Hi! I'm new and have a few questions.

[Dawn in Indiana]

Hi. My name is Dawn. I've been homeschooling for 7 yrs. now. I have a 1st, 2nd, and 6th grader. I had been looking at MFW for combining my two youngers in the fall for 2nd/3rd. Then I saw a post about HOD on the WTM board. Wow, now I'm really confused!!! Hod looks great. I'm looking into using Bigger in the Fall. My dd7 will be finishing BJU homesat 2nd and my ds9 will be finishing BJU homesat 3rd. I'm assuming Bigger would be the best fit for combining. For my ds 3rd gr., should i go through R&S English 2 or 3? Remember, he will have finish BJU English 2 if you are familiar with that program. I'm not completely sure if I would use the R&S or not because I have been considering CQLA for LA. My older daughter is using this for LA and is using it in the author's cottage class. She lives just 15 minutes away!! I feel fairly sure that my youngers will attend her cottage school LA classes within the next few years so maybe I should go ahead and start on that track. Also, How long would Bigger take if doing everything except LA, Rdg., and Math with 2 capable/willing children each day? How long does R&S english 2 and 3 each take? Is one of the 5 days shorter to compensate for co-op classes or such? Ok, I guess that is enough questions for now. Sorry if this seem so jumbled. Thanks for any advise that you can give. This looks like a wonderful message board!!

[Dawn in Indiana]

If Preparing would be a better fit for my soon to be 3rd grade son, then I'm open to hearing that. I'm not set on combining, only if that is the best fit. Thanks.

Dawn

[Jessi]

Hello Dawn! Welcome to the HOD forum. There are a lot of great ladies who will be more than happy to answer your questions regarding language arts. If you are already planning on using CQLA for LA then go for it. That is the beauty of HOD...you tailor subjects like LA and math to meet your needs. Also, if you are wondering specifically what guide to place your 3rd grader, I'd recommend checking out the placement chart on the homepage to see where he would fit best.

[Tiffini]

Hi, Dawn! I'm also in Indiana! Welcome to HOD. We have loved our first year using Bigger this year with my 5th and two 3rd graders.

One thing caught my eye in your post. I used CQLA last year. I think it is a great program and I know that the author is passionate about her subject and has done an amazing job putting it all together. However, when I decided to do HOD this year, I asked Carrie about her opinion re: CQLA. She had looked into it extensively in the past. Carrie reminded me that, while it is a great program, the many aspects of it are covered in other areas of the HOD daily plan - things like copywork, vocabulary, writing, spelling, editing, etc. The only thing that is necessary to add on with HOD is grammar which is covered with the R&S books. So, really, if you follow HOD's guides AND did CQLA, you would be covering those areas of LA twice each day and really adding to the workload. It is still possible if you really love CQLA to use it, but this is just something to think about. I know we personally couldn't do both as CQLA is rather time-consuming (or at least it was for us). Again, it is a great program and we learned a lot, so I'm not bashing it, but just thought I would throw this idea out there for you.

I know you will absolutely love HOD. It has blessed us tremendously this year!

[my3sons]

Hi Dawn! I would love for you to take a look at the placement chart, and tell us where you think your dc would place best. Agewise, it sounds like Bigger Hearts would fit, but age isn't always the best indicator. The placement chart is short and accurate - I promise!!! Here's a link to it:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

We did BHFHG last year, and it was an awesome program! It took us about 3 1/2 hours a day to do, and we did everything in it. It had no prep, and I never had to go out and buy anything else to do it. HOD truly only uses things you have in your home, and often substitutions are suggested anyway. We've really been impressed with R & S - hands-down the best grammar program for retention I've ever used. R & S 2 last year took us about 20 minutes. R & S 3 takes us about 20-25 minutes this year, but we do a good portion of it orally. I actually posted how we do this not long ago on another thread, so I may as well link that here, in case it helps in any way:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2797&p=20666#p20666

I'll add more later and keep checking back on this - I know more ladies will chime in after you share your placement chart ideas!
Welcome to the HOD board!

In Christ ,
Julie

[Dawn in Indiana]

Hi Julie, Thanks for your reply. I did look at the placement chart but I'm still not sure. Also, since Tiffini's post, I'm reconsidering whether or not bigger would be a good fit. My ds9 is finishing up his bju 2 handwriting course. He has learned cursive and he writes beautifully but he doesn't apply it to any other subjects. It is still hard work. He is also will be finished with bju 2 english in 12 days. He has been writing letters, how-tos, etc. Grammar is also included in bju 2 english such as nouns, verbs, adj.,etc. It sounds like all this fall more under preparing than bigger. Still, I might be ok if he used R&S3 instead of 2. But after Tiffini's post, I realized that R&S english is just grammar, correct? So I would actually need to replace the whole LA box, correct? I think LA is my only concern for him concerning bigger vs. preparing. I have a math plan already in place that is working for us.

[Dawn in Indiana]

Thank you Tiffini and Jessi for the replies. I can see this is a very helpful group of people. Tiffini, you really have my wheels turning now...lol. Ok, so here we go. Is all the copywork, voc., writing, spelling, editing, etc. mostly only in the LA box. If I do bigger, I could just tweak that part for him and still combine him with his younger sis for everything else? or would other parts be affected? This is really hard for me even though I looked at the placement chart because academically, he is about finished with 2nd grade work and he is a good student. Birthday wise, he is almost smack dab in between 3rd/ 4th grade if he were in public school for Fall. Do I make sense? But he will be going into 3rd because we felt that was a better fit for many reasons when we started school work at home. He and his younger sis are about 19 months apart. Oh goodness, I'm so confused. Thanks again.

Dawn

[Tiffini]

Doggone it! I just wrote you a reply and then lost it! So, here goes again...

We are using Bigger this year with dd (11) and twins (8). For my oldest, I did change the LA box, BUT it is so easy to do. We just substituted the level of R&S which suited her and we do one lesson a day with that. She does not require cursive handwriting practice anymore, so we don't do a cursive lesson. She does dictation at her level which we get from the Preparing manual since she is past the levels of dictation in the Bigger manual. The youngers do the LA box as written. It is very simple. I would recommend that you use Bigger with your two and then just adjust the LA level of R&S as necessary for the older.

I'm sorry I was a little unclear about R&S. It is grammar mostly, but it does include writing instruction and especially more and more with the higher levels. It is not vocab, spelling, or copywork. It does have little poems to discuss at the end of each lesson, but we get plenty of poetry with the Bigger manual. You can see samples of R&S at www.milestoneministries.com.

The other aspects, outside of R&S grammar and writing, and spelling, are covered in other areas of the day - copywork, vocab, and further writing if you are doing the Extension Pack with written narrations.

I think Bigger would work beautifully for you and would require very minimal tweaking for your older - just changing the R&S level basically. I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you more!

[8arrows]

I am combining my second and third graders in Bigger next year. My 3rd grader is old for his grade as well. I just wanted to let you know someone else has the same scenerio. They did Beyond this year. It was a nice fit for both of them. I expect the same next year.

[my3sons]

Thanks for sharing about your ds, Dawn! It does sound like Bigger Hearts with R & S 3 would be a good fit. I agree with Tiffini that it is easy to sub in the grammar, just doing a lesson a day. If the dictation is too easy, you could get the PHFHG like Tiffini did. I think you would really love BHFHG. We did it last year and really enjoyed it.
In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Hi Dawn,

I just wanted to pop-in and welcome you. The ladies are doing a terrific job of helping you talk through options and are doing a good job of steering you in the right direction.

Blessings,
Carrie