How to use HOD for 1st & 5th Grade together?

[deniselosey]

Hello Everyone,

I have been schooling my 10 YO daughter with AOP Switched on Schoolhouse. I enjoy the curriculum and it gives me a lot of freedom. Unfortunately, my daughter gets very emotional if she is not understanding a new concept. We only got about 1/2 way through our 4th grade math and language arts due to some serious emotional meltdowns and the fact that her little sis was learning to read and do math. My 10 YO takes a bit longer to grasp things and is very quirky, while my 5 YO is sharp as a tack and is eager to learn.

I see that this next year, I need to try a different approach. I want my 10 YO to thrive in school. I am planning to try a Charlotte Mason approach and am attracted to HOD because it has a clear daily plan laid out for me. I am like my 10 YO and am easily overwhelmed, distracted and need as much structure as possible. So far, HOD sounds like a plan, but what about my youngest? How will I school a 5 YO (reads slowly, writes clearly, can add, measure, tell some time, skip count) in 1st grade and a 10 YO in 4th/5th with HOD?

I have ready other posts and I see that typically it says to use two different HODs such as PHFHG and LHFHG. But what would my day really be like? I am struggling to understand how I could do two completely diff. curricula and have the peace and harmony that I am trying to achieve. I long to do history, bible, and science together as a family. Is it possible since my youngest is so young that she could just sit for oral reading/narration and do bite sized lessons from my older daughter's lessons? If possible, if anyone is doing this already, would you give me an outline of you Daily Schedule so I can really comprehend this?

Thank you for any and all advice you may offer. Please feel free to ask ANY question that you wish if it helps you to assist me better. I am not easily offended.

Yours truly,

Denise

[lissiejo]

I have three daughters using 3 different guides. They are not as far apart as your kids, but I still use three different guides because I want their learning to be on their level. This is my first year doing this, but so far it's working beautifully. I followed the advice of someone else to plan for the most dependent upon me first. So my youngest daughter gets Little Hearts going while the older two do something like handwriting or something else they can handle on their own. Then my second daughter gets her turn at my attention. My oldest will work on things that need minimal teaching and then work independently. For her that is math, reading, and grammar. I may have to help with a question or two, but she's basically independent. Then my oldest daughter gets my full attention when we do history, science, Bible, and poetry.

I do not mind doing separate history and science because they are on very different levels, but there are times when we do a history or science related activity as a family.

[deniselosey]

@ lissiejo

Thank you for your response. How long would you say it takes you to do school for your middle daughter and then also how long for all?

Denise

[lissiejo]

30-45 minutes total for my K-5 daughter. She is already reading so we are doing minimal phonics (mostly just reading) and she breezes through math as well. She is so excited about learning she doesn't need or even really want a break, so I go with that for now.

It takes about an hour and a half total time for my oldest. We take a break an hour after starting to work for 15-30 minutes depending on how things are going. Then we stop for lunch and she finishes anything we're not done with while the younger two have their nap. We are going half speed for two years I think. I do the math and grammar full speed. On one week we do all the history and Bible. The second week we do the science and poetry. It's much easier for me to plan that way. We also do a 4-day week, but I do all 5 days of history in that time.

For all three girls our schedules is typically 7:30-8:00 begin school and do a "circle time" for my girl in kindergarten. We work steady until 9:00ish and take our break. Then we work until 10:30 when I stop to get lunch ready. We eat early around here at 11:00. By the time lunch is over and I get my younger girls into bed it's usually 12:00. If we have anything left I work with her again until about 12:30 or 1:00 then she has her own rest time for about an hour reading or listening to Adventures in Odyssey because she gets headaches if she gets overtired. Actual working time for her is about an hour and a half but she often wants to join in whatever her little sister is doing like the rhymes or history reading. She's done it before, but she likes it so I let her tag along That is why her day is a bit longer even though working time really only boils down to about 90 minutes.

Does that answer your question fully?

[mom23]

I truly think that with those ages you're going to be better off using two guides. I know it does sound overwhelming, but it really is very doable! When everyone is working on their level things just go smoother and more quickly!

