Anyone Do 1/2 Speed Consistently?

[stawnasalas]

I am going to start 1/2 speed with all of my dc (5,7,9) this year. Usually I do it for the first week or 2, then continue with both sides of the guide for the rest of the year. This year I feel since all my dc are at the youngest age for the guides (Little Hearts, Bigger, and CTC), everything is tougher and more time consuming. I think they would all do well with 1/2 speed for the year, adding in Math every day though. This way, for example, it will take my 9 yr old 2 yrs to do CTC, but I think it will help not feeling so rushed, everything will sink in better, and she will still be on track for the ages on the guides. My K is just now learning letters, no sounds yet, and I think it will be a good fit for him. Anyone else do this on a consistent basis? I love that you can go at your own pace with hs'ing. I also have a pretty independent 12 yo, a very active 2 yo and a just beginning to scoot 6 mo old :0.

[jenn in nc]

Being able to go half speed with the HOD guides is such a blessing! I love having that option.

We did Bigger at half speed for part of last year with one of my dc. The time came when half speed was no longer enough, and at that point we transitioned into full speed. To me it seems like you might not need to decide ahead of time exactly how long you'll spend on the guides. Perhaps you could go half speed for now and for as long as that seems appropriate. But if it eventually doesn't seem to be "enough" you could bump it up.

Just a thought.

Jenn

[MomtoJGJE]

There will be a point that you will want them to go full speed so they will be ready for the next guides. With that said, since you are on the younger end of the guides, my suggestion would be to go half speed for the first 1/3 of the guide and then work up to full speed through the second 1/3 and consistently go full speed on the last 1/3. Then when you start the next guide you'd do the same thing.

So basically you'd go half speed through the first semester, which would in theory get you through unit 10 or so. Then for the next 10-12 units you would work on moving up to full speed. What I tend to do is to set a timer and go through the guide, and stop at the timer. If we get through a full day, then GREAT, but if not we start where we stopped off the next day and then move on once we finish that first days boxes. Then the last 1/3 of the guide you would just do full speed.

If you do that, it would still extend the guide a good bit, but not quite two years. But they'd be ready to start the next guide... whereas if you started a new guide after going half speed in a lower guide for two full years they will not be ready to move on. Then you could do the same thing for the next guide and stretch it out further if necessary.

I hope this makes some sense... I've been interrupted about 17 times while I've been typing

[my3sons]

I have loved using the half-speed option with HOD off and on through the years , but I have never stretched 1 guide over an entire 2 years. The kiddos just make too much progress to keep going half-speed - which is a good thing I guess! For me, and for my dc, I think 2 full years in 1 guide would feel too drawn out anyway (other than if it was LHTH with a 3 year old ). I do think you can definitely begin all of them half-speed, and when you start thinking you need to add something for one of them because they are obviously ready for more, I'd go to full-speed with just that child first. Then, watch for when the other 2 begin to need more, and up them to full-speed as needed. Perhaps you will go half-speed an entire year with one of them and then start full-speed next school year with that child. This would take about 1 1/2 years then to get through a guide, which you could then take 1 1/2 years to go through the next guide - basically 3 years with 2 guides. Though it would be easier this year to go half-speed all year with all of them, I think you'll find it easier in the long run to move dc as needed to full-speed earlier following their individual development cues, as this will result in some being half-speed and some being full-speed at the same time (which is very nice for us busy mamas). Also, there are just some things that when kiddos get on a roll they need to start doing it daily to solidify skills as every other day just doesn't produce the same results (i.e. learning to read, learning multiplication facts, learning to write an essay, and learning to outline well would be examples of skills such as these where half-speed can get in the way of cohesive thought and progress). HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[Nealewill]

I agree with Julie. I do think that consistently going 1/2 speed would draw out the learning. I know for my kids that when we start the year, it seems like it takes us about a month of going 1/2 speed for the kids to understand their schedules. But right about the 5th or 6th week, everyone is totally ready for more. For me, I like to keep the momentum going. If I don't, then I find I lose the excitement them learning new things. So for us, we may go 1/2 speed for a little while in the beginning but it is much better for each of them to go full speed sooner rather than later. And they do enjoy their days. We started last week with everyone's guides and already my oldest is doing more than 1/2 of her work in a day LOL. Mainly she wants to jump ahead in the poetry because it is painting and the history project because she loves those. She also knows that we use M&Ms on day 4 of science for the first unit so she begged me to do day 3 and 4 of science this weekend so that she could do the experiment ..... but I said no. For my kids, they do well going full speed.

I also totally agree with MomtoJGJE. If I went half speed with my kids in their guides, then they probably would have a difficult time going full speed in future guides. This is because each guide increases in work load and volume. So if they get used to the lower volume of work load, then it would be difficult to all of the sudden double the amount of work and then some that they would have to do.

And I can honestly say, I am doing the same guides as you. I think as long as your kids placed well in their guide, then you will be fine My kids are very solid in their guides and things are already going very well. A big reason we start off at 1/2 speed for a few weeks is so that I as the mom am not stressed trying to get everyone into a schedule. Also, I like having the freedom to ease the kids into school. But after a month, we have a grove going and everyone seems pretty content and happy. So we are then ready to go full speed. Plus, we try 1/2 speed usually over the last month of summer. This is so that we can just do school for about 2 hours max a day (1 or so for the younger kids) and the kids can still play with their friends and do tons of stuff outside. By the end of that month, most kids are back in school anyway and my kids are bored. So going full speed isn't a big deal because there is no one to play with anymore and they have to entertain themselves. It seems to be a very natural flow to get back into the grove of a full days worth of school come September.

[jenn in nc]

I hope this makes some sense... I've been interrupted about 17 times while I've been typing

Ha ha! This totally made me laugh.