Spreading Two Guides Over Three Years
Let me start by saying children typically do a guide a year within Heart of Dakota (HOD). This pacing usually works great! However, maybe you have a kiddo on the very young side of a guide’s target age range. If so, spreading two guides over three years might be for you!
Do you have a young child who needs time to grow into his/her next guide? Maybe your son placed beautifully in Little Hands to Heaven at 4 1/2 years old, but he is not quite ready for Little Hearts for His Glory at 5 1/2 years old. Or, maybe your daughter placed beautifully in Little Hearts for His Glory at 5 1/2 years old, but she is not quite ready for Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory at 6 1/2 years old. Beginning reading development, writing progress, and maturity level can all impact placement, and they are impossible to predict.
One child takes off with phonics, while another needs a little more time. Another child takes off with writing, while another is reluctant. One child is quite mature, while another just needs time to grow. If you have a young child at the youngest side of the target age range who needs time to grow into the next guide, don’t worry! Just try spreading two HOD guides over three years!
Half-Speed, Full-Speed; Half-Speed, Full-Speed
When spreading two guides over three years, the best pacing is half-speed, full-speed; half-speed, full-speed. This is because it is best to go half-speed at the start of each guide, and go full-speed at the end of each guide. Spending two full years in one guide feels long, and students never ramp up to doing a day within a day. Starting the next guide is then quite a shock, as they never did go full-speed in the previous guide. So, half-speed, full-speed; half-speed, full-speed is the best pace for spreading two guides over three years!
Half-speed simply means spreading one day of plans out over two days of plans. So, instead of doing Day 1 all in one day, you take two days to do Day 1 instead. You can spread the boxes of plans out any way you like, but somehow, you are taking two days to do one day of plans. (Please note, half-speed works great for everything but phonics. Phonics is the one subject to keep the ball rolling by doing it daily, once you start.)
Spreading Little Hearts and Beyond Little Hearts Over Three Years
So, let’s take a look at spreading Little Hearts and Beyond Little Hearts over three years for your now 5 1/2 year-old son. Both of these guides are 5-day-a-week guides, and they each have 34 units. However, many of you have older children in HOD using older 4-day-a-week guides with 35 units, so since we have 3 years to do 2 guides, why not enjoy a 4-day-a-week schedule that matches the number of days your older kiddos will be doing their guides? If you don’t have older kiddos doing a 4-day-a-week guide, a day off each week would probably still work nicely, as you are trying to spread out the guides anyway! So, here goes!
Year 1 – Homeschooling 4 days a week for 35 weeks:
Units 1-8 of Little Hearts for His Glory half-speed (8 five-day units doubled, takes 80 days to complete half-speed)
Units 9-20 of Little Hearts for His Glory full-speed (12 five-day units, takes 60 days to complete full-speed)
Take your break! Your older kiddos who did HOD’s 4-day-a-week guides are done with their guides! Even if you don’t have older kiddos, the homeschool year is done!
Year 2 – Homeschooling 4 days a week for 35 weeks:
Units 21-34 of Little Hearts for His Glory full-speed (14 five-day units, takes 70 days to complete full-speed)
Units 1-7 of Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory half-speed (7 five-day units, takes 70 days to complete half-speed)
Take your break! Your older kiddos who did HOD’s 4-day-a-week guides are done with their guides! Even if you don’t have older kiddos, the homeschool year is done!
Year 3 – Homeschooling 4 days a week for 35 weeks:
Unit 8 of Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory half-speed (1 five-day unit, takes 10 days to complete half-speed)
***I just love this because when you come back after your break, your child can go half-speed for the first unit to ease back into it.
Units 9-34 of Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory full-speed (26 five-day units, takes 130 days to complete full-speed)
Take your break! Your older kiddos who did HOD’s 4-day-a-week guides are done with their guides! Even if you don’t have older kiddos, the homeschool year is done! You have now successfully spread two guides over three years.
On Track to a Guide a Year Now
Your son who was 5 1/2 years old at the start of this sequence is now 8 1/2 years old. He will be in third grade when he begins Bigger Hearts for His Glory, and he can now do a guide a year. He will graduate having done all four of HOD’s high school guides. Hooray!
A Less-Detailed, More Free-Flowing Way of Spreading Two Guides Over Three Years
If your head is spinning, I apologize! I have to admit I do love a good math problem. When I ended up spreading two guides over three years for Emmett and for Riley (who were both on the very young side of the target age range), I put pencil to paper and loved figuring out a detailed 3-year plan!
However, you can totally have a less-detailed, more free-flowing way of spreading two guides over three years! Simply going half-speed for as long as you feel it is necessary, but trying to at least have a month or two full-speed at the end of the guide, works fine too! Then, going half-speed at the start of the next guide and ending full-speed, all within a total of three years, works great!
How do you know when you should go full-speed?
I often get asked how you know when you should switch from half-speed to full-speed. For me, I knew because my son was finishing his half-speed day so quickly that I was pondering adding some things. More work, more chores, more books somehow – uhhh, no. Why not just go full-speed? And that is what we did. It worked perfectly! So, if you have a kiddo on the youngest side of the target age range that is not quite ready for his/her next guide, try spreading the next two guides over three years somehow. I think you’ll enjoy that pacing very much!
In Christ,
Julie
