Matching Curriculum to Grade Levels

[DeannaF]

Maybe this has been asked before, but I don't know where to look to find the answer so I'm asking it here. I noticed on the Scope and Sequence page that if you begin with Little Hearts for His Glory in Kindergarten, then Missions to Modern Marvels ends up being the 7th grade curriculum. Since the new Geography book is set as a high school curriculum, what happened to the 8th grade curriculum? What is the suggested progression for this? Would I need to use a different curriculum for 8th grade or skip 8th grade and go directly to HS? And if I have my kids skip straight to the Geography book, what would they do in what would have been their senior year? Would they graduate at a younger age, or is there something else they could do during their "senior" year? What are some things others have done (or are thinking of doing when the entire series of books is complete)?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions given.

[Motherjoy]

Most people either start Little Hearts in the first grade or do one of the guides at a slower pace for two years. There are several threads about this, but I'm horrible about finding old threads.

However, if a child is capable, then graduating younger would be completely fine. Assuming that nothing changes (haha) one of mine is set to graduate a year earlier than what is commonly accepted (by the institutionalize s schools who have brainwashed everyone into following their contrived scope and sequence.)

[TrueGRIT]

A lot of years won't always turn out like you plan, so it's nice to have the extra room. Been there, done that!

Another thing a lot of people do, including my family, is to do school 4 days a week, even for the younger 5 day guides.
This adds nearly a years worth of work.

[countrymom]

I would just place your child where they fit best and go forward. Like the other poster said, somewhere along the line you will most likely make a change. If not, you could slow up high school or finish early. There are so many options, but it is very difficult to plan that far ahead. I don't plan more than 6 months out anymore.

[dschurma]

We are doing a co-op one day a week, so we are beginning LHFHG only 4 days per week. By doing this, the earlier guides will last more than one year...though we will likely work ahead a bit in math

I think I read that doing 4 days/week in the early guides extends each guide 9 weeks beyond a typical school year...so four years of doing this would make up for the "missing" year.

[raceNzanesmom]

Our oldest was finished with requirements his senior year and could have graduated. Instead he took college level electives at the high school. They added credits to his high school AND college. So, I agree, don't worry about planning that far ahead. It'll work out.

[MelInKansas]

There is one more year than guide if you do LHFHG in K and do one guide per year. If your child can pull this off (and other life learning doesn't get in the way of completing them at that pace) then I would do what raceNzane'sMom suggested and have your child take college classes for high school credit. My nephew did that this year for his senior year, and I know another young man who is starting college this year with 70 or 80 credit hours under his belt already. He wants to be a doctor, so not having to do 4 years of undergraduate will be really good for him (and would be good for anyone really, and cheaper!)

And if your child is not college bound, they could just graduate early.

[my3sons]

The ladies gave such amazing insight here already! I'd say that having lived through the last 10 years of life and homeschooling, many times the Lord provides growing experiences - otherwise known to me I believe as difficulties to lean on Him due to life's circumstances - refining I know, me to be silver for Him. These are the times I draw closest to Him. Miscarriage, personal health concerns that caused surgeries, my Dad having pancreatic cancer - these are all life's moments that were unplanned that I was thanking the Lord HOD allows some extra wiggle room. Talk to almost anyone and you will find - the older we get, the more these unexpected moments occur, and believe me, when they do, you will be oh so glad you have chosen HOD and have a little leeway in your life that still lets you be successful in not only homeschooling, but also in working through whatever challenge lies ahead. That being said, should you be able - by the grace of God - to graduate a child a year early, you will probably LOVE that last year the most. Having a year of time to look ahead with your graduating teenager, to navigate the big question "What next?" surely would be an incredible gift. Visiting with other moms whose dc are this age in this transition, it is b-u-s-y. Having the time to work through that with our dc, would really be amazing. BUT, as the ladies shared, if that extra year is disconcerting, doing LHTH through Bigger Hearts 4 days a week instead of 5 days a week, will naturally - exactly - spread 4 guides over 5 years. HTH, and I am so excited for you to start using HOD!!! You are going to LOVE it, and you have many years of awesome memories ahead of you! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[DeannaF]

Thank you so much for all of the ideas and feedback. I knew there were other posts out there about this, but didn't know how to go about finding them. We'll have to see how things go. Thanks again!