The mystery of the missing year.

[3musketeers]

My mind has been fixed on the "mystery of the missing HOD year?" for the past week.

I am puzzled over if LHTH is pr-k and LHFHG is K? How does the planned schedule finish at 8th grade?

I love how HOD works so that dc who are on different skill levels can use which guide is best for them despite the "grade level". I also love that we can combine and use extensions (again not worrying which guide is a certain "grade level"). I've also read some posts from those who have taken a guide half speed. I guess I'm one of those freaky plan ahead types. I want to do everything "by the book" so to speak (I'm trying to work out my flexibility and spontaneity muscles as I get older ). Is there a "prefered" plan?

If one of you sweet ladies, who has used HOD through the years, would help explain how the younger years work. I have a 3yr old (4 in Oct.) who will be joining his older brothers in their HOD adventure soon. I'm just wondering when to get him started? Bigger has seemed a great fit for 3rd grade. I know I can't be wondering what skills he will have and what age he will do Bigger, today. But I can't shake it! If my plan is to start him in LHTH next year (he will be 4, then turn 5 in Oct.)-PRE-K, the following year LHTHG (he will be 5, turning 6 in Oct.)-Kindergarten, then Beyond- 1st (starts 6, turns 7 Oct.), then Bigger 2nd OH NO! not 3rd? Then what if I should have bought LHTH for right now? If I chose to go ahead and start where will that leave me for "the plan"? Please help, if you can. My mind will not rest until the puzzle is solved. I know there maybe no set answer. But hearing how others have plotted it will give me comfort.

I have tried to find links on this, but no luck. I'm sure they are out there.

Thanks soooooo much,
Cindy

P.S. I have edited my subject heading to be less silly and more to the point.

[2littleblessings]

I surely can't do an "splaining" but I join you in your question. My dd is doing Beyond as a 6yo 1st grader this year, and it fits wonderfully. That puts us in Bigger for second and so on. We can't know where our kids' skill levels will be, but does CTC work fine as 4th grade? I don't stress over the long range plan, but I'm definitely curious.

[water2wine]

I never used LHTH so I do not know what that is like really but I used LHFHG and I would say it is more first grade than K although I used it for a child who was K age but learning to read along with another child of mine who was technically first grade level. I think a bright child in K could use it or it could be stretched out using the books in the appendix to use for longer than a year but to me it is not average K stuff at all. Just comparing it to MFW K which I did own and used for a while, it is way more involved than that program by far. I think it falls more on average in line with first if you are going to give it a grade. But there is a lot of give depending on the abilities of the individual child in the guides. So I have one that started with LHFHG at 1st and will finish all the guides by 8th grade and the other who technically did LHFHG in what we'll call K (but she is farther along in ability that her sister was at the same age) and will finish as a young 7th grader because she was learning to read at a younger age and could handle LHFHG earlier. On the other hand I have other kids doing the extension packs and using the guides at an older age. So if you use LHFHG as 1st you will finish the guides with your child in 8th grade. There are three more guides after CTC so this works out perfect if LHFHG is first grade.

Anyway that is how I would explain it. A child may finish the cycle earlier but I think the set up works for most to 8th grade. I think it kind of depends where you jump in at HOD how you land and your child's abilities. I am actually excited that one of my children will have "the extra year" so we can explore her interests and perhaps some Bible deeper for her and still have it all covered. Probably we will take the extra year later and start high school material a year earlier. I feel like she will be prepared after finishing all of HOD then later she will have the ability to explore her interests that my other kids might not have to the same extent. Just my thoughts anyway.

[Larissa]

I am interested in hearing the replies as well. I just started HOD this year. I am using BLHFHG with my 2nd grader (and supplementing it with 3rd grade reading material since he's an advanced reader) I am using LHGHG with my kindergartener. However, I am using the LHGHG manuel at half speed. My plan for my kindergartener is to use LHFHG for 2 years. I am using K math, K phonics, and K handwriting. . . and we do that everyday no matter what. All of the other things we do at half speed. So next year, when I start 1st grade with him, we will start in Unit 18, but we'll have new math, phonics, and handwriting for 1st grade level.

In order to do it this way, I have to write it all out in a seperate book, but I'll only have to do that this year. When I use LHFHG with my next two children. . .it will already be done!

