New member ? about levels

[lhazc]

Hello everyone, I am new to HOD, I'm looking to start this fall.(can't wait) I have been homeschooling for 3 yrs now. My children are in 10th, 7th, 1st. I have been thinking beyond for my 6yr old but I'm not sure. I can't decide between beyond and little hearts. He is just starting to read ( short CVC words, some blends, slient e, about 50 sight words) I plan to continue with phonics to cover all the rules (reading made easy looks good to me) In reading I think we would be fine in little hearts, but he has already finished the World God made, the American People & Nation, and the Do it Right rod & staff books ( we used these during k) so here he seems to need the beyond level. For math I plan to use horizons 1. Any advice for me?? thanks. Lisa

[inHistiming]

I believe the age range for Little Hearts is 5-7, so your dc should be fine with it. However, you should check out the placement chart to be sure. Here's the link for that: http://heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

If he fits in Beyond better that would be great too. I did it with my dd and we loved it...my older son even joined us for many of the readings! The guides are created beautifully, they're very engaging, and are from a biblical perspective. My personal opinion would be to go with Little Hearts, just so you can get all the great content (which I missed with dd). You can always adjust things like math and language to fit his level. I think there are two choices for science with Little Hearts, so you could choose the other one. Hopefully others will come along with their recommendations for that. Either way, I think you'll love HOD. Welcome!

[WigglesMom]

I have to say I am biased and would have hated for my son to have missed out on LHFHG. I did CLP K with my son last year and he had been through American People and Nation and World God Made. I love the History for Pilgrims a lot more than I did the American People and Nation. For science, we use the 1st grade option Our Father's World. We hadn't done R&S so we are using them, but since you have there is a 1st grade thinking skills option in LHFHG. My son really loves the Thornton Burgess books. I am really amazed at how he sits through them and really absorbs the story. We are doing the Singapore math and grasping it a lot better than we did with CLP math. I know you said you were planning to use Horizons, but Singapore is really a great program for them to really "get" math.
I dont' know your son. I do have a 6 year old little boy and from my experience with my own son who isn't as mature at 6 as my girls had been, I would recommend LHFHG with the 1st grade options. I personally love CLP a lot more now that I am following Carrie's way of teaching instead of the little teacher's guides that came with CLP. My son could have done BLHFHG (academically), but I felt maturity and time were needed for him to really enjoy BLHFHG. My son was not ready for copywork and that was a major factor in my decision.
I think maturity is a big factor with little boys. Can your son sit through short chapter books with little or no pictures? How long does his focus last? And the all important, how much wiggle time does he need?
Have you done the placement chart to see where he falls? http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php
I printed it out and circled where I thought my son was on the chart. It really helped me to see which program would be best for him and he would do the best in.
HTH,
Val

[lhazc]

Thanks for the info, I have looked at the placement charts and really he fits into both. I am going to look into the 1st grade extensions for LHFHG. I have seen the History for Litlle Pilgrams and I loved it, are the history books in beyond along the same lines as far as keeping the stories short & not to many confusing details? I hope to use copywork to teach handwriting skills, he has a good attention span & not to much of a wiggler, if he's not board. Thanks Lisa

[inHistiming]

Yes, the readings are still fairly short; even in the next manual, Bigger..., they're relatively short. My kids always want me to read more, never complaining that it's too much reading. The same with the story time selections-they love them. I really don't think you'll have a problem with boredom!

[Carrie]

Lisa,

I just wanted to pop-in and welcome you to the board! We're glad to have you here! The ladies are doing a terrific job of helping you talk through options and figure out what would fit your little honey best.

I'm leaning toward thinking your son would do best in LHFHG with the first grade options, however I'm wondering how well he does listening to chapter books with few to no pictures as read-alouds? I'm also wondering whether he's ready for copywork of poetry daily, spelling lists, and a gentle introduction to grammar? So, if you get a chance to pop-in and share a bit more about those areas, we could advise you even better.

Blessings,
Carrie