heartofdakota.com

Hi,

I'm Tricia in Ohio, the mom of 3 kids (see tag below) and we are ready to begin Week 9. This is our 1st year homeschooling, and I'm surprised at how well it is going! I have to say we are really enjoying it so far. I love the simplicity of LHFHG and that it gives a biblical focus to history. I went through one of Cathy Duffy's books that guided me to think about our goals for homeschooling and I'm glad I did, because then, when I did research on curricula, I had a sense of what I was looking for...and I wasn't quite finding it! So when a friend told me about LHFHG, I thought I'd probably found it! And long story short, this program does meet our goals! Hope that makes sense!

While my focus is on my 6 y/o DD, my 4 1/2 y/o DS joins us, too. And occasionally the almost 2 y/o DS joins us, too (especially when we marched around playing instruments to re-enact David's bringing the Ark back!) This is an added bonus!

I thought, for sure, that my DD would be asking to "go to K", like some of her friends are. But, praise God, she has NOT ONCE asked to go to school! (She had gone to preschool before, and has had a taste of the fun of going to school outside the home). And she just loves homeschooling. I am thankful that I have your program to assist me in meeting our goals, and that we are having fun at the same time!

I do add in more to do, like logic puzzles, more listening to lit, reading library books, extra science,etc. But I like that I can do it at my leisure! We also do a group on Friday, so I finish the LHFHG unit in about 3 1/2 days, so we can have ballet on Thurs afternoons, and group on Friday.

Well, I'm going on and on here! I was wondering...as for next year, have any of you used Beyond LIttle Hearts (that does come next, right?!...I'm forgetting here!) with 2 kids in the age ranges of 5 and 7? Would it be too much for the 5 year old? I suppose I could "tailor" it, just like I do this year! But wondering if anyone has had experience doing that. The reason I ask is that I don't think I'd want to repeart Little Hearts again next year, when my DD would be 1st grade and my DS would be K. I know I could, because there are 1st grade references listed for math, writing, and such. But if I moved on...well, I don't want to overwhelm my DS at K age.

And in general, how have some of you done with having multiple children when using Carrie's programs?

Have a great day! Thanks to all who answer!

Tricia,

It?s so nice to "meet" you. I?m glad you are getting a chance to enjoy "Little Hearts" with your kiddos. We are going through it with our third son right now. He asks for it every day.

As to your question, you may want to repost it on the main board. I think it has gotten buried here under the testimonials.

The question about combining ages is one that we get a lot. So, it is a good question, and I know there are some moms out there with some very good answers.

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi Tricia!

It's so nice to meet you! I have 3 children as well, although they are all boys and slightly different ages (7 1/2, 4 1/2, and 7 mos.). I am currently doing Bigger Hearts..., Little Hearts..., and Drawn into the Heart... with my children, so I understand your question about balancing several curriculums! I definitely think you could teach several of the programs at once. If I am doing it, you certainly could too! I posted my schedule under "Bigger Hearts... schedule" on the main board, and you could check that out for some ideas about how you could maybe balance things.

As far as your question about doing the 2 children together, I'd suggest one of two things.

Idea 1: Just do one side of the two-sided plans in Little Hearts... with your middle child each day, so it'll take 2 years to go through Little Hearts. (I'm doing this right now with my middle child.) Do Beyond... with your oldest, and you could have your middle child listen in on the history and the science (if you want to), take part in some of the activities, listen to the poem, listen to the Bible memory verse (but memorize the one from Little Hearts...), listen to Storytime, and even listen to your oldest child read whatever she's reading for reading (either Drawn into the Heart... or the Emerging Readers set).

Idea 2: Do Beyond... with both of them. Your older child could do spelling list 2, and your middle child could do spelling list 1. Your older child could do either the emerging readers or Drawn into the Heart... Level 2/3, and your middle child could do phonics or the emerging readers. Your older child could do Math 1A or 2A, and your middle child could do Earlybird Math or 1A. Your older child could copy the poem, and your middle child could just copy part or none of the poem. The rest of the things could be done together (i.e. history and science readings, etc.).

The strengths of Idea 1 are each child will be working more on his/her level, you'll have independent time with both of them (when they "get you all to themselves"), and there will be less competition between the two (more important as they grow older and become more aware of "levels"). Also, at the Bigger Hearts... level (which is after Beyond...), there is a jump in what children need to be able to do. At that point, it might be tough to keep them together anyway. The strengths of Idea 2 are you'd be teaching only one curriculum, the children could learn together, and you'd probably have less teaching time.

That being said, I think you could do either option, depending on your children and their needs. Hope that helps!

My3Sons

Here's another thought.......
Next year you could repeat LHFHG and do the 1st grade activities with one and the K activities with the other. You could add in some of the book suggestions from the appendix. You could do a mini-timeline with your 1st grader and add some science read-alouds. We love the "Among the ____ People" from the Baldwin Project.
I also went ahead and bought BLHFHG and we're doing some of the book studies. I figure I'll never be able to do them all in one year anyway, so why not start now!
They would each be doing their own phonics/reading, math and handwriting. (We call that 'time with mommy' at our house b/c I do each one individually.)
Anyway, that's how I'm using it with K and 1st and we're having a great year! Mine are 15 mo. apart and I am all about keeping it simple for my sanity!
I think (and this is just me) that BLHFHG would be too much for a Ker, but great for 1st, 2nd or even 3rd. So if you want to keep them together you would want to wait one more year on BLHFHG. I hope I'm making sense! I get a little loopy late at night!

Melanie

Thanks for all of your input! I've read the suggestions and will have to take time to process them! Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions! I really appreciate it!