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I think I'm formulating a new plan for combining my dc. Originally I was going to do three separate books: LHTH with dd 4, Beyond with dd 7, and CTC with ds 10. Now, instead, I'm considering doing Preparing with both the 7 and 10 yo this year and then next year moving back to Beyond with the two younger girls and up to ctc with my son. Then I will keep the younger two together as long as possible. How does this sound? Is there anything else I need to think about?

Thanks.

My first thought is that Preparing will be way too much for your 7 year old. I haven't done it yet, but from what I understand, it has a lot more writing and is a much higher level than Bigger. I know Bigger is going to be plenty for my dc who are 8 years old and in 3rd grade this year. Maybe it might be better to step back to Bigger for your 7 and 10 year old for this year and use the extensions for your 10 year old. They would both be in the age range for the program this year that way. Then next year you could see if you would want to combine your younger two or perhaps go ahead and combine your older two in Preparing with extensions for the older and let your youngest one, do LHFHG. I'm thinking after doing a higher level program, that stepping back to the younger program might seem a bit too easy for your dd. Where do each of your children place on the placement chart?

I agree with the PP. Preparing would probably be really tough for your 7 yo. My DS, who was 7.5 at the time, struggled with Bigger at the beginning of last year and really didn't fully grow into it until about Jan./Feb. this year. There is a huge jump from Beyond to Bigger as far as the amount of writing, reading comprehension, etc. Preparing has even more independent/semi-independent activities in it. I am going to do Preparing with my now 8 yo, but not until October and may spread it out over 1.5-2 years if I see that he needs to do that. That has just been my experience so far. I also agree to see where your children place on the placement chart and go from there. It seems to work better with HOD, according to others who have combined, to beef things up for the older rather than try to tone it down for the younger. Also, you may want to take into account that your oldest can probably do a lot of CTC independently once he gets into a routine. HTH!

I guess my thoughts were to continue to do her LA and math separately at her own level and let her sit in on the history and science in Preparing. It will really work better in the long run for us to do Beyond in 2011 when the girls are turning 6 and 8.5. Then my son will be ready for CtC when he is 11 turning 12. Does that seem more doable?

Yes, I think she could sit in on the parts in Preparing that are teacher-directed and still learn for sure! My 5yo learned some stuff from what we read and did in Bigger this past year, but it definitely wasn't on his level like it was my older DS. I was just letting you know that she may struggle if you want her to do the notebooking and copywork in history and science, etc. It sounds like she will go through it when she older too, though, so she will get a second time around? Keep in mind, we haven't done Preparing yet, so there may be other moms that can give you better advice than me in this area. I am expecting Preparing to challenge more from my DS than Bigger and I didn't want you to be caught by surprise. I'm sure some others will chime in with their experiences too!

I can totally understand your not wanting to do three programs. Just make sure you check out the placement chart and figure out where your oldest fits.

If your goal is to combine the younger two in 2011, why not start now and put them both in LHFHG? As long as your 7 year old is doing math, reading and phonics at the appropriate level, it should be fine. Plus there are supplimentary books listed in the appendix if you want to add a little more depth for your 7 year old. I combined my kids (ages 5-7) in LHFHG and they loved doing school.

Just another option to consider.

I'm thinking of doing what FiveLittlePeaches suggested with my youngest two. And the good thing is, if you have Preparing and LHFHG, as well as appropriate materials for your 7 year old's math and LA, you can even get a little bit into the year and figure out where your middle child will combine best.

Well I'm not really keen on having to use two manuals (Little and Beyond) for one child. I know myself and I need it to be as "open and go" as possible. It was all the page flipping that drove me crazy when I used Sonlight. The thing I LOVE about HOD is the fact that everything is laid out so nicely on the two page spread. I think I will just do my best this summer to do Preparing with my son and Beyond with my daughter. I can't afford to buy any more curriculum as I also have a high schooler to buy for and a daughter in college. I'm always wishing that I could combine my children more but since they are all about 3 years apart, it makes it tricky.

I'm excited about HOD. I love all the hands-on and kinesthetic things Carrie has added that I wouldn't necessarily think of.

LHFHG is listed as covering ages 5-7. There are 1st grade options in it (although some of them are at the back of the book, so if you really don't want to flip pages, that might not be so good). I think the storytime and history portions could be very appropriate for a first grader.

She's actually 7.5 and going into 2nd grade. I looked carefully at LHTHG and it just seems a bit young for her. We have been doing Beyond for a couple of weeks and she loves it so I think we'll keep her there. Also, for the past few days my high schooler has stepped in and started working with her 7 year old sister. I asked her to do the science box in Beyond and when I came back out they had completed the whole 2-page spread. She said "mom, this is so easy to follow". My 7 yo dd was thrilled to have big sis working with her and did everything without complaint. They even did extra read-alouds. Hallelujah! It gave me time to work with 10 yo ds who still requires a lot of mom to get his work done.

I think I have decided to do the three different levels but put my son into Preparing instead of CtC. I think it's a better fit for him. He's not quite ready for the level of independence required in CtC. My youngest child is tecnically pre-school age for another year even though she's ready for K so if she tags along and learns her letters and numbers she will be fine.

Shawneinfl wrote:She's actually 7.5 and going into 2nd grade. I looked carefully at LHTHG and it just seems a bit young for her. We have been doing Beyond for a couple of weeks and she loves it so I think we'll keep her there. Also, for the past few days my high schooler has stepped in and started working with her 7 year old sister. I asked her to do the science box in Beyond and when I came back out they had completed the whole 2-page spread. She said "mom, this is so easy to follow". My 7 yo dd was thrilled to have big sis working with her and did everything without complaint. They even did extra read-alouds. Hallelujah! It gave me time to work with 10 yo ds who still requires a lot of mom to get his work done.

Wow! That is great about your high schooler working with her sister. I think it speaks to how easy it is to follow. I actually gave the LHFHG guide and necessary books to my mom and dad on separate days last fall and they did the work with my daughter pretty painlessly. I saved the phonics for me to do with dd, because her frustration level was so high with it at that time.

It sounds like you've got a great plan.

YAY! I'm so glad you are finding a way that works for your family!