another combining question - long!!

[mommyofgirls]

I thought I would have my dc in different programs, and purchased LHFHG for my 5 yo (now she's 6! eek!) and LHTH for my 3 yo. Of course, they fit perfectly into those "categories". But, I found that they like to do everything together so, really, it just meant that we ALL doing two programs, which was redundant and unnecessary. So, I dropped LHTH and my 3 yo has been listening in on LHFHG. I do keep them separate for the 3 R's obviously, which I will always do. I am still trying to concentrate on one letter per week, and I am using Carrie's suggestions for letter activities (masking tape on the floor, gluing on Cheerios, etc.), but as far as Bible readings and activities, we are doing LHFHG. My 3 yo has a large vocabulary and is able to listen and process the Bible times with no problem. I was considering stretching LHFHG over two years to allow my 3 yo to get a little older and I have also considered going ahead as I am. I will express my concerns, though:

1. I'm afraid if I move ahead "as usual", the programs might get too advanced fairly quickly. LHFHG is light, imo, but I don't know if the other programs are. Obviously, I can tweak the right side easily as they get older, but I don't know if the readings will get too advanced.
2. I have another once coming up behind them who is two years younger than my middle one. IF we are going to continue to be a "combined family", I will want them all doing Bible and History and Science together and not have my youngest off by herself in another curriculum.
3. My 6 yo's comprehension is also above grade level, so she is perfectly capable of finishing LHFHG this year and moving right into Beyond next fall. If I were to "slow down" to allow my youngre to get older, I feel as though I would be holding her back some to stretch out curriculums just wait for her sister to kind of "catch up" if you will.

But, then what will I do about the baby? How would she ever catch up? What would I do when they are 5, 7 and 9? Then, it gives me a headache and I don't want to think about it anymore. Then, I realize I have to so I know what we are doing for school next year! On some level, it relieves a lot of stress in me to think of having them combined. But, ultimately, I want to do the RIGHT thing and be in GOD'S will and I know the rest will fall into place. Any advice is much appreciated, if you are so inclined.

One more thing I have considered is to go ahead and start my 3 yo on LHFHG, half speed next fall when she will be 4 1/2. This would remove my year of "in between curriculums" for my middle one, which had concerned me, gives her her own curriculum without taking too much time out of my day, etc. The biggest concern i have with having them separate is that they want to always be together, so i fear instead of "alone time", my kiddos will just end up doing two curriculums a piece, ykwim? Does anyone else have this "problem" (I love that they like being together, so i hate to call it a problem!)

[Shimmer]

I don't have any great advice, but my kids are similar ages so I wanted to mention what I'm doing if that helps you any. I picked LHTH for my 3 yo to learn her letters. I add in K level work for my 5 yo in the afternoon. I could have combined them into LHFHG this year, but at the time I was making my choices, I was really focusing on my three yo's needs. I've been amazed at how much my 5 yo's gets out of the bible stories. I'm really happy her comprehension is coming alive with the bible on this level. It's worked out well for us.

Next year I plan on them both doing LHFHG at ages 6 & 4. My then 4yo will join in as much as she can. I think she'll be able to do the fine motor box with the K option while my older daughter does the 1st option. I'll start my then 4 yo on phonics (if not ready will go back and do review weeks from LHTH) and my then 6 yo will start the emergent readers set from Beyond. I'll probably add an additional storytime that is on my then 4 yo's level in addition to the LHFHG storytime. So the Bible study and some boxes will be together and some parts will be apart which should work good for us. Will probably be doing a craft time with my then 2 yo all together as well.

Since I also have a child that will be two years behind so I plan on my middle child repeating LHTH with her sister when they are 5 and 3 respectively and she will do LHFHG again when she is 6. I'll probably have my youngest repeat LHTH as well when she is 5, but it'll probably just be the bible portion of it.

I could potientially have three programs going when they are older or I might combine them if it that seems right at the time. I am really comfortable with the idea of keeping them separate because HOD is so well thought out for the teacher. I also like that they can sit in on some of a different program where appropriate. I also really like that HOD can be combined as needed although it may be easier to do that with Bigger on up where there are extension packs already setup for you. I really feel like HOD is the program that can work for anyone through the years as your needs change. Whatever seems right for you to do now, go for it! You can and most likely will tweak here and there as you go.

[mommyofgirls]

I don't have much time, but I am reading your post and deciphering it as I clean. Your kids are almost the exact same ages as mine! Real quick, what do you plan on your oldest doing when your younger two are doing LHTH together at ages 5 and 3? Also, what will your oldest be doing when your middle and youngest do LHFHG together at 6 and 4?

[Shimmer]

Great to meet you! Having girls is so much fun. My plan is for my oldest to keep going through the guides. When she is 7 yo, she'll be in Beyond and my 5 & 3 will be in LHTH. There might be some stuff that my middle girl can participate in with Beyond, but I haven't seen that manual yet so I don't know much about it. Her LA/Math will be separate anyway so she can probably join in where she wants. When the oldest is 8 yo, she'll be in Bigger while the 6 & 4 are in LHFHG. The next year when I have ages 9,7,5 I will probably have Preparing, Beyond, and partial LHTH for the youngest's Bible study. I could possibly combine the oldest two into Bigger the next year with extensions for the olders plus LHFHG for the youngest, but I think CTC, Bigger, and LHFHG can be done from the teacher side of things. Always, at any point I'll decide for sure the year before we start as to what is the best fit at that particular moment. I like having a plan (as you can probably tell lol...), but I've gotten to the point where I feel comfortable that I'll figure it out if I need to make changes so I don't think about it so much anymore. This board has so many families with so many different combination of programs that there is always someone there to give ideas and help with whatever concerns you have.

