Learning Happens Either Way
Even if two families have the exact same number of children who are the exact same ages, Heart of Dakota (HOD) placement can be very different for those two families! Stages in life differ, children differ in needs, and parents face different challenges each and every year. Blessedly, placement in Heart of Dakota (HOD) can be customized for each family according to priorities, goals, abilities, budget, skills, working relationships, and life challenges.
One thing I have learned from my own homeschool journey and from helping other amazing homeschool moms with their homeschool journeys – we all need a good homeschool year THIS year! Otherwise, we may not be able to continue! Sometimes it works to teach multiple children in the same guide, and other times it just doesn’t. The good news is, family learning happens either way!
My Family’s Placement in Guides
When I began homeschooling, I was often told I would need to combine my children to be able to homeschool. I did not find that to be true. In fact, I found it worked best to place my three sons in three different guides. They are each three to four years apart (oldest nearly 27, middle now 23, youngest now 19). I LOVED having them in their own guides! They were each the ‘star’ of their guides. Each guide fit their attention span, abilities, and skills.
Younger guides follow the Charlotte Mason short lesson format, so kiddos finish school more quickly. Older guides incrementally teach successful independence, but they also give the parent more exciting (age appropriate) things to teach/discuss than solely reading aloud. This balance fit my family and my teaching so well!
Charlotte Mason’s Thoughts on Independent Reading
Charlotte Mason advocated that children begin taking on independent reading at the age of 9, if they are able to – and that is the format HOD’s guides follow. That is not to say age 9 is the magic number for this to happen for all children – it is just a Charlotte Mason guideline.
I often taught my youngest during my older two sons’ independent work times. Then, one ‘older’ had a playtime with the ‘younger’ while I taught the other ‘older’. Worked perfectly! Still today, they are each others’ best friends, and they did HOD this way PreK to 12th!
Ample Together Time
Our sons had AMPLE time to be together! Most homeschool families’ children are together night and day! Our sons did HOD’s Drawn into the Heart of Reading together and enjoyed that. They also shared what they were learning with one another in their (different) main HOD guides constantly in unplanned, natural ways (i.e. over hot cocoa and during meals and by saying “Hey, want to come see my volcano erupt?” or “I’m going to say my poem I memorized while we have our snack!” or “Hey, do ya want to come on my Crusades with me?”
These are just off the top of my head to show you 5-minute “y’all come and check out this special moment that I’m still the one leading/focused on it” type family moments that were common in our home the past 25 years of homeschooling!
Family Learning Happens Either Way
Family learning is always happening in a homeschool home. Whether it is in the same ‘guide’ or not – family learning is taking place. We are together ALL day in the same home! It is impossible not to be learning ‘together’, living ‘together’, homeschooling ‘together’ – no one is off in a little room alone never to be a part of the fun. The fun is for everyone in homeschooling with HOD.
How it looks from home to home may be different – but the fun and ‘family’ learning happens every day. The not-so-fun-part is being placed in a guide you totally can’t do as a child — or being compared to your older sibling and always falling short or vice versa (it’s not always the oldest that should be doing a higher level guide) — or being older and having to wait for your much-too-young-to-do-the assignments-sibling — these situations are not happy ‘family’ learning anyway.
The Good News
So, the good news is HOD can be a joy either way! Sometimes the joy comes with kiddos doing the same guide and sometimes it comes with kiddos doing different guides. It is unique to each family. I say this because placement is different for each family. It can even be different from year to year. So, if you’ve been told you absolutely must combine to be able to homeschool, my own countless memories of our happy homeschool journey say otherwise!
We all need a good homeschool year THIS year! Otherwise, we may not be able to continue! Sometimes it works to teach multiple children in the same guide, and other times it just doesn’t. The good news is, family learning happens either way! Here’s to making this year the best year ever for each of our families – no matter what the details of that look like!
In Christ,
Julie
