HOD Moms: What would you do?

[abrightmom]

Our school year has been a mess.... It's going down in history as The Worst Homeschool Year EVER (hopefully there won't be another one to rival this one).

 

I've been reading history spines, trying varying science curricula, asking questions, pondering, and praying. Planning for next school year is upon us.

 

HOD is my favorite option right now as my oldest will be in 4th and well suited to Preparing. I'm not ready to teach Ancients to all of my kids so it seems sensible to let him "fly" as he's ready for more content and work. I've deeply pondered combining vs not combining and I can't land squarely on either side. Humph.

 

Here's the rub.

 

We are only on Unit 9 of Bigger. Realistically, we'll have half of Bigger left at the start of 4th grade. If I ask on the HOD board they say to finish the guide. But, I don't want to. :001_smile: We have loved it and will continue to until June. It'll be a little sad to NOT finish it. But, I'd LOVE for him to use Preparing, as written with minor modifications (add writing, no DITHOR), for 4th grade.

 

Should I finish Bigger? Or, should we make a clean break at some point and have a fresh start with Preparing for 4th grade?

 

Also, we are way behind in R&S English 3 (my fault, totally). I'm pretty sure we could either finish it with Preparing or just pick up with English 4 at the beginning of 4th grade. Thoughts? I'd love a fresh start across the board because we've been bogged down this entire school year. It's been terrible.

 

My younger children are another issue entirely. I simply do NOT know how to plan for them..... :blink:

 

Plan B is to stop the insanity, combine everybody in a country/cultures study and pick up with Ancients in 1st, 3rd, and 5th.... this is sounding good.

Edited March 13, 2012 by abrightmom

[kandty]

Well, I'm not a HOD mom, yet. We are doing Bigger next school year. I would say you don't have to finish it. But, I would also make sure that is all right with the child. If they are enjoying it, they may want to finish it. If that is the case I would do a fast track through the rest.

 

And :grouphug:! I have seen your posts and I can relate all too well to the situation.

[MrsMe]

Our school year has been a mess.... It's going down in history as The Worst Homeschool Year EVER (hopefully there won't be another one to rival this one).

 

I've been reading history spines, trying varying science curricula, asking questions, pondering, and praying. Planning for next school year is upon us.

 

HOD is my favorite option right now as my oldest will be in 4th and well suited to Preparing. I'm not ready to teach Ancients to all of my kids so it seems sensible to let him "fly" as he's ready for more content and work. I've deeply pondered combining vs not combining and I can't land squarely on either side. Humph.

 

Here's the rub.

 

We are only on Unit 9 of Bigger. Realistically, we'll have half of Bigger left at the start of 4th grade. If I ask on the HOD board they say to finish the guide. But, I don't want to. :001_smile: We have loved it and will continue to until June. It'll be a little sad to NOT finish it. But, I'd LOVE for him to use Preparing, as written with minor modifications (add writing, no DITHOR), for 4th grade.

 

Should I finish Bigger? Or, should we make a clean break at some point and have a fresh start with Preparing for 4th grade?

 

Also, we are way behind in R&S English 3 (my fault, totally). I'm pretty sure we could either finish it with Preparing or just pick up with English 4 at the beginning of 4th grade. Thoughts? I'd love a fresh start across the board because we've been bogged down this entire school year. It's been terrible.

 

My younger children are another issue entirely. I simply do NOT know how to plan for them..... :blink:

 

Plan B is to stop the insanity, combine everybody in a country/cultures study and pick up with Ancients in 1st, 3rd, and 5th.... this is sounding good.

 

I'm on there, but I'm one who wouldn't continue with Bigger if your child fits squarely into Preparing. I didn't...I didn't finish Beyond or Bigger, or Preparing. This is the first year we are completing a guide, CTC. I vote for the fresh start!

 

R&S 3...depends what you've already covered. I dropped it. It's too much mastery. We just gaze over and tune out. I did part of R&S 3, part of BJU 4 and we started BJU 5 this year before dumping both and going with CLE 4. So far, most it is review. This doesn't help you...I know. Just commiserating. Grammar is reviewed ad nauseum, so missing some doesn't bother me.

 

I can't really answer on the combining. I think someone always suffers in combining too many groups. You're either paraphrasing or wasting money on books or having a bored older. I would combine who you can. Preparing would be good because it teaches independence. HOD is all inclusive. Remember, the curriculum that gets done is the one that works.

