Intro and please tell me if this is crazy!

[momtomanymohr]

Hi,
I'm Rebecca, mom to 8. I'm new to HOD but a long time homeschooler (my oldest is almost 17).
After many years of designing my own curriculum, I'm finding that I need something pre-written, organized and easy to follow. HOD seems to be a good fit. So I've been trying to place my kids. After spending time with the placement chart in the front of the catalog, this is what I've come up with:
Oldest: age almost 17- has 1 1/2 years left. He will be staying with what we've done previously since he's so close to done.
2nd: age almost 16, going into 10th grade. MtMM with DITHOR seems the best fit for him for this year.
3rd: age 12, going into 7th grade. CTC with DITHOR 4/5 is a perfect fit.
4th: age almost 11, going into 6th grade. Prepping with DITHOR 4/5 seems the best fit. I did look at CTC but he's just not there with his writing or math yet.
5th: age 8, going into 3rd grade. Bigger is a perfect fit.
6th: age 6, going into 1st. She could do either Little hearts or Bigger hearts but seems most appropriate for Bigger hearts going at a slightly slower pace (maybe over 2 years). She's completed too many of the books in little hearts to do that, I believe.
7th: age 4, in PK. Little Hands is a perfect fit! He definitely needs something this year but not too much which would be frustrating and overwhelming for him.
8th: age 4 months. Needs nothing but attention and being held at this point : ).
So is it absolutely crazy to consider doing 6 guides?
The only ones that could possibly be combined are the 3rd (age 12) and 4th (age 11) possibly in CTC but not sure this would be good as they are COMPLETE opposites and very competitive plus the 11 year old would struggle with the writing (spelling/dictation and cursive are still troublesome for him). Plus the older is very much a take charge, need to be older and bigger child. Or the 5th (age and 6th (age 6) possibly in Beyond but thinking the 8 year old would be bored.
Any ideas or thoughts for me?
Also, for the ages I'm considering, how much of CTC and Prepping would be independent? Could they do most of it independently since they are in the upper ages/extension package sections?

As an aside, I remember meeting Carrie years ago in CO at a conference there when all she had written was DITHOR. I think my oldest two were in 1st/2nd or 2nd/3rd. Time goes much too fast!
Thanks,
momtomanymohr

[4Hispraise]

Welcome! And WOW! I (with only two kids, nine years apart), really can't give any useful advice. I am sure that the wonderful ladies with large families will chime in helpful words of wisdom.

[8arrows]

I think 6 guides is too many!! 4 is the most I have heard of, and remember, you also have the 17 year old. I have 8 children as well. Remember, the guides are meant to cover a four year stretch with extensions. For example, I will combine my 6th, 7th and 10th graders in one guide next year. Yes, I know that is a 5 year stretch, but it is working for us. The 6th grader, fortunately, is able to work up, and I add for the 10th grader. Then, I combine the 1st and 3rd graders. The 4 year old tags along for now with her own simple phonics and math. I have two graduated now, so I am schooling less, but the two older where combined as well. I will give some thought to combining ideas and get back to the boards tomorrow.

[Motherjoy]

Hey and welcome! I'm a mom of 8 too. Of course, my littlest three aren't schooling right now, but I'm planning on putting them in groups whenever I can.

So, one idea is to keep the kids together on the left side (history) of one book and then individualize on the right side of the books. Right now, my 6,7,and 8yo are working in Beyond. The 8yo does math from the Bigger guidebook, for example. Next year all three will do Bigger. The younger ones will do spelling lists and not dictation. They also will not learn cursive next year, but the following year when that group does Preparing.

Now, MTMM almost doesn't count in your guide count, because its almost totally independent. My oldest is finishing it up right now. I do Worthy Words with him once a week, read his written narrations, listen to his oral, and answer questions about English or math. Really, its maybe 30 minutes a day.

So, I'd put the 6yo and 8yo into Beyond. If the 8yo is in need of higher math or LA, then have him/her do the right side of Bigger.

I'd put the 11yo and 12yo into Preparing with extensions for the older and DITHOR 4/5. Preparing was the first HOD guide we used and its my favorite!! Seriously, you don't want your 12yo to miss it!!!

Just some tips, but you know your children the best. I haven't done four guides yet, we're only running three and we only do LIttle Hands a few times a week (because I have a 2yo, 1yo and baby who keep me busy!)

ETA: If you already used to doing a different level of texts with each child, then running more guides might not be that hard for you.

[8arrows]

So, I'd put the 6yo and 8yo into Beyond. If the 8yo is in need of higher math or LA, then have him/her do the right side of Bigger.

I'd put the 11yo and 12yo into Preparing with extensions for the older and DITHOR 4/5. Preparing was the first HOD guide we used and its my favorite!! Seriously, you don't want your 12yo to miss it!!!

