Placement help for 6, 5 and 3 year old.

[four_littlesheep]

Hello Ladies,

I was wondering if anyone could share their wisdom for placing my little ones! My four children are ages 6, 5, 3 and a four month old baby. The first three have a 21 months age gap between each.

I did the placement chart- My 6 year old fits into Beyond. He has nearly finished CLE learning to read.
My 5 year old nearly fits into Little Hearts ( he is still learning all the letter sounds though)
My three year old is at Little Hands to Heaven.

I know 3 is young,and he doesn’t really need to do a program. But I need some ideas for things to do with him through the day while I school the older children.He is very busy, eager to learn and if I don’t schedule something in for him for the day I feel like I don’t get any quality time with him and he gets into mischief! Not to mention I have a nursing baby in the mix too

I think it makes sense to combine the 5 and 6 year old. But they really seem like they are at different levels. They are also *very* competitive. Maybe I am overthinking this! I have also read that it’s not a good idea to do back to back guides, heading into the older levels. And if they are all doing their own level I will be doing four guides eventually. I’m not opposed to it if it’s do-able. I like to feel like the children all get some time with me. At the moment my 6 year old gets most of the mama time because We’ve been doing phonics which is time consuming. His school takes around 3.5 hours doing Christian Light Education ( 1st Grade) which seems a long time. Would love some wisdom from those who have done HOD before Thank you!

[StephanieU]

My first 2 are 23 months apart, and me middle two are 20 months apart. I ended up doing different guides for each of them. My oldest is probably gifted and probably 3-4 grades ahead of second, especially in language arts. My second and third are closer in skill (probably a grade level apart), but they are very competitive. I tried to combine them back in LHTH, and it was a nightmare with them competing for attention, etc. So they are 1.5 guides apart.

HOD definitely won't take you so long for one child! LHFHG takes about 90 minutes a day, and Beyond takes about 2 hours. Even with running 3 guides plus a 3yo, school takes at most 6 hours (unless we purposefully take a long break). My oldest takes about 5 hours including lunch and breaks, and her guide is only 4 days per unit. My second often takes just as long because he takes more breaks. My third just started Bigger, but she was done in just about 2 hours of actual school before she moved up.

I highly recommend looking at the first unit of the holes you are considering to see what is involved in a day. Take inventory of your children's ability to sit still through books without pictures. And then preview the history and storytime books for LHFHG and Beyond (you should be able to find sample pages online).

With my oldest, we started LHFHG at 5.5. She had been able to do a guide a year with ease. My second and third needed a pause so they would be ready for Preparing at 9 (after starting LHFHG at 5.5). And at times I consider pausing more, as I know a little more maturity wouldn't hurt them and might make school smoother all around. My fourth will start LHTH near his 4th birthday. I plan on spreading LHTH through Bigger out to five years at least with him.

[four_littlesheep]

Hi Stephanie,

Thanks you so much for your help and experience! It gives me a lot to think about.

My oldest son (6, will be 7 in August) has an amazing capacity to listen to books with no pictures ( very, very much an audible learner). He is a naturally gifted narrator and He could listen to me read all day. But he hates to write and he is not very independent, If I leave him to do anything he just can’t stay on task. He is very easily distracted and needs me to redirect him constantly. He is very intelligent, creative and has a huge vocabulary! He has thrived on Christian Light phonics but it’s such a time consuming program. I tried 100 easy lessons and simply Charlotte masons reading with him but it just didn’t click. His reading has just started taking off so I’m hoping that will lighten my load! He loves listening to any and all types of books

My middle son (5) is more average and he is very visual. Doesn’t really listen to me when I read. I could be reading to him with my oldest and oldest will remember the whole flow of the story and middle son will not remember a thing! I wonder if he does take it in but is just not naturally skilled at telling back what he has heard. He is more into “real life” type of books, especially with animals. He is a lot more quiet and thoughtful rather than talkative child.

My 3.5 year old is very talkative, loveable, cheeky and with a whole lot of energy!

I’m glad to hear that you think HOD won’t take as long as what I have been doing previously. I can relate to what you say about the kiddos competing for attention, I can see that happening here too. I have Little hearts coming in the mail so looking forward to seeing the content soon!

[manyblessings]

My suggestion is to do LHFHG with the two older kiddos, using the K options for the younger kiddo and the 1st grade options for the older kiddo. I think this could simplify your life teaching them both. The youngest could do Little Hands to Heaven at a relaxed pace if you wanted, or just tag along for hands-on activities and be taught to have some quiet playtime with quiet educational toys while the older kiddos are working, or utilize nap time Edited to say I just realized you said the older child is doing 1st grade CLE. In that case you could try doing LHFHG for both children but use Beyond for Language Arts and Math for the oldest child. This way you aren't doing different things for history and science and Bible, but each child gets the core subjects at their level.

