To combine or not to combine...that is the question

[threegreatkids]

Bumping this in case anyone else would like to share their thoughts and experiences. I'm still wrestling with this question to some degree but I feel peace in knowing that either way it will go well with HOD.

[ash]

I too have been struggling with this issue as we plan to begin using HOD as soon as I can make a decision who needs to be where! I plan on having a 10 yo in Bigger, still not sure on the 6 yo (originally wanted in Bigger too but now thinking Beyond or LHFHG) and considering slowly starting LHFHG for our soon to be 5 yo in March. Really didn't want to do 3 different guides at a time. Another thing is because of the way they place if I do them all separately I will be doing each guide from Bigger and up 3 years in a row! Won't that get old for me??

[Carrie]

Ash,

As far as your thoughts go, I'd definitely combine the 5 and 6 year old within a program for the long haul. Due to their ages, Little Hearts would be the likely program. If your 6 year old is very advanced, you could add portions of the 3R's from Beyond for that child (while still combining with the 5 year old for the rest of Little Hearts). You will defnitely want to reap the benefits of having your kiddos who are close together in age be combined for as much as suits them.

If, however, your 5 and 6 year olds will soon be 6 and 7, then perhaps Beyond would be a better combining option?

Blessings,
Carrie

[ash]

Thank you, Carrie...
I know I have been all over with my decisions on placing! Originally, I wanted to combine my oldest and middle but after great advice from all I realized even though I was desparate to combine that was probably not a good fit. My kiddos are just turned 10 yo son - 4th grade (decided to do Preparing w/him), 6 turning 7 - 1st grade daughter in June, and 4 turning 5 - pre-k son end of March). The younger two get along great and I am sure would work really well together I was just concerned because our middle child does so well with her school work right now. She is a great reader and could probably do Bigger, but after looking over and over the options we thought we would do Beyond with her because she falls in the middle age-wise and we could always add the extensions later if we absolutely needed to for her. I do believe she may even out with her excelling as our oldest did though in another year or so. Then I thought about combining the younger two because that would be great for me but I was just worried about doing LHFHG with her and that it might not challenge her and then to doing Beyond in third grade might not be a good challenge for her. I'm sure by fourth she would be ok in Bigger but then what if my youngest who would be in 2nd couldn't handle it. I don't understand how it works when people talk about doing the left side of one and the right side of another guide. Are you just always a year ahead in one part of it? Then what happens at the end? Do they still flow together?

I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts after knowing my questions on these things! As far as where our almost 5 year old is concerned he could definitely do LHFHG. He can sit and listen pretty well and we just began phonics this week. Have been doing all "pre-k" stuff since late fall. He's not really ready for much writing although we are still working on it. He's very shaky with his pencil and scissors and gets a little frustrated with it sometimes. This is just a wonderful place! I love to feel like I am able to make an informed decision!

Ashley

[Carrie]

Ashley,

It sounds like you have been hard at work pondering your possible options. With HOD, the left side of our guides is the "Learning Through History" side of the plans. This encompasses anything related to the history study, and in the younger guides (prior to Bigger Hearts) also includes the science. The right side of the guide includes plans for the 3R's (all language arts areas and math). Once you get to Bigger Hearts on up, the science moves to the right side of the plans. From Preparing Hearts on up, other skills rotate in and out of the right side of the guide, depending on whether they are related to the history study or not. If they are history-related they go on the left side. If they are not history-related, they go on the right side. These may include things such as poetry, Bible study, devotionals, etc. along with the 3 R's.

So, when moms mention doing the left side (or history side) with both kiddos and doing separate right sides, they intend for history on the left side to be done together with your kiddos from the same guide and the 3R's being specialized with separate guides for each child. In this type of a scenario, you could do the left side of Little Hearts with your 5 and 7 year old and add the right side of Beyond for your 7 year old to up the level of the 3R's. Your 5 year old would do all of Little Hearts as is.

Since you will have a 7 year old, if you did combine your 2 kiddos in Little Hearts you could add from the Optional Supplemental Literature in the Appendix as time allowed to raise the level of the material. You could also add some additional science reading to raise that level as needed. If you did try the combining within Little Hearts option and found it wasn't enough for your 7 year old, you could always move her up to doing all of Beyond quite easily without losing much as you'd already own the Beyond guide for her 3R's.