____________________________________
I did log back on, and I agree with the pp. If the 11 and 12 don't work well together, have the 12 year old do more of the work independently and just check in with the children separately. It will still be less work than 2 separate guides because you will be familiar with the material.

Also, my 8 year old is not bored with Beyond at all. She is reading well and is ready for cursive. She did the spelling words, dictation, and language from Bigger this year. She also did math at her level.

[MomtoJGJE]

First of all, if everyone is appropriately placed, I don't think 6 guides would be insane. I have four going right now, and obviously will have five going at some point. None of mine are close enough in abilities to combine, and I don't see the youngers being able to catch up THAT much because we are in about every other year. I do have one at the beginning of Bigger, end of LHFHG, and middle of LHTH, so those aren't separated by a whole guide in between each really. But they eventually will be I would imagine. I don't see my 4yo being able to complete LHFHG in a year

ANYWAY!!

I'm not sure I could combine competitive children, even using extensions. I cannot imagine putting my oldest two together simply because someone would always be saying "my whatever is better than your whatever".... they do it enough without doing the same work! I know that's a character issue, but I don't want to "put a stumbling block" in front of them when I don't have to.

In your situation, from what you've said, the only one's I would really consider combining would be your 6 and 8 year old. If your 6 year old isn't really able to do a lot of writing yet, you could always use a handwriting book instead of copying the poem, and you could wait to start spelling until Bigger. I haven't really noticed a difference with mine as far as ability to do spelling list one or two and then moving to dictation. The spelling lists seem to be more practice for HOW to do dictation instead of actually working on spelling... That might be a child to child thing though. Reading you could either do phonics, ERs, or DITHOR with Beyond... phonics and ERs are both scheduled and DITHOR is it's own thing. So depending on their reading level you could do whatever works for them. Obviously math and LA would be on their own levels.. R&S is scheduled at one lesson per day in Bigger, so you wouldn't need the guide for that.

Preparing and CTC are pretty good guides to start with... the only thing I'd say is that if your children are not used to doing written narrations, jumping into CTC would be difficult. Preparing does a great job of getting them ready for that. But that would be something quite easy to work on.

[TrueGRIT]

Welcome to the board!

No, I don't think 6 guides are crazy if that is where all your children are correctly placed.
I don't have any advice for you there, I believe you will know best on that count. I agree with pp's that if children are more competitive it may be best not to combine them.

[momtomanymohr]

Wow! Thanks, everyone, for the input! Much to think about and discuss with my husband.
I really want to give HOD a fair shot to see if it will work for us. I know that means placing my kids correctly as well as not overwhelming myself. Your input helps a lot!
-Rebecca

[StephanieU]

How have you separated the kids before with your own curriculum? Were they all doing separate work or did you combine things? Of they were all separate before, keeping them separate in HOD would still be less work for you probably.

[Robin]

Hi Rebecca,
I have 10 children of my own and have been helping my sister teach her children also. My oldest two are grown and gone so I still have 8 at home with the 5 extra. This has been my experience... for whatever it is worth...
I have tried multiple curriculums over the years to try to simplify life and put "groups" together. What I found was it is harder to do that then to let them go at their own pace with their own books. So, for example, even though I have 3 using CTC they are all in different places of the book. They share the books they read from but each child has their own manual with sticky papers to keep track of where they are for the day. Each child has a tote under his folding table with all their work for the year in it--including all supplies needed for projects and everyday work (glue, pencils, rulers, etc.) They each have a pocket folder to put tests and quizzes into that are to be checked by me, which goes in the tote also. So, my job during school is to circulate through the room and make sure all the "boxes" are being completed. When I am helping one child the rest know to work on something independently. Some things like dictation and math speed drills (R&S) they give to each other if I am busy with someone else. My 3 smallest have a "play area" next to our school rooms to play while I'm helping the older ones. I cannot physically teach the little ones and the big ones all at once and have to wait until the big ones are finished--they just simply take ALL my attention and are not independent at all yet.
All that being said, no matter how hard I tried to keep everyone or some together they all end up NONE together because of sickness, stubborness, over-acheiverness, whateverness. HOD has literally saved my insanity from all the different manuals that I used to have on my lap trying to juggle the day's work. Now they have 3 manuals each-HOD, R&S Math, R&S English.
You know your kiddos and have been doing this long enough to know if you can put some together or not. In your first post you had it kind of mapped out what looks like it would work just right. They really do need to be able to go at their own pace if finances can afford doing so.
May God's Blessings be on you all!
Robin

[laughablemoments]

I have been all eyes watching this thread develop since I'm soon to be a mom of 8 and will be in a very similar situation a few years down the road when all of our children are school age. I don't have much to add, but I did wonder if you saw this thread which I found to be encouraging: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13746&hilit=guides+loving The writer is "only" using 4 guides, but shares her schedule. You could take a look at it and see how well it might work for you to add in 2 more guides. I wish you the very best!