[StephanieU]

Hi Stephanie,

Thanks you so much for your help and experience! It gives me a lot to think about.

My oldest son (6, will be 7 in August) has an amazing capacity to listen to books with no pictures ( very, very much an audible learner). He is a naturally gifted narrator and He could listen to me read all day. But he hates to write and he is not very independent, If I leave him to do anything he just can’t stay on task. He is very easily distracted and needs me to redirect him constantly. He is very intelligent, creative and has a huge vocabulary! He has thrived on Christian Light phonics but it’s such a time consuming program. I tried 100 easy lessons and simply Charlotte masons reading with him but it just didn’t click. His reading has just started taking off so I’m hoping that will lighten my load! He loves listening to any and all types of books

My middle son (5) is more average and he is very visual. Doesn’t really listen to me when I read. I could be reading to him with my oldest and oldest will remember the whole flow of the story and middle son will not remember a thing! I wonder if he does take it in but is just not naturally skilled at telling back what he has heard. He is more into “real life” type of books, especially with animals. He is a lot more quiet and thoughtful rather than talkative child.

My 3.5 year old is very talkative, loveable, cheeky and with a whole lot of energy!

I’m glad to hear that you think HOD won’t take as long as what I have been doing previously. I can relate to what you say about the kiddos competing for attention, I can see that happening here too. I have Little hearts coming in the mail so looking forward to seeing the content soon!

With that information, I would do Beyond with the older and LHTH with the younger one (don't stress over doing LHTH daily or completing a day in a day - just do it when you feel the "need" to do something with that child). Let the middle one tag along with one or both for a while, focusing on the 3Rs. Either have the middle one listen in on the storytime in Beyond or get good quality picture books and do those with that child. Come January (or later), start LHFHG with the middle one. At 5, doing K level math and language arts at your child's speed as well as read alouds is what is actually the most important. And by postponing starting LHFHG, you won't have them doing guides completely back to back (which can be hard on mom, especially when you get to Preparing and Bigger). If you have them 1.5-2 guides apart, that is normally easier! The older two seem very different in skills, and keeping them in the same guide will frustrate everyone long term most likely.

[my3sons]

With Heart of Dakota, there are many placement options! That is a wonderful thing because you can customize it based on your children's and family's needs. This is also why you are receiving multiple placement options for advice here! The ladies are doing a terrific job of bouncing placement options off you. I will share one more placement. I like having your nearly 7 year old do Beyond Little Hearts, and having your 3.5 yo and your 5 yo combined in Little Hands to Heaven. Little Hands to Heaven has an age range of 2-5 years old, so it fits both nicely. To begin Little Hearts for His Glory, children need to know their letters and at least a sound for each letter to be ready for phonics instruction. Little Hands to Heaven teaches letters and letter sounds beautifully! You'd mentioned your 5 year old is still learning his letter sounds. Why not let him enjoy learning them with little brother! You can easily add any K language arts skills you feel your 5 yo is ready for, including K Fine Motor Skills (Do It Carefully and Finding the Answers), K Handwriting (A Reason for Handwriting or Italic A), and K Essentials Math A and B. This is easy to do, and many, many families do this when combining. Little Hands to Heaven is like a nutshell version of Kindergarten anyway. It has history taught chronologically, devotions, music, art projects, active exploration/science/health topics, dramatic plays, and Bible activities. It is so much more than just a letter recognition/formation/sounds program! By adding any K language arts skills for your 5 yo, you have a very nice plan for both!

I also like this option because of the personality traits you mentioned about your children. Your 5 year old is more quiet and thoughtful, but your 3.5 yo is talkative, lovable, and cheeky. Your nearly 7 yo and your 5 yo have a more competitive relationship. I think the 5 yo might come out of his shell a little with 3.5 yo's cheeky talkative personality! He might also love being the 'older, wiser' brother, rather than the 'younger, slower to get things' brother. In a competitive relationship, the older, more mature one often gets things more quickly and wants to move on. You'd mentioned your older nearly 7 yo has an amazing capacity to listen to books with no pictures, is a naturally gifted narrator, and could listen to you read all day. However, your 5 yo is more average and doesn’t really listen when you read. When you read, your oldest son remembers the whole flow of the story, but your middle son remembers nothing. Your 5 year old could really benefit from the shorter, picture Bible history readings in Little Hands to Heaven, as well as enjoy the thoughtful devotional readings and questions from its devotionals. In contrast, your older son could really benefit from retelling his own oral narrations in response to the Beyond... read-alouds, without waiting for little brother to try to contribute.

