Would love some placement help

[gratitude]

Hi ladies,

I would love some placement help for HOD. I have tried it in the past, and loved it; but we never made it very far due to a mistake I made. The mistake of starting 3 different HOD guides at once for my 3 children who are 21 months apart in age. I think the first time we tried Bigger, LHFHG, and LHTH. The second time I think was Preparing, Bigger, and Beyond. I am sure all of the kind ladies on this board can understand why that teaching load didn't work for a mom new to HOD! My thought this time is to choose for next fall and then stage them this spring in starts a few months apart that puts us into the program with a jump start. Or, perhaps combine two. We school September 1st - June 30th four days a week.

I have looked at the placement chart, but I also have an oldest who has read a lot of the books and younger ones who have heard many of the books read aloud. So in the end I find myself confused of where to start. I love what Carrie has done for this program. I have been doing a lot of Rod and Staff English, dictation, CM narration, Bible, phonics, and math on my own. I would like more structure and more of a plan for the years ahead. I also really like the looks of the high school sneak peaks for later. I also would like the well rounded education and writing progression I see in HOD that I am not pulling off on my own. I thought perhaps if I describe their skills some of the kind ladies on this board could help me place them. I also want more depth than I am pulling off on my own that I remember having when we tried HOD; I remember some good discussion starters.

So here are my 3 blessings (youngest to oldest), and where I think they are at academically; more or less:

dd, just turned 7: Learning to read and doing well with it. I have her doing math and phonics with Bob Jones (I will be continuing with Bob Jones math and the phonics until she finishes the first grade level). She can copy single sentences easily (has done most of WWE 1). She can narrate a little. She can write a one sentence summary of a short reading with spelling help. She is great in math and it comes very easily.

ds, 8: Emerging reader level and doing well with it. His reading is starting to really take off this winter. Will continue math with Bob Jones. He is in unit 4 of Rod and Staff English 2 and doing very well with it. Can copy multiple sentences. Is doing dictation with Spelling Wisdom from SCM. Natural speller. Is half way through Cheerful cursive and loves it. Had very little history. Knows science from dad. High imagination and loves to draw and do. Knows a lot of Bible from nightly Bible with dad.

ds, 10: Very advanced reader. Voluntarily narrates what he reads throughout the day. Loves HOD books and has read all of DITHR books through level 4/5. He has read all of the books in Preparing, except for CHOW. He has read all of the Bigger extension books. He has read about 3/4 of the books from CTC (includes all 3 book packs, but not the extensions). Great in math and is doing Bob Jones grade 6 math. Working on dictation with Spelling Wisdom from SCM, which has helped his spelling immensely. Writes very small in Italic (went through Italic D at age 9). Loves history. Loves science. We did Apologia Astronomy when he was 8. He did quite a bit of MFW at one point. Scattered education is what it feels like to mom! He makes a lot of connections on his own in science and history. I feel like he needs help pulling all of his knowledge together. HOD books are his favorite books that we own. Knows a lot of Bible from mom and dad. Oh, did I forget to mention that he dislikes writing; although that has improved some this year at age 10. He is currently 1/2 way through Rod and Staff English 4 and has completed both 2 and 3. Rod and Staff and Spelling Wisdom have currently been his writing and language arts program. I would like to see that increase.

Please ask questions if I left out any information that would be helpful. I would love to hear any advice you have.

Thank you!

[Molly]

I have looked at the placement chart, but I also have an oldest who has read a lot of the books and younger ones who have heard many of the books read aloud.

I'm going to suggest you look at the placement chart and place them according to the chart. Seriously that is really the best place. If they are ahead in Math or Reading, it doesn't matter. Where do each of them fall on the chart? I have tried children in guides above or below their abilities and it really was a struggle. My children are now all placed according to the placement chart and things move smoothly because they are able to cope with everything required of them, and they certainly are not bored in the least.

I did want to comment on the quote above. Do not worry about this in the very least. I have read many books more than once, I watch movies more than once. Often reading again opens something you missed the first time. Also the way Carrie has the children read and then do tasks associated with it, makes them come alive to the children.

Anyway, I would love to hear where you see they each place according to the placement chart.

[gratitude]

I'm going to suggest you look at the placement chart and place them according to the chart. Seriously that is really the best place. If they are ahead in Math or Reading, it doesn't matter. Where do each of them fall on the chart? I have tried children in guides above or below their abilities and it really was a struggle. My children are now all placed according to the placement chart and things move smoothly because they are able to cope with everything required of them, and they certainly are not bored in the least.

I did want to comment on the quote above. Do not worry about this in the very least. I have read many books more than once, I watch movies more than once. Often reading again opens something you missed the first time. Also the way Carrie has the children read and then do tasks associated with it, makes them come alive to the children.