 

Don't forget combining publishers makes it easier. Using all R&S for all ages instead of using 4 different grammar programs. Look at some singlely. Combine one subject... or two...doesn't have to be full programs.

[Tidbits of Learning]

My advice is to go ahead and do Preparing next year with your 4th grader no matter how far you get with Bigger. My dd's skipped over both Bigger and Preparing and went into CTC this year after a horrible combining year with Beyond (beefed up for them of course). I just jumped my ds9 up to all Bigger after being advised on the HOD forum to finish Beyond with him. He placed in Bigger squarely after finishing about 1/2 of Beyond and we were already doing the right side of Bigger...so we just started doing all of Bigger. He is doing great.

Do you plan to continue R&S English? The reason I ask is b/c 3 is where they really get into the diagramming. R&S 4 only does minimal review. We opted instead of trying to catch up with R&S English with the girls to go with something else. R&S just seems to suck the life out of us as well. We just could never get in a groove with it. If you have not seen Zaner Bloser's GUM Grammar, it is nice and thorough and includes writing. If you like R&S Grammar though I would probably try to buckle down and get at least 3/4 of book 3 done before moving to 4.

If you wanted to try HOD with your youngers, you could probably combine your 5 and 7 year old in Beyond and work your way up with them. It might would work better than combining your 7 and 9 year old together.

Also, if Bigger is dragging you down this year...drop it. Finish up the 3 r's on grade level and pick back up in the fall with Preparing with your ds and whatever you decide works for you for your younger 2.

[Another Lynn]

I SO feel your pain. Mentally I am somehow married to the 4-year cycle with everyone in the same time period. Everytime I've tried HOD (and I am always drawn to it.every.year.!) I'm in love for about 6 weeks and then I begin to wish we were doing more together again. <sigh> (And I'm a former accountant so I start twitching at the idea of not doing things in the right order, LOL) So, here's what *I* might do if *I* were in your shoes (knowing it might not be at all what you want to do, LOL). I would get Complete Book of United States History and pick up in it wherever you are in Bigger. I would schedule a "lesson" per day from now until the end of your school year in June. In June, you're done, no matter how far you got. This is March. I would choose 3 or 4 read alouds from the "storytime" (or whatever) package from Bigger that you KNOW you want to do (you might get through more, but don't sweat it if you don't). This would comfort me that even though we didn't finish Bigger, we did finish the bulk of U.S. History. Science.... do nature study the rest of the year or library books or the science in Bigger.

 

Next fall I would start everyone in Ancients. I would probably use SOTW w/ Bible woven in (use a schedule from Donna Young or look at Biblioplan or whatever). I would want the Biblical perspective, but you can't beat how easy and enjoyable SOTW is.... put in the CD (Jim Weiss), print out a coloring page and a map, ask your oldest some narration prompts, etc. Then you just need some literature (use the SOTW AG for suggestions or Biblioplan or other catalogs for ideas) and choose some read alouds.

 

Plan B (since you already said you don't want to do ancients with everyone next year).... get as far as you can in Bigger until your year is over in June. This fall, have your oldest do Preparing. Combine everyone else in Complete Book of United States History with lots of picture books (there are so many for American History) and Let's Read and Find Out science books from the library. (Your oldest will undoubtedly end up hearing a lot of what you do with the others and that can help round out any American he doesn't finish this year?) Then start ancients the following year with everyone together in 1st, 3rd and 5th.

 

Grammar - my .02 is this.... it is frustrating to be behind. But if you jump up to R&S 4 it will be the same info he's already had just at a higher level (because R&S always starts with what? sentences? then nouns, then whatever, etc....). I would consider jumping over to FLL4 and getting through all parts of speech more quickly. I know it's hard to do a scripted program with lots of kids, but just do it with your oldest this year and move him to more independent grammar the next year. Then when he's not doing scripted grammar anymore, you could use FLL3 with the next child coming along, etc...

[tjlcc]

We seem to be in similar positions.

 

I have recently dropped Bigger in its entirety at Unit 20. We are enjoying parts of the program, but are no longer slaves to it.

 

The plan right now is to combine 9 and 7 yr olds in Preparing in the fall. The history portion anyway. Are these your thoughts as well?

 

To combine or not to combine is definitely a tricky situation. For us, separate programs for all makes for a stressed out Mom.

 

I would keep plugging away with R & S, condensing as desired.

