Reasons not to combine dc?

[erin.kate]

I read a post today here ... it's location escapes me ... about how we think that combining our dc in the same study (such as Bigger or Preparing, etc) will be for the best, but in actuality, it may not in the best interest of the child(ren).

Can anyone elaborate on this for me? I'm curious about how teaching three or more guides per year might actually look (and happen realistically), but so many of you seem to do it beautifully and WELL. I keep thinking that being able to combine my kids in one year of study down the road, say CTC, and adjust their three R's, would be best for all of us (me included), but I never considered how that might not be the case ...

I'd love to learn your thoughts.

Thank you!

[countrymom]

I'll throw in my two thoughts, but I know others will have some great insight. My sons are only 19 months apart, but there is no way I could combine them without seriously compromising one. They are at least 3 years apart academically. So that would be one reason for me - I want the best education for each of my children. The other is that it can be much harder to tweak a guide to fit a child than to just open and go. In the end, tweaking a guide to combine may actually cause more work than just doing separate guides. The guides are so wonderfully laid out and easy to use that I would hate to lose the ease of teaching and, at the same time, have my children lose something from a guide if I attempted to combine. Now having said all that, there are certainly cases where children close in age can be wonderfully combined, so I think the decision would definitely be based on individual children.

[water2wine]

I think that in general if they are close in age within a 2 year span and close likewise academically, it can work really well to combine. But if they are far off in ability I think that is where you get into the it is easier to do separate guides. In terms of what is easy to adjust and have a guide fit with combining, LA and Math are very easy to adjust. The difference between using an extension pack or not is also easy to adjust within the same guide and accommodate a wide range just in that. When you get into huge sweeping differences with the placement chart ability wise it starts to make more sense not to combine even if perhaps you have ones that are close in age.

I do three guides and have one with special needs and find it is very doable. I do think whenever possible it makes much more sense to combine than not to most of the time. I would maybe first look at what is there in common that makes combining possible especially on the placement chart. Then I might look at is there any glaring issue with combining academically and weigh the difference. Truly if it is not obvious that is when I would really ask the advice of Carrie or Julie. They really have the best insight on how things work together especially when there are extenuating circumstances that make things not so obvious. Also just laying out the specifics and letting people on the board help is a huge help as well. Sometimes just that stepping out of the situation and getting advice without the emotion connection that we moms have helps a lot.

Praying He will guide your path for the best fit for your family. It is worth the effort in the selection period for the peace of having it right.

[my3sons]

This is good to think about, and you can see from the placement advice we give on this board, sometimes combining is suggested, and other times it is not - even though the dc in both situations may be the same age. Here are a few past posts that should be good reading as you consider what's best for your family:

To combine or not to combine:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5290

How to decide whether to combine or not:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7019&p=51157#p51157

In Christ,
Julie