Almost Done

[shannonmcfarland]

Our experience with Bigger Hearts during the 2013-2014 school year has been excellent. Our school day is structured around two children in kindergarten and third grade. I initially intended to have them work separately in two different HOD books with my daughter using Little Hearts and my son using BHFHG. We actually did that for part of the year but my daughter was so mesmerized by the science and history in BHFHG and was so disappointed if she missed any that we ended up combining the children for Science, History and Bible. They each worked on their grade level using Singapore Math (so K and 3) and their own reading program at his/her grade level. Our daughter was able to do and enjoy the note booking. Although the level of sophistication was disparate between the two children on note booking, both are pretty artistic, so I was actually surprised at how well she did with the note booking. I test each year using the ITBS test. Our daughter isn't to the age to begin testing yet, however our son has achieved a composite of 99% for the last two years. Spelling has been a weaker area for our son but once we began using the HOD spelling method his scores immediately shot up and he normally gets a perfect spelling test score each week.

A bit of history on our family: We have been homeschooling since kindergarten for our son with the exception of one quarter in first grade. I had not planned to homeschool after kindergarten. I wanted one more year with our son and felt that he would learn the kindergarten materials easily with me. When he started first grade, he immediately began to ask to homeschool. He loves the freedom of homeschooling and being at home. My husband and I discussed his request and decided to give it a shot. What a wonderful experience it has been! I bought HOD right off the bat but put off using it until the second grade because our son's teacher in first grade gave me all of his school books when he un-enrolled (long story short, she had been home schooled and totally supported what we were doing). So I finished off the 1st grade year using the materials he had used in school. Then we began second grade with Beyond Little Hearts.

We have loved the HOD curriculum so much that I can't wait to buy and use Preparing next school year. We love that we can double up and have extra family/vacation time. Last year, after using Beyond all year and loving the study of colonial history so much, we ended the year with a family trip to Williamsburg, Monticello, Mt. Vernon and Washington D.C. It was the perfect ending to such an interesting and compelling year of HOD history. Then, as we proceeded through BHFHG this year I kept referring back to the trip for American History. The children LOVED getting to know John James Audubon, the Wright brothers and their sister, and now Thomas Edison. They also loved the pioneer family in the science book. I simply can't say enough about how terrific the history and science selection of books has been. We will begin the Drawn reading program next school year (from a heavily phonics based program to date that our son's school used) and I CAN'T WAIT to see that book selection!

We are deeply appreciative of this curriculum. Research is my thing and I look at multiple curriculums each year out of curiosity. I have never even been tempted to change to something else after looking. I do occasionally supplement with something of specific interest to one of my children or if I see that one of them appears to be weak in an area but this curriculum is the backbone and meat of what we do. I can't tell you how many times I've recommended this program! We have two weeks to go for this year (again love the freedom to double up) and we are already looking forward to next year. This program keeps school fun for us. It provides us with quality family time together and reenforces the bond between our children. It keeps us focused on our faith and allows us to make our faith the foundation of our day. Thanks again!