Trying to choose programs

[momofgreatones]

Hi ladies,

I've been a lurker here for a few weeks but haven't posted before.

OK, so I'm just starting out my HOD journey and I've been agonizing over which programs to use with my kids. Carrie advised me with some suggestions a few weeks back, but I haven't been able to arrive at a decision without flip-flopping. Then, as I've looked over the boards, I see a lot of you are doing things like right side of one manual and left side of another, which is something I hadn't thought of and confuses me even more. ARGGHH!! So I'm hoping you experienced moms can help me with this so I can stop pondering, make a decision, and start doing (one of my weaknesses ) I'd love to hear from Carrie again too!

So here's my rundown. This is our second consecutive year hs'ing, tried using SL for the last year and a half. I felt like there was nothing to it but tons of reading, so I went out on another curriculum hunt. HOD looks like exactly what I was hoping to find and I am so excited about it! My kids ages are:

dd 14
dd 12
dd 10
ds 9
ds 6
dd 4
dd 1

Ok, so I really wanted to combine my three oldest into CTC together. But then after that I can't figure out how to combine the next three. I could combine them all into Little Hearts, but I can't figure out how to progress them into the years after that. I'm a planner and I want to know what everyone will be doing for the next few years. I'm also hung up on thinking that they all need to go through every single guide. But is the system set up that way? If you are combining children in programs throughout the years then some of them will be skipping guides right? Does this mess things up? Do chidren have a problem going from, say Beyond right into Preparing?

So then I thought I could put my first two girls in CTC, and put my 10 and 9 yo into Preparing, and the 6 and 4 yo into Little Hearts, but I also want to to do Little Hands with with my 4 yo too. So then I'm looking at 3 programs, 4 if you count LHTH. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew ( another weakness ) But I really, really dig the looks of Bigger and would rather do that with my 9 and 10 yo because they've never gotten American history, and I love the philosophy of getting a foundation in that before world history, and I love those old-fashioned history spines in that program. But then I'm afraid my 10 yo would be behind because I want her to be able to do all the guides and she might be too "old" for them when the final two or three come out? Then there's the right side/left side options I'm hearing about...oh my, I'm confused.

What ages are the last three guides going to be for and have extensions for? I am loving the talk of MOH being in RTR - I have been wanting to use that rather than SOTW.

One other thing - I've also (confession time) been trying to figure out how I can incorporate in a one-year overview of world geography from MFW's ECC program as well - as I've always wanted to do an in-depth geography study with my children and I feel very led to do that right now. Anyone have any experience with anything like that? But my goodness, someone tell me I'm crazy and I've got to simplify and I can't do all this at once? I feel like I have to hurry and cram all this in for my oldest ones especially to make up for lost time that I should have been hsing them but wasn't . But I have to be realistic and not set myself up for failure by trying to do too much. Since I've not started HOD yet either, so I don't have a feel yet for how much time the implementation is actually going to take, how it's going to flow, etc.

Enough of me thinking out loud and asking endless questions. Please help me make sense of all this, ladies! Thanks so much in advance for advice and suggestions!

Monique

[Tmisek]

Hi Monique!

Wow! You do have a lot to consider! I don't have much advice since this is our first year homeschooling, but I pray you will come up with a workable plan.

I do know that the placement chart is a very important thing to consider. If your children are in the correct levels, I know things tend to go MUCH smoother for everyone.

I only have one idea for you, and it has to do with your 6 and 4 year old. I will have a 6 and 4 yo next year and we are going to go "half-speed" using Little Hearts...by doing one side of the guide one day, and the other side the next. We will probably still do phonics every day. This way we will make the guide last about two years. By that time they will both be the correct age for Beyond (8 and 6). I have read of many people using the guides at half-speed (especially in the early years), so I certainly didn't come up with this idea! But it should work very well for us.

That's about the only idea I have, and hopefully I didn't confuse you more! I am sure some of the more seasoned moms can give you much better advice!

[deltagal]

One other thing - I've also (confession time) been trying to figure out how I can incorporate in a one-year overview of world geography from MFW's ECC program as well - as I've always wanted to do an in-depth geography study with my children and I feel very led to do that right now. Anyone have any experience with anything like that? But my goodness, someone tell me I'm crazy and I've got to simplify and I can't do all this at once? I feel like I have to hurry and cram all this in for my oldest ones especially to make up for lost time that I should have been hsing them but wasn't . But I have to be realistic and not set myself up for failure by trying to do too much. Since I've not started HOD yet either, so I don't have a feel yet for how much time the implementation is actually going to take, how it's going to flow, etc.

