heartofdakota.com

Ok, I have been lurking for the last month or so and soaking in advice given from different threads. At the end of this month I will be purchasing the economy pakage CTC (hopefully at tax time I'll add the extensions and basic opt package as money is tight right now). I have spent time over the last few weeks, using the 1st week peek as a guide, working out my dd's 1st 9weeks of plans for the 2009 -2010 school year. So far the Language Arts, Math, and Science that I already have can be worked into the same format as the boxes in the manual. I may even be able to get by without buying anything more than the basic opt package to boost the history readings.
Now, I know that for us, stretching the CTC manual over a course of 2 yrs will not be likely as my oldest dd is rising 13 and we will be schooling her on a bridged level of 6th and 7th grade. So CTC will only last a year
However, my youngest is coming 18 months, I will be starting the LHTH with her. I get the idea how to stretch that manual out for the next 3 years. For her 1 to 2 days a week is fine and don't have to do all the boxes all the time. I'm figuring that with each year all I have to do is increase the days and the number of boxes that we do, everything will rotate, and won't seem like we are running into the "we already did that" syndrome. I think if I do it that way by time she's 5 she might be ready for LHFHG as her kindergarten program. Just exactly how do you stretch a program like LHFHG into a 2 year program without repeating material or getting bored with it or not being able to meet the required 180 day school year? I know I may have already answered my own question, but feed back would be helpful in affirming what I'm thinking. I would love to be able to enjoy these programs for as long as possible with the youngest. I just regret I didn't find this wonderful curriculum 4 years ago for my oldest. I know that I am going to treasure this coming year's schooling because of the simplicity but yet deep scope of CTC. I am positive I will see change in my oldest's out look on "school work" this year.
Sorry if I am bouncing around with my thoughts, I hope yall can follow that lol (can anyone tell I live my life running circles?)
Thanks for being the wonderful people that I have been able to glimpse at seeing here on this board.

Hello!! It sounds like you have a great plan for your children! How exciting!
As far as stretching out LHTH... as a former preschool teacher (and now a mom of prechoolers ), I have learned that repetition is great for them! Since your daughter is so young, starting really slow is a great idea, & then if you go through the program over a time or two, she will just continue to learn more & more from it. At that age, they haven't seemed to notice too much if we do the same thing over & over again- in fact each time we do it, they experience something new & are at a new age/stage & it is so fun to see how much they have grown.
As far as stretching LHFHG... lots of people do that, & I plan to do that as well. Some do the right side of the guides one day and the left side of the guides the next... others use it four days a week instead of five... so there are lots of options.
Isn't HOD wonderful!?
Have a blessed day.
Jessica

We'll be doing CTC next year as well, along with Beyond (and possibly adding LHTH halfway through the year). We'll have to share stories! Guides can be stretched in several ways. "Half-speed" means stretching 1 guide over 2 years. Most moms do the left side of the plans one day, and the right side of the plans the next day, rotating like this through the guide so it takes 2 years to do. I've done this and enjoyed this pacing when my dc are on the young end of the target ages of the guides. When going half-speed, some moms like to still do reading and math daily to benefit from the repetition if dc are beginning readers or math students. Other moms stretch guides by doing school only 4 days a week. I've done this before too and will be doing it for a portion of next year. This takes the normal 35 weeks of school and adds another 3 months of school to it. We like this since there is a 4 day schedule in the older HOD guides (PHFHG, CTC, and up). In this scenario, you just do the next day of plans. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

It sounds like you have a great plan in place. We've done both of the stretching options mentioned in this thread (with different kiddos). It worked well both ways.

We will also be doing CTC this year, along with Beyond (4 days a week), and LHTH a little bit each day. My oldest will be piloting our new guide too.

Blessings,
Carrie