Working through Guides

[momofabcd]

This may be a really dense question. But, here is goes. If a child starts with LHFHG in K, Beyond in 1st, Bigger in 2nd. Will they really be ready for Preparing in 3rd and CTC in 4th? I'm only asking because Preparing seems perfect for 4th and CTC for 5th. Please bring it on with your opinions!!

[annaz]

Not a dense question. It just depends on the child. We're on the latter end of the age scale... We're doing Bigger and dd is 9. I agree that Preparing is great for 4th grade work, but my dd will be in 4th and will be 10. So we're late all the way around. I do always wonder how old Carrie's and Julie's children are in relation to where they're placed. Interesting....
But all I know it that at this point my dd lines up perfectly with the sequence.

[Motherjoy]

For us, we'll be using Preparing as a 4th grade curriculum. We started my oldest in Preparing when he was 4th grade (10) and he had never done the younger guides.

Our family will be using Little Hearts as a first grade guide for the first time in August. It does seem, when you are just looking at the samples, that Little Hearts will be too 'light' for first grade, but I think Carrie has done a good job of not pushing formal academics too early, and really allowing the younger students time to explore and learn more naturally.

So for our family, starting Little Hearts in first grade and then progressing from there is a great fit.

[LeAnna]

For us, we used LHFHG for K with my 4.5 and 5.5. Learning to sit and listen and comphrehend takes some time. It's not learned overnight. We worked slowly, working half pace for several weeks, and then picked up speed. By the end of the year we were at full speed and finished and moved onto Beyond this year. My younger has done pretty good this year with Beyond, but we are stretching it out. She will be just turned 7 and in 1st grade when we go into Bigger, and I feel like it's a bigger jump for her. We will take it slowly at first and I will save some things for Preparing the following year, like English, cursive and DITHR. I have played around with it a little bit, and it seems like for us, that with 2 kids so close in age, that if we stay on the upper end of the guides it fits them better. Now, with my younger, we are going to wait until he is 6 to start K and LHFHG. I feel like he will have matured more and be able to gain more from LHFHG, then if he had started this year. That will put him in the middle of the guides all the way through.

I hope that you can figure out what works best for you and your family! We have enjoyed it so much!!!!

[crlacey]

The newest catalog does say that Preparing is a 3-4 grade guide and CTC is a 4-5 grade guide. I know the idea is that if your kids have worked through all the guides, they are prepared for the next guide when it's time. Though I too share your concerns since my DD is doing the same progression as the original poster.

[Kathleen]

We're slowing the younger guides down by going half-speed AND only doing 4 days per week. So, my dd started LHFHG at age 5, but we only got through unit 13 this year. (I was also letting little brother tag along for most of the year.) We'll finish next year and begin Beyond when we're done. I'm thinking that if she's 9 when we hit Preparing, that will be perfect. I see that you have the same age gap I do...so if I were you I'd just feel free to slow it down and only go 4 days a week like the big brother & sister do. We do a few extras on Fridays here...and the little ones only do extras, too.

Kathleen

[mariaw]

We jumped in with HOD using Preparing for 3rd grade with my oldest dd. We hadn't done any of the previous guides. I will say, that it was a challenge for a good portion of the first semester. She had to grow up a lot in terms of doing independent work and staying on task. We took it slow, though, and I decided to stretch it out over 1.5 years. Now, after a year, she is definitely able to handle the work well.

It really depends on your child, but HOD is so easy to speed up or slow down as needed.

[momofabcd]

Thanks for your replies. I asked this question because, although Preparing is for 3rd or 4th and CTC is for 4th or 5th, it seems that Preparing might be a little tough for a 3rd grader and a 5th grader might get more out of CTC. My dd 5 is an eager learner, and loves the pencil so I'm not worried about her academic abilities. I guess I'll find out I do like the idea of only 4 days a week with the other guides, so maybe that will stretch the first three guides out enough.

[DHT1999]

I think the child will be ready because each guide teaches the skills gradually and yet progressively. I think the important thing is to go through a guide at a pace that the child can complete with success. We didn't find HOD until this year so my oldest son missed out on some of the foundational learning that occurs in the earlier guides. He seemed to place into Creation to Christ with the placement chart but I was concerned that he wasn't quite where he needed to be in regards to written narrations. So, I backed him up to Preparing, using that for 5th grade, with the Extensions. It has been a perfect fit for him and I am very thankful that he didn't go right into CtC. He could have done CtC but he has worked more confidentially with Preparing, so I am satisfied. And, now I know he will do a great job with CtC.

My youngest will have the benefit of HOD from second grade on up, so I think he will be ready for Preparing by 4th grade. He has sat in on almost everything in Preparing this year and he has really loved all the books. I think he will be ready for the writing in Preparing after he goes through Bigger Hearts but I may have to slow the pace of Bigger Hearts down a bit.