[kidsnbooks8]

I am not a HOD mom. I have tried it in the past a few times, but it just never seems to fit us right for whatever reason. So with that said, If you like Preparing and your son is ready, go for it. The Rod and Staff English should be just fine to start at 4th. Maybe you can find something to combine your next 2 in for the next year. You mentioned a country and cultures type thing? Maybe you could do GTG or the one by Confessions of a Homeschooler(sorry I can't think of the name??) It might work well, as Preparing is a sweep of history right? Your oldest would be learning some independence and you could work with the other 2 and I would think that all 3 would enjoy parts of both programs. Just thinking out loud:tongue_smilie:

 

Also, about the combining. I have always had a hard time and gone back and forth and could not figure out how we wanted to do things that made everyone somewhat happy. I have 5 that I am working with 14yod, 11yod, 9yod, 6yos, and almost 5yos(10 more days:D) Looking at my list it might make sense to try and combine them all, a few of the popular programs say it is doable right?:001_huh: Or even the 3 oldest all girls pretty close in age... well that doesn't work either. Then I tried the 2 younger girls and the 6yob, nope not that either!!!! So we have 14yod independent(she is very happy to not be on our schedule and we are very happy to not be on hers!!:tongue_smilie: this works) her school work is getting done and we like each other now. I am combining the 11yod and 9yod and then the 6yos and 4/5 yos and this is the best we have had in a long time. Sometimes divide and conquer is the way to go. It makes for a long day most days, but we are all much happier with this.

 

 

I was just thinking again about HOD and we would need 5 guides to accomodate each of these kids:lol: Talk about insanity:tongue_smilie:

[birchbark]

Truthfully Katrina, if I were in your shoes, I would drop all ideas of "programs" and just stick to simple 3R's. At least for the next year. If your school year was as bad as you say, then you need a breather. Reconsider HoD the following year. This would also give you time to determine (with a clearer head) if HoD is right for your family and whether you really want to continue with it. Meanwhile you can use HoD's books for free reading and get plenty of science and history in that way. I feel HoD shines best with small families, large age gaps, or older students. None of which you have. :001_smile: So cut yourself some slack.

 

I'm also seeing some redundancy in your siggy. Re-evaluate and see if you can let anything else go. :001_smile:

 

Good luck with your decision!

[raceNzanesmom]

Finishing Bigger or going to Preparing won't matter in the long run. However, I would finish R&S 3, just do a lesson at a time. Pick up 4 when you get there. I'd finish whatever math you're using too.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I SO feel your pain. Mentally I am somehow married to the 4-year cycle with everyone in the same time period. Everytime I've tried HOD (and I am always drawn to it.every.year.!) I'm in love for about 6 weeks and then I begin to wish we were doing more together again. <sigh> (And I'm a former accountant so I start twitching at the idea of not doing things in the right order, LOL) So, here's what *I* might do if *I* were in your shoes (knowing it might not be at all what you want to do, LOL). I would get Complete Book of United States History and pick up in it wherever you are in Bigger. I would schedule a "lesson" per day from now until the end of your school year in June. In June, you're done, no matter how far you got. This is March. I would choose 3 or 4 read alouds from the "storytime" (or whatever) package from Bigger that you KNOW you want to do (you might get through more, but don't sweat it if you don't). This would comfort me that even though we didn't finish Bigger, we did finish the bulk of U.S. History. Science.... do nature study the rest of the year or library books or the science in Bigger.

 

Next fall I would start everyone in Ancients. I would probably use SOTW w/ Bible woven in (use a schedule from Donna Young or look at Biblioplan or whatever). I would want the Biblical perspective, but you can't beat how easy and enjoyable SOTW is.... put in the CD (Jim Weiss), print out a coloring page and a map, ask your oldest some narration prompts, etc. Then you just need some literature (use the SOTW AG for suggestions or Biblioplan or other catalogs for ideas) and choose some read alouds.

 

Plan B (since you already said you don't want to do ancients with everyone next year).... get as far as you can in Bigger until your year is over in June. This fall, have your oldest do Preparing. Combine everyone else in Complete Book of United States History with lots of picture books (there are so many for American History) and Let's Read and Find Out science books from the library. (Your oldest will undoubtedly end up hearing a lot of what you do with the others and that can help round out any American he doesn't finish this year?) Then start ancients the following year with everyone together in 1st, 3rd and 5th.