As you go through the years, you would borrow the 3R's from the guide above for your 7 year old to continually raise that level for her. This actually works well, as it makes sure that the 3R's are continually at a level needed by your child, yet the more flexible history/science/storytime/geography/Bible can be combined and enjoyed together.

Just a thought.

Blessings,
Carrie

[brenm37]

I have combined my 8 and 10 year old daughters this year in Preparing. The 10 year old is doing fine, but sometimes the 8 year old gets overwhelmed. It has been a good year overall though and both girls have said they enjoy the program. With that said, I know my 10 year old is ready for CTC, but my 8 year old is not. I am moving her to Bigger next year as I can't wait to do the guide also! We have discussed this and both are fine with it. I think it will be enjoyable and definitely doable. I also have a 6 year old doing Sonlight K who I will transition to Beyond when she is reading better and I feel she is ready for the skills in that guide.
Brenda

[MomtoJGJE]

I started out this year with three programs and a baby... I was doing Beyond with my 6yo, LHFHG with my now 5yo, and LHTH with my 3yo. Everyone was doing a great job in their programs, and were perfectly placed, EXCEPT I was getting tired of doing all the separate programs... so after a few weeks I never did LHTH and LHFHG on the same days, and sometimes not even all week, or I'd just do part of each of them... Then I just stopped because I felt like if I couldn't do it all then I needed to not do it at all. We stuck with the 3Rs for the now 5yo, but just stopped everything else for her and the 3yo... I kept going with Beyond, because she's the one that counts now (meaning I have to keep records now)

So then came January and I was trying to figure out what to do for the 2010-2011 school year.... and I thought of a million different possibilities and other people suggested other possibilities, but I never felt any of them were right. Then Carrie suggested that instead of combining people UP or instead of doing 3 separate programs, that I should combine my 5yo DOWN with my 3yo in LHTH, but keep doing LHFHG right side. We've been doing that about 6 weeks now and it's working GREAT!!! Everyone loves school and we all have a great time!

So now, we will finish Beyond in May/June... I'll do about 6 weeks where we don't actually sit down and do school, but I'll teach my then 7yo how to read recipes and how to safely use the stove, etc (hey, reading, math, science, home ec....) and keep going with the middle two doing LHTH and the 3Rs on their level. Then in July/August we'll start the 7yo in Bigger, half speed until I get used to it. Then in January (or earlier depending on when we get finished with LHTH) we'll start the middle two on LHFHG half speed until I see where each one is in regards to skills. We will either keep it half speed for a while or move on to full speed for the older one and only doing the right side every other day with the little one.

Then sometime after that gets going well we'll start LHTH slowly with the baby (who will be 2) and spread that out over a couple of years... likely having the older two each do one day with her a week.

I was so concerned about how to do it where I wasn't doing manuals back to back that it was stealing the joy out of it... now, with Carrie's advice, they beg for school, and it gets done!! and everyone typically works so hard at their own stuff that we get done in about 1.5-2 hours! and with almost completely retention!

[Carrie]

LoraBeth,

I'm so glad to hear that your new changes are working well! Thanks for sharing! I'm praising the Lord with you today.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Mississippi Mama]

We have dc ages 10, 6, and 2, and we do not combine for anything at this time. This year, I am doing CTC, Beyond, and LHTH. It is a perfect fit for our family. I think combining works well in many situations for many reasons, but for us it works well not to combine. Our dc are all between 3 and 4 years apart, and their abilities range widely. This is one of the major reasons I do not combine. They have different attention levels right now, and I like for the time they are required to do school to match this. I do school for 15-20 minutes with my 2 yo, for 2 1/2 hours with my 6 yo, and for 4 hours with my 10 yo. I like this variation because no one feels stretched too far or not far enough. They also have different reading and writing abilities, which really factors into what they can truly do and take from a given program. I want them each to take the most from each guide they possibly can.

