Should I pick HOD/Placement/New to HS/HELP!

[cpresz]

Sorry in advance for the long post (I'm long-winded like that).

Hi! I'm new here. I just heard about HOD from a tweep (twitter friend) after I sent out a "Help me choose a curriculum for next year" SOS. I decided the curriculum I chose at the convention I attended almost a month ago is not going to work for my 6yo dd (very straight forward Classical Method curriculum from Memoria Press). I realized I was choosing something that would have worked for me at her age, and not what is going to work for her.

So, I'm back to square one. I am so excited to have found HOD. And I'm lamenting that I didn't stop by the HOD booth at the convention (I was an overwhelmed first-timer).

I have three girls - 6yo, 4yo, and 2 yo.
My oldest went to PS Kindergarten for a semester, then we pulled her out. I have been using an eclectic mix of resources to teach her, which is why I know I need a curriculum with a lesson plan laid out for such a scatterbrained teacher-mama. We've been using Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. She can read most simple readers (i.e. Basic Dr. Suess, Level 1 Readers). We have some work to do in the Math area. While I think Singapore Math is a wonderful curriculum, I'm leaning more towards Math-U-See for the way she learns.

I think HOD would be right up her alley, as she's very expressive, creative, and wiggly (which is why what I originally picked out is probably not going to work). She loves animals, art, books and music. Also, I think that she will LOVE acting out her history lessons each week (I have three little drama queens on my hands and an overabundance of dress up clothes ). Is that just a Little Hearts thing? I have my suspicions she might be a visual spatial learner and I think HOD would work very well for her. I'm also considering MFW (although, I don't know if that's a four-letter word in these here forums )

From the placement charts, I think she's probably be ready for Beyond Little Hearts, but I really like the weekly study (the Bible in chronological order) in Little Hearts. While I believe she is capable of the work in Beyond Little Hearts, I also think she would not be bored with Little Hearts. Of course, it's hard to say without seeing more than one week's worth of lesson plans. I don't want her to miss out on that part of the History lesson by going ahead and moving to Beyond Little Hearts.

Do you think that I can do Little Hearts and make the curriculum more advanced where she needs it to be (i.e. use more advanced reading materials)? Also, will the Phonics materials suggested by HOD help fill the gaps left by 100 EZ Lessons?

Any advice/help/insight you can give would be much appreciated. I really like HOD and would like to know a little bit more. Thanks so much!

[my3luvs]

I am a first time homeschooler like you I will be starting with HOD in July. I will be using LHFHG with my soon to be Kindergartner. We have JUST started using Teach your child to read in 100 lessons. I would think you can up her level for reading by adding in more books. Have you looked at the first grade reader options? My DD could also place in beyond but I wanted to start from the beginning history wise with her.

[countrymom]

You could do Little Hearts with the 1st grade options. From how you describe your daughter I think she would love Little Hearts and it would be a great place to start with her. There are a lot of skills that are actually covered in Little Hearts that will help lay a foundation. There are optional additional readings in the back for the history as well, so you can beef it up that way too. My library didn't carry most of the Bible ones, but once we got into the world history the extra books were great. I am not familiar with the reading book you are using so can't help you there. You can use any phonics program with HOD and once your child is ready you can go into the emerging readers which start at level 2. Welcome!

[tjswaine]

I just have a few suggestions.
1. Print off the weekly sample of both LHFHG and BLHFHG to give you a better idea of what each program entails (maybe you've already done this).
2. Think about whether or not you'd like to combine your girls or keep them in separate guides.
3. Look at an online sample of The Early Reader's Bible to see if your daughter would be ready for it or if she needs a bit more phonics instruction. I believe this Bible has a 2.0 reading level.

Both Little Hearts and Beyond have fun activities that involve acting/dramatizing. Little Hearts offers a bit more of this as the weekly rhymes are activity involved too, but Beyond is classic poetry.

You could definitely beef up Little Hearts with the additional history readings, and adding in things such as copywork or the spelling from Beyond if she's ready for more.

Welcome to the HOD board!

[8arrows]

My 6 year old is doing LHFHG next year, so of course I think it would be a great pick! My daughter will be ready for the emerging readers at some point during the year, but not right away. We are finishing The Reading Lesson over the summer.

[mom23]

I'm working through Little Hearts right now with my 1st grade (soon to be 7 yo boy). We began the year with Beyond, but eventually decided to drop him back to Little Hearts. It has turned out to be a wonderful decision for us! I highly recommend it to you.

Also, IMO, even if your daughter could handle the work in BLHFHG better than my son was able to, that it might make an easier transition to homeschooling if you're not pushing her to her limit. Take time to enjoy learning, you'll be amazed at how much she progresses, even with work that seems easy for her sometimes.

[solagratia824]

Hi!

I think you can definitely make the curriculum more advanced where you need it. We have been using LHFHG as our main guide, but using the Emerging Reader schedule, Spelling Lists, and Math Activities (they correspond to Primary Math 1A/1B) from the Beyond guide at ds's own pace to match his skill level.

As far as the dramatic play being just a Little Hearts thing or not, I just quickly scanned the Beyond guide and did not see as many "act it out" activities as there are in the LHFHG guide. There are tons of of fun, creative, hands-on activities in Beyond, but I did not see many that were like the "Dramatic Play" boxes in LHFHG. If your daughters enjoy dramatic play, perhaps the LHFHG guide would be more enjoyable for all. I imagine that your girls would also enjoy the "Rhymes in Motion" portion of LHFHG that involves physical movement (e.g., spinning, galloping, hopping, etc) with songs and rhymes.

Hope that helps!

[cpresz]

Thanks Everyone!
You've solidified my decision! I'm going to spend some time doing price comparisons (I want to use Kindle/iPad for some of our schooling). But after I get the kids down tonight, I'm going to order.
I've decided that we're just going to school year-round, but take July off, since we're taking a week-long trip to Disney.

Can't wait to get started!
Christan