Switching Curriculum in November & Phonics Question

[HSMom03]

Has anyone here changed curriculum in October/November (or any other random time)? We are currently using another publisher for 1st grade with my oldest (almost 7). We are less than 2 months in but I am really seeing how HOD Little Hearts w/1st grade options might have been a much better fit for him. I'm just not sure what to do about it. Do we continue to plow through the year, giving our curriculum more time, then reconsider switching for next year? Or take a risk and interrupt our current curriculum (which I really like, it's just about how it fits this child) to try HOD? I'm afraid the only way to know is to purchase and actually try HOD. I think his younger brother (almost 5) would combine really nicely with him into LHFHG as well. I've been looking at HOD for a long time, and even own a few resources already, so I think I am familiar with it enough to see that it really would work better for us. Just a little nervous about scrapping something! Ugh, all that money spent

I was also wondering... how do I know if my child is "done with phonics"? He's reading well but I haven't actually completed a phonics program with him. I'm wondering where to place him as far as reading: The Reading Lesson (he'd probably complete it quickly if we started here - did some of it last year), the Emerging Reader Set, or DITHOR 2/3? I don't want to have any gaps and would definitely like to avoid the need for remedial reading later on! Also, where would Rod & Staff English 2 come into the picture?

Thank you so much for your help!

[HSMom03]

I didn't really want to mention this but they actually place into LHTH & Beyond . I'd love to go through LHFHG with them this year though, for various reasons. I think it would be a great fit, and prefer to wait until next year for Beyond.

[Nealewill]

I came to HOD last year in October actually. I was with another company and I wasn't liking it. Basically, I started off VERY traditional with Abeka. We did that for a few years. Then in 2nd grade with my oldest, I became much more eclectic. Then when my oldest was in 3rd grade, I switched to My Father's World. We had a good year that year because I didn't have so much planning. But then when my oldest was in 4th grade, I was having to modify their curriculum quite a bit to make it fit us better and it just wasn't working out. I actually had only ordered a catalog from HOD because I wanted to order some supplemental books from them and add them to what I was doing. By the time I got done looking at the catalog, I had fallen in love! I told my husband that I wasn't happy and wanted to switch (he had already known I wasn't happy). He had actually saved up around $1,000 to build a shed in our back yard and he gave me all that money (didn't need the full amount thankfully ) so that I could switch. It was a wonderful gift and the best thing I could have done for our homeschooling year! HOD has been a perfect fit for us! And I can't imagine my life with out it LOL. Seriously though, my kids were not enjoy school at all that year and once we switched, we had balance, challenging in our learning, fun and just a new attitude and perspective. I was very glad we didn't wait to switch because I think that year would have been a wash if I had waited.

As for finishing the year by summer, my oldest dd did school 5 days a week for a while to get caught up. But we do co-op and that wasn't feasible to always do. So on the weeks we had co-op, we only did 4 days each week. By the second week of June, we had completed all the way up through unit 31. I decided we need to take a summer break. I had two options, one was to pick Preparing in the fall and finish it then. Or I could just stop and start CTC in the fall. I check the placement chart and my dd placed well into CTC by this time. So I decided that I would stop the guide but then have her read the books over the summer that she wasn't going get to with Preparing. I am glad I did this because she loved the books. But I am also glad I did this because I no longer felt behind. I feel like she mastered the skills she needed to master and was definitely prepared for the next level. In August, we started CTC and all has been well. Having the 6 weeks off for summer was great because my kids really needed the break. As for my younger 2, they did Beyond last year together. I didn't quite realize how HOD was set up and why it was so important to have your child actually be the correct age range for the guide. My youngest is gifted so she was able to do the same guide as her brother with no problem. However, I found that as the guides get older, the topics get more intense and I didn't want her encounter things that weren't age appropriate (like killing people and stuff and talking about some of the things in Preparing with a 7 year old). So this last year to finish Beyond, we doubled up some days at the end. It felt kind of rushed some days because of the volume of reading and activities we did. But I am glad we did that for about a month because I was glad to start Little Hearts and Bigger this year.