Monique,

Simply thought I would share that when we switched to HOD we were using MFW's ECC program. My originial plan was to simply use that material on the 5th day while doing HOD the other days of the week. And we did do that for a "season", but we didn't finish. At present, I'm using the ECC material as we simply focus on basic skills. My children have completed their current HOD guides, but they are a "little" behind where I want them to be before we roll into the next HOD guides. So, we're using the basic skills plan on the right side of HOD and the ECC material as the rest of our curriculum plan - at present. I anticipate that in the next two weeks we'll be ready to move into the next guides, but we still will not be done with ECC, which will not be a problem. My children enjoy the ECC material and I will pull it out for a "change of pace" from time to time.

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD Board, Monique! This is a very encouraging place to be, and the ladies here have a wealth of knowledge and ideas. Bare with us as we talk through this together, because there are bound to be some questions so we can help you kick around some ideas until you find placements you're comfortable with. Rest assured though, HOD is a wonderful curriculum to use, no matter what programs you end up using. I am currently teaching 3 HOD programs and love it, so that is possible to do as well. However, other moms love to combine, and that works awesome for them. HOD is flexible like that, which makes it very easy to customize for your wants and needs.

So, my first question for you is this, could you please look at the first page of the placement chart for each child individually, and tell us where each would place when just looking at each of them alone? If you print the chart, it's super easy and usually quite short to do, though you'll be doing it more than a few times for your family - it's well worth time, as this will effect an entire year of your life and will aid us in giving you good advice. Then, could you share that information with us, with any special things we should know about your dc's reading, writing, math? Here is a link to the placement chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Please come back and share this, as we can totally figure this out together. I'll check back to see what your thoughts are! In the meantime, I've said a prayer for you to have clarity about placement.
In Christ,
Julie

[momofgreatones]

Thanks for all your replies! And for saying a prayer for me You all are so helpful and encouraging, I love it.

Here is where my kids fall on the placement chart:

14 & 12 - CTC
10 - Preparing (needs maturing in writing/spelling skills)
9 - Beyond (he lags a bit in reading, and even more in writing, does well in math)
6 - Little Hearts (just starting out with the basics)
4 - Little Hands

I'm glad you told me about how you use ECC, Florence. That put my mind at ease. I don't know why I didn't think about just using ECC as a supplement at half-speed or whatever. I had it in my head that I had to complete it all in one year. And I like the idea of doing Little Hearts at half-speed. I think that will work really well for my 6 and 4.

So as I thought about it more after my panic attack last night, here is what I'm thinking. I just can't get a good feeling about combining my younger three, so I think I am looking at two programs there. My 10 yo could join the older two with CTC, and be probably ok, but she would do better down a notch. So I'm thinking meet in the middle and combine her and the 9 yo in Bigger. I wanted to do Bigger anyway for the American history focus. And then my 6 and 4 in Little Hearts at half-speed.

So that would be three programs, plus Little Hands. I'm thinking I can manage it if I put ECC in its rightful place as a supplement and not worry about doing it every day - it's primarily for the oldest two anyway. And also, my oldest two should be able to do much of CTC independently. I already have the manual for it and my girls have looked through it and keep asking when they can start! I also plan to have the older ones take some turns doing Little Hands with Isabelle.


So those are my thoughts today! I feel more clarity of thought now than I did before, your prayers really helped. I thinked it helped me also to write it all out on (virtual) paper, KWIM?

So how does it sound to you mom with experience?

Monique

[MomtoJGJE]

Based on the placement chart info you posted I'd combine like you said, oldest two CTC, middle two Bigger (maybe even Beyond if your 4th is a little ahead and your 3rd is a little behind in the basics) and younger two in Little hearts. ETA: I just re-read your post... I think I would put the middle ones in Beyond and do whatever math level and reading level fits the child. From what I've heard there's a big jump from Beyond to Bigger.

