random thinking to prepare for fall

[dcafamily]

ok, I am new here. Have always seen this program around, but have always pushed it aside thinking it wasn't going to be challenging enough for my dd. Thinking I wanted more "school-like" approach at home, went with bju and r&s, plus lots of workbooks. Well, needless to say, its not working for us so started looking in other directions.

Started looking here again, and now it's totally making sense, lol!! I love the pick up and go, cause you know, my life is sooooo not busy with 3 kids and working from home.

So, in my planning, I picked up lhfhg, to start using with dd (1st grade) to finish out the school year and go thru summer, and then use it with ds (k in fall) in Septemberish. But now as I look more thouroughly at it, I am wondering if I can combine both kids for 2nd and K with it in the fall. I would of course use their appropriate math and phonics, but are the other parts doable with that much of an age gap??

What are ways that you would suggest or have worked for you in beefing up for the 2nd grader?? I am thinking to definatly use dithor for the 2nd grader, but could it also be as simple as just adding in the extra history literature for her thats found in the appendix, or should I think of something else?

Oh, and to also throw into the mix of the theory, I will have a 2 year old (2 in july) that will be running around also. So now as I just typed this, I could be doing little hands to heaven with her, but that may be asking for too much, lol!!

thanks in advance for you thoughts and ideas!!

Look forward to being a part of this board.

[jg_puppy]

I don't have any answers for you, but I wanted to say hi and that I noticed you are in the DFW area. I live in the same area.

Jan

[water2wine]

ok, I am new here. Have always seen this program around, but have always pushed it aside thinking it wasn't going to be challenging enough for my dd. Thinking I wanted more "school-like" approach at home, went with bju and r&s, plus lots of workbooks. Well, needless to say, its not working for us so started looking in other directions.

Started looking here again, and now it's totally making sense, lol!!

Uh you are singing my song. Been there done that. I could give you advice but I am afraid it would be bad advice so I will hold off.

I just wanted to say welcome and congratulations because I know you will get great advice. I can see a few was to go but I think the more experienced moms or Carrie will give you the best advice on this one.

But Welcome anyway!

[MamaMary]

ok, I am new here. Have always seen this program around, but have always pushed it aside thinking it wasn't going to be challenging enough for my dd.

Started looking here again, and now it's totally making sense, lol!! I love the pick up and go, cause you know, my life is sooooo not busy with 3 kids and working from home.

So, in my planning, I picked up lhfhg, to start using with dd (1st grade) to finish out the school year and go thru summer, and then use it with ds (k in fall) in Septemberish. But now as I look more thouroughly at it, I am wondering if I can combine both kids for 2nd and K with it in the fall. I would of course use their appropriate math and phonics, but are the other parts doable with that much of an age gap??


Look forward to being a part of this board.

Welcome Dawn!

Do you know we did the same? I bought Little "Hands" a few years ago and thought of it as a light little program to use in "addition" to my big lit based program. We couldn't make it fit because I didn't "get" how awesome and complete it is

Let me say, that I have never been a big proponent of using more than one program. I really like the idea f combining and share that I think "less is best"......., UNTIL HOD!

Carrie has done such an AMAZING job showing us how to eat an elephant, one bite at a time that I found I COULD do three programs. I have 4 children with big age spans and it worked. (one is using Little Hands which is only 30mins or less a day)

Are you planning on using HOD's recommended math/phonics or LA or are you using something else?

I definitely think you could use Little "hearts" for both of your children this year. You may find that you will have to split them down the road because the writing picks up as you go along and your 5 year old may not be ready for it as soon as your 7 year old? Then again, that may not be a problem at all?

I am so glad you are here and look forward to getting to know you better and better!

[blessedmomof4]

Hi-wanted to say welcome, and to let you know combining the two older kids could work very well. Alternatively, you could do 2 programs, using what suits each best according to the placement chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php
As for adding Little Hands for your toddler, it is designed to take only 30 minutes or less a day, and you could always stretch it by only doing a little at first, since she is so young-like a day or 2 per week, whenever she seemed interested.
Some of the moms here are using more than one program and find that because the plans are so concise, it actually can be done, and they still have a life!
Let us know what you think after reviewing the placement chart, it really helps!

[Candice]

Dawn,

Just wated to welcome you, looking forward to getting to know you!

Candice

[my3sons]

Hi Dawn! Like Lourdes, I'll be interested in your thoughts after checking out the placement chart. Right off the top of my head, I'd say do 2 separate programs with them, just based on their age ranges. I'm doing LHFHG and Bigger Hearts... along with DITHOR this year. It is TOTALLY doable to do several programs, and we are having such a stress-free year.

