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I'm thinking of using this program with my 6yr. old and possibly having my 4yr. old listen in. She's reading already but I don't think I want to start her in Beyond because I have a daughter planning on doing Bigger next year. I would of course have to up her language arts and math so mainly I'd be using it for History, Science, Bible and Storytime. Should I use the Kindergarten science or grade 1 science? She'd starting grade 1. I don't really forsee my 4yr. old and 6yr. old doing a program together for awhile.

However with this plan I'd always be doing the next guide up so to speak for the right side.
My other alternative is doing Beyond with my 6yr. old and doing it over two years.

I'd appreciate some comments on either of these plans?

Thanks so much,
Shannon

I am doing LHFHG with a dd7 and a ds6. Their is a schedule in the back of LHFHG for the Singapore Math 1a/1b so you wouldn't have to figure out upping the math part. As for the language arts. I am upping it for my dd7 but not for my ds6. If you plan to use BLHFHG next, then I would buy the guide already and use the emergining readers scheduled in place of the phonics box in LHFHG. Then when you got to BLHFHG you could do DITHOR 2/3 instead.
As for the science, I really like the K Science book. We had went through it before finding HOD, so we are using the 1st grade one this year. They are both good. I just personally like the k one and its sequence.
Val

sted,

I searched for past threads to help me revisit more specifics about your kiddos. In reading through your past threads, there is so much good advice that has already been given by the wonderful ladies on this board that I'm thinking it would be a great idea for you to search by your username "sted" under the Advanced Search feature and print out the responses from the ladies on your previous question. As you go through their responses highlight whatever you find to be most helpful.

I am going to post (below) my placement response to you from a previous thread, where I felt we'd really gotten to the bottom of what would be best for your kiddos. Here's my previous response:

"Thank you so much for taking the time to do that. It really helps me to "see" where each child is at skill-wise which makes my advice more solid. First off, I'm thinking that all history cycle focusing aside the best fit for your kiddos HOD-wise would be to combine your 6 and 8 year olds within Beyond, and add the right side only of Bigger Hearts for the 3 R's (and possibly the science) for your 8 year old. This would fit both kiddos well and would put them on track to head into Bigger Hearts with extensions as a team the following year.

Then, I'd place your 10 year old in CTC which she could use quite independently (especially if you think she's be able to do Sonlight 3 + 4), then she could easily do CTC mostly on her own as scheduled too. This would give her the additional writing that she needs through Write with the Best and suit her interest and ability level overall. It may be time to consider allowing her to branch off into her own guide, which is completely up to you. I know for me it was a relief to let go of the history cycle as the driving force behind my curriculum decisions and to just have things be on the right level without all of the sometimes frantic tweaking it took to make the history cycle fit everyone.

So, with that being my primary recommendation, if you deeply desire to have all of your kiddos on the same history cycle, then Bigger Hearts will fit your 8 year old well, and you'll be adjusting up for your 10 year old and down for your 6 year old. In this scenario, I worry about your 6 year old being pulled along with the older kiddos so that is definitely something to weigh. This will be what happens whenever you group kiddos together, whether you use HOD or something else. So, we're no different than the other programs out there in that respect. While you could definitely put your 6 year old in Beyond at half-speed instead, at that point you'd actually be running two programs (Beyond and Bigger), so then I'd definitely lean toward my original advice for 2 programs with Beyond and CTC instead.

Anyway, if I've completely confused you let me know. I'll be glad to clarify. Now, it's up to you, as you know your family best. I'll pray for peace in your decision. If you get a chance to share your thoughts, I'd love to hear them."

I'm also going to link the particular thread where this was posted as it is filled with other helpful dialogue: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3606

I think we're struggling to know how best to help you more as we've given our best advice in this area already. One other thing that would be helpful would be to order the guides and packages and go through the materials. This would truly give you a better feel for what would be best. I honestly would put your 4 year old in LHTH at this point.

Blessings,
Carrie