6yo in LHTH for K?? Planning questions...

[Mom2Monkeys]

I am doing Bigger with DD8 and going well . I was going to have DS6 just listen in on some of that but have his own phonics, math, handwriting. But, as our days are smoothing out with just getting back to school after a LONG break, I'm finding that while I'm doing school with DD, I need DS6 to hang out with DS3 to keep him busy. It's going great! I also do LHTH with DS3 before starting school with the olders. This is making a HUGE difference in his willingness to keep busy in the playroom for me to do school with the others. He loves our time together and is doing wonderfully! So now...I have DD8 doing fun school stuff while boys are playing, DS3 doing fun school while biggers are playing, and DS6 doing no fun school-- just basics. But, I don't have time right now to jump into LHFHG w/him.

My thought was to combine the boys into LHTH this year, then next year do LHFHG with DS6/7 for 1st. But, not only am I not sure if he's just too old for it or "past" that (he's already well into RME and almost starting the Singapore EB 2B book and already doing the grade 1 Critical Thinking book), but I don't want to combine and take away my alone time with DS3!

So, should I just do two separate LHTH times so both boys are getting fun school, but DS3 still gets "our time"? Or should I combine them only on the artsy stuff so I'm only doing the project once? Or should I completely combine them? Or find a way to let DS6 do more with DD8? And is DS6 too old for LHTH??

I also considered doing LHFHG half-speed with them both next year when DS6 will be 7 in Dec. of 2010) and DS3 will be 4 (Sept 2010), but I'm thinking even though he's bright, 4 will just be too young for that. So I thought about waiting till 4.5 or so (so around 2nd semester of next year) to start LHFHG half speed with them, but that puts DS6 being just turned 7 and then 8 and 2nd grade while in LHFHG. I guess I could start full speed on it when younger was ready and actually finish by the end of older ds's 2nd grade year (so take 1.5yrs in LHFHG. And then I could combine them in Beyond and likely do full speed with both if I did this...I think...?? (DS3 would be turning 6 and DS6 would be 8/9). Would that be a reasonable idea? Then after that, I could add extensions for older in Bigger and on. I think younger would then also catch up to be the right age for the guides. Older DS would finish the 4 new guides in 9th this way I think.

Does this make sense at all? LOL So many numbers! Clear as mud, I know. Would it help for me to make it into a chart? LOL Seriously?

[sharonb]

Personally, I would not try to combine anyone right now; there just seems to be too big of a gap and makes things complicated. You mentioned doing LHTH twice each day; instead of doing that, why not add just a couple of things from LHFHG just for your 6 year old each day? You could stick with the basics you are already doing, but give him his own storytime, Bible, rhymes, etc. I know you said you don't have time right now, but if you plan on starting out with just a box or two a day from LHFHG, he would probably enjoy that time with you, and you wouldn't have the stress of figuring out how to combine! My oldest two are only 19 months apart, and even they are difficult to combine in some areas. When they are young they can be lightyears apart in abilities!

ETA: You could even sneak in some special time with ds6 when you are feeding the baby, if you have your oldest play with the preschooler for a little while.

[jenntracy]

i have to agree with the post with Sharonb. at this age, it is a big gap. it is hard . You can't make it too hard for the little one and too easy/ not enough challenge for the older. You would have to weigh out ,too, later,if it is easier for you to add extensions or just do separate programs.

i have a daughter about to turn 5 in March and a son who turned 6 in October. they are 16 1/2 months apart. My daughter and son had each done LHTH starting at age 3 .5 and finished in about a year. My daughter likes doing some math and following directions stuff but is not ready for LHFHG. she was excited to start it and then it just wasn't working. (tried in October). i think she just wanted to do what brother was doing.

My son just finished reading his Beginner's Bible today from the Emerging reader list in Beyond and is already in 1st grade math. We are using the LHFHG guide with him. those factors and his always comparing, has caused me to decide to keep them in separate programs (i thought combining would be easier). Just will work better for us now if in separate programs.. it is also good for my older daughter to learn to play with our daughter who just turned 2 in February. so she is learning other important skills.