Here's what I would do: start your 4th/5th grader in the guide that she places in and school only her for a couple of weeks. If full pace seems to take too long and be too much for her at first, back off to half speed. Once you get her to a point that she's familiar with the guide and expectations you'll be able to see areas that she can work independently. When you feel comfortable plan to start your younger dd. Have your older dd do a couple of things that she can do independently to get started on school while you work with your 1st grader. If LHFHG seems to be a good fit that guide will not take longer than 1 1/2 hrs to complete each day. At our house, it took less than an hour when we really hit our groove with it. You won't be adding any time to your school day that way-because they are both working at the same time. It will be less stress on you because you're not going to have to worry about making a hard guide easy enough for one, or an easy guide challenging enough for another; just open and go.

[blessedmomof4]

Hello, I think everyone here has given you terrific advice. Just wanted to add that Preparing sounds like a great place to start your older daughter. It is the guide that transitions the child into greater independence. Two areas of the lessons are planned for independent work, the Independent History Study and Science-the readings are age-appropriate and brief, with great follow-up activities-your student learns to read and follow directions independently. You may need to "hand-hold" for a little while until she gets used to it. Then, when she is used to being independent for those portions, you can use that time to give your younger daughter focused attention. The rest of Preparing either involves you reading aloud (Reading About History, Poetry, Storytime), or working alongside your child (grammar, Drawn into the Heart of Reading, dictation, math, and the rotating box). Based on your description of her abilities, the fact that Charlotte Mason-style learning will be new, and her age, Preparing sounds like a nice fit.
Make sure you administer the Singapore placement test if you plan to use Singapore Math with her:
http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm
If you make any substitutions, expect your school days to be longer that what the previous posters described. I recommend giving HOD a go as written, Carrie has done such a great job of creating a balanced and complete day!
If you wanted to use the younger child's guide for only 4 days a week, just don't worry about Day One being Monday, Day Two being Tuesday, etc. Just do one day a week for 4 days, and pick up where you left off the next week. This will make the 5-day guide last an extra 9 weeks, but gives you that free 5th day every week for both kiddos.
Lastly, Little Hearts sounds great for your bright 5 year old-you can use the 1st grade options if she is ready for that, and I second the idea of buying the Beyond guide for the daily hands-on plans for Singapore 1A/1B. Bigger has hands-on plans for 2A/2B, and from Preparing on up there are 3 different levels of Singapore Math scheduled in each guide, so you would only need an "extra" guide purchase for two years, since you could save your Preparing Guide for the future. Welcome to HOD

[mrsrandolph]

You are going to have to use 2 guides. I'm sorry.

It won't be hard, though.

I run 3 guides and DITHOR, and it is very doable.

[my3sons]

Great advice here already! I think your 10 yo will feel so special having her own time with you, and PHFHG is a wonderful guide to teach! We actually did PHFHG, LHFHG, and RevtoRev last year, and it was not hard to do at all. Doing multiple HOD guides is easy on us as moms because of the care taken to write them so carefully with busy homeschool moms in mind.

Doing separate guides lets the olders soar and begin to take on some needed independence as they mature, which believe me, they will enjoy and you will too. My oldest dc and I still have special school times together, but it is not limited to me just reading. We have grown up, amazing discussions, and it draws us close to one another. It also works out those quirks and emotional times beautifully. We get to talk on a different level and work through those ever growing emotions as they mature because little brothers aren't listening in. The maturity level of the discussions goes up immensely and also goes deeper to a heart level. We love it!

On the flip side, my little guy LOVES having me all to himself for a bit. LHFHG gave us that time together he so desperately needed. He felt so special, and he also became confident in his school because he wasn't trying to be stretched to keep up with big brother. He could do age appropriate work and have fun with it!

We have a terrific "Let's Share Our Schedules" thread where so many moms share what is working in their homes. Since I did these guides last year, I'll link my schedule here, but be sure to check out the other thread I'm linking too, as someone else's schedule may click with you more...


Let's Share Our Schedules thread...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093

Teaching dc separately when they are many years apart is honestly easier than trying to combine. Combining works well with smaller age increments. Here are a few posts Carrie wrote in regard to this that are excellent reading on the subject matter...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9342
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9343

HTH, and FWIW, I think you would completely enjoy doing PHFHG and LHFHG at the same time! We loved it here, and I get to continue on with it for a bit as we are finishing out 5 units of PHFHG and the rest of LHFHG for our 2 sons after our break. We are looking forward to it!

In Christ,
Julie