 

Grammar - my .02 is this.... it is frustrating to be behind. But if you jump up to R&S 4 it will be the same info he's already had just at a higher level (because R&S always starts with what? sentences? then nouns, then whatever, etc....). I would consider jumping over to FLL4 and getting through all parts of speech more quickly. I know it's hard to do a scripted program with lots of kids, but just do it with your oldest this year and move him to more independent grammar the next year. Then when he's not doing scripted grammar anymore, you could use FLL3 with the next child coming along, etc...

 

:iagree:

Have you been to my house? Are we secretly brain linked?:001_smile:

[Another Lynn]

.... I feel HoD shines best with small families, large age gaps, or older students. None of which you have. :001_smile: So cut yourself some slack.

 

.......

 

:iagree::iagree:

[Another Lynn]

:iagree:

Have you been to my house? Are we secretly brain linked?:001_smile:

 

:D Always nice to find a kindred spirit.

[Caribbean Queen]

Finishing Bigger or going to Preparing won't matter in the long run. However, I would finish R&S 3, just do a lesson at a time. Pick up 4 when you get there.

 

People say a child with no previous grammar lessons can start in R&S 4. I am considering it for the fall when my (then) 9 year old will have finished Grammarland and done some Mad Libs.

[Mommyfaithe]

I SO feel your pain. Mentally I am somehow married to the 4-year cycle with everyone in the same time period. Everytime I've tried HOD (and I am always drawn to it.every.year.!) I'm in love for about 6 weeks and then I begin to wish we were doing more together again. <sigh> (And I'm a former accountant so I start twitching at the idea of not doing things in the right order, LOL) So, here's what *I* might do if *I* were in your shoes (knowing it might not be at all what you want to do, LOL). I would get Complete Book of United States History and pick up in it wherever you are in Bigger. I would schedule a "lesson" per day from now until the end of your school year in June. In June, you're done, no matter how far you got. This is March. I would choose 3 or 4 read alouds from the "storytime" (or whatever) package from Bigger that you KNOW you want to do (you might get through more, but don't sweat it if you don't). This would comfort me that even though we didn't finish Bigger, we did finish the bulk of U.S. History. Science.... do nature study the rest of the year or library books or the science in Bigger.

 

Next fall I would start everyone in Ancients. I would probably use SOTW w/ Bible woven in (use a schedule from Donna Young or look at Biblioplan or whatever). I would want the Biblical perspective, but you can't beat how easy and enjoyable SOTW is.... put in the CD (Jim Weiss), print out a coloring page and a map, ask your oldest some narration prompts, etc. Then you just need some literature (use the SOTW AG for suggestions or Biblioplan or other catalogs for ideas) and choose some read alouds.

 

Plan B (since you already said you don't want to do ancients with everyone next year).... get as far as you can in Bigger until your year is over in June. This fall, have your oldest do Preparing. Combine everyone else in Complete Book of United States History with lots of picture books (there are so many for American History) and Let's Read and Find Out science books from the library. (Your oldest will undoubtedly end up hearing a lot of what you do with the others and that can help round out any American he doesn't finish this year?) Then start ancients the following year with everyone together in 1st, 3rd and 5th.

 

Grammar - my .02 is this.... it is frustrating to be behind. But if you jump up to R&S 4 it will be the same info he's already had just at a higher level (because R&S always starts with what? sentences? then nouns, then whatever, etc....). I would consider jumping over to FLL4 and getting through all parts of speech more quickly. I know it's hard to do a scripted program with lots of kids, but just do it with your oldest this year and move him to more independent grammar the next year. Then when he's not doing scripted grammar anymore, you could use FLL3 with the next child coming along, etc...

 

Lynn is right. She is a smart lady, follow her advice :D

 

She said just what I would have said.

 

Faithe

[kristin0713]

What about skipping a chunk of Bigger and ending with the ending of the guide? Justto make sure all the skills ar in place. And it would give you both the feeling of finishing it.:001_smile:

[blessed2five]

Katrina,

:grouphug: I really feel for you mostly because I did a lot of curriculum hopping my first years of homeschool when my kids were little, and you know what? My kids have turned out fine! So relax, it will be okay!

 

When my mine were those ages I always tried to combine wherever I could in history, bible, science,writing, art, foreign language, etc. This way we could real aloud together and discuss. To me this is what makes homeschooling special. If everyone is doing their own program they might as well be in "real school." Think about it, even a typical school teacher isn't assigned to teach multiple ages or levels all in one day or even in a year with a toddler in the mix!

