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Hi,

I have been thinking about this lately and it's driving me crazy.

Last year I combined my 3 oldest in LHFHG when they were 5, 6 and 7. This year we plan on doing Beyond. I just worry about my youngest in the group, who turned 6 this summer. My concern is that she's always going to be at the youngest age in all the guides. According to the placement chart she fits very perfectly in Beyond...so do I really have a reason to be worried?

I guess I also worry about later down the line. Will she do well being a 2nd grader (age 7) doing Bigger, and a third grader (age doing Preparing? I want her to get the most out of these programs as possible.

I guess my question is directed at mothers who have gone through the programs with children on the youngest side of the guide. Is it ever too much? Do they really get it, or is some of the material over their head? Can anyone share their experiences with me?

I don't know if anyone can help me. I am probably second guessing myself and my daughter's abilities. I will give it a trial run for a few weeks to see how she handles it. We won't be starting school until after we return from vacation at the end of August.

Anyway, thanks for reading this.

Joy
just going a little nuts today. Sorry!

Joy,

You're not going nuts!

I am starting my 5 yo daughter in LHFHG this year and have wondered the same thing about the upper guides. I know that she fits perfectly in LHFHG right now and I am just going to let the Lord have the future! (I know it looks good in print!) Seriously, though, I am going to just enjoy LHFHG this year with her and her brother.

Sorry, no advice for you, just wanted to let you know you're not going nuts! I know I need to hear that myself on occasion!

Last year when my son was 5 we did LHFHG,now he is six and we are doing Beyond .So I guess we are on the lower end of the age bracket.On the whole I feel academicaly - the placements are right for us .I think he is a little immature in other areas and that meant we had some challenges.

Wyatt is 9 yo turning 10 in Dec., and he'll be starting CTC this year. Riley started Beyond half-speed when he was 5 1/2 yo last year. So, I totally get what you're saying here because I've though it myself too! I think that whether a guide is right for or not totally depends on the child. While age is certainly a determining factor in placement, there are many other factors that are important as well. I've had this conversation with Carrie off and on, and have decided that if dc are ready for a guide, then they should do it. I'll admit that I like to start my dc reading and writing at young ages - mainly because I love to teach them these skills and see how their eyes light up when a whole new world opens up to them via books. This makes them ready for HOD guides at the young end of the target ages.

If at any point we had tears because something was too hard, we'd slow it down, going half-speed. I could see that we needed to do LHFHG half-speed because Riley got to it at 4 1/2, and then about 5-6 months in, we went full-speed because he was wanting more each day. When he got to Beyond, we did it only 4 days a week, stretching it out that way; it was a perfect fit. Wyatt has always been ready for a guide - probably just fitting the average oldest dc's persona. So, I've decided that they are thriving where they are at, and I've also chosen to slow down to half-speed whenever needed. I think that if a child places solidly in an HOD program, and that child is generally enjoying school, it makes good sense to place them in that program - even if they do happen to be on the young end of the guide.

I have had to be sure that I don't compare my dc's work to their nephews' work and find my dc's wanting. First off - Wyatt is not very artistic, and my nephew (a year older doing the same HOD guide) is very artistic. I've had to let that go, and be happy with Wyatt's work not comparing it to his cousin's. Wyatt's work is good, and that is good enough for me. You may have to guard against comparing your 3 dc's work and finding the youngest's not measuring up. It probably won't be as good as your older dc's, but that's alright. As long as the child is learning, enjoying school overall, and able to complete the work - you're A-O-K!

In Christ,
Julie

Ok,

Ladies, thank you so much for your replies!

Julie, you said

my3sons wrote:.

I think that if a child places solidly in an HOD program, and that child is generally enjoying school, it makes good sense to place them in that program - even if they do happen to be on the young end of the guide.

Could you help me out a little further? What you said brings up another thought.

My oldest will be turning 8 in the fall, and she places very comfortably in Bigger. Last year I put her in LHFHG w/her sisters just, well, for my own convenience. She was an early reader like your kids. Reading by the end of age 3, easily doing chapter books by age 5. Since she's my oldest, I have done the most school with her. We've done a couple of Sonlight cores, and R&S first and most of second grade. We even did Preparing to Build English 2, but only up to Unit 5. I really liked doing Little Hearts with her, and she loved all the Burgess Thornton books, so I bought a lot of the other titles for her to read. She is an excellent speller and very good in Language Arts in general. Her love of books is the reason I have her in a literature based program in the first place. With that said, I have to hide books from her because she already read the history books for Beyond. Oops! That's my fault...I should have known better. She loves history.

I have thought of putting her in Bigger, and putting my 6 and 7 year old in Beyond. I would consider doing them at half speed if I took this approach.

I am not crazy about the idea of skipping a manuel, but she's really had a lot of school. I spent a lot of time reading to her from different genres last year. She acts like she's going to die if I don't read Understood Betsy to her again this year.


Any thoughts on this scenario? I gotta run to the dentist. I look forward to reading your reply.

Thanks!