Now they do some of the thinking games and art together. even the 2yrold got in on Unit 18's thinking game where we tossed Paul and the sailors (stuffed animals) on a sheet (ship). it was fun for all! We also usually do the science together while toddler is taking nap.

so next August i will start my son in Beyond and my daughter will start LHFHG. The toddler will just bop in from time to time with art and games.

I just thought i would share how it is working for us with those ages.
Hope that helps.

Jenn D.

[Mom4Him]

Tamara,
It is so hard to decide what is best for our kiddos isn't it!? Lately, I have been going over & over in my mind what could work best for my own children & what I should do for next year (in fact I think I'm going to start a new thread on that as soon as I can figure out a way to word it all- I've thought of the chart idea too ). I am praying right now that God will help you come to a decision that will be best for each of your children, and for you, and for your family as a whole!! I am so happy to hear that homeschooling is going so well for you & that your older son is so helpful with the younger! How fun for them & great learning too! Looking at your situation... I know you have A LOT going on... I think maybe doing LHFHG 1/2 speed may be a good option just for your 6 year-old. It sounds like he is such a bright little boy & already doing a bit of the work- at this point he seems leaps & bounds ahead of your 3-year old- so IF you are able- you could start at a slow pace & have "fun school" with your 6-year old while making steady progress towards Beyond (even if it takes you 1 1/2-2 years to do it... and then you could just keep enjoying LHTH with your 3 year-old as you are now. However, I also know how nice combining sounds & can be... so if that is your real hope... keeping them together in LHTH (with phonics, math, handwriting for the older) would work-maybe you could use the different Bibles & devotionals, or have 2 seperate times for LHTH as you mentioned... but I think that your 6-year old will be even more ready for LHFHG in the Fall & the little one may not be.
Hmmm... decisions, decisions... I'm praying for you!
Jessica

[Kathleen]

Tamara,

I like the idea of doing a little of LHFHG with him, too. I'm doing that this year to spread it out. And, for us we're taking the same amount of time we were for LHTH. We actually started out the year finishing what we had left of LHTH from last year. Our little routine includes doing the rhyme (every day) followed by 2 boxes from the guide, then the music. On day 1 I do the Reading about History & the box under it (sometimes science, sometimes activity, sometimes art). On day 2 I do the Bible Study & Storytime.

That usually takes about 20 min.

Then I also do the fine motor skills, math & phonics with Allison.

Kathleen

[Mom2Monkeys]

I know what you ladies are saying makes sense...and each child being in their own guide is best, but that means I'll have 3 separate guides and then not too much longer, I'll have 4! I guess oldest will be independent enough by then it will still be like just having 3 guides. I just don't know if I can handle 3 separate guides! Also, I might have a newborn in the house this fall...not mine...my sister just learned she is pregnant, not married, lost her job, moms house just burned down with all my sister's stuff in it as well...I might be babysitting for her once baby arrives around Sept/October. So that means 2 babies, a wild preschooler, a 1st grader and a 3rd/4th grader.

I wish combining would work! I had started LHFHG with ds6 this past school year, then knowing I woudln't be able to do it right now, sold my guide to a friend. I have NO money to buy another so I don't have that option to start with him right now. I have all the books for both LHFHG and BLHFHG, just no guides for either. He will be nearing the end of RME by then, done with the K Singapore Math, and Italics A. So I bet I could do either one with him by then. And since I don't want to do guides back to back, and the following year would be LHFHG with DS3, then perhaps Beyond would be better for this fall for DS6.

WOW!! Why is this so hard! LOL

So right now is LHTH younger, LHTH older w/K stuff and maybe some of the LHFHG books, Bigger
next year will/might be LHTH older, Beyond, finish Bigger then Preparing
then LHFHG, Bigger, Preparing/CTC
then LHTH younger, Beyond, Preparing, CTC/RTR
and so on....LOL

Is that possible to do those guides together like that and still have a life?

