HOD Moms running more than one guide

[abrightmom]

:001_smile: Ladies,

 

I need some specific helps here. I'm considering HOD for our crew and to do that I would have to run two guides. At this time in our schooling my kids seem to need to be separated as I have an older student who just needs more content & challenge. My middlers can easily be combined. Lately, as I've been considering this move to HOD I'm noticing little glimpses of growth and I'm realizing that the gap in interest/learning abilities is going to narrow making multi teaching more feasible.

 

Over the past few months I've heard from many that it is very doable to use two HOD guides. However, as I look intently at the guides in my possession HOD is full; perhaps deceivingly full and I'm having a very very difficult time envisioning myself being ABLE (as willing as I am :001_smile:) to manage the teaching load. It will be at least two years and maybe 3 before I would have a child working somewhat independently (and even then it is only half of the boxes in the guide with CTC).

 

Another issue I'm beginning to come to grips with is my very sociable oldest son. Though he needs more :001_smile: there is no way this boy is going to want to be separated from his siblings. I'm not sure I have it in me to require it of him. I'm still grappling with that issue . . . keeping them out of each other's schooling so they can focus on their own (by this I mean the content aspects such as Bible, history, science, story times, geography, hands on projects).

 

******Will you share details about your HOD experience including how many children you are teaching, how many guides you are running, what those guides are or were, how well independence worked in your family, and if in running a guide you omitted part of the guide. I'd also like to hear feedback on DITHOR and teaching that to 2 or more students simultaneously when they cannot be combined.******

 

I do think that running two guides would be very doable if I was only teaching 2 kids but I have 4. My older 3 are somewhat close in age and each child needs a lot of teacher time. Having a toddler adds a huge time dynamic to the day as well.

 

Thanks! :001_smile:

[Sue G in PA]

Hi Katrina. This is our first year using HOD so take this all with a grain of salt. :) I have 7 children. My oldest dd (9th gr) is mostly independent. My 2 oldest boys (7th and 5th) are using Preparing 90% independently. We do read-alouds and Bible together and History reading. Since it is a 4 day program, we save projects until Friday. My 9yo boy is using Preparing but needs much more hand-holding so I work with him quite a bit. My ds8 and dd5 are using LHFHG and of course, both need quite a bit of assistance. The guides were quite doable and didn't take us all day at all. However, we saved LHFHG storytime until evening. My dh also did the Preparing read alouds before bed. You might want to post this on the HOD board and take a look at the sticky about scheduling. Many ladies have shared their schedules for doing multiple guides. Very helpful.

[twoxcell]

Right now I'm doing Beyond, and Little Hearts with my two oldest. We do everything in both guides, and a few things on top of that. My schedule is basically like this. Seat work with Ds(bible,math, spelling, Latin, etc.) then seat work with dd(bible,math, phonics, handwriting, etc.). After that I do storytime/history/reading/poetry with ds. He then goes and does copywork while I do read alouds with dd. We do their rotating boxes last. They both sometimes join in with each others projects. While I'm working with one dc the other either plays, or does educational computer programs. Next year I will be doing three guides, so we will see how that goes. My ds just finished the emergent readers, so we are starting DITHOR this coming week.

[ChicoryChick]

Hi,

 

Last year I did three guides, but my oldest two were able to work pretty independently. I combined my dd with my two boys with the Bible, Poetry, and Music in Beyond while she did the history, grammar, reading etc in Bigger (for science she did Apologia pretty independently too). My oldest did CTC entirely on her own (except for the teacher led things). My oldest felt very left out because she was practically on her own in most subjects and she is a sociable sue. So this year I combined them all for "Devotions" (Bible, Poetry & Hymns) in Bigger. This has made my oldest feel more of a part. I do encourage her to do private devotions using the books in RTR.

 

Also when doing the guides I try to schedule it so that when I am teaching one, the others are doing some independent work (handwriting, reading or just playing with their baby brother).

 

 

ETA: This year I started off doing 2 guides (My oldest wanted to break away from HOD due to the amount of writing, so I used some of HOD book suggestions and went eclectic) Bigger & Preparing. For some reason my 2nd dd felt overwhelmed by Preparing, so I put her back in Bigger with her brother (doing her own level math & LA) which is why we are only using one guide this year.

Edited March 21, 2011 by kayinpa

[Holly]

I have my oldest two in Beyond and my middle DD in LHTH (which I wouldn't consider a full guide). I also have a toddler needing lots of attention. I thought about separating my older two, but was worried about getting two guides done. After this year, I will say that most of our time is spent on 3Rs, so I think I could handle two guides. Two guides would not double our time like I thought it would. Since the storytime books are interchangeable, I think you could probably combine them into one book for many of the levels.

 

For our 3Rs, I have my DC set up so that while I'm working with one, the other is working independently. They can do their math workbook somewhat independently. Their independent assignments are copywork, ETC (part of my phonics program), Cheerful Cursive, and some of R&S English. I mainly sit there working with one and make sure the other is staying on task (a big problem here)!