Joy

I hope the dentist is being kind to you, Joy! If you've looked at the placement chart and your oldest places squarely in Bigger Hearts, then you've got a couple of choices - and both are good ones, so it's totally up to you how to decide what to do. I guess I'd weigh how much you want to combine. It has worked well for you thus far, and the dc seem to be doing well and enjoying it - so, good job mom! I'd also weigh how you feel about doing 2 programs. I personally like doing 2 programs and don't even bat an eye at doing 3 programs (which is coming soon for me). That doesn't make me super mom or anything - I just would go NUTS trying to combine all my dc, and I very much enjoy doing school this way. There are many wonderful HOD moms that combine dc with wider age ranges and do it well, enjoying their days together with their dc immensely. If you are feeling that way, and you feel your oldest is thriving, you may as well continue combining. But, if more and more, a tiny voice is whispering in your head that your oldest needs something more, and that tiny voice is beginning to shout and giving you a headache and a guilt trip you don't need - I'd send that tiny/big voice packing and do BHFHG with your oldest next year. Hope something here helps!

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,

Actually it was an Ortho for my daughter. I am personally off the hook for seeing the dentist for a few more months. It's not my favorite place to go!

You hit the nail on the head. I do have a terrible guilt complex that my oldest could be doing more. I know adding DITHOR will help the situation, but even then...

Combining has been good, but in all honesty, my oldest carried the weight of the program. I think that gave my younger two an excuse on some days not to try so hard. I wouldn't mind speeding it up for my oldest daughter, and slowing Beyond down for my 6 and soon-to-be 7 year old, atleast in the beginning. I tried out Bigger with her for a couple of days a few months ago, and she loves the Eggleston(?) book. She even memorized the poem "Four by the Clock", and recited it for me just a few minutes ago. She loves to draw. I think she would get a kick out of the science.

But that means I would be doing 3 (THREE) HOD programs. Gulp. Bigger, Beyond and LHTH. Gulp.

I think my six and almost 7 year old would do well together in Beyond.

I have to think and pray about this. Thanks for your response because it just confirms what I've been thinking for a long time now.

I have to come up with a game plan as to how I'm going to do this without going crazy. Lol!!!

Thanks for your help!

Joy

Praying about this decision is the best thing you can do - the Lord certainly has the best answer always! So, I have prayed that He would give you clarity about this as well. I'm wringing my hands here too trying to think what would be best for you - here are a few thoughts on the matter that may be helpful.

Scenario 1: Doing all 3 in Beyond and LHTH for little(s)
*you enjoyed combining overall last year and dc had a good year
*adding DITHOR would up the level of reading in a very nice way for your oldest
*the following year, BHFHG has an extension package available including both history and science, so this path would make it easy to extend at that point while still keeping your 3 dc together

Scenario 2: Doing 6 and 7 yo in Beyond and 8 yo in Bigger and LHTH for little(s)
*you could go half-speed for youngers in Beyond and they could "shine" more (since you mentioned older dd carried the program more last year)
*oldest dd would be more challenged by Bigger
*teaching another program could either make you stressed or it could be a great thing because it could make you relieved and stop you from feeling guilty


Maybe a few things to weigh would be how independent your oldest could be? Also, would you like to combine for the long-term? Or do you feel it would be better for the 2 to separate from the oldest so they carry their learning more? LHTH takes about 20-30 minutes a day to do, Beyond about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, and Bigger around 3 to 3 1/2 hours - just in case that makes a difference.

You could either start with LHTH, Beyond and add DITHOR for oldest and see how that goes. Or, you could start with oldest in BHFHG, 2 in Beyond, and LHTH and see how that goes, always having the option to set aside Bigger and drop oldest down to Beyond if that seems better. Praying for you, Joy! As I've said before - I really do think you've got two great choices here, so follow the lead God gives you.

I prayed about this and I believe the Lord is leading me to combine the children and do Beyond.

We are going to do Scenario 1. I poured over the Beyond manuel last night. Even though my daughter has read a lot of her history text on her own , the manuel arranges the books in a different order so the stories flow together. So even if she's familar with some of the material, it will still be fresh in it's presentation. I'm excited about that.

If I add DITHOR that will bump it up a bit, and give her a challenge. I was so overwhelmed the first time I looked at DITHOR that I had to put it away. Now, praise the Lord, I think I can handle teaching it, and I'm sure she can do the work.

Lastly, I was thinking about the possiblility of doing separate read alounds for the girls. For the younger two, I picked the Classic books from Beyond. My plan is to do the read alouds during lunch. IF, and only if my daughter seems to feel she needs "more school", then I'll do a separate read aloud for her. I bought the "girl" pack from Bigger a while back. She's never turned down storytime, so we'll see.

I'm so relieved that I finally have some peace over my decision. As much as I think I could separate, at this point it just doesn't seem reasonable. I think with the flexibility HOD offers, combining is the way to go if at all possible!

I'm excited! My kids are getting excited about school. Thank you Julie, for helping me figure this out.

(((hugs))),

Joy
Loved LHFHG, can't wait to start Beyond!

Here's some hugs coming back your way, Joy! Your plan sounds like it's all falling into place, and I'm excited for you to start. I know your dc will learn so much and will have a good year. Enjoy Beyond - it is such fun to do! And once you start DITHOR - you'll fall in love with it! It's a very satisfying way to teach reading, and I know that you'll find it a breath of fresh air compared to other reading programs.

In Christ,
Julie