New and not sure how to start??

[gcampbell]

Hi! My name is Gretchen and I am pretty new to HOD and the message board. I stumbled across HOD this fall while looking for a curriculum for my ds 5. I had heard of HOD in the past but had no idea there were also programs for other age groups beyond preschool/kindergarten. I was so excited by what I saw on the website. Unfortunately though, I had already purchased a curriculum for my other kids, 9ds and 7ds (I also have a 1 y.o. dd underfoot!) I am considering switching to HOD now instead of waiting until fall, but I have some questions about where to start. I was hoping maybe I could tell you all a little about us and our situation and see if any of you wise ladies have any words of wisdom. I have been pouring over the message boards since Sept., but finally decided to take the plunge!~
We are currently using MFW - ECC (with the 7 and 9 year olds). Please don't get me wrong, I think this is a wonderful curriculum, but it isn't coming together for US as well as I had hoped in the beginning. I decided to go with all of MFW's recommendations as far as LA go and I found early on that they weren't working very well for us, especially the Primary Language Lessons and the Intermediate Language Lessons. I also feel overwhelmed by the science experiments and art activities in ECC, so they usually don't get done. IMO, this takes away from the overall program. They just aren't always easy to implement and sometimes don't use everyday items like the activities in HOD. Also, it is a little dry for my ds7. He learns some and does enjoy some parts of it, but alot of it is over his head and the books aren't really at his level. Since I didn't like where we were headed with our LA, in anticipation of changing to HOD next year, I went ahead and made the transition to some of HOD's recommendations. I couldn't resist purchasing the Beyond guide! I have been using that with my ds 7. Honestly, the whole program is right on his level and I was blown away by it when it came! What an awesome program. However, due to my financial commitment with ECC I only use the LA, poetry, Reading (emerging readers) and Storytime boxes right now. We stopped the read alouds with ECC and do the Storytime in Beyond as a family and the kids love it.
OK, I am sorry for being so long winded. Here is my question. I have decided that instead of just thinking about it every day I would like to go ahead and make the switch to HOD now. The changes I see in ds7 just from the parts of this program that we do use are so positive that I can't wait to start using the whole program. HOD is definetely what I want our homeschool to look like. I love everything about it. I love the books, the guide, the simplicity and I love this group too! I am just not sure how to go about it. I would like to keep the 7 and 9 guys together. I am going to start my ds5 in LHFHG in the fall and I don't want to do 3 programs if there is a way not to! I know what to do for ds7, but I am at a loss as to how to work ds9 into the mix. He is right now at a point where he is just beginning 4th grade work. He places in PHFHG on the chart. For reading, he reads at a 4th grade level. I purchased DITHR Level 2/3 for him though as I just wanted him to start to enjoy reading and also we have never used a more structured reading program, so I went with the lower level. I figured I could always change it if need be. For writing, he has just mastered the upper and lower case cursive letters and is now ready to put those together and practice writing things in cursive. For Grammar, I just purchased R&S 3 for him and we are on Lesson 10 and doing well. It's a good fit. I still use Spelling Power for him, but would like to transition to dictation for that. We use something else for math, so that's not an issue. What would be a good plan in this situation? I was thinking of purchasing PHFHG and doing the right side of that with ds9. Then doing all of Beyond as written for ds7(we are currently on Unit 17) with ds9 joining in on the left side of Beyond. I don't know if this will be enough for the 9 yo though and I don't know how to proceed after this year. I know I would just move the then 8 yo into Bigger as written, but not sure how that would look for the then 10 yo?? Also, I have to tell you that while writing this, there are some ways that keeping them in separate programs seems like the way to go too. It just seems that PHFHG is a great fit all around for my 9yo. It seems like being in the middle of Beyond for the left side and the Beginning of Preparing for the right side might get confusing in the long run. And one of the things that I appreciate about HOD is that the guides are very age/level appropriate and when you pick the right one you aren't worrying about tweaking too much to fit a different level learner. That's one of the problems I'm having with ECC. Oh, what to do......what to do.....
Would someone be willing to share the materials that are needed for the first 9 weeks of PHFHG and I could see if financially doing 2 programs would work if I "purchased as I went"? Boy, is this long and confusing? I am just not sure which option to choose here!! I could use some advice if I didn't lose everyone with this long post!!