You'd also mentioned your older son hates to write and is not very independent, that if you leave him to do anything, he can’t stay on task, is very easily distracted, and needs constant redirection. Working alone with him in Beyond Little Hearts will help you address these concerns 1:1. We want to especially improve his writing stamina and skills. Beyond Little Hearts includes copywork of the poem, and we want him to work up to copying the entire poem in one week (about 4 lines of copywork a day) by the end of the guide. We also want him to begin to shrink his writing, so by the time he begins Bigger Hearts, he is either able to or nearly able to write on wide-lined notebook paper. Working 1:1 with him in Beyond will help you be able to really focus on these skills you are wanting to focus upon.

I know you'd mentioned ordering Little Hearts for His Glory already. You can still use the guide and K resources for any K options you add to Little Hands to Heaven for your 5 yo. You can return the rest to Heart of Dakota for a full refund, or you can keep it if you want to for the next year. If you return it, just let us know and the following year when you reorder the rest of the Economy Package, just let us know, and we'd be happy to verify your previous purchase of the guide and still apply the package savings at that time. I can even help you talk through LA/math choices for each son and then help you place your order on the phone - just call us at 605-428-4068! I help with placement on the phone all week! I can send a prepaid media mail label for your return of any unneeded Little Hearts things in the box we ship your new order in, and just charge you the media mail price for the return label. I truly think you'd enjoy Little Hands with a few Little Hearts LA/math options for your 3.5 and 5 yo, and Beyond Little Hearts for your nearly 7 yo!

In Christ,
Julie

[four_littlesheep]

Hi Julie,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply and placement suggestions. I really feel you grasped the dynamics between my boys!

I have started LHTH for my 3.5yo and 5yo. They are loving it, and asking to do school every day. It is a great fit for them! My 5yo also does some K workbooks on the side and I’m planning on starting him in the Singapore K Math.

My oldest son turns 7 in August. As per your suggestion I will start Beyond with him them, after he’s finished up his Christian Light Phonics program. ( As we are in New Zealand, our school year goes from February to December). I am so excited to start!

The only other query I had was what to do with my middle and younger son going forward in the guides. I’d like them to end up together if possible. One idea I had was my 5yo goes into Little Hearts next year at half speed, and keep my 3.5yo in LHTH to repeat and then the next year he can join in on the second half of Little Hearts. They would then start Beyond together. Does that sound like it would work? I know I don’t need to decide this now but I am a forward planner!

[my3sons]

Hi Julie,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply and placement suggestions. I really feel you grasped the dynamics between my boys!

I have started LHTH for my 3.5yo and 5yo. They are loving it, and asking to do school every day. It is a great fit for them! My 5yo also does some K workbooks on the side and I’m planning on starting him in the Singapore K Math.

My oldest son turns 7 in August. As per your suggestion I will start Beyond with him them, after he’s finished up his Christian Light Phonics program. ( As we are in New Zealand, our school year goes from February to December). I am so excited to start!

The only other query I had was what to do with my middle and younger son going forward in the guides. I’d like them to end up together if possible. One idea I had was my 5yo goes into Little Hearts next year at half speed, and keep my 3.5yo in LHTH to repeat and then the next year he can join in on the second half of Little Hearts. They would then start Beyond together. Does that sound like it would work? I know I don’t need to decide this now but I am a forward planner!

I'm so happy to hear your 3.5 yo and 5 yo are happily enjoying LHTH together! I love to hear that! You asked a very good question about this little pair looking ahead. I would probably use this 4 day a week schedule I noted in my blog post for LHTH through Bigger Hearts...

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2019 ... ys-a-week/

This way, they can stay together, and your 3.5 yo will be nearly 5 yo or 5 yo by the time he begins LHFHG. He will gradually be moving into the right target age range for the guides, and your older of the pair will still be in the proper age range as well. You can just choose upper level language arts and math for the older of the pair as you move through the guides. I like this option for you, as well, as you can just teach this pair 4 days a week. When your oldest son starts PHFHG, your younger pair will already be on a 4 day schedule anyway. This also will let you have 1 day a week to give total attention to your oldest son in both Beyond and in Bigger. Hope this helps!

In Christ,
Julie