I think it just depends on how soon a child starts HOD and his or her own development.

[3sweeties]

I think Preparing is a 3rd/4th grade program, so we will be using it with my DS for 3rd/4th grade. I would really like for him to not get to CTC until 5th, if possible. We won't start Preparing until October (we took Bigger slowly, 4 days a week) and then if he needs to slow it down, we will. I think Preparing in one year for a 3rd grader would definitely be challenging and for my second DS, who will be doing LHFHG for K this fall and Beyond for 1st the next year (may slow that down), I will definitely slow Bigger down to 2 years if I can and do it over 2nd and 3rd grade. I didn't start my first DS with HOD until this year, so we immediately started with Bigger and the first half of the year was a challenge for him and he is what I consider an advanced reader/writer. Hope that makes sense and helps! I think it is definitely doable to follow that order if you slow down the younger guides just as Kathleen does!

[brenm37]

This was our first year with HOD, and I started my 3rd grade and 5th grade daughters in Preparing. It was a bit challenging for my 3rd grader at first and I did allow her to skip a few assignments at times, but she ususally didn't want to. The 5th grader was not challenged enough, so I added the extensions at times for her. We also did DITHOR, our first year with that. I think Preparing is a great 4th grade program, with CTC being good for 5th. My current 5th grader was really chomping at the bit for her own program, so I allowed her to start CTC a few weeks ago. We have all been pleased with that decision. I toyed with the idea of moving my younger back to Bigger next year (her 4th grade year), as I feel she is not ready for CTC. But, she doesn't want to do American History (we have done lots before) and wants to get into CTC. So, I agreed to that, knowing that she will need more help than my older and I also plan to start half speeed and not go full speed until she is ready for it. If we take 2 years to go thru it , I am fine with that also. I have a K'er that dabbled in LHFHG off and on and I plan to start her half speed in Beyond for 1st, also taking 2 years with it, if needed, as I feel that Bigger is a great 3rd grade program. This is the first year of schooling that I was not searching for something else to switch to once this year was over. My daughters and I have been very pleased with HOD and I can't wait to see and read all the new books!
Brenda

[Tukata]

I like the idea of half-speed/4 days a week...for those of you that do, do you add in other stuff then to make up the hours (like music lessons, foreign language, etc.)? In our state we need a certain amount of hours (although I don't think anyone actually checks). But, still, I would like to be faithful when I sign a paper that I will get in such and such time to do it.
Thanks!
Erin

[3sweeties]

Yes! We have "Freaky Fridays" at our house and do Artist Study, Classical Music, educational games, writing journal, Explode the Code, Math (we do this everyday), Independent Reading time, practice math facts (use math dice or math games on computer), Storytime, Nature Study, and more -- I vary it on each Friday a little bit. My DS really, really enjoys Fridays and we will continue with them next year! HTH!

[my3sons]

Hi Annaz - just thought I'd hop in this great discussion to mention that Carrie's middle ds did PHFHG as a 4th. grader, and my oldest ds did PHFHG as a 3rd. grader. It was a perfect fit for both of them. I had done all of the HOD guides previously though, which just as a pp said - if dc do the HOD guide before it, they'll be ready for the guide after it. With Carrie and I's next duo of boys, same deal. Her ds is on the older end, and mine is on the younger end of the target age ranges, though I'm moving him to the middle because that's a better fit for him by going half-speed. So, in summation, I think the target age range really is necessary, as dc can do it for either of those years and be very successful, and if they are doing the extensions - the guides work well for combining for those ages too. One other little personal thing I'll share - the reason I had started by having my dc on the very young age range of the guides was to convince my dh that our dc would excel in homeschooling. I guess I felt pressure here, as I was trying to show my dh that it would go well and they would compare just fine to my dh's friends' children. We're secure in our homeschooling now, and united in wanting to keep going with it, but it was a pressure I had at the onset that still is lingering in the back of my mind, even though it's not so much of a pressure anymore. I think if you just look at each child and determine the best pacing for them individually, going half-speed at the onset of a new guide if a child needs time to grow into it, you'll be a-o-k!
In Christ,
Julie

[water2wine]

I was worried about being ready for the future guides as well. I am really finding it is so true that if they do well in the previous guide they will be more than ready for the next. I have two doing Beyond one is 6 now and one is 8 yet I can see each will be at the perfect place for Bigger next year. Even though they are individually at different levels in math and LA they really will both be ready for the next guide. It just seems to work out perfectly that they do become ready for the next guide. I think your plans will work out perfect. If by chance you feel you are needing more time slowing down is a good option if needed. But I think you are going to find you are right on target. If you hit a bump the ladies here are really nice to help.