 

I would combine your three school age children in the subjects I mentioned above and then separate them out in English and Math. Keep it simple and have fun. They will be learning! A stressed out mommy isn't fun for anyone! Believe me, been there done that! I didn't start separating out mine until this year and I really miss the togetherness we used to have.

 

Continue what you are doing until your stop date for the school year and pick up fresh with everyone! Start your oldest in R&S 4, and the other two where they belong in English and math. Pick a history program, science program and go with it! As I have said before, I have loved, MFW or Sonlight for combining, but then again I have never used SOTW so that would be another option. Worry less about the history cycle and more about what looks fun for you to teach and learn right along side your kiddos.

 

As much as I love HOD I wouldn't want to do more than one level at a time from Preparing on down (too time intensive). It is so much easier to just combine them in something created for combining kids.

 

Keep smiling! and have a great remainder of the year.

[abrightmom]

Ladies,

 

Thanks for the encouragements and the great ideas. :001_smile:

 

Really, we are doing much better now, thank God for that. Much has changed that has relieved some of the oppression of the first months of the school year. There is just the lingering feelings and consequences that stay with me.

 

We have been zeroing in on what is most important and lapping up gravy as time and energy allow. DH and I both feel strongly that our oldest needs to step up in 4th grade so I'm carefully considering that.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with Birchbark's statement about the situations HOD works best in. Wholeheartedly. :001_smile:

 

I had planned to begin a countries and cultures study mid school year, dropping HOD. I was ready to start with books, plans, copies, etc. My oldest really protested and said he LOVES HOD and did not want to drop it. Rats. So, I decided to continue on with him and let the middlers work on basics. HOD fits him and he loves working on his own.

 

Plan A is Preparing for oldest and ? For middles; maybe Beautiful Feet Early American

Plan B is countries and cultures for awhile and BF Geography with the boys

Plan C is start Ancients with my boys

 

Lynn,

 

I hear you on the FLL vs R and S thing. I bought FLL 4 for my oldest because we bogged down in R&S and you reminded me of that. We have loved FLL 1 and 2 here.

 

Thanks again ladies. So much wisdom and love and understanding here! I really appreciate it. Now, can you tell me what writing path to follow for the next umpteen years for each of my kids? :D:D:D

[oneddmanybooks]

Ladies,

 

Thanks for the encouragements and the great ideas. :001_smile:

 

Really, we are doing much better now, thank God for that. Much has changed that has relieved some of the oppression of the first months of the school year. There is just the lingering feelings and consequences that stay with me.

 

We have been zeroing in on what is most important and lapping up gravy as time and energy allow. DH and I both feel strongly that our oldest needs to step up in 4th grade so I'm carefully considering that.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with Birchbark's statement about the situations HOD works best in. Wholeheartedly. :001_smile:

 

I had planned to begin a countries and cultures study mid school year, dropping HOD. I was ready to start with books, plans, copies, etc. My oldest really protested and said he LOVES HOD and did not want to drop it. Rats. So, I decided to continue on with him and let the middlers work on basics. HOD fits him and he loves working on his own.

 

Plan A is Preparing for oldest and ? For middles; maybe Beautiful Feet Early American

Plan B is countries and cultures for awhile and BF Geography with the boys

Plan C is start Ancients with my boys

 

...:D

 

May I just say how great it is that you have found something that your oldest loves! If he loves it, why not let him keep going with HOD? I've read your comments about Preparing and I think you will KICK yourself if you do not start Preparing this fall with your oldest. The HOD boards are great, but it's only advice. YOU are in charge of your homeschool. :D From what you have said, it seems like Plan A is a great choice.

 

About finishing Bigger, I think you should do whatever suits you and your son. I liked the idea about choosing certain units but still getting the feeling of finishing it.

 

JMHO. :D I'm really glad your year is so much better now. Hope next year is your best ever!

[mom2samlibby]

I had planned to begin a countries and cultures study mid school year, dropping HOD. I was ready to start with books, plans, copies, etc. My oldest really protested and said he LOVES HOD and did not want to drop it. Rats. So, I decided to continue on with him and let the middlers work on basics. HOD fits him and he loves working on his own.