I might also get Little Hands and let the older two rotate days that they do them with the younger ones.... From our experience, the older ones like the activities et al in LHTH just as much as the little ones do It would also give your older children a chance to be involved with the little ones, and let them have the information, but not coming from you. In other words, you all would get the benefit and fun from LHTH, but you wouldn't have to prepare and teach, but just have a ton of fun.

[momofgreatones]

I hadn't thought of putting my middle two in Beyond...I actually have a copy of that here, I'll look over it with my ten year old in mind. She's technically in fifth grade though, which I guess doesn't mean much. I had originally planned on her doing CTC with the olders, then changed that to Preparing, so to place her with Beyond would be a big change. I'll have to look closely at the programs and check that option out. I wish I'd ordered a copy of Bigger too so I could look them over side by side.

I think I am going to do LHTH the way you described. How cute and fun to have her older sisters doing some of that with her!

Thanks so much for your suggestions and input!

Monique

[pollo_la]

Just a thought here... you could start Bigger at half pace with your middle two. That would give the younger one a bit more time to grow into it. Also, you could get the extensions for the older one. Doing that you could also have a "break" between each guide. SO... you would be doing Little Hearts, Bigger, and CTC. You wouldn't have to do the same guide back to back this way which I have heard is nice.

[my3sons]

Monique - I love a good plan coming together! Thanks for sharing about each of your precious dc, that helps so much. I really like the idea of placing your oldest 2 in CTC, your middle 2 in Bigger Hearts, and your younger 2 in LHFHG half-speed. This would set you up for a very nice rotation with your dc and with teaching HOD guides.

I think I would stagger start them though, as this will give them time and you time to grow into each guide a tad rather than all at once. I think I'd start with CTC for your olders the first week. This would allow you to focus on training your olders exactly how to use the CTC guide, how to do each box, how to check off the boxes as they go and what routine you want them to do it in, handing in their work a standard place for you to check, etc. They can do Level 6/7/8 of DITHOR and CTC's Extension package as well. You could also train your olders how to teach LHTH to little Isabelle. I'm not sure how old little Isabelle is, but if she's 2 or 3 yo, you could have the goal of getting half a page of LHTH done each day, and your olders could check off what they got done each day. If she's older than that, they could do a page a day with her. They could also just read to her, play, Kumon books, etc. for part of the time. For my sons, about 30-40 minutes is a good amount of time for them to each have a turn with the toddler. Your olders' fifth day could be ECC, and anything else (like laundry duty , play with the littles, cook supper, free time to explore interests, etc.).

So after the first week, you'd have the older 2 going with CTC and little Isabelle started in LHTH. The next week, you could start Bigger Hearts with your middle two. Your 9 yo could do Spelling List 2 from the Bigger Hearts Appendix and instead of cursive, maybe do "A Reason for Handwriting A", just a page or 2 a day to strengthen his writing. Or, if he's ready for cursive, you could start "Cheerful Cursive" - but if he's not truly ready to start cursive there's no need to rush that, and "A Reason for HW A" would be great (or something comparable). He could do the Emerging Reader's Set for reading, or DITHOR Level 2/3, whichever you think he fits in better. The Emerging Reader's Set has a schedule in the Appendix of Bigger Hearts, and each day has 3 oral comprehension questions to ask. This set is wonderful, and an excellent transition between phonics and longer chapter books. It starts easier and gets progressively harder. I share this just so you know you can start at any point in the Emerging Reader's Set if the beginning books look too easy, but ds is not ready for DITHOR Level 2/3. I think it's a good idea to start a tad easier than a child's reading level so they can focus on their comprehension as well. You'll know best what you'd like to do! For your 10 yo dd, doing BHFHG would let her mature in writing and spelling skills, but you could have her do the BHFHG Extension Package to extend science/history for her in an independent way. Only do this though if she can truly read the Extension Package titles on her own, as this should not become another thing for you to do but instead is intended for the child to do independently. She could do DITHOR Level 2/3 or 4/5. If she hasn't had much instruction on parts of the story (i.e. setting, plot, point of view, etc.), you may want her to do one year in Level 2/3 and do Level 4/5 the following year. The HOD book packs are wonderful- here are some links to those:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/drawn-into-optional.php
http://www.heartofdakota.com/drawn-into-optional4-5.php
Whether you choose to do the Level 2/3 plans of DITHOR or the Level 4/5 plans of DITHOR, any of the books packs work. So, just choose what you like best for her! I think you'll probably want your 10 yo to do a harder level of R & S English if she's had some before. Maybe R & S English 3? We do this primarily orally and on marker boards, with just a small portion reserved for writing. Here's a link describing that:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4659&p=34269#p34269

