If you could start all over again...

[Tiffany]

I've already posted a question or two about starting HOD with my children. It seems to me that many of you came to Heart of Dakota after beginning homeschooling and had to find where your children fit into the program. I haven't yet started homeschooling so I get the benefits of starting from the beginning...which leds my to my question. Currently, I have two children that are 15 months apart. My DD is the oldest with a Nov. birthday and my son is the youngest with a Feb. birthday. Obvisously, I can use the same program with both of them...but would you separate them for reading and math? Let them work together? Use LHTH for preschool and K and then have a K and 1st grader in Little Hearts? I'm not sure which would be easier seprating them or keeping them together. Has anyone had a simliar experience? I'm not the best writer so feel free to ask questions if I wasn't clear. I'm just confused on how hard it would be to have two seperate grades in one program OR just do the same grade same program?

PS. My daughter is only 2...I have plenty of time to think about it...I just love to talk homeschooling!

[erdrmom]

I started LHFHG for K this year with my dd (born in July) and wasn't doing much with my ds (born in Dec 2-1/2 yrs later) figuring that I would work with him when he turned 3. Well, I discovered that he absolutely LOVED doing HOD with his sister. I ordered LHTH planning to use it for him when he turned 3 (which I did), but I wish I would have started them at the same time. The Bible stories are very similar and both of my kids love the Fingerplay/Rhymes in Motion and the musical selections. It would have worked out better if we were doing the same "things" at the same time. Now, I don't know how that will play out in future years, since I haven't reviewed anything more than Beyond. But at this point, it's not hard doing 2 different guides at the same time. The hardest thing I have found so far is trying to keep my dd from telling ds all of the answers to the questions I ask!

[crlacey]

My kids are also 2 1/2 yrs apart and are doing separate guides. So far with LHFHG and LHLH it's not hard to find time to do both guides. I know that my two are worlds apart in skills if you compare their skill level at certain ages. So what DD could do at 3 with no problem (like know the alphabet), DS isn't even close to doing yet( he only knows X and O consistantly). So you may want to consider their skill levels as they grow. You may be able to combine them because they are close, or you may need to separate them.

[LeAnna]

Hi Tiffany,

I have two kids who are 13 monts apart, and are doing K LHFHG together. They are doing everything together and it has worked out very nicely. The only thing that they are not doing together is Phonics. They are at different places in The Reading Lesson Guide.
I would highly recommend keeping them together as much as you can. I know Carrie and Julie have given me that advice in the past. You can always take LHFHG at a slower pace at first, either doing 4 days a week or starting out with half pace, or doing LHTH with the K. If you do LHTH when they are 4 and 5, you could do LHFHG, when they are 5 and 6.

LeAnna

[mariaw]

My boys are 20 months apart (4 and 6), and at this age, it's really hard to keep them together on certain skills. I use Little Hearts for both of them, but the younger one doesn't have the motor skills to do much writing, or the cognitive development to do much phonics. He also only does the math activities, but not the workbooks. So much is developmental right now at their ages. But there are other things that the younger is ahead of the older in (can sit still longer, memorizes easier, etc). If it were me, I would attempt to do as much of the program as possible with them together. It is so valuable to have both of them in on discussions, because their questions make it so much richer for the other. However, if they were competitive with each other (mine aren't), it seems like it would be harder to do some sections at different rates with each of them.

When their ages are so close, I think it will be easier to combine when they are both reading independently and writing. There is a huge difference once they develop those skills. But for now, I would try to do as much as you can together to keep your sanity! They will keep peeking in on the other anyway to see the fun stuff you are doing!!

[Tiffany]

LeAnna,
Did you start K when your oldest was supposed to be in K or did you wait until the youngest was supposed to be in K. I guess I'm trying to decide if I keep them together which is better to have one working a year and ahead or one a year behind? KWIM?

[LeAnna]

Tiffany,

I started LHFHG when my oldest was 5.5, and my other was 4.5. We did the Handwriting, math, and all the history, and science for K. The only thing I held back on for a little while, was phonics... using The Reading Lesson. I wanted to get a really good start with the older one, before I ventured out with the younger one. I waited until about three quarters of the way through to start with the 4.5 year old.... She turned 5 in Jan., and we started The Reading Lesson about the end of February.
My younger did just fine in LHFHG at 4.5 years. Handwriting was a little hard in the beginning. But, very quickly she has improved in those skills. Comprehension might be a little hard in the beginning for you younger, but those skills are learned over the years. I had some concerns about that with my younger, but as we are finishing up our school year (3 weeks left) and I see too, how that has improved. Carrie gave me much assurance in the fact that comprehension comes over time.
Now, moving on to Beyond.... for us... my younger will be just about 5.5, and the skills in that are a bit harder.... spelling, more writing, a little bit of grammar, time lines, etc. Since Beyond is for ages 6-8, we are going to take it slow, doing 4 days a week, ending about 7 weeks left, and taking it to the following year. That will give more time for my younger to work on some of those skills. As a side note.... as your kids get older those gaps in their skill levels will close up. A few years makes a difference. I say all this about Beyond, just to give you an idea, of where you will be after you finish LHFHG.