 

You can also adjust it to fit your family. I realized this year that ETC has enough spelling for me to be happy with dropping HOD spelling. Next year I'll be using R&S spelling because it's more independent that the dictation. I am hoping to get dictation done 2-3 times a week, but I'm not going to feel bad if it doesn't happen. I'm also having DD skip the copywork this year because she's working through Cheerful Cursive. There are quite a few ways to make HOD a little easier/more efficient.

 

Another thing to consider is that it switches to 4 days a week....I think with Preparing? That has to make things a little easier (or so I'm hoping).

[blessedmom3]

:lurk5:

As much as I loved HOD , I was not able to use it. I have four dc between 1-8 . It was so hard just do do the 3 R's with a K , 1st and 2nd ! They ALL needed me for Math &LA ( spelling&grammar for the older ,HW , phonics for the younger. Little time was left for extras , so I chose to use it for Bible reading ( loved Egermeiers) , some reading aloud , then cooking/cleaning... I really don't know how other moms on HOD forum do it , I am here to :bigear:

 

I chose another route which works fine but I am still considering it for the older guides when hopefully things will get easier and they do more independent work :)

[tjlcc]

I'm using two guides. My ds (8) is using Beyond with Singapore Math, R&S English 2 (orally), and DITHOR 2/3 (orally). My ds (6) is in Little Hearts with The Reading Lesson and Singapore Math. I combine them in Beyond's storytime. They also take part in each other's "fun activities" if they desire.

 

Ds8 does his seatwork (Math, copywork activity, Bible reading, DITHOR reading if he has enough time) at the table while I do the "left side" of Little Hearts with ds6. Ds6 will then head to the table for his seatwork (with me beside him) and I'll go over Ds8's work.

 

When Ds6 is finished he'll go play with Dd2 and Ds8 and I will do the "left side" of Beyond, English, Spelling and DITHOR. This seems like it would take a long time, but it really doesn't.

 

When Ds8 and I are finished we'll do anything we've saved for us all to do together and anything extra we want to do. We usually begin our day between 8 and 8:45 and end our day anywhere from 10:30 to 11:30. Our Beyond storytime is usually done in the evening as my husband wants to listen in.

 

I will admit that we don't do the rhymes, poetry and music each and every day. It's usually twice a week. My ds5 is not doing Little Hearts storytime. He listened along with Ds8 last year, so I didn't repeat it again this year, but next year I plan to reread a couple of their favorite Burgess books using the activites in Little Hearts.

 

If you feel as though HOD is the right fit for your family, there are definitely ways to make it doable and enjoyable for you and your kids. I'm not sure what programs you're looking at specifically, but you can easily include your oldest son with what your youngers are doing.

 

My only caution would be not to add too many "extras" to the already full HOD programs. We have added BFSU, a Bible reading schedule for my Ds8, art projects and a "bit" of Galloping the Globe. A second language will wait.

 

HTH.

[fenni]

I'm using Bigger with my 9 yr. old, Little Hearts w/ my 7 and 5 yr. old, and LHTH with my 3 yr. old. I also have a 1 yr. old and am expecting a baby at the end of May. I haven't gone nutty, yet. :tongue_smilie: I have not omitted any parts of those guides; however, we are not using DITHOR. I am using DITHOR reading recommendations for my son's independent reading, but I just don't feel he needs DITHOR at this age and I don't need one more thing on my plate.

[abrightmom]

I'm using Bigger with my 9 yr. old, Little Hearts w/ my 7 and 5 yr. old, and LHTH with my 3 yr. old. I also have a 1 yr. old and am expecting a baby at the end of May. I haven't gone nutty, yet. :tongue_smilie: I have not omitted any parts of those guides; however, we are not using DITHOR. I am using DITHOR reading recommendations for my son's independent reading, but I just don't feel he needs DITHOR at this age and I don't need one more thing on my plate.

 

Alright, well this is definitely inspiring. Do you have a schedule posted on the HOD site? :D

 

Have you grappled at all with the future when your oldest will begin to be separated from the others? This is already posing a challenge for my social, group work loving oldest. :001_smile: It isn't as big of an issue now but as their work load increases with Preparing and above so does their independence. By Creation to Christ there will be a lot of separation between the "learning groups" in the family. I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts. . . .

 

Thanks to all of the Moms who have shared their HOD day with me. :001_smile:

[arstephia]

Katrina,

I am assuming you would be using Little Hearts and Beyond with your kids? (Based on the ages in your siggy) I am doing Little Hearts and Preparing with mine as well as a 7th grader doing Beautiful Feet for history/lit. Next year I will have a Beyond, CTC and a Rev2Rev.

 

ANYWAY, all that to say it is easier than I thought to juggle. The younger one is seriously done in under 2 hours. I start the day with Preparing and the History reading. Then I do the StoryTime box. After that, I have her work on the History Project/Research boxes while I do somethings with the LHFHG child. I just kind of bounce back and forth making sure they move onto the next thing. If I have to be busy with the Preparing child, I let the LHFHG child do some independent learning with puzzles, beads, dot to dot, playdoh, coloring, drawing, lacing cards, etc. that I have on our shelves. I think it is good for them to have some of that independent play/learning time - even in the early elementary years. Some days the LHFHG child doesn't really get into the meat of her program until late morning while the older one finishes up the independent work, but that is okay! I don't tie myself to a schedule of sorts. We just go with the flow of things knowing by the end of the day it all gets done and we've had some fun along the way.