I'll be adding in LHTH for my youngest here eventually as well, and I'm not in the least bit nervous about it. I've done LHTH twice now, and it truly does only take 20-30 minutes a day. When I've started LHTH with younger ages, we've done it more spread out, and taken more like a year and a half to do it. (I did always do the letter review/fingerplay each day though, just to help them remember that better.)

Also, you could take 2 years to do LHFHG with your 5 yo. We started off that way, doing the left side of the plans one day, and the right side of the plans the next day. We recently began doing both of pages of the plans each day because my son (and my schedule) was ready for it. We'll finish LHFHG in about a year and a half. Since your child is only 5 yo, and LHFHG is for ages 5-7, you could do it this way and still be on "track".

As far as your 2nd. grader, I am guessing Beyond... or Bigger... would be a good fit, depending on what you find out from the placement chart. I'd love to hear your thoughts after checking out the chart.

With all of that being said, I do think you could combine them otherwise. I think it would actually work alright now, but I worry about it down the road a bit. By the time your 5yo moves through LHFHG on to Beyond... and then will need to do Bigger..., I think Bigger... would probably be too much of a stretch. However, maybe it wouldn't? You know your dc best.

I just want to reassure you that whether you go with one, two, or even three HOD programs, you'll be happily surprised at how smoothly everything goes, and at all of the fun learning your children will be having. Either way, your family is sure to enjoy HOD. There is definitely not a "wrong" choice here as long as HOD's what you are choosing.

It's so nice to meet you, and hope to hear back from you soon!

In Christ,
Julie

[Dorla]

Hi Dawn!
I do not have an answer for you either but wanted to say welcome!
We are using LHFHG and love it, love it, love it! We are also in Texas, south of FW.
Dorla

[dcafamily]

Thanks everyone so much for your input!! I really appreciate it!!

On placement wise, my dd who is 7 and doing 1st grade, would fall right now into Little Hearts, and my ds who just turned 5 last month would prob fall into Little Hands. My main thing is that I was under-estimating myself and handling the 2 different programs after much struggle this year w/ balancing everything and finding a balance of what works for us as far as all the different programs that are out there. I have been tryin to create school at home, and that is just not working, lol!! Oh, and did I mention how stressful our lives have been this past year w/ my sister getting married, us moving, a dh that travels a lot for a local ministry, and a son that has bad health issues??? I just didn't think that I could balance it and still accomplish what I need to with each child, that's why I was looking to combine as much as possible

So here is what I am going to do, which hopefully will work:

Delainey (my 7 yr old) will jump into Little Hearts next week. Going to finish up 1st grade w/ it (which she is way behind b/c of everything this past year). Right now, she is doing R&S math, but only about 10-11 lessons into it, so may switch over to singapore, but still trying to figure that one out. My goal is to be done with Little Hearts by the end of summer, but we will see. Dh's main traveling time is over the summer, so hopefully we will be ok. And then start Beyond in the fall for 2nd.

For Chandler (who just turned 5 and doing pre-k work) will just cont with what he is doing now. I will pick up Little Hearts with him in the fall and spread it out over 2 years by doing one side of the page one day, and the other side the next. He misses a lot of days b/c of being sick, that I am just going to plan for it to take this long. He will do his phonics and math everyday though and some read alouds that we do anyway.

Darianna (my 20 month old who will be 2 by the fall) is just going to hang out. Think I will wait until the following year to start anything "formal" with her. Just work on reading together and simple stuff like that.

Sorry this turned so long, but I like putting my thoughts out there and seeing how it all looks on paper, lol.

Thanks again everyone for your input!! I really appreciate it!!

[silly]

Dawn, I totally understand getting it all typed out! Helps me see where my mind is going

We're going to be doing a lot of things similar! My baby just turned 2, but for him, I'm going to wait until next year to start LHTH. I'm also thinking about stretching LHFHG out two years, because my oldest takes a while to pick some concepts up and I think it will be just better that way. And, since my youngest will *just* be 3 when I start them on that, I'll probably stretch LHTH out two years, too. Just to make things easier on all of us. That will put Luke ready to start LHFHG right at 5 and give a year cushion for my oldest, while putting Jake right where he's supposed to be

Whew! The nice thing about having my oldest and middle sons only 15 months apart is the fact that it makes schooling a little easier. They are both about on the same level as far as abilities go.