Then, after a week of getting your middles started with Bigger Hearts (and 2 weeks of your olders doing CTC along with little Isabelle doing some of LHTH with them), you could start LHFHG half-speed with your youngers. Here are some wonderful scheduling threads you may find useful:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=95&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

And some awesome schedule suggestions from Carrie:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4615&p=34067#p34067

One more on schedule vs. routine (just skip these if they are overwhelming to you - just thought I'd link a bunch of great threads in case you'd like the information):
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5244

O.k. - so have I totally overloaded you? I hope not! The stagger starting is just an idea that has helped me in the past, but if you are a jump in all at once kind of gal and want to do that, that would work too! Or, you could stagger start in a different order too. Anyway, just some thoughts I hope will help you. I think you are on your way to fine tuning your placement to have an awesome year with HOD! We're currently doing CTC, Beyond, and LHTH and loving our year together. I think you will enjoy HOD as much as we do! Please share any thoughts you have or further questions so we can help more. We're glad to have you here!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Monique,

The ladies are doing some terrific brainstorming with you. It sounds like you have a good plan coming together. One more thing that you may wish to consider is to do Bigger Hearts 4 days a week (like CTC). In that way, you'd have every 5th day free to focus more solely on the 3R's and to do anything extra that you desire. You'd likely want to still do LHFHG 5 days a week though, since you'd be doing it at half-speed.

If you did go that route, you will have be alright with finishing both Bigger Hearts and Little Hearts the following year. Just a thought.

Blessings,
Carrie

[8arrows]

I would set the ECC aside. You are going to have a lot on your plate already. I believe Florence is currently only using it as a filler between HOD guides, not an extra. I have used MFW, and they are full programs in and of themselves. It is better to start off with less, enjoy and want more, than to fill your plate too full
and be unable to enjoy or finish anything (speaking from experience).

[momofgreatones]

8arrows said...

I would set the ECC aside. You are going to have a lot on your plate already. I believe Florence is currently only using it as a filler between HOD guides, not an extra. I have used MFW, and they are full programs in and of themselves. It is better to start off with less, enjoy and want more, than to fill your plate too full
and be unable to enjoy or finish anything (speaking from experience).


I know you are right! I just want to do everything... why can't I? Grrrr......

Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions and guidance. I feel really great about my plan and I am finally at peace . I am totally fine with stretching Bigger and Little Hearts into next year, we are on a weird schedule anyway with starting a new school year in late January. I just want us to be learning meaningful things, doing fun activities, and having a joyful time together, and as long as we're doing that I'm satisfied. This curriculum is just what I wanted to do with my kids when we began hs'ing but couldn't come up with myself. I am so glad I found it, it has been a blessing to us already. I am looking forward to the notebooking, the narrating, the activities, the scripture studies, the reading, all of it.

Also, I read up on all the posts about the upcoming RTR, and wowsers!! That looks fantastic and my two oldest will get to dive into that next year, hot-diggity-dog! I also was interested in Carrie's post about how to beef up the CTC for a high-schooler, since my daughter is 14. I'm planning to do just that, and also with the RTR and whatever else keeps coming. If anyone has any other things they've done with CTC to tweak for high schoolers, will you let me know?


Thank you again to all

Love,
Monique

[my3sons]

...I feel really great about my plan and I am finally at peace .

I'm celebrating with you today, Monique! This is the goal - peace, contentment, and joy in our homeschooling, which of course flows over into our lives. I have determined that the extras, for me, are what put me over the edge and make my day unenjoyable and stressful. So, after 15 years of teaching, I can finally say I don't do any extras. Just HOD. And I love my days! They are full enough, and the dc and I truly enjoy our time together because there is also time leftover for other things. As other wise ladies have suggested, I would also encourage you to set aside any extras schoolwise and just try HOD with all of its plans for a month. I think you'll find it fills your goals and needs well, but if you do the month and think you can handle all of HOD and still enjoy adding another piece then I'd do so at that time. HTH, and enjoy it, HOD is such a blessing in our home and will be in yours I am sure too!

In Christ,
Julie