Their Bible knowledge and heart level of faith vary greatly as well. Another major reason I am doing separate guides is so I can meet with each one individually and talk personally about their faith. I vary how much I share about my faith, what I share about my past/current joys and struggles with being a Christian, and what character traits each need to work on or are doing well with. I like that there is no comparison between them in this regard, and they can feel safe to share their insecurities, questions they may be too embarrassed to ask otherwise, and how they are feeling about their walk with the Lord personally.

Another reason I don't combine is both my dh and I feel strongly that we do not want our dc exposed to mature content too early, especially in the academic areas of history and literature. I am also very comfortable teaching multiple programs and enjoy the variety.

I believe it takes me less time to teach 3 separate programs than it would to tweak by stretching or modifying things in 1 program (or even 2) for them to be combined. We are done by lunch time every day, and that suits us well. We get up and do school first thing each day until we are done, and then we have the rest of the day and evening for other things. This brings me to another reason we combine - our dc have all afternoon and evening to be together. This gives them ample time to read, play, create, compete, and work together.

Finally, one of my goals is to stay very close and in tune with each of our dc. Teaching them separately lets me do this. I am able to spend time with all of the dc together many, many hours of the day between open afternoons and evenings, but it is much harder for me to spend individual time with them. I am concerned about "losing my dc's hearts" otherwise. In fact, in the summer, when we don't homeschool, I always feel much more distant from the dc - even though we are all together all of the time. I ended up trying to carve time out with each of the dc in different ways, but none are as successful as simply homeschooling them separately, and giving my full attention to each of them individually for a time each day. I think we can "lose our dc" if we lose touch with them, and I just am not that great about spending time alone with any of them without homeschooling them separately.

Many of these reasons could be specific to my family. Other moms may do a great job of spending time individually with their dc, or may find that everyone shares very freely during group Biblical discussions, or maybe they thrive on tweaking a guide and combining all together. Or, maybe their dc are in activities at night and on the weekends, and school is the only time they can carve out all together. That is why I think that it is important curriculums offer the options of either combining or not combining to parents. It is such a personal choice that has no one right answer. Taking the time to weigh what's best for our families helps each of us feel more confident in what we're doing because we know our goals. Blessedly, HOD has enough options that both combining and teaching separately can be done well and enjoyed to the fullest. Thanks for starting this thread, and I hope more ladies continue to add their thoughts here as it is so helpful for others thinking through the same things.

In Christ,
Julie

Wow! There are several points here I had never thought of and I'm so glad I read this older post. There are lots of benefits to not combining kids. This is our plan, although I've always combined. Yes, there are times when one is needed more than the other as far a circumstances go. I feel the Lord leading us to not combine this year. Thanks for the help!

[Joyfulmomma]

I'm so glad the post was given a bump. I too appreciate reading through this older post. It comes at a time when I'm considering separating my girls for next year. This is our first year with HOD. I'm doing 3 guides. RtoR plus extras for highschool with my 13 dd. Preparing with my 9 and 11 dds and Little Hearts with my almost 6 dd. I also have a 3 dd and 17 ds. I'm finding that my 11 dd is not working to her full potential even with the extensions in Preparing and the two girls compete too often with each other. They have very different strengths and lament over eachothers perceived weaknesses. The 11 dd places in CtoC but for ease of first year, at Carrie's suggestion, we combined in Preparing. In many ways, Preparing is wonderful for both girls. It's so easy and open and go for me to teach them together. We are all enjoying the storytime together. I'm also grateful for the gentle introduction to CM style learning which is completely new to our family. I'm pondering skipping 11 dd ahead to RtoR next year and having 9 in CtoC. Personality wise, I think they'll do better in their own guides. Of course that would have me teaching from 5 guides next year. LHTH with then 4dd, Beyond with then 7dd, CtoC with then 10dd, RtoR with then 12dd, and MMtoM with then 14dd. Has anyone done 5 guides? Am I totally crazy for thinking this will work? Sorry this is soooo long. Thank you in advance.

[my3sons]

Hmmm - I am thinking CTC, RTR, and MTMM along with LHTH and Beyond may be too much to bite off. Maybe before doing 5 guides, you could just have older dd do more with PHFHG independently, and keep the Storytime together? This post I recently responded to addressed this very thing...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12668

What do you think?
In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

joyfulmama,

I think you'll find that CTC is a jump up in level and is more independent, so you may just be able to keep your pair together finding that they aren't really "together" as much as you'd think. As long as you keep the 'I' boxes independent, they will each be able to soar in their own way, while still sharing some things in the guide. I wouldn't hustle to bump one child up to RTR, as the jump is a pretty big one!

