Questions for those using 3+ guides

[Mumkins]

So there's no way were going to get around using 3, if not 5 guides, or maybe more, especially if Carrie does put out high school guides and we have more kids. I have to say, my biggest hesitancy is my kids not all learning about the same thing. Right now, my 5yo isn't ready for much, so she just listens in on Bigger. We do all the crafts and stuff together, so she's part of that and even my 2yo does the the little chant we made up about George Rogers Clark. I think it'll be sad when all the kids are all over the place. What is your experience with this? Does everyone still feel connected or does it feel like everyone is all over the place?

Do you feel like you have enough time or are you just barely getting everything done? I feel like with just Bigger and taking care of the kids and a little K work, I'm just barely getting everything done. I know next year I have to step it up for my 5yo, who will be in 1st, plus we'll have a new born and a very active 3yo.

Any tips you have for schooling lots of kids would be appreciated too.

[striving2Bprov31]

I understand your hesitancy about your kids being seperate in schooling and all of them learning about different things.---Not being combined, not doing Bible, history, science, etc. as a family. This used to be a major concern for me too, probably because the hschool community really pushes on the idea of combining your children. However, for various reasons, we felt lead to seperate them, thus placing them in seperate HOD guides. Let me tell you, it has been nothing but wonderful!! The great upside to the kiddos having "their own" school work/topics, is that it has become special one-to-one learning with them each day. My dd is in CtC and is mostly independent with it, but even in her independence, it has given me a wonderful special opportunity each day to pour into her.....and pour into the others one at a time. It has really helped Bible time because I can really take what that child is learning and help him/her apply it to THEIR unique personality and life. That got lost for us in combining the kiddos. Hope this makes sense! We have found it to be a wonderful change. They are all so much happier, from the oldest down. Also, it has been so great to have them using homeschooling material that is right at their level, and then to see them thrive from that.

Anyway, hope this helps!!!

Also, don't be intimidated with scheduling 3 guides. It seems a lot harder than it really is. I am not a type of person that LOVES schedules. We have a schedule that we use everyday and we are all done with everything by 2:30. That includes some breaks, as well as the normal delays that you have in a home with little ones!! HTH!

[jenntracy]

I agree with the previous post. i only use 2 guides (LHFHG and BEyond) right now, but soon will use LHTH with my 3 yr old. I would rather have them in their own guides knowing they are at their own levels and me not having to tweak anything. Having to do my own tweaking is more of a headache than jsut following the guides as planned. It also gives them their "own"school and my over-achiever son can not compare himself to his sister if doing different work.
My biggest problem is that being pregnant has affected our school days. it would be the same whether I was combing or not.

Jenn D.

[abrightmom]

I understand your hesitancy about your kids being seperate in schooling and all of them learning about different things.---Not being combined, not doing Bible, history, science, etc. as a family. This used to be a major concern for me too, probably because the hschool community really pushes on the idea of combining your children. However, for various reasons, we felt lead to seperate them, thus placing them in seperate HOD guides. Let me tell you, it has been nothing but wonderful!! The great upside to the kiddos having "their own" school work/topics, is that it has become special one-to-one learning with them each day. My dd is in CtC and is mostly independent with it, but even in her independence, it has given me a wonderful special opportunity each day to pour into her.....and pour into the others one at a time. It has really helped Bible time because I can really take what that child is learning and help him/her apply it to THEIR unique personality and life. That got lost for us in combining the kiddos. Hope this makes sense! We have found it to be a wonderful change. They are all so much happier, from the oldest down. Also, it has been so great to have them using homeschooling material that is right at their level, and then to see them thrive from that.

Anyway, hope this helps!!!

Also, don't be intimidated with scheduling 3 guides. It seems a lot harder than it really is. I am not a type of person that LOVES schedules. We have a schedule that we use everyday and we are all done with everything by 2:30. That includes some breaks, as well as the normal delays that you have in a home with little ones!! HTH!

