heartofdakota.com

If you have used "Little Hearts for His Glory", please share your experience with us. It will be such an encouragement for other homeschool parents to hear from you, and it will be especially helpful for those who are prayerfully considering whether Heart of Dakota is well-suited for their family.

I ordered this curriculum about 3 years ago and really loved the layout, activities, book selections, and even the workbooks (I am not a work book kind of girl). I enjoyed it so much that we are repeating it with my 5 year old son for his kindergarten year. We are in our 5th week of school and he's doing really great.

I think one of my favorite parts of the curriculum is the math exploration block, it makes math so hands on and much more fun to learn than just a workbook. I am very impressed with the Singapore Math. Many of my friends use saxon or horizon and all I hear are compaints about how the kids do not understand it or their child just does not like math. No complaints from my family with such colorful workbooks & fun activities!

We also really enjoy storytime......excellent books!!!!!!!

Hi,

I was looking for a curriculum that would provide a nice schedule to follow but that wasn't overloaded. I wanted something to give me a framework to go by that was biblical and focused on history, but above all, simple and easy to follow. Then if I wanted to add more, we would have the time to do so in our school day. Plus, my DD is nearly 6 and can read quite well. Some K programs I looked into didn't have the flexibility to adjust the reading to a more advanced level.

A friend told me about LH, and I fell in love with it once I reviewed the sample lessons on the site. It had those "fun" Kindergarten activities that I could never come up with on my own (in the science, art and rhymes in motion areas). Plus, it had the flexibility to use your own reading program/level. They offered their Emergent Reader list to me free of charge and it has fit the bill perfectly. In essence, it was meeting my desires and goals mentioned above.

We are now on Unit 4 and are really having fun. My DD really enjoys the Dramatic Play ideas, as well as the art/science areas. She also enjoys The Beginner's Bible that is part of the emergent reader list. I have sometimes added in my own things, but that is the beauty of this program. You don't feel burdened by too much in the daily schedule, and if you feel your child needs more or you just want to do more, you can without getting burnt out. Or, if you have a busy day, you can go by a very basic schedule.

All in all, we are very happy with our decision to use LH this year. We are enjoying our 1st year of homeschooling very much, and I credit much of it to using this great, easy, fun curriculum. An added bonus is that my 4y/o DS can participate in many of the activities, too! And he is really excited about "doing homeschool" now, too!

I hope this post makes sense, as my nearly 2 y/o DS is buzzing around me right now! I'm sure you all understand!!

God bless you all!

I am using this curriculum this year with my ds and dd twins (6.5, 1st) and dd (5.5, K). We are starting week 5 and so far we are having a blast!

I was worried about the Rhymes in Motion...that the kids might find them "cheesy". WRONG! They insist on doing ALL of the rhymes that we have learned EVERY day!

We also review our memory verses every day, which I consider to be a very good thing! I did not purchase the devotional book (tight budget) so I can't comment on that. We also didn't purchase the CD. We used to have the video, but wore it out! We still remember some of the songs.

We are enjoying the history very much. I purchased the coloring books that go along with History for Little Pilgrims and we are using the Egermeiers story Bible. I made some little cards (half an index card) with all the names of characters that we have studied (and we add to them each week). The kids illustrate their cards (they each have their own set in a ziplock) and then we put them in order. They are learning to read the names AND keep the history in order in their minds.

We have really goofed up Storytime. We are WAY ahead of schedule! We have to read a chapter even on days when we are not officially having "school". We loved Reddy Fox and we are half way through Peter Rabbit. We want to read all the Burgess books now!

The one thing that attracted me to this curriculum was that I can choose whatever I want for phonics, math, and handwriting. This makes it much easier to custimize for my 3 kids.

I can't wait to use BLHFHG next year!

We are completely delighted with Little Hearts for His Glory. My daughter especially loves the reading time. Those old books are great! She also really enjoys the Singapore Math. The set up of the teachers manual is wonderful, easy to use and efficient. And on a side note, I personally think Carrie is a delight also. I met her at a homeschool conference in Des Moines and she is helpful, kind and quick to encourage. I would highly recommend this curriculum.

After a lot of thoughtful consideration (i.e. running back and forth between booths at the local home school conference), prayer, and talking with other home schoolers, I decided to try Little Hearts for His Glory for Kindergarten this year. My daughter and I both LOVE it. She loves that the big motor skill things to do. Such as The Rhymes in Motion and listening to the songs. She is even starting to enjoy the book, Reddy Fox. She wasn't quite sure in the beginning because it didn't have pictures. But in the last week or so, she's started asking, "what's gonna happen next?" when we come to the end of a chapter, and always wants me to keep reading. She is enjoying all of the subjects and is the most excited about Math (thank you Singapore Math).
I love the ease of it all. Usually on Friday evening I go through next week lessons and make sure that I have everything I need, (I almost always do). And that's all the preparation that I do. The rest is just crack open the book and go. Carrie has provided such a quality program that is wonderfully biblically based. I'm so pleased and relieved that my 1st foray into buying curriculum has turned out so well.



Julia

We have researched many curriculums for our oldest daugther because of a significant fine motor delay that she has. We decided on this curriculum because it allowed us to choose our own phonics program that wasn't dependent on handwriting, it was Christ centered, thorough, fun, and "open and go" for the mom!