I'd be more inclined to start the pair in CTC and if you need to slow CTC down for awhile for the next child in line do that. Then, you could just keep going forward with the older child in CTC.

Anyway, just a few thoughts to ponder.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Joyfulmomma]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. The real issue with the 11dd in Preparing in not independence. She is currently doing the reading about history box, science, rotating, and history project box on her own. She is used to being more independent than she is this year. We do the poetry, language arts, and Bible boxes together. She is using R&S English 5, longer written assignments, the extensions, extra vocabulary, and added science to beef it up for 6th grade. One main concern is that I don't feel the CHOW book is suitable for the 6th grade level. She feels the book talks down to her and frankly I agree. The extensions are wonderful, but are they enough history? The girls don't work on much together, but they compare each others work. For example, Sarah will look at her younger sisters drawing and feel sad because she thinks she isn't as good as her younger sister. I realize this is a heart issue that we are working on, however, part of me would like to alleviate some of that outshined feeling she tends to have.

I made the switch to HOD because I was blown away by the Christ centeredness. I made a leap of faith and ordered without ever having seen a guide or knowing anyone who had ever heard of HOD much less used it. God is so good. I feel like we've come home. But, I don't think Sarah is placed well. I've only been using the curriculum a short time, but in my little experience, it seems the really beauty of these guides are using them as written. I love how the 9 dd works in Preparing, it flows perfectly just right for a 4th grader, and the Little Hearts is fantastic for my 6dd. I'd like Sarah to be able to use a guide as written without so much tweaking to make it fit. Does this make sense?

Do you think I could bump up Sarah into RtoR and still run 3 guides? My older daughter is in unit 12 so I'd have to start her over at the beginning. That way she wouldn't need to do anything but the guide, just as it is. It would also put her right in line to use all the high school guides. Would it be alright to change guides 9 units into the school year? I love this curriculum and want it to work for all my kids.

[netpea]

Would it be alright to change guides 9 units into the school year? I love this curriculum and want it to work for all my kids.

I don't think this would be much of an issue. Many people don't have their guides line up with the calendar of the school year. Many just stop at whatever unit they were on at the end of the school year and pick back up again in the fall. My only concern would be making sure you have the girls placed properly. Do you think she places in RTR?

[mom23]

I made the switch to HOD because I was blown away by the Christ centeredness. I made a leap of faith and ordered without ever having seen a guide or knowing anyone who had ever heard of HOD much less used it. God is so good. I feel like we've come home. But, I don't think Sarah is placed well. I've only been using the curriculum a short time, but in my little experience, it seems the really beauty of these guides are using them as written. I love how the 9 dd works in Preparing, it flows perfectly just right for a 4th grader, and the Little Hearts is fantastic for my 6dd. I'd like Sarah to be able to use a guide as written without so much tweaking to make it fit. Does this make sense?

Do you think I could bump up Sarah into RtoR and still run 3 guides? My older daughter is in unit 12 so I'd have to start her over at the beginning. That way she wouldn't need to do anything but the guide, just as it is. It would also put her right in line to use all the high school guides. Would it be alright to change guides 9 units into the school year? I love this curriculum and want it to work for all my kids.

I think placement is hands down the hardest part of coming to HOD. I think you're very wise to realize this now and I wouldn't hesitate to bump her up where she's placing immediately. I have a child I re-placed immediately and a child I didn't. The first one placed correctly took off and soared with HOD at his level, and the other one (she was placed too low) floundered and struggled out of boredom and frustration. I finally took the plunge over a year later, skipping most of a guide with her, and she finally found her stride within the first couple of weeks. I'd say bump her up now, rather than watching her struggle! It's not a big deal at all to do it 9 units into the guide. My 3 kids are at 3 different places or Units in their guides, and I actually like that. We're not struggling through everyone beginning new things all at once-we have a chance to get one kid comfortable with the new guide before the next kid is ready to start a new one.