What an amazing thread this has been!
Such good thoughts here - I love this flexibility with HOD - it gives such a more customized fit than a one size fits all program can. Well, I'll share some thoughts on your last question... back to back guides. I agree with a pp that mentioned it's more about us moms than dc. To keep thing fresh from year to year for us moms, it's simply nice to teach something different, and then coming back to a guide after a year or so off does feel like coming back to an old friend (aptly said by pp).
However, this really may not be a big deal to some moms. I think it depends how many times you'll be teaching a guide too. If you have quite a large family, and could potentially be teaching some guides 4+ times, than that is something to consider. Also, I think it depends WHICH guides are taught back to back. LHTH, for example, can easily be taught back to back - it doesn't take long, and it has several Bibles and devotionals to choose from, so simply choosing a different Bible and a different devotional the second year switches it up for us moms.
Likewise, teaching the upper guides back to back (i.e. CTC, RTR, on up) seems like it would be no big deal. Our teaching time in those guides is more streamlined, and the discussions are heartfelt and personal, which seems to give an altogether different teaching experience with our different dc, as usually, they are quite different from one another in needs, personalities, and interests and therefore the discussions change from year to year. The skills are often more semi-independent or independent as well, so while we may get them started, they usually finish on their own - which results in less time on our part.
So, I would not mind in the least teaching CTC on up back to back, nor LHTH, or even LHFHG.
The guides that may be harder to teach back to back (IMO) would be possibly PHFHG, and probably Beyond and Bigger Hearts. These are important, foundational teaching years, and those guides rightly recognize this by having us teaching more. The skills are incredibly important, and helping our dc to build a strong foundation in them is integral to the success for rest of the years to come. These are the years we are teaching our dc how to read, how to write, how to have strong basic math skills, how to begin to follow directions, how to learn to listen attentively, how to have good study habits, how to begin to dig deeper in the Bible, how to begin to develop a real relationship with the Lord, and not to mention... how to gather work supplies, how to do neat work (i.e. putting together a notebooking or art assignment that looks balanced), where to hand in their work, how to clean up their work area, and the list could go on... and on... and on. These years are about so much more than just working through school subjects - if a parent were to really sit down and ponder even just one of the things I listed above (i.e. teaching dc how to read
) - it becomes obvious these years firmly place responsibility upon our shoulders as teachers... again rightly so.
What's more - these important years of learning come at a time when our dc are often quite immature. As we are trying to teach them well and show them the importance of learning, they are thinking day after day filled with simply all play and no work sounds quite fun. (Blessedly, HOD makes learning fun, so this battle is minimized with Carrie's excellent writing.
)
So, these younger years are crucial, and our teaching needs to be focused, consistent, and complete. Random teaching, hit and miss work on skills, accepting incomplete work, letting poor work habits slide - there is no room for these things in these years - because habits are forming ALL of the time, and whether they are good habits or bad habits has a BIG impact on the years to come.
These years make a permanent impression on our dc - they shape their thoughts of homeschooling - what it is, how it will be done, what they are responsible for, what their role is, what our role is as their teacher. If they don't understand how important school is, they may never get it, and we may spend the rest of our teaching years battling that belief that school is not that important and that work can just as easily be skipped as completed. On the other hand, if they understand school is extremely important, the work they are doing is full of purpose and can be very fulfilling, the work habits they make have lifelong impact and can help them in so many good ways, the Godly studies have eternal consequences and a relationship with the Lord takes precedence over all - then they will take school seriously - they will take us seriously - they will take their faith seriously, and instead of finding opposition in our dc, we find an ally that readily and (on most days) cheerfully joins us in this homeschooling journey, day to day, year to year.
I know this sounds like I'm putting too much emphasis on these years, but all I can tell you is me putting my time in these years is turning out dc who partner with me in learning - not perfect dc, but willing dc, and that is an incredible blessing.
So, if a mama has only a few dc, teaching guides back to back is probably not a big deal other than personal preference.
If a mama has many dc, she could spread herself too thin and not be as ready for the challenge of back to back important teaching years (I would place myself in this category
). I'm not sure where you fall, but I think I'd consider doing Bigger Hearts with extensions with your oldest, and either LHFHG with 1st grade options with your younger, or half-speed Beyond with your younger. If you did half-speed Beyond, your teaching would be nicely balanced between Beyond and Bigger Hearts, and the following year, as you finished the second half of Beyond, your older would be in PHFHG, thus giving you a year in between guides from then on out. LHFHG is an excellent program too, so that could be an option too. HTH as you ponder your goals!
In Christ,
Julie