CTC Placement questions

[Zookeeper9]

Praise the Lord, mh DH is actually considering letting me homeshool all of my middle four. This is a HUGE step for him. I am taking the rest of the summer and getting a routine into place that will support homeschooling. Since I am still new to homeschooling and HOD I have a couple of questions.

I would have a son who would be in seventh grade in public school. He is advanced in math, has a wonderful understanding of reading, but cannot write or spell well at all. I have two daughters that would be going into 5th grade. One is right on track for the grade level. The other is ahead in both reading, math, writing and spelling. I am considering CTC for these three children, with extensions for my son and one daughter.

With my other son I would be using BHFHG. This is the older triplet that is a struggling learner and it seems like the best fit at this time for him.

I will also be using LHTH for my almost 4 year olds.

Does this seem reasonable for a new homeschooling mom and someone hew to HOD?

[4froggies]

This does sound reasonable if that is where they fit on the placement chart, although you might want to wait a few months before adding in LHTH for your little one. It doesn't take much time at all, but I would focus on getting the olders into the "HOD groove" first, just to save you some stress. Just my 2 cents! Also, my dd was in 5th grade doing CTC this past year and is an advanced reader as well. We found that the history readings were challenging enough, especially if you add in DITHOR books. The extension books do look great, though.

I wish you the best as you begin your homeschooling journey!

[my3sons]

Yes, praise the Lord! I'm so glad the Lord is turning your dh's heart toward homeschooling with Him at the center. You are going to be doing the same guides I did at the end of last year. I did CTC, Bigger Hearts half-speed (before that we finished out Beyond), and LHTH half-speed. We loved it! I think you have a good plan. One thing you may want to do is stagger start your dc. I'd begin with just the CTC trio. They should learn to use the manual as their own and follow directions right from there. This will help keep things rolling as you are working with other dc. Another thing that helped us was to have the same routine order of doing the boxes. The dc had a copy of this order of boxes, and we went in the same order each day. To begin with, I used the CTC and Bigger Hearts time box allotments to make a schedule. The schedule helped us get started, but the routine was what we stuck with throughout the year. Here are a few links for those:
CTC time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3765
BHFHG time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=702

After you have spent a few weeks training your olders with CTC, you could start Bigger Hearts, and focus on training that child for a few weeks. Then, last you could add LHTH. LHTH takes only about 20-30 minutes to do. It is fun, easy, and gets our mommy time in with the littles in a manageable way. In case something may be beneficial from my schedule, here's a link to that:


HTH, and I think you are going to love HOD! Just give yourself some time to ease into it, and you'll be set for a great year.

In Christ,
Julie

[Zookeeper9]

Thank you both for the encouragement. And Julie your schedule is awesome, thank you for sharing. I have beening using MOTH for a while just to manage the sheer craziness of a large family, even without homeschooling. I have actually started the LHTH with my three year olds already. They have been wanting to do homeschool for so long. I have been doing basic schooling with the others so I just worked them in.

I am waiting for my box of DITHR and BHFHG things. Can't wait to get it! Once DH gives the final go ahead, then I will order the CTC items. So I will be doing it backwards, but at least it is staggered

I have taken pictures of my littles working in the first unit. I will have to post them next week when I get a chance. It is to cute to hear them say A-A-Adam when you ask them what sound an A makes. LOL

[my3sons]

Well, you smart gal! You're already stagger starting anyway - you're set! Have fun going through your Bigger Heart's things, and your CTC things when you order. You'll have to try to share your box days if you get the chance - we love to share in the excitement - it's actually kind of fun to get them in 2 shipments because it's twice the fun when it comes to box days. I'd love to see your LHTH pics too.

In Christ,
Julie