It's working out good so far. If anyone has any other ideas. . .I'd be open to them. I wonder if I should have just ordered LHTH, and added on the K math, K phonics, and K handwriting. . . and then just gone on to do LHGHG for 1st grade. It probably would have been alot easier for me!

[water2wine]

I have a 3yr old (4 in Oct.) who will be joining his older brothers in their HOD adventure soon. I'm just wondering when to get him started? Bigger seems a great fit for 3rd grade. I know I can't be wondering what skills he will have and what age he will do Bigger today. But I can't shake it! If my plan is to start him in LHTH next year (he will be 4, then turn 5 in Oct.)-PRE-K, the following year LHTHG (he will be 5, turning 6 in Oct.)-Kindergarten, then Beyond- 1st (starts 6, turns 7 Oct.), then Bigger 2nd OH NO! not 3rd? Then what if I should have bought LHTH for right now? If I chose to go ahead and start where will that leave me for "the plan". Please help if you can. My mind will not rest until the puzzle is solved. I know there maybe no set answer. But hearing how others have plotted it will give me comfort.

Cindy I kind of missed this part of your post. But where does your child place on the placement chart? That would be the first place to start. Then if it is LHTH you would just work through that at his pace and then the next year go to LHFHG. This guide has a lot of flexibility. I ran it at half speed for a while for the sake of my youngest child and we used it for a year and a half really. I just ran it at her speed and some days we did half a day for a while until she was ready for a full day then we went at full speed. Now she is 5 and I think ready for Beyond. She will turn 6 using Beyond. That is young but having gone through LHFHG she is ready for it and I know if I need to slow down I can. Having done Bigger I can see that Beyond really does prepare them to be ready for that. Depending on how quickly we move through Beyond (and I will play that by ear seeing how she does) we may be in Bigger at age 7. She will be 6 when we start but will turn 7 while using it. It is a bit ahead of the guide but I know if she finishes Beyond she will be ready for it. I also know that Bigger has a lot of flexibility in it if I need to slow it down as well I can.

The big thing is to initially get them placed using the placement chart where they absolutely best fit based on their skills and maturity. If you do that then you will be OK from that point on. It's flexible enough to make it work. I hope that helps a bit and actually answers your question.

[jewel7123]

I am currently using LHTH and I think it's really well suited to a 3 or 4 year old child. My 2 1/2 year old is doing well with it but a few things are above her skill level, while my 4 year old is handling all the activities beautifully and I have added extras for her such as ETC primers, Singapore Earlybird 1a and 1b, and Phonics Pathways. I also have the LHFHG manual and I definitely think there is a big jump in skill level between LHTH and LHFHG. I wish there was a guide in between these two because I am going to have to do something else for a year before I can start LHFHG, especially if it's at a 1st grade level. (So I can try to keep my two oldest girls together.)

[MistyP]

This is our first year of using HOD too. DD #1 will be 6 on Monday. She did Abeka K last year. DD #2 is starting K. We are using LHFHG with both but adding in the Emerging Readers and Spelling List #2 from Beyond for DD #1.

DD #1 would do fine with Beyond for 1st grade however one of the reasons I picked HOD was to keep them together and this about the ONLY program I could find. We have loved it and I am looking forward to doing Beyond next year for 1st & 2nd grade....it looks wonderful!

[georgiamomof3]

We're in the same boat! I am currently using LHFHG for k this year. DS 5 is doing just fine, however I think sometimes it's a bit over his head. What we may do is repeat LHFHG next year using the first grade extensions; that way he'll better understand some of the history connections.

We are using LHH for our ds 3. He LOVES having his own "lessons" as he calls it. For our ds5, I feel LHH is not quite enough for him. I may repeat LHH for ds3 next year. We aren't using it every day anyway, so we may just continue with it through next fall. I'd love for him to be ready for LHFHG next year so I don't have to keep repeating books several years in a row!

No real solutions here, just adding my .02.

