Feeling overwhelmed and need some advice

[Sue G in PA]

Next year I will have all 7 of my children at home. Yippee! Dd13 (9th gr. doing MFW AHL), Ds12 (7th), ds10(5th), ds9 (4th), ds7 (2nd), dd5 (K) and ds2 (doing toddler stuff ). I had tentatively planned to do Preparing with ds12 (extenstions), ds10 and ds9 and think I will stick with that. I was going to place dd5 and ds7 in LHFHG. Ds7 is just beginning to read, does not enjoy writing much but is excellent in math. Dd5 surpasses ds7 at this point in reading and writing. They are all different, aren't they? Upon further inspection of the LHFHG guide, I am now wondering if Ds7 shouldn't be in Beyond. It's funny, but he can spell words better than he can read them. Ds7 is also a high-maintenance kid who needs a lot of attention or he is prone to angry outbursts and crying fits. I'm wondering if I could handle doing Beyond with ds7, LHFHG with dd5 and Preparing with the olders. I can hold off on LHTH for my 2yo. Are there other options I am not seeing? My dd13 will be virutally independent in her program with weekly mtgs. with me on Friday afternoons and short discussions throughout the week. Ds9 will need a lot of hand holding in Preparing unless he suddenly "matures" over the summer. Do you think my dd5 could do the work in Beyond? She is quite advanced with her reading, writing and she will start Singapore 1A in the Fall anyway. She is quite mature for her age. But I am worried about future guides, b/c placing her in Beyond would put her a year "under" each guide's age recs, kwim? So, she would start Bigger at age 6 (recs are 7-9) and Preparing at 7 (recs are 8-10). I am so overwhelmed with all this! I don't want to be setting myself up for doing 3 and then 4 guides (when my ds2 gets into LHTH and LHFHG). Any advice is appreciated. I just love what I see and don't want my kids to miss anything in HOD. I feel like I've finally found our "fit" and want to make the best of it. Thanks.

[pjdobro]

It sounds like from the skills that your dd5 has, that she would be fall into the skills of Beyond. I understand the concern though of having her be on the young side as you continue along in the guides. Perhaps you could consider taking Beyond a bit slower either 1/2 speed stretching it out over 2 years or 4 days a week and stretching it out over a year a half. You could do the same with Bigger doing it 4 days per week and stretch it out over a year and half as well and add the extensions for your older ds if you need to. That way, your dd would be at least 8 before getting to Preparing and your ds would be 10, so they would both fit into the age ranges well. Perhaps doing 4 days a week would be nice for you as well leaving you more free one day a week to work with your oldest dd. Since your other 3 children will be doing Preparing which is a 4 day a week program, that might work out really well too. I think I would consider combining your dd5 and ds7 in Beyond and take it at a pace of 4 days per week.

[FiveLittlePeaches]

I hate to disagree with the previous poster, but I'll just offer what I was thinking.

With your older children doing Preparing, and a toddler to boot, I would just combine the 5 and 7 year old in LHFHG and leave it at that. It's a lot more challenging than it appears, plus it would be so much easier on you. There are books listed in the appendix of LHFHG if you wanted to add more read alouds. You might also want to add the spelling and emerging readers from Beyond for your 7 year old. As long as the two of them are doing the appropriate math, reading and phonics, I think LHFHG would be quite enjoyable. I did LHFHG with my kids (ages 5-7) and they had a blast.

But I am worried about future guides, b/c placing her in Beyond would put her a year "under" each guide's age recs, kwim? So, she would start Bigger at age 6 (recs are 7-9) and Preparing at 7 (recs are 8-10). I am so overwhelmed with all this! I don't want to be setting myself up for doing 3 and then 4 guides (when my ds2 gets into LHTH and LHFHG). Any advice is appreciated. I just love what I see and don't want my kids to miss anything in HOD. I feel like I've finally found our "fit" and want to make the best of it. Thanks.

That would concern me, too. Another reason why I would start with Little Hearts.

Just my opinion!

[Sue G in PA]

The original plan was to put both in LHFHG. My conern recently has been 1. it looked to easy and "babyish" for ds7 and 2. dd5 often "overshadows" her brother b/c she is quick to answer questions and catches on to most things quicker. I was thinking if ds7 had his own program, that it might work out better. Not sure. Any more advice? Thanks everyone!

[water2wine]

I kind of would also lean with LHFHG with your 5 and 7 year old as well. I get that your 5 year old is ahead and I know how that is having the advance the next older child, we have some of that too. But your 7 year old to me sounds like they would really do better with LHFHG. There is a lot in the appendix you could add and you could do the right side of Beyond for Math and LA with either child that needs it. But it sounds like your 7 year old would do better moving a little slower and though the five year old maybe could do Beyond LHFHG will probably be just fine for them. I think combining your other children in Preparing sounds like that might work well for you. I would just take a good look at the placement chart and make sure they all place pretty squarely within that range. In general though I think you are always better off putting an older one at at a slower pace and adding extension packs etc than pushing one ahead of where they should be. It just seems to work so much better.

I would also hope that Carrie or Julie gives you some advice because your family is large and I know that makes things different. I have found as few guides as possible is best as long as you are you are pretty close in the range. Our first HOD year we did two guides and that worked well. The next year went for three guides and I am glad we did it that way. The difference in the first and second year was my dd with special needs needing a push and my oldest daughter needing some independence. I found they were both holding each other back in opposite directions. So this year three guides was great and next year we will continue with three. But I have no other programs than HOD going on in my family and one less child than you.