[kerby]

Delainey (my 7 yr old) will jump into Little Hearts next week. Going to finish up 1st grade w/ it (which she is way behind b/c of everything this past year). Right now, she is doing R&S math, but only about 10-11 lessons into it, so may switch over to singapore, but still trying to figure that one out. My goal is to be done with Little Hearts by the end of summer, but we will see. Dh's main traveling time is over the summer, so hopefully we will be ok. And then start Beyond in the fall for 2nd.

Don't feel bad, Dawn. My dd is only about lesson 14 w/ R+S so I am behind, too. I have been looking at LHFHG for her for next yr but wondering if I should just start it right now.

For Chandler (who just turned 5 and doing pre-k work) will just cont with what he is doing now. I will pick up Little Hearts with him in the fall and spread it out over 2 years by doing one side of the page one day, and the other side the next. He misses a lot of days b/c of being sick, that I am just going to plan for it to take this long. He will do his phonics and math everyday though and some read alouds that we do anyway.

I was thinking I might do this w/ my ds who will be 5 this summer. He is beyong LHTH but I don't want to get too far ahead of where he would be. (We don't know what the future holds.) So, doing LHFHG in 2 yrs would keep him where we feel would be best.

WOW! Thanks for helping me put my ideas on paper. Talking things through usually is what I need and putting my thoughts down has made a difference, too.

K

[inHistiming]

That's what I'm doing with my 4 yo who will be five in June. He kept asking me to 'do school', so we ordered LHFHG and started a couple of weeks ago. We will go very slowly, 1 page of lessons 2-3 days a week, for a while. We may increase the number of days we do school when we start Bigger... with my olders, it just depends on how he handles it. But the plan is to make it last until the end of next school year. After that, he'll start Beyond...if he's ready, and I guess he should be.

[Carrie]

Dawn,

Welcome, we are so glad you're here! The ladies on the board have done such a good job of helping you talk through your HOD options. I think, with what you've shared, that your plan sounds wonderful!

I am currently taking 2 years to do "Little Hearts..." with my 5 year old, and we are really enjoying it. We're doing 1 page a day for this year. Next year, I think he'll be ready for the full day plan, but we'll see.

I am also doing "Bigger..." and "DITHR" with my second son (with my just turned 2 year old and my 6th grader doing their own things). So, you can definitely do what you have planned!

"Little Hearts..." at half speed takes 35-40 minutes a day. "Beyond..." takes 2 and 1/2 hours per day, including DITHR. So, for both kiddos for everything, you'll be at about 3 hours of school per day.

Blessings,
Carrie

[momof2n2]

Hi - we are just finishing up a year with a K and a second grader. Add my 3 y.o. dd and 1.y.o dd to the mix and it sounds a bit like your upcoming year.

I only did one program. I did Beyond for my second grader.
When I assessed the one week examples on line, Beyond fit very well for my second grader. LHFHG would have not moved him past where he already was with Language Arts. But that being said, LHFHG was ABOVE my K. I think the history with History for Little Pilgrims would be fine for both.

The areas such as Language Arts, Reading and Math I see as the places you'd need to be more on target. I think, judging from my own Kindergarten son [turned 5 in the July before we started] was that he had a decent interest in the Beyond Bible, the Poetry, when I did it and even the Science. Geography only got his interest on rare occasions, as did the history.

I did NOT do HOD for my eldest's first grade, BUT I DID do History for Little Pilgrims, and while my then FOUR YEAR OLD didn't do all the reading with us, he did build the time line, and occasionally worked on the memory verses.

I would only say this about the science. We are using the HOD because I was already so pleased with Christian Liberty Press, and using it for history and science, but it was SO fragmented the way I did it. Carrie has now taken my favorite publisher for this stuff and synthesized it FOR me. Now, the CLP science isn't going to rock-the-socks-off and budding scientist. It is colorful, it is engaging, it ain't earth-shattering. It's gentle, Bible-based, Creation-based appreciation for what God has done. If you have a child with a passion for science, in grades K, 1 or 2 [all that I have used yet] CLP is not going to satisfy it. If you have kids that are going to be happy with any science, as mine are, you could EASILY do any ONE of those years for all the years. You may have to tailor some vocabulary for them, but not much else.

I will end with asking what the requirement IS for Kindergarten in your state? I am in NYS where K is still not mandatory. For that reason, ALL I do in Kindergarten is reading, writing and math. Anything else these guys pick up has been as life just naturally brings it. So - if you selected the program that best suits your oldest and let the Kindergartener just tag along, I think you could even pull off going to Beyond, if you think that better fits your oldest's language, or math, or reading.

*phew* [and I am new here too! ]

[my3sons]

Just wanted to jump in and say I think your plan sounds great! A woman with a plan... a very dangerous thing! Look out ... here comes another armed HODie!
In Christ,
Julie