Anyway, I would love to hear where you see they each place according to the placement chart.

Well, that was quite insightful! I thought they their placement would be so scattered that I would have a difficult time telling. When I sat down though with a cup of tea and a prayer it really became quite clear which column their skills truly lie in. I never realized before how well written the placement chart really is!

So here is what I came up with:

dd7 (turned 7 in January): places squarely in Beyond

ds8 (will be 9 in April): places squarely in Bigger (he is already using R&S 2 and Cheerful Cursive so it goes well with those too)

ds10 (will be 11 in July): places squarely in CTC (this was my surprise. He is currently in R&S 4 so that goes well with CTC as well)

So what should I do to make this work so I don't overwhelm myself. I know my ds8 would love the science experiments in Bigger and the drawing and mapping. I know my oldest would do well with the increased work in CTC, and needs it. I have been previewing Diana Waring, absolutely love it, and I think he would like it as well. It is one part of the program that would be entirely new. The spelling is something I don't have for dd7, and I think the Beyond spelling would be good for her as well as the grammar.

Is there a way to stage this so it could work? Is it possible to do those 3 guides at once if I stretched out the starts between March, May, and September?

Thank you!

[TrueGRIT]

Those are the guides I first though of when you described your children in the earlier post. To answer if that is doable with the three guides And stagger dates. I would say a big "yes". You will however want to start your Bigger son at least a couple months before your Beyond daughter. It's a little best for now, but a great necessity for later when they are in the next guides. You would want to have a good 2-3 month start on Preparing before starting Bigger. Both together are the most teacher intensive guides,so it works best to have the Preparing established before starting on Bigger. Hope that makes sense. Anyhow, stagger starting is optimal for any guide, any age.

Enjoy!

[StephanieU]

I agree that your placements match what you wrote. If you don't want to put the 8yo in Beyond (and continue Rod and Staff and Cheerful Cursive), then I would start Bigger ASAP with the 8yo. Once the 8yo is up and running smoothly, start CtC with the 10yo Then, once the 10yo is going well in CtC, start Beyond with the 7yo. While the 10 and 7yo wait, they can continue in math, grammar, etc. And they can listen in on the storytime with the 8yo for sure, maybe have the 10yo try some written narration occasionally with that? If you stagger the starts, you are more likely to get things moving smoothly and not be as overwhelmed.

[Molly]

I am so pleased to read you have seen your children place in those guides. I also thought they would be the guides for them.

I think the other ladies have given you great direction on how to stagger start them. The other thing I suggest is to make a loose guideline how you are going to manage your time with each of them. I have found with mine, that it works best for me to work with my BLHFHG first in the day. Then I work with one of my girls until lunch and then work with the other girl after lunch. It works for us just right now. Also, don't be afraid to take a week or two at half speed just to give the children time to adjust to what is expected of them.

[gratitude]

Thank you so much ladies for all of your wonderful warm encouragement! It meant a lot to me.

I have been reading other threads as well, and this board is helping me immensely.

I like the idea of staggering a HOD start by starting with Bigger then CTC and then Beyond. It makes sense to me given what I know of where they are at and what they are needing academically.

Thank you so much!

[my3sons]

The ladies have done such a super job of helping you, and I do think your placements are probably accurate. I remember Carrie sharing something with me though in regard to homeschooling... sometimes the very best plan is the one that actually gets done. That is pretty poignant when one really ponders it. What are the best laid plans if they cannot be carried out? You are obviously a bright, capable, loving mama, but you have tried 3 guides before several times and found it may not be the fit you are looking for. I just want this to be a wonderful year for you! Carrie has also shared that teaching Bigger Hearts and Preparing Hearts at the same time can be quite a bit to take on. If dc are this close in placement, combining may be better. So, in pondering all of that, I'm going to suggest a trial period. Why not try Beyond Little Hearts for the 7 and 8 yo? But for the 8 yo, continue "Cheerful Cursive," R & S English, and dictation. He can keep doing his Emerging Reader's Set and start DITHOR 2/3 whenever he finishes. He has not had much history, and I think he would love Beyond's history. The timeline, art projects, history projects, Bible devotions, copywork of the poetry, science experiments, corresponding music, geography, narration practice, storytime genre studies,guided literature discussions, story element lessons, and Godly character lessons would offer many new things to study and skills to develop, and he would probably have a great year in Beyond! I also think you'd enjoy teaching 2 guides, and it is important to remember your dc are only 1 year apart. If I had 2 dc 1 year apart, I'd sure give 2 a try this way. You can always separate them if you need to later, and keep in mind extensions become available in Bigger Hearts on up. I just thought I'd throw that idea out there as another option. You'll find we do that here on this board. We like to give options and have you choose what you want to do. With HOD, there are always options. It is very flexible, so I HTH as you consider your options.

In Christ,
Julie