[Kathleen]

In that case, I think maybe I'd opt to just keep what you've got rolling. The fact that you're up & going with all your changes this year is due a big high five!! You could let your 6 year old join in on the activity with the 8 yo and with the 3 yo. He could do the acting out or whatever it is for the day. Maybe they'd want to keep on repeating it while you move on to working with your daughter.

It is hard to try to think through combining, isn't it? And only you really know your kids, but from what you've described, it doesn't look to me like your boys are good candidates to combine. They're almost 3 years apart and there's a big difference in activity-level and maturity level, right? And sometimes when you do try to make it work, it ends up being more work for you than just doing something seperate would be.

Are you planning on doing LHTH with your little ones twice? Here's an idea that might ease the beginning of their schooling (and save you time ). You could do it half-speed like Julie has planned out. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5600 This may take you 2 years or a year and a half or whatever. Then you could begin LHFHG half speed. (Which doesn't really take longer than LHTH.) I'm heading toward combining Allison and Garret kind of on accident. I was doing LHTH last year with Allison. And we ended up having Garret join us. At the beginning it was to keep him from climbing on Grant while he was writing. Anyway, as the year progressed, he joined in on more and more, gaining fine motor skills, knowing all the letter sounds... SOO, then I was wondering how to stall Allison so I could put them together and decided to just start LHFHG with them both (minus reading and writing for Garret).

But, if while you are starting your little ones out, you can start early enough in a guide to go half-speed it might help you ease into having more to teach for them and contiue to give your older ones time to move to independence. Does that make any sense??

In looking at your plan, the year you have LHFHG, Bigger & Preparing/CTC looks like the "hardest" to me. So, I'd say if you're only going to start out with LHFHG half-speed then it would make it easier for you. Preparing teaches a lot of independence...and CTC more so. I'm pretty sure I can safely say that Bigger is the most teacher-intensive guide HOD has because it takes the most of you. Anyway, feel free to just keep it "as is" for now and pray about this before you have to move forward. I'm praying for you to have God's peace as you think about the future of your homeschool.

Is. 26:3 "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

Kathleen

[my3sons]

Well, you've already gotten some excellent ideas here! I was thinking that this might work in the long run...
This year:
3 yo LHTH half-speed first half of LHTH
6 yo LHTH (with or without little brother - whatever you get to, you get to ) with LHFHG using only the phonics, handwriting K (or something comparable), math, fine motor skills, and possibly have him listen in on big sister's Storytime

Next year:
4 yo LHTH half-speed second half of LHTH, along with the left side only of LHFHG half-speed first half with big brother
6 yo half-speed first half of LHFHG with full-speed first grade handwriting, math, and either more phonics or Emerging Reader's Set

The following year:
5 yo LHFHG half-speed second half left side along with starting K options LHFHG right side full-speed
7 yo LHFHG half-speed second half, with Beyond's right side full-speed

The following year:
6 yo Beyond full-speed all of it
8 yo Beyond full-speed, with Bigger's right side full-speed

WHEW! Does that make sense? Tell me what you think, o.k.? Just kicking around some ideas, and this one is a progression that seems to keep them together without making their basics too hard/too easy. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie



6 yo

[Mom2Monkeys]

I like these ideas...and although it takes a minute to wrap my brain around them, I think I'm getting it. LOL

Katheleen, if I get what you are saying...instead of repeating LHTH a 2nd year with the older options, skip that and just start LHFHG half speed so that I would finish the 2nd half at half speed during the year that you said would be the more difficult combo (LHFHG, Bigger, and Prep/CTC). Is that right? That's a good thought!

Julie, I also like your plan! I like that it has them actually coming together at some point. Even if it will take a while. My question with this route is about having a child doing the right side of a higher guide. How does that work in the later guides where much of the right and left go together. Like he would be doing Preparing left and CTC right side...CTC left, and RTR right. How will that work?