JoAnna

[jessyb26]

I was just thinking on this topic yesterday (I am a planner) and discussing it with my husband. Our daughter is doing Beyond for first grade and it fits her perfectly. If we continue to do one guide a year then she will be completely done with HOD at the end of 7th. As of right now I am looking at 2 options. Option A: take a break from HOD for one year and use another curriculum...I don't really like this option because of I have been spoiled to how easy HOD is to use and really just love HOD. Option B: to use one of the curriculums for two years using the extension pack during the second year. I think for know I am going to try and not think about the extra year and enjoy Beyond this year and Bigger next year. After that I can decide whether to do Bigger a second year or move on to Preparing. I can just evaluate where she fits on the chart at the end of the year and then decide what to do.



Jessica

[my4sugars]

I have twin daughters, 6, who are currently doing Beyond for 1st grade. We used LHFHG last year for K and loved it. At the beginning of the year, it seemed like the material was over my dds' heads, but I soon watched them blossom and grow under the wonderful teaching. However, I decided that Beyond at full speed would be a stretch for them. There are just some skills that we need to develop first. So we are using Beyond at 1/2 pace for 1st and 2nd grade. My oldest son is now in Bigger for 3rd grade, and I think it is a perfect fit for that age level. Knowing what I do about my girls, having the extra year in Beyond will be a tremendous time of maturing for them. They love our schedule and are so enjoying Beyond. They are getting to do the things their older brother did last year, but it is tweaked to fit their abilities. It does require a bit of planning, but it has been worth it to see the excitement they have for school. I felt like they were wanting more than LHFHG could offer for 1st (especially since we'd already used it) and Beyond is so flexible. You can truly tailor the guides to fit the needs of each child.

[3musketeers]

Ladies,
I am sooo loving what you are sharing. It helps to know I am not alone. I also can't tell you how much I am enjoying reading all the different ways you have used the younger guides. Ideas...it's giving me lot's of ideas. The best part? We all know, we love HOD! If any one else can share there plan...I'd love that too.

[funkmomma71]

I have also tossed this dilemma around in my head and with my husband. I know that this question has been brought up before on these boards, I believe that the so called missing year is deliberate, to give families some flexibility in the pacing of the programs. Which is great, especially if you have achild who needs more time to grow into the material, that is not an issue so far for my dc. She is on the younger end of the age range yet she is blasting through her work and asking for more! I'm praying about it, but I think next year we will do a world geography/world cultures curriculum but use the Bigger guide and DITHOR for our basics and then after that we will go back and use Bigger as written. That should fix our gap problem without a bunch of tweaking. Of course we have eleven months before that happens, so we'll see what God has in store for us at that time.

[MamaBear23Cubs]

As of now, my daughter would end at 8th grade with the final HOD guide to come out. She is doing 4th grade with Preparing. I am doing something different for the next four years so this is our last guide. My son is a 'year' early if we stay on the same path. He would finish HOD's last guide for 7th grade.
My youngest is working along side her brother so she would finish the series for 6th grade. Then you have those to do start at the higher age range so they could finish the guides with a later grade. HTH

[tjswaine]

I am interested in hearing the replies as well. I just started HOD this year. I am using BLHFHG with my 2nd grader (and supplementing it with 3rd grade reading material since he's an advanced reader) I am using LHGHG with my kindergartener. However, I am using the LHGHG manuel at half speed. My plan for my kindergartener is to use LHFHG for 2 years. I am using K math, K phonics, and K handwriting. . . and we do that everyday no matter what. All of the other things we do at half speed. So next year, when I start 1st grade with him, we will start in Unit 18, but we'll have new math, phonics, and handwriting for 1st grade level.

In order to do it this way, I have to write it all out in a seperate book, but I'll only have to do that this year. When I use LHFHG with my next two children. . .it will already be done!

It's working out good so far. If anyone has any other ideas. . .I'd be open to them. I wonder if I should have just ordered LHTH, and added on the K math, K phonics, and K handwriting. . . and then just gone on to do LHGHG for 1st grade. It probably would have been alot easier for me!

It's great to know another Mom has been thinking about this too! My 4 year old will start LHTH and my 6 year old will start LHFHG tomorrow ... I wasn't sure to do with the 4 year old for next year. Your solution looks wonderful. Thanks!

Enjoy your school year ... hey, are you interested in selling a copy of that "separate book"?!

[Polly]

I keep hoping Carrie will want to do one more manual that will be more of a geography/missions orients book for grade 8.