Need advice...to combine or not

[Yaya68]

Hello,

Last yr we attempted to do LHTH for 5yo ds and LHFHG for 7yo ds. Well, we started off with a bang and then fizzled somewhere along the road . We continued with reading and math and sadly that is all I could muster. Had lots going on around here with health and family issues. Anyway, I am gearing up once again and I need help in figuring out how to better tackle this so that we have a successful ending next spring.

DSs are 6 & 8. They are reading...not super readers, but they are progressing...and I would say that comprehensionally speaking they are rather close.

Here is what I am leaning towards doing...LHFHG with 6yo and BLHFHG with 8yo. Unless, I do both with BLHFHG and move as slow as needed for littlest ds. However, I already feel that 8yo may be trailing behind and would it be fair to slow things down for the sake of 6yo?? Would it be silly to do 2 cores with kiddos close in age? Will it set us up for another fizzler year? Circumstances are different this time around, but health concerns are chronic and therefore something to be considered. I sure could use some help in deciding.

TIA & blessings,

Sonya

[happyhome]

I am no expert- we did Beyond last year for my for my then 6 and 8 year old and some of LHTH for my 4 year old. Due to house remodel, my mom's health issues and other circumstances I would say we fizzled quite a bit also but managed to finish out the year. What I found in combining however, was that my older daughter was restless while my younger was being pulled along. I did DITHOR with the older and phonics with the younger and added many things in for my older to beef up Beyond. This year I am going to try Preparing with my older and Bigger 1/2 speed with the younger. The way I look at it, that is where they both place on the placement chart and what advice I have been given here. If it is really too much, I can always combine. In your situation, I would say try to do both, if it is too much, then you can always slow down or modify- especially for your youngest. Just because you don't perfectly finiash a guide doesn't mean you have failed:) Last year for my youngest, I simply had to say let's focus on math, phonics and reading, and learning to enjoy a great read loud. Those goals were enough for her and gave me the ability to keep peace in my house.

I will pray God will give you peace about whatever decision you make.

[Yaya68]

Thanks happy home for you advice!

[homefire]

I'm in the same boat this year. My two oldest are only 18 month apart so I felt that SURELY it was unnecessary to separate them, but after honestly looking at the placement chart and spending a few days doing "schoolish" type things to REALLY observe them as individuals I decided to do Beyond and LHFHG and think it's going to be a great fit for them both. The wonderful thing about homeschooling is that if it's not working for a child you have the option of changing it so it does!

[8arrows]

I will be your voice from the other perspective. I always combine. I will be combining my 6 and 7/8 year olds in Beyond this year. I am not worried a bit. I also combine my 5th, 6th, and 9th grader. As the children get older there are extensions for the older child. That has worked out well for our family. I separate for math and English, but as for the rest we combine. I tried separating before, and the work just doesn't get done. There are too many books for me to juggle and too much switching around of subjects for my personality. I always combined my oldest two and they have both done very well on yearly testing and college entrance tests. HOD didn't have their upper levels out for these two, but I taught them with a similar approach until high school. I am really looking forward to doing HOD with my next high schooler this year. You will know what is best for your family, but combining is the best approach for my family.

[farmfamily]

Did you look at your younger ds on the placement chart? In which areas do you think you'd need to slow BLHFHG down for him?

You should probably share a little more about your younger son before you get really knowledgeable advice on this, but I'll tell you what I think based on what you already said:

I think that I would try to combine them if possible. I don't think you'd need to slow down the left side of Beyond, and the skills on the right side can be tailored for each student. If your 8 year old is doing reading and math etc. at his level he won't be trailing behind. It is when you reach Bigger that you may find you need to slow down or go half speed for a bit for the sake of your younger son. At that point there will be extensions for your older one (if necessary), so you needn't worry about him getting behind even if you went half speed for a bit. Also if combining really wasn't working you could uncombine at that point. I think it is easier to uncombine later than to combine later. (Either making an older one repeat a guide or skipping a guide for a younger one seem like tough choices to make).

This year we are combining my 6 and almost 8 year-old daughters in Beyond. It is going very well, though their skills are very different. My younger one is just starting spelling list 1 and the emerging readers, while my older one is almost finished with Rod and Staff English 2 and level 2 dictation, and she has almost completed a full year of DITHOR. We are currently on Unit 8, and I feel like both my girls are thriving in Beyond!

HTH

[Yaya68]

Farmfamily you have given me something to think about. I would personally like to combine so that life is more manageable 'round here. After looking closer at the placement chart...

6 yo ds places in LHFHG for these areas:
reading
writing
grammar
history
science
poetry

6 yo places in BLHFHG for these areas:
math
Bible
storytime

8 yo ds places at BLHFHG for all areas except science...where he places in LHFHG

What do you think?

