New to HoD -- Questions about Placement/Combining

[MomtoJGJE]

With HOD it's FAR easier to beef up than to cut things down. If you are cutting things down then they aren't getting some necessary skill. Even if it doesn't seem like it. And with Preparing, if it's truly too easy (just because they finish "early" doesn't mean it's too easy. It is Charlotte Mason based. ) then you could always add in the extension books.

[MelInKansas]

One aspect of how you described your daughter would also make me recommend Preparing for her rather than CTC and that is what you mentioned about her difficulty in working independently and getting things done in a timely manner. I think if you start with CTC with her you will find yourself VERY frustrated with the length of her school day and the amount of pushing and nagging you need to do to get her through it. My oldest has some of the same problems, she is very distractible, free spirited, and so doesn't naturally stay on task because she doesn't care all that much about completing tasks. Preparing really gets them ready for independent work and helps train into them the habits of paying attention to detailed instructions, and finishing tasks well. Of course this also depends a lot on how you handle it and teach it, but I felt like it has worked really well for me and my DD, getting her ready for CTC where a lot more of the work is supposed to be independent.

And I agree with how others have said that the guides are really beefier than they might first appear. There are so many little skills built into how you do each guide, and I really appreciate how packed it is because it allows us to cover so many more things and still have a "shorter" school day.

Choose based on skill level, NOT on period of history. As another person mentioned, your oldest may find HOD a challenge in terms of the discussion and analysis involved. I bet it will be a great growing year for him though!

I had always wanted to combine my children as they are about 2 years apart and I had heard that combining for read-alouds, history, and science was the way to go. It may be the way to go for some people, but for me, I love having each child fit right at their own level. The challenge of the guide, the materials covered, the ideas being brought forth are such a perfect fit. I do more reading aloud to each of the kids, for sure, and that is not as "efficient" but HOD makes up for that with many other efficiencies in not having to adapt the material, or not having to try to engage both children in a discussion of the material (not letting one take over the discussion, making sure both contribute their own original ideas), and the independence they gain by being able to read the guide on their own and do their own work without any prompting from me. I hope and pray it will be as much of a blessing for your family as it has been for mine.