New to HOD! Placement ?'s

[kristalyn]

I have just made the decision to homeschool. I have been stressing over curriculum but I keep coming back to HOD. Now I need to decide where I should start them. DD is currently in 2nd grade (8 year old) and DS is in K (will be 7 in Sept). DD is very strong reader, but struggles a little in math. SHe enjoys writing. She tends to be sloppy and disorganized. DS is also a strong reader...his teacher says he is one of the top in the class (not sure if that means anything though). He can read on his own but complains if the book has too many words or is too long like Green Eggs and HAm. He hates doing homework and says all they do in school is "worksheets" and its "boring". When I look at the placement chart, DD fits well into Bigger and DS fits into Beyond. I would like to put them both in the same program if I can.

I also have a 4 year old DS and 2 year old DS that, at this point, will be going to preschool in the fall. 4 days for the 4 yo and 2 days for the 2 yo.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Krista

[pjdobro]

Welcome to HOD and homeschooling! With HOD, it is generally recommended that if you combine to go with the lower guide for both and beef up for the older dc. So in your case that would mean using Beyond with both and beefing it up a bit for your dd. You would probably want to increase the reading by adding in Drawn Into the Heart of Reading, increase the grammar perhaps by doing R&S2, and place her in her correct level of math. You can have each of your dc take the Singapore placement test at: http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm You can add additional science too if you would like. Your ds would probably be ready to just follow Beyond as written. I think he is going to love this approach too! He'll be getting away from all of those boring worksheets and be having fun. It sounds like he might be ready for the emerging readers. It's possible his reading level is a bit beyond that but it might be helpful for him to work through them to help build up his reading stamina. He'll enjoy the short bits of reading each day instead of having to read long books all at once. Beyond is a wonderful program and I know there are quite a few ladies here that have used it with two or more children and beefed it up for the older. I'm sure they'll chime in and share what they've done with you.

[kristalyn]

Is DD going to miss anything if I place her in a guide with her brother? I dont want to hold her back, but it would be easier to have them both in the same guide.

[pjdobro]

I don't think you dd will be missing anything. She'll still be getting her math and LA at the appropriate level and will still work her way through the same guides. Learning with her younger brother will make learning more fun and will make your days breeze by leaving her plenty of time to pursue other interests. I do combine my dc in one program and it probably seems a no-brainer since I have twins. You would think since they are the same age, they would be the same academically, but they aren't and it still works well to combine them. It's always a fine line balancing (I'm talking math and LA here too) to keep the pace at a level that the one that is more advanced in the subject is not bored and not pushing the slower one too much. I find that challenging at times with my two, but if you think about it in a classroom, the teachers are doing this all the time. Even though they have a classroom full of dc who are close in age, their abilities are years apart. The wonderful thing about homeschooling is that we don't have to try to reach lots of dc at different skill levels with all the same material. We can customize it more closely to the abilities of our dc. It's funny though because we worry if we are just a bit off when in a classroom they are teaching to so many levels at once. Your two are close enough in age and ability that I think the combination is going to work out great especially since you will be meeting each one at their own level with LA and math. I don't think you will be holding your dd back at all. Your dd will soar this year in Beyond and then next year in Bigger too.