Combining children in guides?

[ihvnangel]

by ihvnangel on Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:12 pm (oops posted in wrong forum, deleted and put in the right place, I hope!! )

I am wondering what most of you do with combining kids? I have a 11 and 10 year old and I have combined them in most things, except math, and it has worked out very well. Now I have two younger children coming into school ages and am wondering if it would be easier to combine or just have each do their own programs. If I do end up combining when should I do that? My daughter is 5 and my son is 3, he will be 4 in Feb. I have just started LHFHG with her, and bought LHTH to use for him. At first I thought about possibly combining them and doing 3 days a week of LHFHG and 2 a week of LHTH, but my little girl is so eager to do her own school and I kind of like the idea of them each having their own program right now because each fits just perfectly for their ages and abilities.. I kind of think down the road it would be easier to only have two different programs going as opposed to 3, but I don't want to hold one back or push one too far. I am thinking I will do LHTH probably spread out over 18 months to two years, or till he turns 5. I think if I had maybe done that with my boys we would have been able to progress better.. Any input on this, share what has worked for you, or advice.. Thank you!!

[crlacey]

It sounds as though your 5 yr old is ready for LHFHG so I would do that with her and then stretch LHTH by adding some picture books or Rod and Staff workbooks for the youngest son.

Here is a previous post about the combining issue:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7019

[ihvnangel]

Thank you so much for posting the link! Wow, read that and it really spells it out perfectly. I guess I will go ahead and keep them each in their own guide and really enjoy the time spent with each of them. I wish I had read something like this before I started homeschooling. I think there were times I should have advanced my older son but kept my other son back some because truthfully though they are close in age, they are emotionally and developmentally much different levels. It has been a struggle and I thought I should have been able to make it work with them being so close in age... Wish I had stopped before now. I wonder if I should separate them now? We have had a few very hard years and just been treading water, getting pretty much math, and reading done. So I had planned to put them both into Bigger this year and do extensions with the older. He is 11. Next son just turned 10 (very immature though and developmentally behind that age) Do you all think Bigger will be okay for them? If one does extensions and I just focus on the basics with 10 yo? Or would you try to put him in his own guide and do Beyond? That seems a much bigger drop?? I just want us to get caught up. I would like it to be a fun year of finding a love for learning again. I am going to add in some parts from SL too.. Well mainly just the many wonderful books (which I see HOD has quite a few of the same recommendations)..
We are trying to readjust to life! My husband had been deployed to Afghanistan, was gone for 20 months for that. During that time my mother was heavily dependant on me due to an abusive realtionship, my sister moved in with us because she was going through a nasty divorce of sorts (child custudy issues) Both of them were so trying and needy I about lost my mind during that time.. Thankfully for a wonderful Church family who helped offset the stress and were really there for us.. BUT like I said things just got behind. Both boys are poor spellers and I wonder should I go with just Bigger recommendations or should we go at a quick pace through like ROD and STaff?? I just feel kind of lost and trying to get back on track!!! HELP! I know I started with one topic and jumped to another, but this brought up a good point on how combining can hinder one child...

[mommadonna]

I don't know if you have thought of this, but you could do this with the younger 2...you could do lhth as written with the youngest and add a phonics program, the fine motor skills workbook and ARFH, and the k earlybird math for your 5 yo. That would get all the basics of lhfhg with the 5yo and still be just fun and easy lhth for the 3yo. Then the next year you could do lhfhg with the 1st options with oldest and with k options for younger kiddo. I like this plan, but it may or may not work for your family..just thought I would throw that out there. Sorry I have no advice for the olders...no experience there...yet! Take care