First day of BHFG and continuing LHFG with six kids!

[water2wine]

Can I just say what a breeze. We are breaking for lunch. My 4 big kids using BHFG are almost done. They just have a few LA things to finish up but done with everything else. We started at 9 they did their reading for about 1/2 hour by 12:45 they are done with everything but the phonics/English part of LA and handwriting. And my littlest two have done LHFG all but Math and Phonics. Plus the listened in on some of the big kids science and story time. So I would say I have over all about an hour left of school for me working with the little one and my child that has reading delays. So that would put us at 4 hrs 45 min to very thoroughly (I added some of my own stuff and we deeply discussed things) teach six kids using two programs on several levels. And that would be it in time if we were not also doing a separate Chronological Bible Study that is not part of the program. For six kids 3 (almost 4) to 10 one with special needs, that is amazing! I am also thinking we can move our other Bible study to three times a week and do great with keeping on track with that. So this is much shorter and way easier than our normal 6-6 1/2 standard day! In the end I think it will easily cut off 2-1.5 hours a day and we will still be able to add all the extras we want.

Never have I had it so easy and still been able to keep the deep biblical and character training I want for my kids. So glad we took the plunge and moved them all over to HOD! And BTW just to let you know this is our first really structured day after just taking a month off for our Christmas break! The other days have just been tying up loose ends before we started BHFG with my older kids. This was a really good choice for us. I am so excited and just had to share!

[Melanie]

Cyber high-five!

[water2wine]

Haha! Back at ya! I was a little fearful that is was not going to be like I hoped But it is pretty much just LHFG on steroids so very easy to do. The high five it to the program really. I flail pretty well on my own

[MamaMary]

I think this is my favorite post! Did you use the LA & Math suggestions for your older kids?

[hippiechyck]

YAY for you!

[water2wine]

Mary, we did the extension package minus one book because we did not have it yet (I just ordered it) but I read a fair amount from The Light and Glory in its place. We had already done that part of Planet Earth because we were in the middle of that already so I added some Apologia Zoology 2 (you asked We did our own LA R&S (on a few levels) and R&S math (on our levels). So for now we really did every thing there but used our own LA and math and did the extension package as a group. We also did our R&S BNR program and not DITHR which I think we will decide to do 4 genres this year and continue with R&S reading too. We did the extension packs as a group and emerging reader with my dd. I am thinking I am going to try to push up my dd who struggles to R&S 2 phonics only and link it to the emerging reading program. And then I am thinking midway I will plug her in with Preparing to Build and back track that section as Carrie has it for her.

So short answer is we did our own thing with LA and Math but did the emerging reader with one and the extension pack with all.

Hope that makes sense.

[Candice]

Wow, can I just say you are a machine (six kids, I bow down to you!) So neat to hear how smoothly things are going for you and your family. What a blessing that HOD is such a perfect fit for you!

Candice

[water2wine]

can I just say you are a machine

Ok not really Believe me I am not even close to having it together in that, but I do think this is an awesome program for working with multiples yet still getting things on their individual level. I am really impressed at how easy it is to jump in and take off. And can I just say that I am relieved I can see it is going to be great because my husband would not have been thrilled if it had not I bought two MFW programs, used MFW K and sold that midway after I really could not make it work to a point where it was not frustrating me ever day and we had actually passed it up so much it was no longer of value to me. I learned after that if it is getting on your nerve at the start and you look ahead and see more of the same, get rid of it! And the other one I liked but all the changes I felt like I needed to make for my kids sort of rendered it no longer useful so I read through it, planned, and did all the prep work and then sold it before we did it. I just feel like it is not worth being frustrated. I could tell that it was going to be a constant thing I was fighting against instead of having it help me. Two strikes

So I am over joyed that this is a hit and I can see clearly that it is going to work for the long haul for us. I was thinking that it would since LHFG has been awesome for us. Before HOD I had come to the conclusion that the only thing that worked was something I really put together myself, which works for me but it wears me out. It is enough just to juggle all the levels I do. So I am very content to have Carrie do all that for me and I will just be blessed by what she does. Mean while I am going to enjoy my kids while she writes. Hehehe!

[beandip71]

I am so glad to hear that your day went so well. Thanks for sharing!

Gina

[Sharon]

Wow, it sounds like you had a wonderful day! I am so happy for you and your kiddos.


Thanks for sharing and being a wonderful encourgement to the rest of us!

Blessings,
Sharon

[MamaMary]

water2wine,

My husband liked hearing your post. It's nice to hear a mom of many say they did school and still had a life. Thank YOU

[my3sons]

I'm so happy for you! What a day to celebrate! Thanks so much for sharing - I love hearing others' happy stories. We need to do more of that kind of "chatting" because it's just such an encouraging "jolt" to the heart and mind!

[wisdom4us]

water2wine,

This post is very encouraging to me! I will be teaching 3 soon and was wondering how to manage 2 different programs at the same time. But I guess if you can do it w/ 6, I can do it with 3!

But HOW do you do it? I mean, what are the little ones doing while you are doing BHFHG and vise versa? I have an emerging reader so it's not too independent yet. I'm just worried that I'll be "doing school" all day. But it sounds like everyone in your family does it together and they just listen in on each other's lessons? I need a how to manual.

[momof5woodstockga]

Where are you in GA? We are in Woodstock
We are just starting Bigger with extensions and Emerging (6B,8B, 10G) and I have my 3B starting Little Hands, and a 1yrG just playing!!

[my3sons]

... what are the little ones doing while you are doing BHFHG and vise versa?

Well, I'm not water2wine, but this is a question we ALL have when we have toddlers and are homeschooling! Those little ones are a blessing but also demand a lot of our time and attention. It has worked well for me to start with the toddler (Emmett ) first when penciling out a schedule. It also helps to have worked on training him to have some independent things he enjoys doing. Then, I plug the rest of the schedule around his things. For example, here are the things Emmett can do happily and fairly independently (he's 2 years 4 months):
- look at sturdy books in his crib (15 minutes first thing in the morning)]
- play in the (child-proofed) entryway (30 minutes)
- watch a video/DVD (30-45 minutes)
- color at the table (10 minute)
- Lakeshore box activities by us (15 minutes)
- playtime with Wyatt (30 minutes) - I work with Riley during this time
- playtime with Riley (30 minutes) - I work with Wyatt during this time
- blanket of toys near us (20 minutes)
- nap

Spreading out these independent things with free time just out and about among us works well. When he was younger and took a morning and an afternoon nap, I scheduled the bulk of my homeschooling teaching time during his AM nap. Now, he only naps in the afternoon, and I tried (last year) not to schedule school during his PM nap time, since that is an important time for me to get other things done (i.e. laundry, supper, phone calls, etc.) . That's when it became very important to work with him to find some enjoyable things for him to do more independently. I'm adding a time for just he and I this year too. I will probably start LHTH when he's around 3 yo or so. Here are some good links to ideas the ladies shared about toddler activities...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4136&p=30651
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4462&p=33544
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3814&p=28310

I hope something here' helps!
In Christ,
Julie