[farmfamily]

Others may be more knowledgeable in this, but it sounds like maybe your younger one isn't ready for Beyond. In the earlier post you said they were both reading, but I guess your younger one is more in the category of "starting" than "finishing up" phonics? If he's not ready to start copying for 5-10 minutes (you can write it out on kindergarten-lined paper for him to copy each word directly underneath), or study some spelling words (they start out really easy like "man" etc) then you would probably be dragging him along in Beyond and things would just get harder as you move on to other guides. It's not fun for anyone if your child is placed in a guide that's a little too hard (been there, done that!).

Do you feel your younger one is close to being able to handle these skills? You could only do 5 spelling words a week for a bit and just have him try copying for 5 minutes or so, and then work up to more. When you get to Bigger, and you have extensions available you could easily slow to half speed for a while to get him up to speed (all the while you can do 3Rs full speed for your oldest and extensions if necessary).

You will know best what your son can handle. From what you shared in your most recent post, though, it seems that your original plan of Little Hearts may be best for him. My six-year-old has surprised me with quick progress in writing ability, but I've heard that writing can be harder for boys (and it was harder for my older daughter). It's hard for me to know without seeing exactly what he can do.

You can do Little Hearts and have him do the math in Beyond.

Perhaps some others can give you advice on how to make doing those two guides manageable... Could you perhaps combine them for Bible Study and Storytime in Beyond and do the rest separately? I'd hate to advise you to skip the Thornton Burgess books, though, because they are so great! My kids adored them! Bedtime stories, maybe?

[farmfamily]

I had another thought - how far did you get in LHFHG with your older son? Did he enjoy it? If you have, say, 10 units or less left, you could purchase Beyond and have your older son do all the 3Rs from in there wherever he places, and finish out LHFHG with the two boys combined. You could beef up Little Hearts by reading some of the supplemental titles to your older son, and focus on phonics and writing with your younger son. I suggest this because it sounds like you would really appreciate being able to combine. It has been a blessing to our family to have our two girls learning together. It makes our school day go by faster and the girls love it this way.

[my3sons]

I had another thought - how far did you get in LHFHG with your older son?...

I think this would be so helpful information for us to advise you as well, could you please share some details about which boxes you did all of, and what unit you worked through? I can empathize with a difficult year healthwise and familywise- so know whatever your response is (like even if it is "we did Unit 1 totally and just the rest of the year we did math and reading" - no big deal! We are all homeschool moms here, and are all well aware of the blessings yet challenges our role gives.

In Christ,
Julie

[netpea]

I think it depends on the children. my middle child exceled at doing her older sibs work because she wanted the competition, while my oldest is not motivated to work at the level he truly should be at. they combined well. now that he is in public school, my middle is not challenged by keeping up with him so that changed the dynamics of her education.

[Yaya68]

Truthfully, we got through unit 6 with LHFHG. We did enjoy what we did do and we kept up with Bible memorization, Reading Lessons, and MUS.

[my3sons]

Truthfully, we got through unit 6 with LHFHG. We did enjoy what we did do and we kept up with Bible memorization, Reading Lessons, and MUS.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I can understand how some years the learning comes from how to join together as a family and turn to the Lord in our difficulties, albeit heath concerns or something else. In light of what you have shared here, I would enjoy combining your 2 dc in LHFHG, starting at Unit 7. I would also get the Beyond Little Hearts TG and use it for your older ds's LA and math. I think you would really enjoy this, and combining them seems like a truly good placement fit overall. Part of school being more of a challenge for dc is having to do all subject areas every day. This adds time to the day, and makes learning more deep. It really does take some time for dc to get used to this, and I think doing LHFHG fully each day will be a step up in challenge and learning for your oldest as well as your younger. When the pair gets to Bigger Hearts eventually, you can have your older do the extensions if you would like. With heath concerns being chronic, and life being busy, I think this placement plans for that nicely. I also think you will really enjoy doing LHFHG with your 2 dc! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[farmfamily]

I think Julie has given excellent advice. If I were you I wouldn't hesitate to combine them in Little Hearts. It will add more challenge for your older one to add in all the subject areas, and of course he will still be steadily progressing in his 3Rs if you buy the Beyond guide and do the appropriate LA/math. I would start like that and see how everyone does. If he needs a little more, you could read some of the supplemental lit. from Little Hearts, or you could do the Storytime from Beyond and repeat it next year with different books. But that would only be if you felt he needed it. My 8 year-old just finished Little Hearts a couple of months ago (she repeated some of it to combine with her sister) and she enjoyed it - especially the Thornton Burgess books. I think your sons will love it! Doing the activities together will add interest to their school days.

[my3sons]

Good additional thoughts by farmfamily! I also just realized you could probably school 4 days a week with a 5th day off with this plan, as you've already completed 6 units. Just thought I'd share that idea!

In Christ,
Julie