For us - I was SO glad we switched. It made the rest of the year very enjoyable. And I feel like HOD is a great fit for my family and my kids learning style. I love how Bible is woven through out. My kids aren't natural readers but they love the books. I like the hands on. In general, it has made school very interesting and I love how each guide builds in skills. Plus, I love that my day is balanced! I felt like before it wasn't balanced because I was having to modify so much to match my teaching philosophy. HOD pretty much matches me to a "T". And finally, to compensate for having to switch, I did sell the other stuff on ebay. I got about 50% of what I paid for it and I was fine with that. Plus, that money helped to rebuild the shed fund

[Nealewill]

Also - you asked about phonics - if you are planning to have a younger child use the Reading Lesson and you can afford it, I would probably buy it and the emerging readers. This way, you could quickly go through it (or at least later lessons of it) and make sure your child is ready for the emerging readers. Then, once you are ready to start the emerging readers, you can go through those.

[StephanieU]

I think the first thing you need to ask yourself is if you want to combine them long term or not. Do you think that the almost 5yo will be able to keep up in a few years when there is more writing? Is this child eager to learn and ready to work or is he really still into more preschool things?

If you are planning on combining just short term (1-2 years), then I would consider switching now or in January. January is actually a very logical time to switch as you will be coming back from the Thanksgiving/Christmas breaks. You could focus on the 1st grader with LHFHG (and possibly Beyond) while allowing the 4/5yo to join in on things that would be of interest Then you could work individually with each on the 3Rs. Once the younger one is ready for LHFHG, you could repeat it again with that child, 1.5 to 2 years after you started with the older one.

If you plan on combining long term, I would consider when the younger one is really ready for LHFHG. It may not be for a year or so. You could do LHFHG half speed, but that would cause you to find ways to add things for the older one (giving him enough school work). In that case, I might try to finish what you currently have and then start LHFHG next year.

As for phonics/Emerging Readers/DITHOR, I agree with Nealwill on doing TRL even if it is at hyper speed UNLESS your son is reading chapter books. The Emerging Readers starts with two Bibles, but then it moves into chapter books. So, it is more than just "reading well." We supplemented with Bob books, My First, and Level 1 I Can Read books until my daughter was ready for the ER books. DITHOR I wouldn't start until 3rd grade or later, as there is more than just reading involved. DITHOR is a challenging literature study, and the books listed for it are 3rd grade level or higher (Level 2 is 3rd grade).

Rod and Staff 2 is scheduled in Bigger, which many families use for 3rd grade. The goal is to complete R&S 6 by 8th grade and then R&S 8 by the end of high school. So, if you do combine, you might want to start it in Beyond with the oldest (when he is in 3rd grade), but not until then. It starts off gentle, but it definitely has a lot of meat in it.

[HSMom03]

Nealewill ~ I enjoyed hearing your story, especially the $1000 shed fund part... aww! Thank you for sharing it with me. It's nice to hear about someone else switching during the school year. I'm so glad HOD has been a great fit for you. I'm thinking that may end up being the case for us too! I wish I had some of these realizations earlier , and yes I think I could sell quite a bit of curriculum here and make a good bit of money back... with all the things I've tried! Thank you for your suggestions as well. We actually already own the Reading Lesson. My oldest did some of it last year. We are 1/4 way through a complete phonics program right now, which we started at the beginning of this school year. I really don't think it's a good fit for him though, especially when he is already reading so well! He's my short and to the point guy. He's been reading for a long time and never had any trouble. I just thought it would be a good idea to do this program (the one we are currently using) with him for reinforcement, and now I'm not so sure!

[HSMom03]

StephanieU ~ Thank you for your reply! Yes, I do want to combine them for the long term. If my almost 5yo can't keep up in a few years when there is more writing, I would probably not require it of him. I could be his scribe, if necessary. I think he would be able to keep up though (I might need to add writing for my oldest, I wonder?). Yes, he (5yo) is very eager to learn and ready to work! He loves "doing school", I can tell he is ready to take off. What I also am keeping in mind as far as combining, is that I don't mind slowing down a guide for younger while adding in extensions for older, if needed. I think that would be a great option! I would not hesitate to separate them in the future though, if necessary.