Thanks so much,
Gretchen

[Kathleen]

Gretchen,

Welcome to HOD! I'm sure that you'll be able to find a good fit for your family! (Honestly it sounds like you have 2 good options to choose from already...you've done your homework! )

1) If you go with your option 1 (where your 7 and 9 yo do the left side of Beyond and 9 yo does right side of Preparing), I think that could work. You'd be meeting your 9 yo on his level with math and LA. The history covers a much broader age-range. Carrie would have to tell you if it's enough or you should add something to it. Maybe you'd want to add something else in for science, too. I know there are moms on the board here who do something like this and may be able to tell you how they work it.

If you did something like this, you'd have an easier time of it once you hit Bigger the next year. Starting with Bigger HOD has extension packs put together to make it easier for an older child to hop into the same program as a sibling. You'd still have to do math and LA at the appropriate level, but the history and science would be already beefed up for you. Then there's an extension pack for Preparing, and I think this trend is going to continue with the up-and-coming guides.

2) Option 2 - You keep 7 yo in Beyond and start 9 yo in Preparing. I totally hear ya about the simplicity of having a child in a guide that fits him like a glove and you can just go with it! That would be the benefit of going this way. Starting with Preparing, Carrie has written the guides to start moving kids toward inependence by having some things be teacher-directed, some semi-independent, and some independent parts to their days. More independence each year will mean that you'll be having your time freed up to work with you younger ones as you move the older ones up. I know that Carrie this year has her oldest son doing a version of the newest guide they're writing, a son in Preparing, a son in LHFHG, and a toddler. So, it's doable to do 3 HOD programs at once.

I can see good things in both options. Keeping them together for history will let them do the "fun stuff" together - which is great for memories. It may be less time-consuming for you...but then again having that open-and-go perfect fit is pretty easy to work with, too.

About DITHOR...you were right on in picking the 2/3 student book to start with. That's what I've seen all the experienced moms reccommend. You are free to use books that are at a higher reading level than that if you want, but it's good to start with a lesser amount of writing which is what level 2/3 has. Have you started DITHOR yet? I started it this fall with my 8 yo and we are both really enjoying it! There is so much great stuff in it!!!

Praying wisdom your way. I'm sure that more moms will be along to help you out.
Kathleen

[gcampbell]

Hi Kathleen! So nice to meet. Thank you so much for your response. Yes, we just started DITHR last week. I know it is really early, but so far we both love it! This really has filled a need for us and in such a fun and enjoyable way. I couldn't be happier. You are right, I am sure I will find the best fit for our family. I am leaning toward combining just to make it easier, but since I am so impatient and want to start in the middle of the year, I am just not sure how to do that.
But it seems like that's another nice thing about HOD. It works in so many ways and it is very flexible. There are so many ways to use it AND you get to decide which will work for you. There are not alot of curriculums out there like that!
Thanks again,
Gretchen

[scrapsmith]

Gretchen, Welcome to the HOD boards!! I can so relate to your story!! I was a fly on the wall for a long time while I researched and contemplated switching from MFW as well...I agree that it is a fabulous curriculum, just not the best fit for our family! And that is SO the beauty of homeschooling...one of the beauties, I guess, would be more accurate...anyhow...

I was just a few weeks into the 1st grade program when I saw HOD at the KCity conv. and picked up a few things thinking I would supplement the 1st grade. My 5yo ds was finding it a little dry as well... I really liked everything I saw, so I then borrowed a LHFHG guide from a friend to add "a few more things", jumping in midway through the guide so we would finish at the right time. Before I knew it, I was doing all the LHFHG and just finishing out the phonics portion of MFW...

...but since I am so impatient and want to start in the middle of the year, I am just not sure how to do that.
But it seems like that's another nice thing about HOD. It works in so many ways and it is very flexible. There are so many ways to use it AND you get to decide which will work for you. There are not alot of curriculums out there like that!

I totally agree!! I think you will find this to be a great fit...just a snapshot of how combining looks in our homeschool...although my kiddos are younger...(we are doing Beyond and LHTH now)...we start our day with the left side of Beyond and both kids participate...then we break off and my ds does the right side and I do the LH with my dd...if the "activity" from the left side is too much for my 4yo, I add in more from LH...this program allows for several approaches and I think as you consider and pray about what is best for your kiddos, you will know how you want it to go! Blessings!

