I completely agree with Mel on several of things she posted in the previous comments. And CTC is very independent. In this guide, all of the history and all of the science are read by the student independently. The only books and boxes that I still help my dd with are the Genesis Bible Study book, Geography book, Story Time, Grammar, Writing, Spelling, DITHOR, and Math. It sounds like a lot when I type up LOL. But the Genesis Book and Geography book are read every other day opposite each other. Grammar and Writing are also completed every other day and offset each other. And then Spelling and DITHOR are completed only three times a week. With CTC, I do also complete the watercolor paintings with my dd. I think they are meant to be completed independently but we soon realized that my dd needed help and was frustrated. So we do them together and it goes much faster and better (plus I love art - thanks Carrie for including these in this level!). But everything else - the history projects, science projects, research, you name it, she is doing it alone. It is so much less work running multiple guides where each child place correctly versus running 1 guide and modifying it constantly (for me at least).
In addition, the message forum shows estimated times for the different boxes for each level when you go into the various forums for the different levels. Here is a link for the length of time each box takes for CTC:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=14365. And here is a link for the length of time each box takes
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14220. I would say these times hold very true. For me, I spend about 1.5 hours max with my oldest on her teaching times and that is only if the story time box takes me a lot of extra time because it is a longer story. I would say a better estimate for my time is closer to 1 hour or so a day. For my child in Bigger, he still lacks the confidence the write things out independently - although he is gaining more confidence - so I have to write out his answers and he copies them. I would say I am probably helping him closer to 2 hours per day. My little hearts child - I spend about 1.5 hours max per day. I also will say that using all of the recommended products for HOD for each subject does help your day line up better with their time estimates. When I came to HOD, I had not found any Language Arts curriculum that I loved - I had a few vendors picked out that I knew I liked - but ultimately, I love how balance the LA box is and I love the variety of resources they picked out and use. So I am using the recommendation for literature study, grammar and writing. I do love the spelling in HOD but my oldest is dyslexic. She can read and she read fairly well but that is because early on we figured out that whole language approach was a terrible fit for her and we switched over to dyslexic products. We found that with spelling, she couldn't spell ANY of the words on the word lists when she started 3rd grade. So we switched over to a spelling program that appeals to this type of learning. She now spells great. I actually tried to switch to dictation but it actually took longer LOL. She was all panicked and making tons of mistakes just because she was off her game. It would take her 10 minutes alone to study the passage before she was ready to write it LOL. So with her spelling, there are no "tests" and she only spends 10 minutes a day three days per week on it. I feel good about that because the time frame still lines up well enough with the time frame for that box (HOD says 5 min for dictation but my dd was taking way longer for several months). So we switched back and our day is still balanced. I also use a different math program than what HOD recommends. I love Singapore and I do actually use an Asian math program that is similar. This program is definitely a little bit more teacher intensive in the beginning but by the end, it is very student driven. Again, I wanted to make sure that the amount of time we spent on math was similar to their recommendation on time for that box. I am happy to report, we do match up fairly well. HOD recommends approximately 20-30 minutes spent on math. My oldest does spend a little bit more time on her math box each day though but she only does math 3 days a week because of the way her math is set up. Some days take her 25 minutes and some 45 minutes. But our math program teaches things in a very different order. So within 2 years, my oldest dd will be ready for pre-algebra. At that point, I will be switching over to one of the HOD recommended resources and then that box will line up too. I only mentioned all of this because with running multiple guides, if any resources you choose to use instead of their recommendations don't line up with respect to time, then your day is gong to be majorly out of whack! HOD chose great products for kids to leant with but they are also products that are less teacher intensive. They did this to help parents teach multiple children at various levels with different products that geared well toward the child's level.
And finally I find that HOD is SO nicely balanced that if you wanted to add in something else that you felt like you or your children were passionate about learning, you could easily do so. I wouldn't say add a lot, but something small would easily be accommodated. I know several families teach their children another language at earlier ages. For me, I love language. I had always planned on teaching my kids Latin and Spanish but I couldn't find anything I liked for their age that they could do well with. So I ended up finding a roots program that we use - my kids spend about 10 minutes a day max 4 days per week. For me, it meets that foreign language expectation I wanted for them. In addition, we are learning all about chess this year. So I was easily able to add that in too. And finally - my kids take piano lessons. I definitely don't think you ever need to "add" anything. One thing I love about HOD is the variety that the kids learn about. I loved the books on the scientists, composers and artists in Preparing. I love the water color in CTC. I love the Shakespeare study in R2R. I love the science in general for every level (those Tiner books are fascinating!). I pretty much just love it all! It is so diverse and so interesting. But we as parents sometimes want to add in something that we also love. So I guess I just wanted to say that HOD isn't overwhelming at all and you can easily could add something extra if you want too.
