Overhauling our homeschool - combining/placement ?'s

[Sandi_NC]

Hi everyone ~

It's been a very long time since I've been back to the HOD boards. I see so many new names and lots of stuff happening around here! That is wonderful and very exciting!

I have come to a point where I am ready and willing to completely overhaul our homeschool. It is in desperate need of a change and I realize that I can't put it off any longer. I really want HOD to be a major part of that change if I can pull my thoughts together. However I'm going to need a bit of help deciding which path to take.

To start ~ my children are 11 (ds), 10 (dd) & 9 (dd) ~ they are all about to have birthdays within the next 6 weeks therefore turning 12, 11 and 10. Their ages in regards to placement don't necessarily concern me but I wanted to give them for reference. I've been looking heavily at the placement charts for the past few days (having already been familiar with them but wanting to refocus a bit). My 9 y/o fits squarely into Bigger as far as skill level, my 10 y/o fits squarely into Preparing, and my 11 y/o son somewhat straddles both Bigger and Preparing. He has come a long way in his reading and comprehension ability, his spelling has improved but his writing skills are lacking.

If at all possible, I would like to combine them in *one* program for history and science because my budget is limited so I need to get the most for what I have to work with. Part of me feels that I need 2 separate programs so as to let my youngest not feel pressured, and for my oldest not to feel they are always having to "wait" for their sister. However, I really don't know that I could swing 2 programs financially at this time.

Some of the options I've considered are:

* Bigger - putting everyone in Bigger with extensions for my 10 & 11 y/os, using Preparing TM for my 10 & 11 y/o

* Preparing - putting everyone in Preparing, using Bigger TM for my 9 y/o

I could really use some help thinking this through some more!

Blessings,
Sandi

[my3sons]

Hi Sandi! Thanks for sharing about your dc. I am wondering about your 9 yo dd as she seems to be the one to give some special thought to here, since the other 2 would probably place just fine in PHFHG. Which parts of PHFHG seem too much for her according to the placement chart? In regard to her reading and writing, could you share just a bit about how she's doing in those areas? Thanks!!!

You have 2 good options here. PHFHG is a good option depending on the LA skills of youngest dd. Though she'd do the right side of BHFHG, LA skills are also woven in the left side of PHFHG via history notebooking, science lab sheets, written narrations, etc.

BHFHG is also a good option for all 3, and your older 2 (or just your oldest) could do the BHFHG extension package along with it. This extension package is done independently by them and extends the areas of both science and history.

We'll all get back to you here with more sound advice. I'll check back for any new info you've shared to give you better personalized advice for your family. Both BHFHG and PHFHG are excellent programs, so it really just comes down to fine-tuning a placement.

In Christ,
Julie

[Sandi_NC]

Hi Sandi! Thanks for sharing about your dc. I am wondering about your 9 yo dd as she seems to be the one to give some special thought to here, since the other 2 would probably place just fine in PHFHG. Which parts of PHFHG seem too much for her according to the placement chart? In regard to her reading and writing, could you share just a bit about how she's doing in those areas?

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your time and help!

She is very much still an emerging reader. She is done with phonics, but still has a difficult time pulling everything together. I think most of it is just her needing lots and lots of practice reading. I am getting ready to schedule a vision exam for her because I want to make sure she doesn't need glasses. She will often change her letters around, so "sad" would be read as "ads", or she will add letters to a word she is reading, ie "sing" would be "swing" or "sling". I don't think she is dyslexic? Once she warms up she reads beautifully but sometimes getting her to that point can seem to take days.

With writing, she knows her manuscript letters but has not done any cursive. She has some copywork experience ~ she can copy from our white board or she can copy from a piece of paper/book. She can compose her own simple sentences but needs help in transferring them to paper so I will often either play scribe and write them for her, or write them down and have her copy them underneath. There have been times when she will grab a piece of paper and write all kinds of words together ~ sometimes they are spelled correctly, sometimes not but I see her taking initiative. No formal spelling but she can 'sound out' 3 & 4 letter spelling words (cat, mats, slim, swim, etc). We've not really done much in the way of grammar though she does know what a noun is.

In math, she is currently working through R&S 3 and knows most of her math facts.

Does that help?

[water2wine]

Hi Sandi! Glad to see you here! I know Julie is going to get back to you. I just wanted to say I kind of just did what you are talking about using Bigger and combining. I was able to make it work around my dd that is delayed (P) as well as accommodate my dd that was older and very on track with reading and math (Z). I am not sure I could have done it with Preparing last year. I think it would have been a lot of altering for P. The year in Bigger really helped give my dd time to get her reading up to speed and with the extension pack it was enough for my oldest as well. This year my dd can read a little better and now Preparing is working well for P. To give you an idea of where she was last year she could read the beginning R&S 2 level reading but she was not fluent and there was a lot of work involved sounding things out. I did not feel like she was having good comprehension with what she was reading unless I had her reading aloud to me where she could not trick herself on the words or skip anything. But even that was a lot of work. The extra year helped her a lot and it was still enough for the other four then 9-11 years old, the oldest being in 6th grade level.

I did at this year take my oldest to CTC (Z). That was mostly to give my dd that is delayed some independence but also for my oldest to give her more of HOD before high school. What we are doing is having my oldest listen in on the reading of Preparing as well as doing CTC. That is actually working out very well. So just in case you are thinking ahead there are more options even if you were to need to separate them later.

I am not sure if I already told you this or not but just wanted to add in case I missed it. Happy deciding!

