Introduction and questions!!

jsusgrl · Post by **jsusgrl** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:37 am

Hi Everyone!

I'm Angie, wife to Chuck of 20 yrs and Mom to my 3 blessings, Jake, age 15; Jordan, age 8 and my daughter Noel- age 6. I am looking into this curriculum for the upcoming school yr and would love any insight you all might have:-)
My 15 yr old will be doing another curriculum, but I would love to use this for my 8 and 6 yr olds. My question is where to start them!

My 6 yr old will be in 2nd grd in the fall but she does not turn 7 until December, so she is young. She reads well, but still needs some guidance with bigger words. She reads the Abeka 1st grade readers just fine though. My 8 yr old boy will be 9 in Nov and going into 4th grade, BUT, we really fell short in math this year- he used the Math U see- Beta and we still have nor gotten thru it yet. He is a great reader and speller though, but again we did not cover the Lang arts area very well this year, so he could use help there. i'm sorry this is sooo long but I looked at the placement criteria and am still confused as where to start them. I'd love for them to be doing the SAME history, etc. So I was thinking of starting with Bigger for both. Would I be doing my daughter who is 6 a disservice though by not starting with beyond? The curriculum looks soo wonderful, by the way and I am so thankful i found Heart of Dakota!!

God bless you all and thanks for any insight you can give me!
In Christ,
Angie
Wife to Chuck and mom to Jake-15, Jordan-8 and Noel-6
Finishing our 10th yr homescholing!!

beandip71 · Post by **beandip71** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:55 am

Hi Angie! Welcome to the boards.

If it were me I think I would go with Beyond. I think Bigger would be too much for your dd, and you can always add things in for your son. With HOD ot is easier to beef up a program for older dc than to try and tone it down for the younger ones. I'm sure others will chime in as well. HTH!

Gina

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:59 am

Hi Angie!

WELCOME

I agree with Gina, Beyond would probably be your best bet. We'll be doing Beyond this year and mine are 6 and 7.5 so we are close to same ages!
There are 2 spelling list and you have 3 choices for reading in Beyond, so you would have your bases covered with that. You might want to add R&S grammar for your oldest, or you could wait until Bigger - R&S is pretty advanced and there are many of us here who don't plan to start until 3rd grade with that.

You may also choose different levels of math.

If you think of any other questions, ask away. This is one of the most helpful boards on the net!

jsusgrl · Post by **jsusgrl** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:01 am

Thank you Melanie and Gina:-)
The only thing I thought I should mention is that i did use Abeka 1st grade lang arts with my daughter this year and she reads really well, though would be bore with books that are too long. She does read chapter books though. also, my 8 yr old did 3rd grd curriculum though we did not cover it all as well as we should and therefore he is probably a bit behind, but again a strong reader. So, knowing those things, would you still reccomend Beyond???
Thank you all so much. You all seem like a really great group of women and i am so blessed to have found HOD!!!!
God bless you all!
In Christ,
Angie

bookworm · Post by **bookworm** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:14 am

I would also suggest Beyond since I was in the same boat as you. I'm going to do it with a 7 yr old and an almost 10 yr old. Even though the 10 yr old is quite beyond the readers, it was suggested to have him read the read alouds from the "boy" list which I think will be prefect.
Since we do a different math and LA than listed with HOD, we don't have to worry about matching them up.

The books are so great in Beyond that I did not want to miss them

We'll do Bigger next year with the extention pack for my oldest so it'll still be a good match for us.

Good luck,
Ann

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 1:19 pm

If your dc are past the emerging readers, that is when you start using the Drawn Into the Heart of Reading program. Please, check out the HOD main website and go to that page.

The packages listed as boy interest or girl interest or classic on the Beyond page are to use with the storytime box in the plans and you are to read those out loud to your kiddos and do the activities in the box with those books. There are different book packages that go with the Drawn reading program.

It does sound like your oldest would be past the emerging readers, but you little one might still use them or at least the last half of the set....you'll have to be the judge of where she is with those books.

(They do become progressively difficult and end at about a 3rd grade reading level.)

I do think I would still start with Beyond, for several reasons. Mainly just because the programs (Bigger, Preparing) do get pretty deep, and I would want to make sure I eased into those and was really ready for the work. I also totally agree with Ann, the books are just too good to miss!

HTH,

Mel

Sandi_NC · Post by **Sandi_NC** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:21 pm

Hi Angie!

I don't have any advice, as we're waiting on our HOD order to arrive, but I just wanted to say WELCOME!

We'll be starting Bigger as soon as it arrives, and adding DITHOR a few weeks after that ~ we're anxious to get started!

Blessings,
Sandi

jsusgrl · Post by **jsusgrl** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:58 pm

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome and advice:-) I truly appreciate it!! I just have to pray, pray, pray and see what is best for our family. I can see why starting with Beyond would work well and I would probably just get Primary math 1A for my 6 yr old and 2A for my 8 yr old, also using building English 2 for him. Though, i was really hoping to use that with Bigger, so I could follow the lesson plan there:-( But then i realized we can always use Bulding English 3 at that point. My other concern is with my support group or ISP. I know that generally as a rule, if more than one subject is one grade below level then i would have to consider my child in that lower grade. i know that shouldn't matter, but it does to my son. I realize the scope of Singapore and rod and Staff is more advanced but can I justify, Primary math 2 and building english skills 2 as 4th grade level? If not, my support group may ask me to bump him down a grade. That would really hurt him.

