Intro and Question

[south5]

Hi, I recently (at GHEA convention) bought LHTH to use with my 2 year old. I also decided to go for LHFHG with my son who will be in 1st grade next year. We already owned all the books, so I just need the manual. I have combined my boys for Bible, History, Geography, Science, Literature, Poetry, Music and ARt this past year. We had some difficulties and I always felt it was too easy for the 4th grader and/or too hard for the K son. I didn't want to seperate, afraid of time constraints, but after talking to Carrie it really makes more sense to seperate. They are just too far apart in ages. Thanks Carrie!
I already have lesson plans and books for my oldest, 5th grade in Fall. I planned to do Ancient and wrote out 36 weeks worth using MOH vol. 1 as my spine and lots of good living books to back it up. Would you dump it for CTC? I am having a hard time deciding. On one hand it seems a waste to throw away many hours worth of plans, but I do already own a lot of the books required for CTC so cost would be minimal.
Does anyone do HOD with 3 different levels? This year has been really tough with my youngest. She wants to be on top of the table, grabbing papers or scribbling all over their work. My oldest does a lot of his work independently and I have had to resort to doing K while she is napping. I really would like some quiet time during her nap and do not want to be doing school the whole 2 hours.

[mskogen]

I was combining my ds 9 with ds 8. Sounds perfect, except is wasn't challenging ds 9 and was pulling ds 8 along (close in age not academics). I didn't want to seperate b/c it meant 3 manuals. I finally sperated and now I get more done in less time. 3 manuals is totally doable especially when it places children were they should really be. I would vote for dumping MOH for CTC. CTC looks great. If your son is already independent then he should be fine. I pray the Lord gives you peace about your decision. Welcome to HOD , it's going to be a great year!!!

[rainbowacreshs]

I can't really help as far as the to combine or not to combine question, but I will throw in a pitch for CTC. My dd has been working through CTC this year, and even though we've gotten behind in my schedule, one thing is for sure..she is still loving the work of CTC
She has steadily been building skills and an increasing love for history where there was none before. I have found it easy to just open and go with the lesson plans. Nothing is too much or too little.
So welcome to HOD, I know you'll be blessed with it!

[my3sons]

We did 3 HOD guides last year and had a great year. I think Michelle said this very eloquently...
3 manuals is totally doable especially when it places children were they should really be.

So, if you have looked carefully at the placement chart, and those placements are accurate, I'd go with that plan in a heartbeat! Here's a link to the placement chart in case you need it:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

CTC was incredible this last year! My ds was very independent with it after I took the time at the start to train him to use the manual and explained the boxes. He just needed an order/routine to go about doing the plans, and he was off and running. I did all of the "T" boxes and my part of the "S" boxes with him, and my teaching time was around an hour to 1 1/2 hours a day. LHFHG takes 1 1/2 hours, and LHTH takes 20-30 minutes. This will be totally doable for you. CTC's notebooking pages are beautiful, the plans are amazing - I think I'd go with CTC if I were you.

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

south5,

I'm so glad that we got a chance to meet at the convention. I pray you'll enjoy LHTH and LHFHG and that the Lord will show you what He desires for you to do with your oldest this upcoming year.

This year, we're doing 3 and 1/2 guides at our house (RTR, CTC, Beyond, and 1/2 speed LHTH), so it is doable to do multiple guides. We typically suggest beginning with two guides and moving up from there if needed the following year. I'd likely begin with LHFHG and CTC (if you go that direction) and add LHTH half-speed when you've got a good flow going with the other guides. LHTH is very easy to add and at half-speed only takes 15 minutes a day.

We look forward to getting to know you better through the board as we travel through the year together.

Blessings,
Carrie

[4froggies]

I planned to do Ancient and wrote out 36 weeks worth using MOH vol. 1 as my spine and lots of good living books to back it up. Would you dump it for CTC? I am having a hard time deciding. On one hand it seems a waste to throw away many hours worth of plans, but I do already own a lot of the books required for CTC so cost would be minimal.:

We are just finishing CTC and I would really encourage you to use it next year. There are so many wonderful history projects, and the history notebook is such a keepsake! I am a fan of MOH, and used it often this past year as a "research" resource (since I already had it), but the way Carrie schedules everything in CTC and ties it all together is just so great! Also, another key is that CTC is written for the student to use and be independent for many things and responsible for what he/she has completed. This might be really useful for you with hsing three- it has been for us this year. My oldest (5th grader) is much more independent than she was a year ago, which frees me up more to work with my 1st grader. (although CTC also schedules that one-on-one time with Mom that is so important!)

We did CTC and LHFHG this year (our first year with HOD) and was intimidated at the thought of doing two. But, after we got into the flow of HOD, it really was easy! In fact, we are getting ready to start LHTH with my # 3! Once you have a few weeks under your belt, you'll see that it really is doable! HTH!