Hang in there. Getting the best fit is really the only part that can be hard of HOD. Actually using it is the blessing. So hold on you are almost there.

[Sue G in PA]

Okay, I think I will just leave ds7 and dd5 in LHFHG and use Beyond for Math/LA. I see that your advice would be to use an "easier" guide and beef it up rather than push ahead. I agree. So now my fear is that ds9 won't do well with Preparing. Should I try and put him in Bigger? I've looked through Preparing and really like what I see. I *think* he will be okay with it, using the 1st level of dictation and requiring less copywork and written narration from him. But I do worry. I'm torn btwn. wanting to *push* him and challenge him (b/c I do believe he is capable of more than he does ) and wanting to let him grow and mature at his own speed. Trouble is, I don't know that he would do that on his own...he would be content not writing at all and doing half-hour of schoolwork everyday. So, any advice there? Ugh...decisions, decisions!

[pjdobro]

I've been giving some thought to your concerns about LHFHG for your son and combing your dd and ds. I was afraid that LHFHG would be too babyish for my twins when we did it for first grade. We finished it right as they turned 7 so they were a bit younger than your ds, but they really loved it. I thought they would think that the rhymes were babyish but they had a blast getting to do the motions and move around. We especially loved the storytime with the Thorton Burgess books and acting out the stories. They really had fun with that. You know best how your son would feel about those things, but you might want to give it a try and see. It's a fun program and he might really have fun with it. It might seem more like play to him which could be a good thing. You'll still know that he is learning while he's doing it.

As far as having your two together and having one eager to answers questions, I can relate to that as well. My twins, though of course the same age, are not at the same level developmentally. My dd is much more advanced academically though ds has been catching up over the last couple of years. It made it tough at first having them together because she would tend to answer first or always know the answer even when he didn't. One thing I did while doing the program is to make sure that I addressed questions to each of them specifically. So I wouldn't let her answer all the time. I would sometimes try to choose the more obvious or easier questions to give him to build his confidence. An interesting thing I found out was even though my dd was better at reading, sometimes my ds was better at listening. So sometimes he was able to come up with an answer that she couldn't. You might find that to be the case. Another thing that helped for us is that he is better in math than she is so he had his one area that he excelled in over her. Are your ds and dd at the same level or is your dd more advanced in everything? If not, you might be able to boost your son's confidence with the two of them together in the areas in which he excels.

Another thing to consider also is that if they are at different levels for math and language arts, you will have that one on one time with each of them anyway. It would just be the history, history activity, Bible, science, and storytime that you have them combined if they are doing different levels of LA and math. So you would still have that one on one time with your ds with his core subjects. If you do decide to do two different programs with them, perhaps you could hold off starting your dd until you had a good routine set up with your ds or start both guides at 1/2 speed just to help you get into the groove.

Those are just some thoughts I had. I pray that God will lead you in the way that is best for your family.

[my3sons]

Hi Sue - Wonderful advice given here already - these ladies are great, aren't they?!? I would keep the 3 in PHFHG and the 2 in LHFHG, but up the spelling using the LA plans in Beyond and up the reading using the ERS in Beyond for your older, and the math too if that fits skillwise. I so want this to work well for you, and I really feel like this is an important year for things to go smoothly as everyone will all be home together. I would not do more than 2 HOD programs to begin with, as you have a larger family and will be working on differing LA and math skills with dc even though they'll be combined for 2 core guides. You'll be busy enough, trust me!

I don't think LHFHG is babyish at all for dc ages 5-7. The read alouds are always several years higher than the child's reading level, and the rhymes, etc. are fun for dc those ages as long as they don't feel put on the spot, and as long as everyone gets into it. I also think it's important to do the activities once and not draw them out. For example, the rhymes are meant to be a 2-5 minute activity - not a huge part of the day. My dc loved them, but if they hadn't loved them, they take only a few minutes. It has served me very well for dc to know from the get-go that what is in the guide gets done - no ifs, ands, or buts. They realize that every box has a purpose that is chosen with their age level and academic standards in mind. I think that you will love doing PHFHG and LHFHG together with your kiddos! I think they are accurately placed there, and I think you'll be able to enjoy your days working between just 2 core guides! The next year, you can always reassess, but for now, I really do believe in my heart that these 2 guides are your dc's best placement for the year to come. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[Sue G in PA]

Okay, Julie. I certainly don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I am a perfectionist and tend to over-analyze things. Can you tell? So, I'll just use the Beyond Guide for math and la for both probably and enjoy the storytime in LHFHG. Sounds good. Here's hoping...

[water2wine]

Julie has it. I also think two guides are enough and Preparing is not really super independent. It is just the gentle beginning of it. I'll be using it with one that is a little on the younger side as well the year after this one and I am thinking it is going to be fine after having done it with my fifth graders. There are two levels in reading and that is really helpful for including a range of students on both ends. Preparing and LHFHG is going to be tons of fun for a first HOD year! I think you're going to just love it.

Oh also want to add that my dd that is in preparing this year is about on the very beginning third grade level of reading and writing is a struggle for her. She has cerebral palsy and she is doing great with Preparing. I also have two fifth graders doing it who read and write well. So there is really a fair amount of room to accommodate learning differences.

[Sue G in PA]

That is good to know. Thank you...thank you everyone. I am feeling better about this now. I suppose it if isn't working out I can always re-evaluate. Better for Mom to start out with just 2 guides and go from there. I'm like the kid who heaps food onto his plate thinking he can eat it all only to stall mid-way through.