Take my two cents with a shaker of salt as I haven't actually USED HOD yet. But Liz's testimony here is partly why we're moving to HOD. I am finding with combining that I'm missing a lot with my children. We WILL have "together time" and family learning times in a variety of other ways (i.e. Bible times with Dad, read alouds/story times, outings, meal times, etc.). Discipleship is much more effective one on one in my house. I am excited to meet each child where they are at spiritually, academically, etc. without the competition. With multi-teaching to a range of ages I am finding that someone is left out (i.e. the younger really not understanding the book or the older just not being challenged).

Now, teaching from 3 guides IS scary but I'm gleaning that it can be done with relative peace. I'm still working on that one .

Pray about it! The Lord will lead you where you need to go and give you His peace along the way. That is my saving grace as we are shifting to HOD.

[mskogen]

I am going to have agree with all posts. I do 3 guides. (4 when I start LHTH @March). I always thought combining was best. I found that I love my alone time with each child, who wouldn't. I was worried that it would take toooooo long to seperate. Go figure, I get more done (3 guides) in less time or same. Plus the kiddos are really learning and LOVING school. No one is being held back or pushed too hard, they are right where they need to be. I say if your kids place in seperate programs then do seperate programs. Thats the beauty of HOD and homeschooling. We get to meet our kids individual needs!!!
Prayer for you while you are deciding. God will direct your paths!

[my3sons]

Nodding here too. We use 3 guides, and I have to say each of my dc feel very special to have me to themselves at least for a part of their day. They are too far apart in abilities to combine. They also like being able to do the work asked of them because they are placed well - it makes them confident in their abilities and enjoy school to the fullest. For me, I like the younger dc being done more quickly because their guides take less time. We feel very unified because we finish school in a timely fashion and they have the whole rest of the day to be together - very family building - much more so than them being asked to do things that are too hard or too easy in the hopes they feel happy just about being together in the same guide. They hang their things on the fridge and talk about what they're doing in school informally all the time. They take an interest in what the others are doing, and each is proud to share what they've learned. I also like that as my olders get older, they are able to be more and more independent, which frees up time for me to teach important skills to my younger dc. If my dc were in the same guide, my oldest ds would answer all of the questions and my other dc would be all too willing to let him - there would be some unhealthy comparison going on as well. Glad we don't have to deal with that. The waiting too... oh my, I know my oldest would be impatiently waiting for my middle ds to finish, and my middle ds would be so stressed trying to hurry, hurry, hurry to please big brother. Oh, and having personal, private discussions with them about faith, character skills to work on, puberty (can you imagine doing that with the youngers?!?) It keeps me super in touch with them - their needs, their worries, their habits to encourage or discourage, etc. That's why I use 3 guides and love it. However, if I had a larger family, I would combine where I could. I think I would never run more than 4 K-8 core programs. High school is a whole other ball of wax. Good question!

In Christ,
Julie

[Samuel'sMommy]

I don't really have any advice about using multiple guides as I only have 1 kiddo to worry about. But, something keeps bringing me back to this post so I'm going to share this and if it doesn't make any sense just ignore it

One thing I've learned over the past couple of years from these boards, other homeschool boards, and from my own experience is to choose the curriculum that works best for your family at this point in time. Don't borrow trouble by trying to figure out how you're going to work it out years from now. I had my mind made up before we even started homeschooling that we were going to use X curriculum. I even had a plan mapped out for every core my DS would use through his senior year and we hadn't even started kindergarten yet. Then, I tried that curriculum and absolutely hated it! I made up my mind to use something else, but never had a peace about it. Then I found HOD and we love it! At this point in time, I feel like we will use HOD throughout our homeschool journey. But I also know that God may have other plans for us and if he does, then it will all work out the way it should.

I guess what I'm trying to say is if God is leading you to HOD, don't borrow trouble by worrying will happen in future years when you have extra kids. If He calls you to HOD, he will give you what you need to make it work for your family. Maybe that means 5 guides, but maybe you'll get started with the kids you have now and another solution will present itself that you haven't even thought of yet, or maybe it will mean switching to something different at that time. My suggestion would be to just really pray about what curriculum God would have you use and then trust Him to work out the details!

Hope that helps a little

[Mumkins]

Thank you everyone. Very good advice Samuel'sMommy.