Indygirl Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Tell me if this sounds crazy. I am set to do HOD Preparing with my ds8 who will be nine and beginning 4th in the fall. I even have the books and he actually prefers to do work independently. My question is I have a ds6 (soon to be 7 in March) who will be on a 2nd / 3rd grade level in the fall. He would probably fit into a HOD Bigger guide. The thing is that I would really love to do MFW ECC with him. It seems like it would suit him better. He would love to do geography and also to have his own thing going on. I am just wondering if this is all doable? Would it be too much? If I stuck with HOD ds7 would be doing his own guide anyways. Could ds9 do enough independently that I would have enough time to make MFW ECC work for ds7 (I know that I would have to tweak a bit b/c of his age)? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Preparing is heavy on writing and drawing (especially if you do the deluxe version). It is also (I feel) heavy on reading between the Storytime and the Deluxe version. Science & Independent Study (Deluxe) is just that, independent. At some points, Storytime has you read 2 chapters a day which was way too much in addition to the rest of the program. If your child can and has done independent work, I doubt you should have any trouble with independence. I suppose it depends on what you are using for math, reading and english as well. If you also would be doing 2 programs anyway, it may not be problematic. However what I would find as a problem is 2 programs with completely different schedule types and activities you can't mesh together. At least with HOD you run basically the same scheduling throughout all their programs in addition to types of activities. History/History Project, Science, Bible, etc. ECC is run on a completely different schedule. For example HOD you could both be doing the History portion, double up storytimes, english, science and Bible. Both could do ONE science for example and Bible memory and application. With ECC thrown in the mix, one will do Bible memory with a Proverb and Bible Quiet time and ECC you'll read Bible verses and memorize parts of Matthew. It seems like a huge quantity of work due to different programs and schedules. Nothing lines up. Does that make sense? ECC is geography and completely different, learning cultures. My guess is that that would be extremely difficult. I also thing ECC would be difficult for a 7 year old unless he has an older in the program. Much would be wasted. You could do ECC with both as ECC would be a good geography previous to Preparing. You didn't say what your 6 yr old & 9 year old were doing currently that could make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indygirl Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Thanks. That gives me alot to think about. We haven't used HOD before but I really like the looks of Preparing for my ds8. This year we are using MFW Adventures (I know that isn't in my sig) with some with extras from WP American History. I am not completely sold on Bigger for my ds6/7. I guess I need to choose HOD (Preparing & Bigger) or MFW ECC. I really like them both. My boys are just so different! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Thanks. That gives me alot to think about. We haven't used HOD before but I really like the looks of Preparing for my ds8. This year we are using MFW Adventures (I know that isn't in my sig) with some with extras from WP American History. I am not completely sold on Bigger for my ds6/7. I guess I need to choose HOD (Preparing & Bigger) or MFW ECC. I really like them both. My boys are just so different! Bigger will be redundant to Adventures in several areas. They use some of the same books, but the gist of it is the same. You'll essentially be repeating ADV if you do Bigger. I'd move on to ECC. It's a nice base for Preparing if you decide that later, going through all the geographical areas/cultures. And you could skip then Preparing and go straight to RTR or CTC(G) depending if you use HOD or MFW. AFWIW, I dropped midway through, Preparing to use ECC. We are enjoying ECC! I know I can pick up more than an overview (which is Preparing) in the other programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Actually Beyond uses some of the same spines as Adventures, Bigger does not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Actually Beyond uses some of the same spines as Adventures, Bigger does not. ACK! I always do that! You are right! I sort of meshed these all together when we did it and I get mixed up. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenni Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) I used ECC when my oldest child was 8 and dropped a lot from the program. If you dropped as much as I did, I think it would be doable alongside Preparing. I love HOD, though, and would recommend using two HOD programs because they are made to be doable together.:) The bonus is the program is written for a 7 yr. old so you wouldn't have to tweak it. Just make sure you use the placement chart! Edited January 7, 2011 by fenni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indygirl Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 I used ECC when my oldest child was 8 and dropped a lot from the program. If you dropped as much as I did, I think it would be do-able alongside Preparing. I love HOD, though, and would recommend using two HOD programs because they are made to be do-able together.:) The bonus is the program is written for a 7 yr. old so you wouldn't have to tweak it. Just make sure you use the placement chart! I was wondering what all you needed to drop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenni Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I don't really want to remember back on ECC.:tongue_smilie: I have been told that I don't know how to tweak a program/book that is meant for multi-age. I guess what I realized while using ECC is that I don't want to tweak it. I don't want to use a book like Properties of Ecosystems (one thing I dropped) if I have to break it down for my child. I learned that if I ever wanted to use ECC again, I would use it for older children. We did learn a lot, but that mostly came from our book basket. The book list in the TM is a gold mine really! Sure appreciate the work they put into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indygirl Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 I don't want to do a program that is over his head. I would want to do it more as written and not have to tweak it to death. We could wait. If I did decide to do ECC next year with my then 4th grader then it would be different. Thanks so much for replying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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