Intro and lots of questions!

[ShellyM]

Hi!

My name is Shelly, and I am new to this board. I have been looking at this curriculum for over a year, and I am soooo tempted to take the plunge this year and get CTC! We have been using MFW for the past 2 years, and while we like it, there is just something lacking that I can't put my finger on. I think it is mostly the scheduling. I like how Carrie has the box format which makes things look doable, but it doesn't seem so disjointed like MFW.

The biggest challenge for me is that my kiddos are spaced so far apart in age. My oldest is 12 and will be in 7th next year. My next one is 7 and will be in 2nd next year. I have been doing MFW with the younger one tagging along because I didn't think I could handle two cores yet. The next one is 3 1/2 and I am looking at Little Hands for him. I think he would like it. My last one is turning one in two weeks, so she can just toddle around while we do school! Would CTC be too hard to adjust for the 2nd grader? We have been doing history chronologically, and ancients is where we are at. It is my thought that if I could keep the oldest two together for two more years until the oldest gets into high school, then put the 2nd and 3rd kids together to do Beyond or Bigger together. I don't know, it all sounds complicated. Eventually, when #4 is ready for school, I will probably have to do 3 cores to accomodate the age spans with the high schooler doing something independently, and then splitting two cores between the other 3.

I thought I would get CTC and the extension for the 7th grader, and I am really excited to use DITHOR! I was going to get Lightning Lit from Hewitt for the oldest one, but I like the looks of this better. The challenge there is that both kids would have to do different books as their reading levels are different, but maybe I could do it as a read aloud for the 2nd grader, and the 7th grader could read independently.

What do you all think? All suggestions are most welcome!
Thank you all so much!
Shelly

[Jessi]

Shelly- Welcome to the boards! I am sure someone with more experience will come along and I'm sure Carrie herself will pop in. I am not an expert by any means but a 2nd grader and 7th grader together in CTC would be difficult. CTC is geared for older children. That is quite a gap you have there and you'd be having to tweak a lot for your younger student. I only say that so you wouldn't get burned out having to constantly alter it for your little guy. I'd really check placement chart for the 2nd grader to see where his writing and reading abilities are because the older guides require more writing, copywork, narration, etc.

Ok, rambling thoughts here so please disregard if you want but my thought would be to put your eldest in CTC and put the 2nd grader in either Beyond or Bigger (depending on where he places in the placement chart) and I'd leave off doing LHTH for the 3 1/2 year old for now so you can get the two programs implemented and not be too overwhelmed. Then the following year you could add in LHTH and add phonics and math if you so desire. By then you'd have a great routine established. When your youngest is ready for school your eldest will be in high school and will be a lot more independent. But you know your kids better.


Again welcome!!!! HOD is wonderful and so are these ladies. Hope to get to know you better soon.

[ShellyM]

Hi Jessi,

Thanks for replying to my post, it's great to "meet" you!

Yes, I have quite a gap in ages to work with, and you are probably right, putting the 7 yr. old in a different program would be better for him. I have just been worried that it would be too much for me to handle, with read alouds and activities for the both of them. But it's true, the gap is too much for them to be doing subjects together.

From the placement chart, I am thinking that Beyond might be a better fit, as he has been slow to catch on to reading, and is just now starting to gain confidence and begin reading from Pathway readers. We have been doing Explode the Code, and he just finished book 3. I suppose he would be called an "emerging reader". I haven't done much with formal spelling and parts of speech yet.

I don't know, my budget is pretty limited, how much of each program (Beyond and CTC) do I really "need"? I wanted to get the extension package of CTC, so would I need to have read alouds for the 7 year old too? I see in Beyond there is the emerging reader's set and the deluxe package with the choices of books there. I am confused. Is the emerging reader's set for him to read aloud and the deluxe set for me to read aloud to him? Do I need both? Is LA included in Beyond? Do I do DITHOR with him in Beyond as well?

Sorry, lots more questions! I love the God honoring focus of the curriculum, and the book choices are so good! Now, to just decide what would work best for my family.

