Would HOD work for my family? and if so, what level?

[girlboygirlboy]

I have read awesome reviews about HOD, but I just received the HOD catalog, and am a little overwhelmed by it. I'm not even sure if it would work for us. We have used Konos for the past 3 years which I love because we love the focus on character traits and that we are able to do it as a family, but as I keep adding children to our "schooltime" the prep has begun to be a little much for me. After 6yrs of hsing, I am also looking for a change; something I can just pick up and go.

Next year I will have a 5th grade dd(who is your typical "firstborn", can work independently, pretty much a workbook kinda kid), a 3rd grade ds(struggled reading, now in vision therapy and doing better at reading, can write a couple sentences, but not much more than that at a time. We're working on it and I'm seeing improvement), a 2nd grade dd(who is reading at grade level/have combined her and her older ds for LA this year which has worked out well - struggles with writing), a Pre-K/Ker 5yo(who will probably do 2 yrs of K, but has started sounding out words and wants to spell everything pretty much on his own otherwise I wouldn't bother doing anything with him for another year).

Is there a way I can combine all of these kids in one level? And if so, which one would I start with and what accomodations would I have to make? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Blessings!

Jennifer

[sharonb]

My first thought was Bigger Hearts, which your 2nd and 3rd graders would fit into as-is, and your 5th grader could do with extensions. If you aren't really concerned with doing anything formal for your 5yo at this point, then that plan could work.

Have you looked at the placement chart though? Even if you want to combine, sometimes it helps to find each child's ideal guide individually, as that will help everyone give you advice.

ETA: Given your 3rd grader's struggles though, it would maybe be better for you to use Beyond with the 2nd and 3rd grader, and let your 5th grader do CTC. I know that's adding a 2nd program, but I think a lot of it can be done independently. You'll have to let some of the more experienced HOD users give their opinion on that though.

[lmercon]

There has been a lot of discussion on this board about whether to combine or not. If you do a search for "combine," I'm sure you will find many helpful posts. Here is an excerpt from the page on this site about the philosophy of HOD that may answer some of your questions about combining.

When we tried using multi-level curriculums to combine our children in a variety of different ways, we had limited success. We found most multi-level curriculums were aimed at our older children, which left our little ones with no focused teaching time or personal attention. Consequently, the multi-age program that was supposed to unite all of us became fragmented. As we tried to adjust the material for our little ones, our older ones lost their focus.

With our past frustrations in mind, Carrie started putting together a learning program for our own children. We realized that trying to group a wide span of age levels together often left someone's needs unmet. This didn’t match with our belief that the younger years are very important as habits are being formed and core learning is taking place. Likewise, the older years are also important, as children move toward gaining independence and learning to work toward a goal. So, Carrie began writing programs with smaller age increments that still spanned several age levels.

I don't think you will want to combine all of your children. But, you may be able to combine a couple of them. I would look at the placement chart and see where each child fits in INDIVIDUALLY and then see if that allows you to combine any of them. HOD is such an easy program to implement and a joy to teach, that I don't think you will have any trouble doing more than one. Many moms are doing two, even three programs at a time! I would recommend that you start at half-pace for a while until you get the feel of how the programs work and a schedule for your family.

hth,
Laura


Added: Sorry, I couldn't get the "quote" thing to work right with my cut and paste. Must be my before-caffeine brain!

[girlboygirlboy]

Thx for the replies. I'll look into it some more...

[Tree House Academy]

I wouldn't combine kids with that big of an age gap. My ds 11 will be in CTC while my ds 7 works in Beyond. There is just too big a gap between my two to make that work. With you older child being on target and your middle two having struggles,I would recommend CTC for the older (as written), Beyond for the 2nd and 3rd grader, and Little Hearts for the youngest. I could also see doing Little Hearts with the middle two, so maybe combinging all 3 of your youngers in that manual...making sure, of course, to do English, Reading, etc on their individual levels. I definitely wouldn't put the oldest with the youngers, though.

[4froggies]

Just wanted to add that CTC is scheduled for the child to do quite a bit independently-(the box will have an "I" in the upper right) This will really free you up to work with your younger ones. What I really appreciate, though, is that the CTC guide also schedules that time for you to have one on one with your older one in the subjects where it is important they have your personal attention (academic subjects as well as character/heart issues). The way the guides are written divided up into boxes (all guides) and labeled according to the amount of teacher involvement (older guides) makes it easy to do more than one guide at a time. I am doing CTC and LIttle Hearts this year, and it has been a very smooth year!

I think, especially since your oldest is already independent, it might be a good fit for you to do CTC with your oldest! Hope this helps!