[fenni]

Alright, well this is definitely inspiring. Do you have a schedule posted on the HOD site? :D

 

Have you grappled at all with the future when your oldest will begin to be separated from the others? This is already posing a challenge for my social, group work loving oldest. :001_smile: It isn't as big of an issue now but as their work load increases with Preparing and above so does their independence. By Creation to Christ there will be a lot of separation between the "learning groups" in the family. I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts. . . .

 

Thanks to all of the Moms who have shared their HOD day with me. :001_smile:

 

Hmm, I don't know if I have a schedule posted there or not. I made up a nice schedule in the fall, but that just kind of guided us into falling into our own groove. Our household is different than most in that my husband works 3-11 p.m. so I schedule in lots of time for our sons to spend time with him in the daytime hours. The key point of my original schedule was that school hours were 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. That was set up for my dawdling oldest child. Bigger really doesn't take 4 hrs., but he dawdles. He's better now than he was.

 

The pattern I have fallen into now is to run through Bigger with my oldest, making a list of his assignments as we go. Then, send him off to work at his desk. Run through Little Hearts with my 5 and 7 yr. olds. LHTH is simple and fits in wherever. Sometimes first, sometimes I can put her off. She begs for it and loves sitting in on Little Hearts as well. Another way I have done it is to start the oldest on some independent work (math and cursive), and get going w/ the youngers right away.

 

Future...I'm trying not to borrow worry from tomorrow because I love HOD so much and want so badly for it to keep working for us, but I will say I am concerned that it will get to be too much for me running so many guides. I will just have to deal with that if/when we get there.

 

It has been a benefit for us to separate our two oldest. There is just too much competition between them. Even now my second begs me to put him in Bigger with my first. He just wants to prove himself. It doesn't bother me to send my child into more independence. I want it. I need it. I have my plate full and I think independent learning is a good thing. It's not like we will be totally disconnected. They talk about what they are learning, and can learn from one another even if they aren't on the same material.

 

Sorry, this is getting long. I just want to say that when I first started hs'ing, I really believed having everyone in a large family on the same page for history/science/etc. was the only way to go. I've seen the light. This can and does work, and we are enjoying school tremendously this year.

[birchbark]

Take this with a grain of salt as I'm not multi-teaching yet. But I am one who likes to keep things as simple as possible. I also am a big fan of starting things slowly and easing into them.

 

If I were you and it were my first year of HoD, I would combine the older two in one program. (Beyond?) That's it. Do simple 3R's with your 5yo, and let her sit in on the readings if she likes. Don't try to do two programs right off. Try this for a few months or even a whole school year and see how it goes. You may find your days super-smooth and that you'd be thrilled with adding another program. Or you may find you don't like doing HoD. Sometimes the idea of something and the actual doing it are two different things. :D Easing into it would give you a chance to test the waters, so to speak.

 

You have a lot on your plate especially with a little one besides.

 

I for one think HoD is an awesome program and would love to see you succeed with it!

[CarynB]

Well, I can't tell you that it'll be easy - BUT, our family is going to be running 4 guides in the fall: CTC (dd 10), Bigger (dd 8), Beyond (1/2 pace) ds 6 and LHTH (with possibly the R&S workbooks) with dd's 5 and 4. We will also have a 2 year old in the mix.

 

I tried combining my 2nd with my oldest in Bigger this year (my oldest is also doing extensions) but that didn't work. Then I've tried combining the same child with my younger son in Beyond....also no good. My 2nd oldest is SUPER competitive so when she can't do everything my oldest can do she would get angry and become jealous and embarrassed (even though she was doing her own level of work perfectly fine!) so I thought moving her down a level would work better....nope. Now she just rushes in to give all the answers before her brother gets a chance to speak, again her competitive spirit. Sigh. So we've decided to split them for the fall. My oldest is not being challenged by Bigger so we're just moving her up to CTC (she'll be a 5th grader anyway) which is where she places on the chart. We just made the switch to HOD about a month ago so we've opted to just finish out this year the way we've been doing it and then changing to new guides in the fall.

 

It will be difficult at least in the beginning I'm sure. But once we get some sort of flow to our day I think it will be much more productive having each of them working at the right levels than trying to combine them just for the sake of doing fewer guides. I do keep them all in the same general area for school time so that I can oversee them while they work and so far none of them have stated that they feel left out or anything. Sometimes I ask my oldest to go somewhere quiet for her independent reading time, just so she can focus - but I try to schedule that for her after the littler ones are done with their schoolwork. Doing it that way keeps my oldest at the table or in the room with the others the rest of the time so she's never completely isolated.

 

So for this year we are doing 3 guides and it's going very well. Like I said, using 4 guides is the plan for next year - so other than my hopefulness that it will go well I don't have much practical help for you on that right now. :tongue_smilie:

 

Blessings,

Caryn