[my3sons]

Shimmer has given you some good ideas to ponder. I'd say based on this portion of your post...
My 6 yo's comprehension is also above grade level, so she is perfectly capable of finishing LHFHG this year and moving right into Beyond next fall. If I were to "slow down" to allow my youngre to get older, I feel as though I would be holding her back some to stretch out curriculums just wait for her sister to kind of "catch up" if you will.

I think I would keep your oldest separate and combine the younger 2. A 3 yo combined with an advanced 6 yo would be a stretch. Your middle child could listen to your older dd's Storytime and poetry reading though.

The other option would be to slow it way down and get your older dd on the older side of the guides, so your younger 2 could catch up. I will pray for you that you will have clarity about your decision as there are many good decisions and only you can know the best one for your family.

In Christ,
Julie

[mommyofgirls]

i will post later after lunch, but but just to clarify, my oldest and my middle one are 26 months apart and my youngest is 28 months behind my middle one. My middle turns 4 in a month. Just fyi! I will read again and post later, just wanted to clarify that they are not 3 years apart.

[mommyofgirls]

thanks so much for your replies! I will take what you said into consideration. I am planning to pray long and hard about how to proceed. Your prayers are greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

[Carrie]

mommyofgirls,

The ladies are doing a great job of talking through some of your options. I'm still a bit confused about when your kiddos will turn another year older? So, if you get a chance to pop back in and let us know when your 3 year old will turn 4 and when your 6 year old will be 7 that would help so much! There is such a difference in academic readiness in each year of learning in those younger years. So, I just need to clarify their upcoming birthdays to guide us even more as we offer suggestions.

Blessings,
Carrie

[mommyofgirls]

mommyofgirls,

The ladies are doing a great job of talking through some of your options. I'm still a bit confused about when your kiddos will turn another year older? So, if you get a chance to pop back in and let us know when your 3 year old will turn 4 and when your 6 year old will be 7 that would help so much! There is such a difference in academic readiness in each year of learning in those younger years. So, I just need to clarify their upcoming birthdays to guide us even more as we offer suggestions.

Blessings,
Carrie

Yes, I am so sorry for the confustion! We are trying to move this week so between that and Christmas, I am a little scatterbrained! LOL We are taking some time off from school with the move and all, and that is why I am taking some time to ponder how to do things this Spring. To clarify: My oldest just turned 6 on Dec 7. My next one will be 4 on Feb 4 and my last one will be 2 on June 18. So, they are all essentially a little over 2 years apart. I would also like to add tha my youngest is a handful right now (what 18 month old isn't!?) and she usually only naps for an hour - sometimes 2, but usually not. That limits the time I have to do school during naptime and I have a very hard time keeping her occupied in the a.m. So, combining the left side of the guide at this point has been easier from a standpoint of mere time contraints. And, when I speak of combining, I am only referring to the left side. I will most likely do different "right sides" indefinitely. Thanks so much!

[Carrie]

mommyofgirls,

Thanks so much for taking time to clarify their birthdays. That really helps! Since your two oldest kiddos are basically just turned 4 (almost) and just turned 6, they are likely good candidates to stay together for the left side of the plans. However, in order for them to combine well in the long run, you'd need to be willing to slow down only the left side of the LHFHG plans in order to allow your almost 4 year old some time to grow up. If you feel the oldest 2 combine well, personality-wise, then this is something worth weighing! You may not need to go half-speed with LHFHG, but could likely slow down to doing 3 or 4 days from the left side of LHFHG each week instead of 5. Then, you could do Beyond at 4 days a week too with the goal of having your now 4 year old be 7 by the time she get to Bigger Hearts. Bigger Hearts will be very challenging even for a 7 year old, however if she has strong language arts skills she'll be alright.

You could easily stretch LHFHG out by adding in some of the supplemental reading listed in the back of LHFHG. Meanwhile, each child would need to be progressing full-speed in the language arts and math areas.

If you aren't comfortable with that plan, then the next idea to consider would be having your oldest move forward on her own and planning to combine the next pair of kiddos instead. If you chose to pursue that plan, then next year you could do LHTH with both of them (adding any of the K options from LHFHG for math, reading, Do It Carefully/Finding the Answers, and handwriting) that you think is needed to raise the level for your 4 turning 5 year old. Then, the following year, the pair could head into LHFHG at half-speed, doing it over 2 years (with your older one moving into the grade 1 options as needed and the younger doing the K options).

Just some more thoughts to ponder!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Catherine]

This thread has been so helpful as I ponder the same things as you mommyofgirls. My 3 children will be 26 and 27 months apart. Right now they're 3, 18 months, and 7 weeks preggo. It's nice to see what other Moms who are a couple years ahead of me are doing. I'll be praying for your decision!

[mommyofgirls]

thank you so much for your thoughts everyone! i think i may have a plan, but i am going to pray about it for a couple more days and then decide for sure. i will pipe in and let you all know what i have decided!