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I have some olders that need quite a bit of help due to some learning challenges and some crises (my mom just had 2 months of illness followed by an amputation!). And a 3 year old
SO, I have what I think I need for the olders and the 3 year old.
BUT, I have an 11, almost 12 year old who because of some minor dyslexia issues, hasn't done much more than the basics but is ready now. Then I have a 8,, plus a 7 and 5 year old (who are on about the same level, the younger one being a bit ahead). So I was thinking about doing Preparing w/ the extension pack. All 4 of these are boys.
SO...do I get to teach them all together, then give seperate assignments?
How long would one expect this to take w/ this level of kiddos?
I like to teach!
Monique

Monique,

I wanted to welcome you to the HOD Boards! We're glad to have you here. I'll just move this post over to the Main Board where more moms will see it as all new posts begin on the Main Board.

Blessings,
Carrie

Monique welcome! I have six kids one with CP. My age span is from 5-12 ranging first grade (reading well) to 7th grade. If you went with one program it is going to take a lot of tweaking I think with Preparing. My honest BTDT opinion is with that age span your day might look a lot shorter and more manageable if you went with two programs say Beyond and Preparing depending on where your younger ones fall. I did two programs last year and that was very manageable. I have three this year and that is doable too but requires a bit more organization I would say. Still very doable. I have found I prefer having two or three programs and hitting at their level to taking one and trying to make it fit all. If that is just not possible then I would say trying to make Preparing fit a younger crowd I might read a read each week and see how you could adjust things for the younger crowd. There are two extension packs depending on the reading levels you have and that might help. Hopefully someone who is doing something similar will chime in and give their experience. Just wanted to welcome you and encourage you to perhaps consider breaking it up to two programs if at all possible. It seems to work really well with two years maybe even three is abilities are close but more than that it seems to take less effort to do two programs and hit them at their level than to tweak when they are far off on ages. Just some food for thought. Welcome! You will love HOD!

I guess I was thinking about Preparing becasue we really need/want to do Am. Hist this year. We have done more ancients and medival, and we just moved to VA last year, so there are lots of fun history opportunities. I like it when we are all in the same place for history....hmmmm I have another curric that would have us all do the same time peroid, but I was looking for an open and go for our needs right now...I will consider what you say and look fwd to what others say. funds are also an issue...but God can do it if He wants.
Monique

jewell wrote:I guess I was thinking about Preparing becasue we really need/want to do Am. Hist this year.
Monique

Hi Monique & welcome to HOD. IF you are looking to Am. History than HOD Bigger with extensions will be a perfect fit for you! I did this last year with ages 12,11,7, and tag-a-longs 3 & 1. It was our first year with HOD and we fell in love! Now, if you are looking for a sweep through history - starting in beginning of time - than Preparing is what you need and it would be perfect for your older 2, your younger 3 would certainly be able to keep up with all the read-alouds, but they really wouldn't be able to adequately participate in the History research & all the writing/notebooking in the independent History and Science. SOOOO, because we very much enjoyed Bigger last year with similar ages I really hope this is what you are looking for!

great...I'll look atBigger again.
Which are you considering my "biggers"? The 11 and 8 year old, or 3 teens?
thanks again

Just seeing also that you want American. Preparing is a world overview. Everything before it deals with some aspect of American. I would agree also if you wanted just one program that Bigger would be a better bet. But you might want to look at the placement chart while you check out the programs as well. http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php Choosing the program is always the hardest part. Actually using them after you get the right program is the easy part.

thanks again for all the advice. I have my wishlist made, now we'll see what happens!
I sincerley appreicate the help.
Monqiue

jewell wrote:great...I'll look atBigger again.
Which are you considering my "biggers"? The 11 and 8 year old, or 3 teens?
thanks again

I was thinking of your 12 & 11 year old. It sounds like you have made your decision. Whether it be Bigger or Preparing I pray that you will enjoy it as much as we did!

Hi ya'll Im Kasey. I am homeschooling four of my kids. We pulled them out of P.S. just b/4 Christmas. They have been deschooling ever since with the exception of Cursive. They all want to learn that. .I just ordered Preparing last night. Im excited for it to come. Are there things I need to purchase outside of the curriculum? I am xcited to be here and to get to know ya'll better
Goodness it is hard waiting!

Kasey

Oh goodness I am so sorry. I thought I was posting this in the Preparing forum.

NoodleMom wrote:Hi ya'll Im Kasey. I am homeschooling four of my kids. We pulled them out of P.S. just b/4 Christmas. They have been deschooling ever since with the exception of Cursive. They all want to learn that. .I just ordered Preparing last night. Im excited for it to come. Are there things I need to purchase outside of the curriculum? I am xcited to be here and to get to know ya'll better
Goodness it is hard waiting!

Kasey

HI Kasey! I'll answer here in the hopes you see it. You really don't need to purchase anything outside of the PHFHG packages. As far as fine-tuning that goes, here's a link where you can click on the "How to Order" light bulb at the top to take you through the ordering step-by-step.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/preparing- ... ckages.php

Otherwise, if you have a catalog, the "How to Order" box is in there as well. If you want a catalog and do not have one yet, you can request a free catalog here:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/catalog.php

As far as how your days with PHFHG would look, it takes about 4 hours to do or so. About 1/3 of the time is teacher-directed, 1/3 is semi-independent (where you teach a little and they finish on their own), and 1/3 is independent. We loved that balance when we did it last year. The left side of the plans will all theme around the history, and the right side is all the rest of the basics of learning. As far as a general schedule for it, you can check out this awesome link where people share their schedules (my schedule for PHFHG is typed out on the first page):
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=95&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

If you have any other questions, please ask away!
In Christ,
Julie