[my3sons]

Hi Gretchen! Kathleen and Eryn gave some great ideas to ponder - I can see the benefits in each scenario. Carrie is working on writing the new guide today, but I know she'll pop in here within the next few days too. I do think if you used the left side of Beyond for both your dc, you'd need to add some more history/science for your 9 yo. I think by the time you do that, I wonder if it would just be easier to use Bigger? So here's one more idea - I think you may have a better fit combining your dc overall if you used Bigger Hearts for His Glory.

You could have your 7 yo continue with the right side of plans in Beyond. Your 9 yo could do the right side of the plans of Bigger, just continue doing your English 3 at a pace of a lesson a day, doing the math you've already picked, and maybe doing Cheerful Cursive as it is independent and teaches linking cursive letters well. You could do the Storytime in EITHER Beyond or Bigger, whichever you wanted. Your 7 yo and 9 yo could do the left side of plans of Bigger together then. Then, the following year, you could do Preparing - which is for 8-10 yo's anyway, and decide whether you wanted to add the extension pack for your then 10 yo or not. Your then 8 yo could use the right side of Bigger..., and you'd be on a nice path that way. You could combine them in DITHOR then too, with your then 8 yo doing level 2/3, and your then 10 yo doing level 4/5. You may want to just do DITHOR 3 days a week, going through about 5 genres one year, and the remaining genres the next year. That has worked well for us.

You could also do your 5 yo LHFHG at half-speed, at least at first - though you may want to do phonics daily (we found that was necessary for our dc to remember their phonics from day to day). You could do the left page of LHFHG one day, and the right side the next day, and so on. After you'd gotten into the swing of things with the older 2 (whatever program you decide to do), then you could always go full-speed with your 5 yo, doing the left and right side of plans all in one day. We did this with one of our dc, and it worked beautifully!

I have been doing several HOD programs (including DITHOR) for several years now, and I want to encourage you that it is very manageable - and FUN to do! I do think you could do Beyond and Preparing along with LHFHG half-speed however, if that is where the Lord is leading you. I am currently doing Beyond and Preparing (with DITHOR) and having a great year - I am just thinking if you want to combine, Bigger might let you do that without additions because it is right in your dc's target age ranges already.

Finally, here is a past thread on schedules that you may find helpful. Many moms using several HOD programs at once posted their schedules:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&p=19532&hilit= ... les#p19532

I'm so glad you are here, Gretchen, and I know that no matter what programs you end up going with, you are going to LOVE HOD!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Gretchen,

The ladies have given you some wonderful things to think about. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts, if you get a chance to pop back in. Each of the options the ladies suggested would work, it is more a matter of finding the best fit overall based on your teaching style and the personalities and strengths of your kiddos.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Kathleen]

I do think if you used the left side of Beyond for both your dc, you'd need to add some more history/science for your 9 yo. I think by the time you do that, I wonder if it would just be easier to use Bigger? So here's one more idea - I think you may have a better fit combining your dc overall if you used Bigger Hearts for His Glory.

Knowing that you'd have to tweak the science and history more, I'd be tempted to see if I could make Julie's idea here work. I can tell you Bigger is GREAT, too! We're having a great year!

Do you already own all of the books for Beyond? If you went with the idea to do Bigger instead of Beyond as your core program, you could still keep the storytime books from Beyond. The storytime's for these 2 guides are close enough that you wouldn't need to purchase anything else for that segment if money is tight.

Have fun deciding what will work for your family! I'm not even being sarcastic here...even though finding the best fit is the hardest part, I really think it's kinda fun to look at all the great books and things that you'll get to study.
Kathleen

[gcampbell]