[Mom4Him]

Thanks for letting us know that combining is really what you're hoping for!! I really like both Kathleen & Julie's ideas.
I'm going to be watching for their/others response to your question(s).
Still praying!
Jessica

[my3sons]

Julie, I also like your plan! I like that it has them actually coming together at some point. Even if it will take a while. My question with this route is about having a child doing the right side of a higher guide. How does that work in the later guides where much of the right and left go together. Like he would be doing Preparing left and CTC right side...CTC left, and RTR right. How will that work?

Lots of people are doing the left side of one guide and the right side of another. I haven't though, so they may be better able to tell you how that goes from year to year. I think I would make the decision year to year based on what you most wanted to do. For example, there was just a question about which Bible to choose to do from CTC's right side with PHFHG left side (this child is doing the left side of PHFHG and the right side of CTC). There is a Bible quiet time and a BIble Study box. We talked through it, and I believe she decided to do the CTC Bible Quiet Time with the PHFHG year, and do the CTC Bible Study with the left side of CTC the next year. This will work out great, as the Bible Study Time matches the history.

Usually, it would just come down to Science which I personally would always choose to do the science of the program I was doing the left side of, since it usually ties in so nicely to the history (unless I was trying to beef the science up for an older, than I'd do the right side of the next guide, but only if the child was much older and really needing that).

As far as the Bible, well that applies to everything in life perfectly well - including school, so that has some leeway. The other subjects on the right side can easily be done with any guide, as they are reading, storytime, math, writing, dictation, grammar, poetry, etc. HTH! I liked Kathleen's idea as well! So, you have a bunch of ideas to ponder and somewhere within them is the right placement for your dc. Praying for you and celebrating with you as you are doing such an awesome job of getting school in and managing your precious dc's day so well!

In Christ,
Julie

[Mom2Monkeys]

Next year:
4 yo LHTH half-speed second half of LHTH, along with the left side only of LHFHG half-speed first half with big brother
6 yo half-speed first half of LHFHG with full-speed first grade handwriting, math, and either more phonics or Emerging Reader's Set

The following year:
5 yo LHFHG half-speed second half left side along with starting K options LHFHG right side full-speed
7 yo LHFHG half-speed second half, with Beyond's right side full-speed

The following year:
6 yo Beyond full-speed all of it
8 yo Beyond full-speed, with Bigger's right side full-speed

Just realized something that may or may not make a difference. Our cut off was Sept 30th for turning 5 for K. Each year they are moving it back, so it will be Aug. 1...ds3's bday is Sept. 27th. So in the plan above, when they are 6 and 8, the 6yo will be starting K officially, not 1st. In considering my options, should I still keep this one as a potential winner? I really dislike having to work out of 2 guides for one child...I don't know why... But, I also like the idea of being able to combine! I'm just so worried about being able to handle so many guides at once! I just keep telling myself the independence is coming more in each guide, and if Bigger is the most teacher intensive, then I'm going to be just fine b/c even so, it is very doable! And my kids are only getting older and more mature, especially the wild toddler who is going to become more trustworthy in time..I hope.

ETA: Thinking more about this, Ds3 would be doing Beyond as a 6yo K'er meaning he would be in Bigger when he's 7 and in 1st. I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with that as it's plenty for my very bright 8.5yo 3rd grader. I'm starting to think I will continue DS3 in LHTH as he is doing b/c it really doesn't take long and I don't want to shorten our time! DS6 is ready for LHFHG now, so maybe if I can find the guide used at a good price, I'll start him in it. Although we've been reading some of the books and working on some of the skills in there already, so I might jump ahead a few units and take it half pace except math and phonics. I'm still thinking and praying!!

[sharonb]

Just because your child won't make the PS cutoff date, doesn't mean you can't start doing homeschool K when he is 5. That's one of the reasons to homeschool- you have flexibility. If you have to report a grade level to your school board, the following year you can call him a K'er even if he's doing 1st grade level work; I don't really think it matters. In fact, if you are required to do testing in your state, this has your child at an advantage!