[my3sons]

She is very much still an emerging reader. She is done with phonics, but still has a difficult time pulling everything together. I think most of it is just her needing lots and lots of practice reading. I am getting ready to schedule a vision exam for her because I want to make sure she doesn't need glasses. She will often change her letters around, so "sad" would be read as "ads", or she will add letters to a word she is reading, ie "sing" would be "swing" or "sling". I don't think she is dyslexic? Once she warms up she reads beautifully but sometimes getting her to that point can seem to take days.

With writing, she knows her manuscript letters but has not done any cursive. She has some copywork experience ~ she can copy from our white board or she can copy from a piece of paper/book. She can compose her own simple sentences but needs help in transferring them to paper so I will often either play scribe and write them for her, or write them down and have her copy them underneath. There have been times when she will grab a piece of paper and write all kinds of words together ~ sometimes they are spelled correctly, sometimes not but I see her taking initiative. No formal spelling but she can 'sound out' 3 & 4 letter spelling words (cat, mats, slim, swim, etc). We've not really done much in the way of grammar though she does know what a noun is.

In math, she is currently working through R&S 3 and knows most of her math facts.

Does that help?

That helps so much - thanks! I feel so much better about giving advice after hearing more details. I would do BHFHG with all 3 of them, and your older 2 (or just your oldest) could do the BHFHG extension package along with it. This will extend the areas of both science and history for them in an independent, yet interesting way. I think the explanation of your dd's reading sounds quite typical for beginning readers. BHFHG has an excellent Emerging Reader's Set schedule with comprehension questions in its Appendix. We enjoyed it so much and found it to be an excellent bridge between phonics and longer chapter books. Here is the Emerging Reader's Set of books that goes along with that:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/emerging-reader.php

BHFHG will also have a spelling list she can use that follows a pattern, and that will help her grow in this area so nicely. The method of spelling described in the LA box of BHFHG did wonders for my ds's spelling ability. The copywork will be good for her, and she can do the R & S 2 grammar schedule in BHFHG, as well as cursive handwriting. I think this will help her get ready to do PHFHG with her siblings the following year. I think combining goes much more smoothly when the core program fits all dc being combined quite comfortably and each person can more than likely do what is required of them adeptly.

The extensions are already written for you for your older dc, so science and history will be covered very nicely. Doing BHFHG will give your older ds the time to continue to strengthen his reading skills as well. For the other LA and math areas of learning, I'd get the PHFHG guide and do the right side of plans with your older dc. This will extend the areas of writing, grammar, dictation, math, and reading. For reading, you can do DITHOR with your 2 oldest and pick different book packs and levels for them based on their reading needs. I would wait to do the Science box of PHFHG until the following year, since science will be covered nicely with BHFHG's core science and extension package already.

Of course, these are just my thoughts. What are you thinking? Does this sound like a good plan for you and your family? Please ask any further questions you may have, and the ladies will do a good job of helping you fine tune your placement. HTH, and I think you will find this BHFHG/PHFHG combo does an excellent job of meeting your dc's needs, while still making learning come alive!

In Christ,
Julie

[Sandi_NC]

Hi Sandi! Glad to see you here! I know Julie is going to get back to you. I just wanted to say I kind of just did what you are talking about using Bigger and combining. I was able to make it work around my dd that is delayed (P) as well as accommodate my dd that was older and very on track with reading and math (Z). I am not sure I could have done it with Preparing last year. I think it would have been a lot of altering for P. The year in Bigger really helped give my dd time to get her reading up to speed and with the extension pack it was enough for my oldest as well.

It's good to see you too!

Thanks for sharing as it really helped me 'see' things a bit clearly with my crew. Over the past few days my thoughts have been that I think Preparing would require too much altering in order to make it fit for everyone (which is what I really need at this particular point - keep everyone together) whereas using Bigger would fit really well for Anna, and give Liz & Wm a good foundation to build upon moving forward. Being consistent with anything is going to be a big adjustment for all of us. LOL

[Sandi_NC]

Of course, these are just my thoughts. What are you thinking? Does this sound like a good plan for you and your family? Please ask any further questions you may have, and the ladies will do a good job of helping you fine tune your placement. HTH, and I think you will find this BHFHG/PHFHG combo does an excellent job of meeting your dc's needs, while still making learning come alive!

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,

Thank you *so* much for your help! While I was waiting to hear back from you, my thoughts kept leaning more towards using Bigger for everyone because while all three are so close in age, they are light years apart in their skills and Bigger would be a good place to challenge Anna a bit, and yet not be too overwhelming. I thought maybe Preparing would be too much for me to tackle with everyone at this particular point. Plus, we've not had much in the way of American history and I think all of us would enjoy that together! Bigger will give Anna a chance to really "own" something of her own, as well as giving my older 2 a chance to cement some skills while enjoying themselves immensely. I'm looking forward to something that I can successfully implement and that will help me get myself back on track.

[water2wine]

You'll love Bigger Sandi! We really did. And it will get them ready for Preparing which is plenty on its own. My biggest reason for them this year was separating Z&P because it was just time. Doing Bigger together was a lot of fun. I will use it again with my two littlest probably in a year and a half I am thinking for them and then we will do it slowly because it is very full. We also really enjoyed the extension pack. I read it aloud for the first 3/4 to 1/2 of the program and then just had Z read all but the Science on her own because I really wanted to do that with all. It is really flexible. I think you will find that you can get the perfect fit with it for your lovies. Enjoy it!

[Carrie]

Sandi,

I just wanted to welcome you back! We're glad to "see" you here. It sounds like the ladies have done a great job of discussing possible options for you. If you have other questions, ask away!

Blessings,
Carrie