Any advice or thoughts? God bless you all and thank you again! You are all so sweet and I so appreciate you taking the time to give me advice!
Love in Christ,
Angie

MamaMary · Post by **MamaMary** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:39 pm

Welcome Angie,

My good friend and neighbor is named Angie and she is married to Chuck also! Welcome to HOD. I agree that I also would do Beyond. I started with Bigger and found the programs to be so wonderfully full that we shelved it until next year and ordered Beyond! We are beginning our 11th year of homeschooling and have found HOD to be one of our best fits EVER!

You can't go wrong with either choice. Let us know what you decide

jsusgrl · Post by **jsusgrl** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:23 am

Thank you Mary:-)
Can I ask how old your kids are that you're using HOD with? I appreciate so much everyones advice. It is hard to decide which is best. I feel that if I choose Bigger, i'm doing a disservice to my daughter who's 6 and if I choose Beyond, I'm hoping it's enough for my son entering 4th grd. But, as everyone says, i think Beyond will be a better fit for us. I do want to use the Singapore mth and rod and Staff English as well, so Lord willing! You are all so sweet! And Mary, that is too funny your neighbor and her husband have the same names as myself and my husband!!
God bless and many thanks

In Christ,
Angie

Samuel'sMommy · Post by **Samuel'sMommy** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:44 am

Welcome Angie! I don't have any advice because I'm new too, but I'm sure these ladies will help you out!

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:58 am

I've not used R&S yet, but do you think he's had enough grammar to move into R&S grammar grade 3?? That might help with your ISP problem. I do think that Beyond's history, science, poetry, Bible, storytime and other activities (art, geography, timeline) are enough for you. Do you have to show them the book?? I can't remember from the CLP site, but the history books (Patriots and Pioneers, Boys and Girls or Coloniel Days, and Stories of the Pilgrims) are used in higher grades with the CLP packages. Anyone remember what grades those go with???

W2W is super great with the R&S grammar questions and she could help you with placement if you're deciding between 2 or 3. I'll pop over to the CLP site and see what I can find about grade levels for those history books.

Mel

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:25 am

This is from the CLP website:

Pioneers and Patriots - 3rd grade
Boys and Girls of Coloniel Days - 4th grade
Stories of the Pilgrims - 4th grade

This should satisfy your ISP that you are doing 4th grade work, maybe??

MamaMary · Post by **MamaMary** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:08 pm

jsusgrl wrote:Thank you Mary:-)
Can I ask how old your kids are that you're using HOD with? I appreciate so much everyones advice. It is hard to decide which is best. I feel that if I choose Bigger, i'm doing a disservice to my daughter who's 6 and if I choose Beyond, I'm hoping it's enough for my son entering 4th grd. But, as everyone says, i think Beyond will be a better fit for us. I do want to use the Singapore mth and rod and Staff English as well, so Lord willing! You are all so sweet! And Mary, that is too funny your neighbor and her husband have the same names as myself and my husband!!
God bless and many thanks
In Christ,
Angie

Hi Angie,

I will tell you something I found to be true for me. I would always rather tweak up rather than tweak down. I have it much easier to add a book or a project to beef up a program then when I've tried to take something and make it simplier.

I am using Beyond with my 8 & 12 year old boys. My 12 year old son has processing issue's and is still working on his reading. I also use a different math/english and so this helps me to fit the wide age span.

I hope this helps

jsusgrl · Post by **jsusgrl** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:25 am

Thank you Melnaie, Mary, Ann, Sandy and everyone for such a warm welcome and so freely giving me advice. What a ownderful group of ladies!! Melanie, also thank you so much for looking up the actual grade level of those books! I appreciate that so very much. I HOPE that will satisfy my ISP. However, The Road and staff English 2 looks perfect for my son and I don't know if they will let me count that as 4th grade though. Also, I noticed the science book used for Beyon is considered grade 2, right? I just want to make the right desicion for both of my children that I will be using HOD with. It's so hard but I know the Lord will show me! I really don't want my little guy who's 8 to be considered a 3rd grader again. He would be really bummed since he just got promoted with all of his friends at a formal cereemony the other night. So, I pray my ISO leader, (who is a very Godly woman and I love her) will graciously grant him to be in the 4th grade. Our school is very academic based, and has very high standards. Thanks again everyone for your insight! I am excited about HOD and my kids have been looking at the books with me online and they are getting excited as well! God bless you all! I'm off to sell some of my old books today!! (First time EVER selling my curriulum this year and i've been homeschooling fr 10 yrs!):-) My daughter's going to help me so it should be fun!
Love in Christ,
Angie

heartofdakota.com

Introduction and questions!!

Introduction and questions!!

Beyond or Bigger