 

 

Will your son be ok with not finishing the guide? I understand about wanting to move on to the next guide. We started Bigger in Aug. 2010. We did not get finished in the 2010 - 2011 school year. We picked it up again in Aug. 2011 and have been very consistent with school and should start Unit 30 today or tomorrow. I have had Preparing on my shelf since last April ready for the school year, but decided to work through Bigger, so we could say we finished it.

 

I'm glad we pressed on with Bigger. My kids have been growing a lot with their skills. We've all enjoyed the journey of American History. We are loving all the books. I'll also say that it took about 6 weeks of consistent daily work to see the pattern of the program and the skills being learned. . . . maybe I was just slow on picking that up. :lol: But, for me, I couldn't see how great it was until I really delved into it consistently with my children.

 

Anyway, we are getting excited now to move on, but I am glad we are finishing. Will your son be ok moving on in the fall or will he want to finish out the guide?

[lotsofpumpkins]

I haven't read the replies, but I'll tell you our story. This school year I started off combining my 3 oldest (1st, 3rd, 4th grades) in Beyond. Since Beyond doesn't have extensions, I had my oldest two also doing MOH 1, plus we were all doing Apologia Botany anyway. Well, I hated the hodge podge, and MOH was like an afterthought each day; hurry up and read it so we can check off the box. I switched my oldest 2 to Preparing in November, and they have done wonderfully with it. Grandpa's Box and CHOW have been such good books. They have really enjoyed all of the science and independent history books too. Since we started Preparing in Nov, we won't finish it by the time our school year is over (June 1st). As much as we are liking Preparing, I decided to make a clean break and start fresh in July with our new books (during our break we will finish reading CHOW). I originally switched my oldest 2 to Preparing since it would set them up to be able to use HOD long-term without needing extensions. BUT, after talking with dh about it quite a bit, we decided we won't be using HOD after this year afterall. It just gets too expensive, especially considering we can't use just one program with everyone. So, we are going back to combining. As much as I like what we are learning with Beyond and Preparing, it does kind of bug me to have so many different things going on each day. So, we'll be doing history, science, and Bible all together again. Now that I've used Preparing I have a good feel for how to come up with age-appropriate assignments for my older dc regardless of which book we use.

 

You really need to decide if you want everyone doing something different. Letting your oldest soar is fine; HOD leads them to more and more independence so that will work. But, if you want everyone on the same page, learning together as a family, then I vote that you simplify and just use multi-age programs.

 

(In case you are wondering, next year we'll be using Apologia Who is God?, God's Design science (starting with Human Body and then picking other topics from there), and FL Unit Study (we'll be adding in lots of supplemental lit and going on bunny trails to make this last for most of the year.) I want our content subjects to be fun, and something we can all do together. I'll make sure my oldest two have more research/writing assignments to go along with what we are doing.)

[Another Lynn]

Lynn is right. She is a smart lady, follow her advice :D

 

She said just what I would have said.

 

Faithe

 

Wow, Thanks! I consider that high praise coming from a veteran like you. :D

 

....

Plan A is Preparing for oldest and ? For middles; maybe Beautiful Feet Early American

Plan B is countries and cultures for awhile and BF Geography with the boys

Plan C is start Ancients with my boys

 

.......

 

 

I think any of these plans can work well. Why not plan a mock week with each plan to see what it might feel like? And now, while you're still in your school year and it's going well, ask yourself what you like about the current flow of your day. Will your plan for next year keep that same flow or will you need a different routine? and so on.... Besides, planning a mock school day is more fun than doing dishes or laundry, right? (Ask me how I know, LOL).

 

(By the way, some people think that LHFHG is a good companion guide with Preparing because then everyone is doing a world history overview.... but that depends on your feelings about LHFHG. Personally I didn't like it as much as the guides that follow it.)

[KeriJ]

Katrina, I really think the true value of HOD lies with the older guides. I don't think you have to be tied to the younger guides in order to make the older ones work for you. My plan for HOD is to not use the guides as written until 4th grade when we will start Preparing. I really believe that if you focus on the 3 R's until then, they will be ready. You have an idea now of what it takes to get ready for that and can spend time on those skills without having to use the younger guides in detail.

 

We are in the same boat with my dd being ready to step it up in 4th grade. Until now, we have worked hard at becoming a solid, independent reader, getting used to writing for longer periods of time, becoming comfortable with cursive, developing verbal and written narration skills etc. But we have done all of that without any specific hand-holding. I really feel confident that she is more than ready to take on Preparing pretty much independently. She is excited too!