We are on week 11 and have enjoyed it all. The kids really like the Burgess readers, and I love the questions about plot, vocabulary, and moral decisions the curriculum provides to help me discuss the chapters with our kids. At first, we went ahead in the reader (I wanted to do it as well as the kids!), but we stopped doing that so that I wouldn't skip the great discussion questions. The kids like the rhymes in motion, and the great science, art and drama activities. The other great thing is my kids, including my 3-yr-old, are totally retaining all of their bible verses and love to sing them with the CD.

I really appreciate the flexibility of the program, and am so impressed with the cost. I feel Carrie's suggestions are wonderful, and the package prices are great. I have contacted the company before to let them know how much I appreciated the program and I received an email from both Mike and Carrie!

This is our 4th year of homeschooling. We have tried every curriculum imaginable out there. We have finally found our match! We are very much a Classical/Charlotte Mason family with some notebooking. My sons that I am currently teaching are 6, 9, and 10. Since I have 5 boys, time is crucial to me. Hearts of Dokota is very well laid out and next to no prep time each day. Mommy loves this!!

We are on our 11th week with Little Hearts with our 6 year old. He loves it and is doing well. He loves read a loud time. I am so amazed how he actually listens and can narrate all the chapters back to me. It's our special time together. The Children's Devotional is exceptional. We do it as a group. It is suitable and adaptable in my opinion for all ages. I also love that you can supplement with your own math and phonics. I also have added in First Language Lessons by Wise, too. It's not necessary, but it's the Charlotte Mason in me.

However, I have a 9 and 10 year old that I am doing Beyond Little Hearts. I understand that the my children are older than the recommended ages for this curriculum. My goal for my children are for them to self teach. This is the first year that I am pushing this in some degree. Some days I read them the history and some days they are to read to themselves and complete a notebook page. Of course, they do their own grade level for math and spelling. But, this program is very much easy to tailor to your children ages. This process works great for us. They even do most of the art projects, too. I was a little concern with the recommended age thing, but it all has worked out perfectly. We do go over the poetry together each Monday and practice our memory verse together, but mainly they are self teaching themselves at this point.

Next year, I plan on doing Bigger Hearts with all three of them. My two older will be doing most of the reading on their own and completing notebook pages. Also, I will encourage them to do more reading and research on the computer as I see needed for a challenge. I love how Carrie has all the suggested additional literature. It's right up our alley.

I plan on doing all of the Hearts of Dokota with my 2 younger ones, too. It's just a perfect fit for our family. Thank you, Carrie. Please keep writing more so I don't have to write my own.

I first used Little Hands as a chronological Bible study for my young homeschoolers, then moved to Little Hearts when a baby was due during term. I follow the Bible study side of the curriculum assiduously, though supplement the Bible in Pictures with meatier readings from Voss's Children's Story Bible.

On the skills page of each day, I use most of the books suggested, but generally at a much faster pace. I don't want to stop my children on their thinking skills, for example, when they're in full flow. We also add on a different subject each day, like art on Mondays, and map skills on Tuesdays. I've chosen my own workbooks for these.

Best of all, the curriculum works for an age range that suits my children (7 and 4), and I expect I'll be using it again when my second lot reach that age.

In the past, I've used unit studies like Konos, but I find this so much easier, because it's a more solid core foundation (particularly biblical) to which one can add unit studies on top. It's a style that suits me.

We'll continue with this programme until the books run out, and then hope Carrie can just write a bit faster!!

Kat Patrick
England

Hi,
I have to say that I am so glad I tried LHFHG with my daughter. It is so nice not to have to spend tons of time preparing for our lessons. I am also glad that she no longer complains to do her work(as with our last curriculum choice). Like other users, at first I was a bit doubtful that my daughter would enjoy the storytime because the books have no pictures. I was pleasantly suprised to discover that my daughter really likes them and tells her daddy about Reddy Fox. She also doesn't complain to do handwriting like she used to. I will be using this from now on and will follow up with the other volumes. I just hope that there will be more volumes later because I really like the format and style.

When I decided to homeschool our dd, I had a lot of questions, so I began to research curriculum, methods ect. I was blown away by how many curriculums and methods that were out there. I did'nt know where to start, I reasearched for hours and days sifting through the curriculum, with this heavy burden of trying to find "the one". After all we all want the best for our children and thier educational needs are no exeption. After days of reading and searching I knew I wanted a curriculum with a Charlotte Mason/Christian emphasis. I found a few that were interesting, but did not have the meatyness that I had hoped for. I wanted there to be no gaps. Then I stumbled upon HOD and all my prayers were answered!
My dd and I absolutly LOVE this curriculum, It is so flexible, and so complete, not to mention, amazingly affodable considering the depth of the program. We literaly look forward to doing school everyday. This curriculum sums up why I homeschool, so that I can teach my daughter that everything begins and ends with Christ! I look forward to using BLHFHG!
Thanks Carrie for being a faithful servant! May you and your family be blessed, as you have blessed ours!

We are only half way through Unit 3, but my 6 year old and I (and the tag a long 3.5 year old, she floats in and out) are LOVING it. He is asking such good questions, especially after our History readings and he always looks forward to reading about Reddy and Granny Fox etc. We are just really enjoying learning along side together!