I agree with you that January (or now since we're almost done with 1st quarter) is a very logical time to switch.

Thank you also for the phonics/Emerging Readers/DITHOR/English suggestions & insight. He is reading at a 4th grade level, which is what I meant by "reading well". That being said, I think I would want to hold off on DITHOR until 3rd grade or later, like you mentioned. So we could go through TRL now (make sure we officially complete phonics!), then emerging readers, then see where we are at. Something like that Hopefully I'll figure this out soon!

[Nealewill]

I think switching in January sounds great! And it gives you plenty of time complete the first level. And then at the end of the school year, (or whenever) if you felt like you wanted to separate your kids, you could easily do that too.

[Army Wife]

I switched in February of 2013. I had previously used another curriculum the year before with my older two. My youngest was beginning kinder, and if she wasn't so adamant about starting, I might have waited since kinder is not required. I could of used what was being offered for kinder from the other company, but I already felt overwhelmed to try to keep up with what was being asked for my older two, so I set out in search for something simpler to implement and easier to manage. The search led me to HOD's LHFHG. Initially, I thought I would just end up using LHFHG and Beyond until my youngest was of grade to join my other two in the History cycle. We started our 2nd year of homeschool well enough, but I can't tell you how often I wished my older two's curriculum was set up with the ease of LHFHG. Well that same year, we moved at the beginning of October from NY to MS. Again, I wished what my older two children had was as simple to implement as LHFHG. By Christmas, I knew I would be having all my children use HOD, but the practical side of me wanted to wait till the new school year. Throughout January it began to wear on me how behind my older two were and how long our day was. My youngest had started after them and was still ahead in terms of units completed, but the final straw was just how much she had learned compared to my other two and that she was loving it. While we had studied many interesting things with our other curriculum, my older children were no further ahead in the basics then when we had started and retained very little. So rather than lose another half a year and with my husband's permission, I ordered Bigger at the end of January and we started as soon as it arrived in February (because it is that open-and-go). My youngest went from knowing the alphabet and sounds at the beginning of the school year to reading Indian in the Cupboard by the end. I am pretty sure that is not the average kid, but with my son, who I would say is pretty much an average kid, and my oldest,who is dyslexic, I have been just as impressed. When we began, my older two were a year or two behind grade level in reading, they are now at level or 1/2 grade behind and still making major gains. Their hand writing was horrible, but has improved dramatically. My son writing is so well-organized. My daughter struggles with this a bit, but she is now able to stay on topic and surprises me each week with how much she is improving. We are still behind in Math, but now have the time to focus on it. My kids are not fans of the word school, but I can see they are enjoying what they are learning as they share the interesting facts about what they read with their father or me. If you feel your child may not or is not progressing, I would change immediately. I so regret not making the change or starting with HOD from the get-go instead of wasting valuable time.

[HSMom03]

Army Wife ~ Thank you so much for sharing! That was very encouraging & I completely understand what you are saying. It's so great how your family ended up with HOD & that it's working so well. I really hope it is the one for us. I am very impressed with the efficiency & simplicity of it (from what I can tell anyway!). So glad your kids are progressing & doing so great!

Nealewill ~ When you say that starting in January should give us plenty of time to finish the first level, do you mean by the end of the school year (end of June) or just in general?

Thanks again ladies! Love hearing from you all.

[Nealewill]

Sorry, when I said plenty of time, I guess I meant you would have a year and half to finish the level if you want to try and have it finished by the following school year if you liked to stick to a more traditional school year. Sorry if that was confusing.

[my3sons]

You've received such wise advice already - I say jump in too! I'm excited for you to begin your HOD homeschooling journey!

In Christ,
Julie

[mothermayi?]

I switched from another well known curriculum on October 28, 2013. We were 10 weeks into the other program and it just wasn't working. I sold it and invested the money into the materials for HOD. IMO, life is too short to force curriculum on a child or mom if it is simply a poor fit and one doesn't *have* to continue with it due to finances. Switching to HOD has been the best decision I could've made for my family!

Good luck to you .