTC. I really want to school them together, at least for History and Bible. DD has had enough American History, ds has had a bit of it, but I feel he could use a bit more. By posting questions on this board before I already know what I can do for dd to beef it up for her. That is not my question. This is just a subjective question, I guess. I like both of the programs. I do realize however if I use Bigger with ds and dd this year, my dd will only get one year into the world history cycle by 9th grade. If I go with Preparing however ds will miss out some really key points in American History and will not hit upon it until possibly the fourth year of the history cycle when he is in 7th grade. If you were in my situation, what would you do???

[mskogen]

I know you say you really want to combine but with what you shared, I would put ds in Bigger and dd in CTC. Sorry it isn't combining but you asked what would I do?

Hope it helps somehow

[playschool]

Michelle, I appreciate your honesty. The thing is, I will also have my younger dd using LHFHG this fall as well, and am unsure I can pull off three programs at once with a 2-year-old in the mix as well. I do think ideally, if I could pull off three programs that would be ideal. Honestly, my dd saw the catalog for CTC and really thought she'd like it. Thanks for your input!

[mskogen]

I understand the want to combine. I have seen others, Carrie included, say CTC is more of an independent program. And when you have more than one program going that you should stagger the start dates. Get one going and comfortable before you start the others. So maybe this approach would make doing 3 programs doable. Start your dd in CTC first. Get her comfortable and working independently. Then start ds in Bigger. There are some who even have some of this work be independent. Let him read the science and history and do the projects with little supervision, if you think he can handle it. Then once he is going strong start dd in LHTHG.
Just some ideas to help maybe make doing 3 programs a possiblity!

[lmercon]

Here's another thought. What if you waited on the little ones for another year? Put the older two in their own programs and just do some fun little things with the 4 yo. The following year, your oldest dd would be much more independent, so you could better handle 3 programs. You could beef up LHTH for your 5 yo or even use the right side of LHFHG for that child. That way you may be able to combine the younger set all along the way. You would do LHFHG for your then 6 and 4 yo. I really don't know if that would work or not, but maybe it is something to consider.
hth a little,
Laura

[playschool]

I just figured out the cost difference between doing two programs for me as opposed to Preparing. I figured out a way I could afford doing both programs (CTC and Bigger) for the cost of Preparing. Correct me if I am wrong, but beside the basic history and science packages for both I would only need to purchase what goes with Bible, R&S English, Write with the Best for my dd, Math for both, DITHOR for both, and Cheerful Cursive for ds. I know I do not need Spelling for either child, but do I need a vocabulary study for older dd? Also I was planning on utilizing the library for the read alouds. Do you think it would be okay to take turns with the read alouds? What I mean is, choose a read aloud from my dd's program to read to her and ds together, and then the next read-aloud book we choose one from ds's list in Bigger for me to read to both of them and continuing to alternate them throughout the year? I also could get my DITHOR readers from the library. We like the library so going there is not a problem. We are usually there about once a week anyway. Thanks ladies for all of your helpful suggestions.

[Mom2Monkeys]

I'm making Bigger much more independent for my rising 3rd grader. I think it is going well so far. I'm getting a workbox system set up for her and plan to start it very soon.

Also, I think with the Read-Alouds, that you could do the ones from dd's CTC storytime, then have dd read aloud the storytime book from Bigger to your ds. I'm having my 3rd grader do some of the lessons from LHFHG with my rising K'er...she also did some of his LHTH lessons with him and that was a relief for me I'm not a read-aloud kind of person and doing 2 a day would be hard for me...I can barely get in the one! I'm awful! But having dd read aloud ds's has really been great. Just a thought!

I also think seperate programs is ideal, and I think 3 programs is doable. I have 2 going now, a toddler running around and a baby on the way. I'll be doing 3 programs very soon and will be doing 4 down the road. (I'm already doing LHTH along with Bigger and Little, but not counting it as a full program). I AM having a hard time, as I'm sure you've seen my posts and pleas for help (LOL), but life has been very unusual for the last few months and is getting back to normal now...my sanity is coming back and I'm back to knowing how easy it will be to handle it all...you really can make it happen!

[WigglesMom]

I just figured out the cost difference between doing two programs for me as opposed to Preparing. I figured out a way I could afford doing both programs (CTC and Bigger) for the cost of Preparing. Correct me if I am wrong, but beside the basic history and science packages for both I would only need to purchase what goes with Bible, R&S English, Write with the Best for my dd, Math for both, DITHOR for both, and Cheerful Cursive for ds. I know I do not need Spelling for either child, but do I need a vocabulary study for older dd? Also I was planning on utilizing the library for the read alouds. Do you think it would be okay to take turns with the read alouds? What I mean is, choose a read aloud from my dd's program to read to her and ds together, and then the next read-aloud book we choose one from ds's list in Bigger for me to read to both of them and continuing to alternate them throughout the year? I also could get my DITHOR readers from the library. We like the library so going there is not a problem. We are usually there about once a week anyway. Thanks ladies for all of your helpful suggestions.

I think that is a good plan. If the read aloud is within your ds's reading level (not above), I would probably let him read it everyday instead. I am doing that with my dd8 in BHFHG. I read the selection the night before she is supposed to read it. I would probably let the older child read her own read-alouds and see how that goes. Sometimes I read aloud at lunch from one of their storytime though. I could not take reading aloud all day also with 4 kids and 3 programs. I am reading aloud with LHFHG and with my dd7's books already. If it is above his reading level, then I agree with the previous poster on letting your older dd read some to him. I do this sometimes with the history reading in LHFHG. I have my dd7 read sections aloud to us. Another thing is the read alouds aren't for long periods of time or lots and lots of pages. You break a book up over 20 days and most of these books aren't terribly long anyway...so once you break them up you aren't reading a lot out loud at a time. I read the LHFHG story time aloud always, then with dd7 and dd8 they read their read alouds independently and 2-3 times a week I read aloud with dd7 also. DD8 does her read aloud independently always.
We are also utilizing the library for our read-alouds, extension, and DITHOR books. Most libraries have an electronic card catalog that you can go on and check to see if they carry the books or if they can get them from another library and you can put them on hold from your home computer. Our library calls when they have them all together and then all I have to do is pick up the books at the desk. Books from other libraries come on Tuesday and Thursday so I plan ahead if I need a book from a different library. This is a big time saver for me. This also cuts down on the frustration with a 2 yr old in the library.
I know BHFHG has vocabulary with the history during the week that you keep in a notebook and look up in the dictionary. I think PHFHG does too...so extra vocabulary study would be up to you.
All that I bought was the basic history with science adder and the textbooks and we use the library for the rest. It is working well for us.
Val