My youngest has a Sept 12th bday, and the cutoff here is Sept 1st. I will be starting her in K before she turns 5. I can't see waiting a whole year for 11 days. She won't be "official" with the school board until the following year when she is doing 1st grade work, but would be a K'er according to them (but grade levels are not put on the paperwork here). We don't have to test, so it doesn't matter in that respect either.

BTW: My 6 year old has an August bday, so he barefly makes the cutoff and is quite young for his grade. He is finishing up 1st grade now, and will start Bigger/2nd grade in a few months before he even turns 7. I think he will be fine. (We are going to do R&S English 2 and Phonics 2 half-speed for a while since those subjects are not his strong ones! He's my math whiz.) There are others here who have used Bigger with young 7 year olds too, but you can slow it down a bit if you need to, and just add extensions for your older child where necessary.

[Mom2Monkeys]

Sharonb, what you said about grades makes perfect sense! When he's 5, I'll start him in K even though he misses the cut off. I'll feel like I have more leeway with him that way too as well and won't feel rushed to make quick progress and we can really take our time and enjoy it more! And yes, we have to do testing for grades 3-9 so I can see this being an advantage!

I am a little concerned about him just turning 7 about a month or so into our start of Beginner with this idea...and if he's combined with my ds who will then be 9, I don't want to have to slow him down any more (he would already be doing Bigger's left and preparing's right side). I also want older ds to be able to complete all the guides by at least 9th grade which he won't do if I have to slow down Bigger for younger ds.

So, I'm contemplating more options. . . if I can figure out some.

On the bright side, at least I have DD8's plans figured out! And I don't have to worry about baby for a few years. LOL

[Mom2Monkeys]

Ok...so this is what I'm thinking. I really don't want to tweak and as much as I'd like to combine, I'm just not comfortable with starting ds3 in Bigger when he's 6/almost 7. He's so very bright, but he's ALL boy and I don't think he'll be able to handle it. He's very much like my DD8.5, but more "whatever" it is they are...LOL. And she's having some growing to do for Bigger this year. She's very bright, a very strong reader, but it's definitely "Bigger" She's in 3rd grade, but with our lack of schooling this year and her being a young 3rd grader anyway, I am holding her in 3rd grade in the fall. I've been doing R&S 3 grammar with her and we're on lesson 35 or so. Would you think I should wait on that and just pick up it next year when we start Preparing?

So, Let me see if I can "chart" my idea and you just tell me if I'm crazy. Are these guides doable together? Is this a good progression for each child individually?

This year 09-10: DD8- Bigger full speed DS6 in K LHFHG starting half pace except Math/phonics, working up to full speed, DS3 LHTH full speed, DSbaby

Next Year 10-11: DD9- Preparing DS6/7Finish LHFHG/Start Beyond, DS4 LHTH Older, DS0/1

11-12: DD10- CTC, DS7/8 Beyond/Bigger, DS5 half pace- first half LHFHG, DS1/2

12-13: DD11- RTR, DS8/9 Bigger/Preparing, DS6 (officially in K) half pace- second half LHFHG, DS2/3- LHTH younger half speed

13-14: DD12- new guide 3, DS9/10 Preparing/CTC, DS7 Beyond full speed, DS3/4- LHTH half speed second half

15-16: DD13- new guide 4, DS10/11 CTC/RTR, DS8 Bigger, DS4/5 LHTH Older

16-17: DD14- high school, DS11/12 RTR/new guide 3, DS9 Preparing, DS5/6 half pace- first half LHFHG

and so on, with youngest starting finishing LHFHG half speed working to full speed the next year then starting Beyond and on full speed.

Someone that knows more about these guides please tell me what you think! I just need to make sure I still have time to tend to the needs of my DH, DC, my house, and myself or if maybe I should go ahead and combine some dc, somehow. I love having you all to bounce my ideas off of!