 

That then frees me up to work with my littlers on their 3 R's and spend lots of time reading through quality books while developing narration skills. I figure we'll rotate through Beyond type colonial history, American history and geography until each is in 4th grade. As far as combining goes, we'll probably combine everyone for story time, for our own Bible time and possibly for Apologia science. So we'll end up with a little of both independence and combining.

 

And if you start with Preparing, they will end up with the basic history cycle twice before they graduate. (fine with me)

 

I stewed over the perfect plan for a long time, and I finally feel a peace about making HOD work for us in this way. In fact, typing it all out like this makes me even more excited!

 

I hope you can find what works for you and be at peace with it. As much as I love the idea of developing everyone's skills in a detailed, systematic way, for me what is really important is that they love God and others, and that they love to read and learn and express themselves skillfully. I've committed to "seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." When I started to apply that, I found that some of our best learning days were days that I didn't even plan. God supernaturally caused things to come together and we accomplished more "accidentally" than I thought possible without the "perfect" plan.

[Tidbits of Learning]

 

(By the way, some people think that LHFHG is a good companion guide with Preparing because then everyone is doing a world history overview.... but that depends on your feelings about LHFHG. Personally I didn't like it as much as the guides that follow it.)

 

We are doing CTC and LHFHG this year and we are pretty much lined up with Bible History the whole way.

[tjlcc]

Keri, are you concerned for when your second oldest is ready for her own guide and then your third child, etc.?

 

The theory of your plan sounds wonderful and I've seriously considered it for our family as well. I just don't know if I can actually have all of my children in separate guides, even if they will be mostly independent. How much time do you expect to spend with your 4th grader as she does Preparing?

 

I apologize for my critical attitude. It's not intentional. I'm genuinely interested in your plan as we have similar circumstances and children who are much the same age.

[KeriJ]

Keri, are you concerned for when your second oldest is ready for her own guide and then your third child, etc.?

 

The theory of your plan sounds wonderful and I've seriously considered it for our family as well. I just don't know if I can actually have all of my children in separate guides, even if they will be mostly independent. How much time do you expect to spend with your 4th grader as she does Preparing?

 

I apologize for my critical attitude. It's not intentional. I'm genuinely interested in your plan as we have similar circumstances and children who are much the same age.

 

I have to admit that the plan is all in my head for now and could play out much differently in real life. :001_smile: But my main point was that I was stressing too much about the younger guides etc. I'll have to see how long Preparing will actually take each day. I do know that dd is perfectly capable of reading her own history lessons, which is what Carrie recommends anyway if possible. So I'm hoping that she can do quite a bit independently with me checking up on her. By the time my next dd gets ready for Preparing, my oldest will hopefully be that much more independent. I figure we'll tweak as we go as far as guides and combining go. What works for my 1st group might not work as well for my next. The blessing for me is that my oldest dd gets through her work pretty quickly, so I am hopeful that it won't take terribly long each day, and if nothing else, we'll spread it out through 5 days instead of 4 to get even shorter days.

 

I feel like I'm rambling now.....all that to say, I'm going to take it 1 year at a time and not stress about K-3 so much other than getting solid skills in place.:001_smile:

[Tidbits of Learning]

I originally switched my oldest 2 to Preparing since it would set them up to be able to use HOD long-term without needing extensions. BUT, after talking with dh about it quite a bit, we decided we won't be using HOD after this year afterall. It just gets too expensive, especially considering we can't use just one program with everyone.

 

I can buy grade levels for all 4 of my kids with some of the pricey publishers for the cost of 1 1/2 levels of the higher HOD. If they keep getting higher, I may could buy for 4 kids for the cost of 1 guide.

 

We have been zeroing in on what is most important and lapping up gravy as time and energy allow. DH and I both feel strongly that our oldest needs to step up in 4th grade so I'm carefully considering that.

 

 

This is very worthwhile. I would look ahead at what may be expected of 4th graders in your area as well as what they are expected to accomplish in high school for college-prep. I know that sounds silly at 4th grade, but I just recently looked up our forms we have to have 8th graders fill out for their college prep or career path choices before entering high school and it was enlightening to say the least.

I think it is smart to think about long term goals and the individual child's progress in respect to his grade level.

I hope that it all works out for you.

[tjlcc]

It is a relief to just let go of the younger guides. Thanks for sharing more, Keri.