I know there are other moms who have done LHFHG with their kids at 4.5 years, and I haven't heard of any problems.
Let me know if you need help with anything. We are still learning as we go, but since we have the same thing going on, I might be able to.
Can you tell me what KWIM is?

LeAnna

[Tiffany]

LeAnna,
KWIM is know what I mean. Sorry about that!

Yes you helped me alot. The only thing that concerns me is my younger child is a boy and I've heard that boys mature slower than girls so I'm afraid that he won't be ready. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I think I would feel better about combining if my daughter was the youngest. I just pray that it will work out fine and he will be able to do the work! If not it wouldn't be the end of the world if they couldn't work together. Do you think it would have been too hard to teach them to read together or did you not want them to feel like they were competing??

Tiffany

P.S. My husband loves that name Abraham!

[LeAnna]

Well, depending on what you are using.... like the Reading Lesson.... it recommends I think, that you only do about 2 pages a day for around 4 year olds, and 5 and 6 year olds maybe 1 to 2 more. Depends. So, you could try to do them together. I just found it so much easier, and better for their ages to do reading individually. It's not hard, with especially The Reading Lesson, to do this. It takes maybe 10 minutes a day, each, to do so.

LeAnna

[moedertje]

I have 3 and can not combine my oldest with the other, even though they sit in on the Bible reading, Memory verses, history etc. now. He is already reading at Emergent level and in Beyond at 6. He is a typical first born! I am planning to combine my next two one way or the other! I do not want to do 3 guides. My youngest one is a girl, so I am hoping to have the younger ones both in LHFHG when my middle son is 7 and my daughter is 5 and do the 1st grade options with him, and from Bigger on, do extension packages with him. That way he is still challenged at his own level.
I am doing LHTH with him next year, so I may have to just do the 3 R's with him the year after, I don't know how it will work out, but God will show me! He has been my guide spiritually and HOD educationally.

[my3sons]

Tiffany,
If you would like to combine your 2 dc, then I would try to have your youngest in the target age range if possible. Our middle ds was 4 1/2 when he began LHFHG (the target age range is 5-7), and he was a bit young for it, so we did it half-speed for awhile and then full-speed when he was ready. This worked well for him because I slowed it down - if I hadn't slowed the pace - he would have been on track to be in way over his head. I think it is hard to combine if your youngest is a year or more below the youngest age in the target age range of the guides. So, maybe try to be through LHTH and starting LHFHG when they are around either 5 and 6 years old, or 6 and 7 years old.

That doesn't mean you have to make yourself wait to do LHTH - I couldn't wait to start, and you may be that way too! If so, you can just do LHTH 3 days a week or so, over a year and a half, then you could start LHFHG half-speed doing the left side of the plans one day, and the right side of the plans the next day for awhile, and/or last you may want to do LHFHG just 4 days a week, having the fifth day off. All of this allows you to start LHTH without messing up when you get to LHFHG.

I agree with LeAnna that you may want to stagger start your dc in phonics. It's nice to give each child individual attention when it comes to phonics. One will more than likely be better than the other - which can make the one not picking it up as fast feel like they'll never be a very good reader. Just starting them at different places from the beginning (like starting your oldest first for 4-6 months, and then starting your second) will send the message that you don't expect them to learn to read at the same pace, and it will also help you know how they're both really reading, which can be lost in the mix of both of them reading otherwise. HTH! You will love HOD programs - they give such a grounded, yet enjoyable start to homeschooling!

In Christ,
Julie

[Tiffany]

Thanks Julie! That was some great advice. And you are right I can't wait to start!

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Hi,
I have a daughter that is 13 months older than my twin boy's. We were actually able to accomplish phonics all together which was soooo nice! When mine were really young, I would let them watch the Leap Frog Letter Factory dvd's while eating their lunch. This worked so well because they were all 3 learning the letter sounds together and it was fun. They were so cute eating & singing. We started into phonics instruction back in Sept when my daughter was 5.6 and my boy's were 4.5. We used a white board and some blend & vowel work sheets and it worked great. Actually one of my twins is a little more fluent reader than his older sister. Where I really notice the big difference between girl's & boy's, is the letter formation & cutting skills. For some reason these skills seem harder for boy's. There were times I would notice 2 might be catching on faster than the other, but it always seemed like that one would just suddenly "get it" and we would be moving right along again.

[MamaBear23Cubs]

I struggle with combining my children too. They are so close in age but their skills differ. DD4 does better than DS5 in some areas and vise versa. Because the first two guides won't take long I have choosed to seperate them, maybe when they are older I will combing but for now, at least this year, they will be seperated. Plus they like each having their own curriculum. It's their school time with mama. Yep, I spoiled my kiddos when it comes to their books. They have to share toys and bedrooms and everything else but they get their own books for school for now.