Thanks again for the input,
Shelly

[3ringcircus]

Welcome Shelley! I agree with the pp that combining would be very difficult given your age gap, and am glad you realize that. I think I can help you with some of your questions about Beyond. You would not use DITHOR until after you have completed the emerging readers set. Yes, the emerging readers are for him to read to you. Daily readings are scheduled in the appendix, including questions for each day. The deluxe package corresponds to the storytime box of the plans, and introduce the genres, story elements, and character qualities. You can choose any book that you feel is appropriate for your child from the genre being studied. For example, the 1st genre studied is biography. HOD provides packages that cover each of the genres, but these specific books are not required for the program. If you have a decent library you could get your books from there. You could look at packages for examples or purchase a book list for $5. The HOD recommended books have been screened very carefully for content.
There are a couple of other ways you can economize. Some of the emerging readers set are classics that most libraries have (Frog and Toad comes to mind). Also, you could order what you need for the first few months now, and then place another order mid-fall for the rest of your items.
HTH

Kathy

[ShellyM]

Thank you Kathy, that was very helpful and more food for thought!

Blessings,
Shelly

[Jessi]

I agree with Kathy that you could probably get a lot of the books from your library (if it has a good selection). When looking at the guides anything marked with a star is a required part of that guide so you'd want to purchase it (unless you get the emerging readers and storytime books from the library). If it has a check mark that is recommended for a complete program but not necessary. That might help with expenses too. I also agree with Kathy about breaking down what you'd need in the first half of the year and midway through purchase the rest. I know there was a thread on here awhile back asking along that line.

Also, there are many ladies on here that do two or more guides at a time and do it successfully. HOD is great in that it is broken into managable chunks and really does not take too much time to implement, so two programs is quite doable. But I know you also don't want to be stressed out. Perhaps starting your CTC guide with the seventh grader first to get into the routine and help him be independent in his work and once you have the routine established you could start Beyond.

[angela&4boys]

Hi Shelly and "Welcome"!

We are in the deciding stages as well and, like you, we have used MFW in the past.

I am trying to combine 2 of our boys who are 9 and almost 12yo. Right now we are looking at doing either BHFHG or PHFHG for the 9yo. I'm hoping to beef up the left side (Learning through History) of one of those for my 12yo so we can study the same history period. I'm contemplating Christian Liberty Press's Exploring American History (if we use Bigger) or A Beka's History of the World (if we use Preparing). We would then do the right side (Learning the Basics) of CTC for him. I love the looks of all the language arts Carrie has scheduled, but especially the science! Hope that makes sense.

I'm curious as to what others use for their 12yos and how they combine. Hopefully some more seasoned HODers will chime in with their thoughts and suggestions.

In Him,

[ShellyM]

Jessi,

Thanks for the info on starred vs. checkmarked items, I am still trying to decipher the catalog, so that was a big help! We have a really good library, plus inter-library loan, so I am going to do a little research to see if I can get all or most of the emerging readers and the boy interest books at the library. That would save me a lot.

Angela,
Hi! Good to hear from someone else contemplating which program to use! I think my 12 yo will do well with CTC, I love the book selection! I know you will make the right choice for your boys, keep me posted on what God leads you to choose!

Blessings,
Shelly

[angela&4boys]

Shelly,

I will! Please keep me posted as well. I'll include you in my prayers.

[Carrie]

Shelly,

Welcome to the board! We're glad to have you here! It sounds like you have a good plan to be doing CTC and Beyond next year. I will be doing that same combination with my boys, along with beginning LHTH with my youngest one, so we'll be on the same rotation!

The ladies have given you wonderful tips for economizing. The Economy Package is essential for any of our guides. You also need to make the choices shown for each guide to round out your language arts and math. The next most essential items are found in the Basic Package. All other packages come after that priority-wise.

When doing Beyond and CTC, you could (for time's sake) and for budgetary reasons do only one read aloud for both kiddos for the storytime section of the plans. You'd need to make sure to do the activities that go along with the storytime from Beyond though, as your 2nd grader will need that portion of the plans for his literature study. The Storytime in CTC could be omitted (dare I say it), if you're reading aloud the storytime from Beyond for both.

Also, you can truly begin with only the Economy Package of any of our guides if needed. We honestly write our guides with that in mind so that almost all families are able to make our programs fit their budget.

Blessings,
Carrie

[ShellyM]

Hi Carrie!

Thanks so much for the welcome, the ladies here seem so knowledgeable and supportive!

I love how your packages are divided up for flexibility. With finances tight right now, it is encouraging to know that I could still make HOD work for my family and add more to the economy package when more money is available, which I plan to do.

I am also amazed at how many people do more than one program. I am going to keep praying about this, but it would be nice to do LHTH with my almost 4 yo as well as Beyond and CTC as he really wants to "do school" with the older ones.

Thanks again for all your words of encouragement and wisdom, I am happy to be a part of this board!

Blessings,
Shelly