Placement for 1st Grader

[ekfleet]

Hi ! I was hoping to get some advice for placement for my soon to be 1st grader?
Brief background: She will be 7 in August (held her back because of birthday) and so far has been doing Sonlight A and Saxon K Phonics. We are halfway through Saxon 1 Math, but I am having a hard time getting everything done. In addition to my 6 year old, I have a 4 year old, 18 month, and a nursing newborn. I honestly was at my end this week...and then I came across HOD. I feel like at this point in our life stage - HOD would be a much better fit for our family. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the layout in the teacher's guide. I am a new homeschooler and sure would appreciate any suggestions or feedback. Also, any suggestions on doing year round school? My husband is in ministry and Fridays are his day off and we probably will do a 4 day week. (make up on Saturdays)
Here is what I was thinking....based on my reading/research.
I was considering ordering Little Hearts for His Glory (so I could incorporate my 4 year old too) both the economy and basic package for 1st grade.
We were going to do "How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" through the summer just to retain what we have learned so far
and start HOD LHFHG in the fall.

I was going to stop Saxon Math 1 where we are at and switch to the Singapore 1A/1B in the guide. I figure Singapore 1A would be a good review when we start again in the fall.
Does this sound like a good plan? Thanks so much!

[StephanieU]

When does the 4yo turn 5? Are you wanting to combine the older two long term?
If the 4yo turns 5 soon (by the end of September ideally) and you want to combine long term, you plan sounds solid. You might want the Beyond guide for the Emerging Reader book schedule and questions, but otherwise LHFHG would be enough.
If you are not wanting to combine long term, I would consider Beyond for the oldest. You could spread Beyond and Bigger out to 1.5 years by just doing 34 weeks with 4 days of school per week (with maybe trying to get reading and math in either on Fridays or 34 days over the summer so you get a full year of each of those each calendar year). The activities in Beyond would probably be more enjoyable for you then 7yo than those in LHFHG, as the LHFHG activities can sometimes feel childish (but are great for 5-6yos!). The 4yo could still sit in on anything he/she desired. My younger ones periodically have listened in to storytime and history readings, and depending on the activity, have jumped in "completely" for science, art, etc.
As for changing math, that is totally up to you. If you like Saxon and it is going well, there is no reason to change. We do a different math, and it is not an issue. You just do math when the math box is listed in the guide (which is daily). But, if you aren't enjoying Saxon, switching to Singapore now is a great time. I normally don't recommend changing unless something is really not working between 1st and 6th grades, as that often leaves gaps. But, if you are going back to 1A, then there is no worries about gaps.
And as for schooling year round, there are SO many ways to do it. We normally start a guide in May/June and go half speed through the beginning of July (if not all of July). We take off normally a week in the fall, the week of Thanksgiving, 1-2 weeks at Christmas, 1-2 weeks in the Spring, and 2-3 weeks in the summer. If you skip Fridays, then you would need about 43 weeks to do a guide in a year. That leaves you 8-10 weeks for vacation/breaks. And if you stick with HOD, starting in Preparing, the gudides are actually written as 4 day a week units (35 units a guide). So then you would be able to have more weeks off!

[ekfleet]

My 4 year old will be 5 in November, but she is doing Christian Liberty Preschool. My plan is to keep the girls together in one guide even though they are 27 months apart in age.
I don't want to shortchange either of them, but I was thinking doing Little Hands for His Glory would work for both? Thanks so much for your input!!

[StephanieU]

You could combine, but often it actually is more work. My oldest three are 23m and 20m apart, but putting them in their own guides has been easier for me because I dint have to modify the guides, either adding something to make it slightly more challenging for the older or lessening the workload for the younger. And I don't have to worry and competition or arguing for attention.
If you are going to combine, I wouldn't rush the younger one, working to start Bigger in January after she turns 7 at the earliest. Bigger is a big jump in workload. Then Preparing has independent work which can be challenging for young 8yos.

[ekfleet]

Thank you StephanieU! I talked to Julie today at HOD and she suggested exactly what you did!
She said that I should buy both guides -LHFHG and Beyond and work out of two guides and what you said makes total sense to me now. Thank you again for your help - I didn't quite understand until now what the possibilities were. God bless!