Thank you all for you responses and your encouragement. I have to say that I really like Julie's idea of Bigger as the core program and using Beyond's right side for my 7 yo. When I saw this option, a light bulb went off. I am thinking that this would be a wonderful fit for everyone. This way I would not be worried about trying to "beef up" the history or science with my oldest. It would be right on with both of them. I was so stuck in my 2 options that I never stopped to consider that there were even more!! I love this board!! All I have right now is the Beyond guide, the emerging readers and the read alouds, so I will just go with the read alouds in Beyond. Now, all this being said, I do have a couple more questions about how this option would work.......
My first question is about the science. I was looking over the guides to see how our day would look. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to do the science in Beyond with ds7 and then next year do the science in Bigger with him. I think that the science in Bigger would be a little much for him right now, but I really think it would be too much next year in Preparing. What do you think about that? Is that doable? I see that the science is loosely tied to the history topic. Would he be losing any connections by doing a different science level than history?
Next question is about my 9 yo. First, let me say that I really don't like to put grade levels on kids. However, I am in PA and so I have to worry about it to a point because the kids need tested in 3, 5 and 8th grade. I made the mistake of testing my 9 yo last year as a 3rd grader, when I think I should have waited until this year. He's kind of a young 4th grader having just turned 9 at the end of July. AND he's a boy and I am learning that sometimes it's o.k. to give boys that little extra time! He is sort of in the middle. He is ready to move ahead to the next level in the middle of the year. I'm o.k. with that. As long as we keep moving along. He is doing R&S 3 right now and is on lesson 12. He is just learning cursive, knows all the letters and is ready to start longer practice. He can write one word with a model. He reads at a 4th grade level, but needs a little "encouragement" to do so! He likes to read, but still would prefer a good picture book or chapter book that has some pictures throughout. Kind of like "cricket in Times Square." We are doing spelling power right now, but I am going to change to dictation. He does several sentence dictation right now and does pretty well. He prefers dictation to copywork. We have "some" experience with oral narration. We do that with his science in ECC. I did try to have him do a written narration of the same material not long ago and it didn't go so well, so we went back to the oral narration. One of the things I am looking forward to in HOD is a little direction in this area. So, it seems that we are good at the Bigger level and that it will prepare him for all of the things in Preparing, right? Does this sound like a typical 9 yo? I guess my problem is that I always worry that we are more behind than I think we are. Like I should be having him write 3 page reports with correct format and grammar and I just don't know it.....LOL....
Sorry for being so long winded, yet again. Thank you for listening and for taking the time to answer all of my questions. This is very helpful. I am looking forward to getting it figured out and getting our materials. I think it's going to be a very welcome change.
Gretchen

[Carrie]

Gretchen,

I think that the plan you shared sounds like a good one. I do think that putting both kiddos into Bigger for the left side of the plans is a good choice. The Extension Package in Bigger is designed for 4th and 5th graders who are strong readers, so normally we'd recommend the Extension Pack for your 4th grader, but since your 4th grader is on the young side you'll want to take a look at the titles and see if they seem too difficult. If so, you can just have your 4th grader do the core program without the Extensions.

I also agree that doing the right side of the plans from Beyond will be a good fit for your 7 year old. You can just continue teaching the Storytime part of the plans from Beyond to finish out the year, and then switch to doing the storytime from Bigger next year. The storytimes in both guides work on a month per genre and work with any books you choose, so no need to change over to Bigger's storytime right now.

As far as the science goes, it is tied to the history by day in the Beyond guide, so it will feel pretty scattered to do it without the accompanying history readings. If you wanted to make the science in Bigger fit your 7 year old better, you can just read it aloud to him and don't require the written work. To make it more independent for your 9 year old, you could have the 9 year old read it on his own and do the accompanying activities pretty much on his own. Or, you could do science with both of them together. It's really up to you.

As far as Rod and Staff goes, we are currently doing Rod and Staff 3 with our 4th grader and finding it to be a perfect fit. Rod and Staff is very rigorous, and by the time you complete Rod and Staff 6, it will be equal to high school level grammar. At HOD, we will be recommending that parents plan to get through Rod and Staff 6 by the time their kiddos complete grade 8.

I do think that switching to dictation is a good idea for your older child. Make sure to read over the directions though, as we do CM-style studied dictation, which is different from classical dictation.

Last, as far as math goes, if you are happy with what you're using, I wouldn't recommend a switch. Math is one of those subjects where the maxim, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it!" really works.

If you have other questions, ask away, the ladies on the board are VERY gracious about helping one another.

Blessings,
Carrie

[deltagal]

I guess my problem is that I always worry that we are more behind than I think we are. Like I should be having him write 3 page reports with correct format and grammar and I just don't know it.....LOL....

Hi Gretchen,

It seems quite a few of us have made the "switch" you are making, myself included. But I wanted to comment about your 9 yo. I have one, too. And your 9 yo sounds WONDERFUL and very much on track! The joy of using HOD, whether you use Bigger or Preparing for him, is that he will be challenged appropriately without you having to come up with alternative ideas and you will have peace of mind in knowing that.