new to homeschoolingand placement question

[msegedy]

I have a question regarding which program to start my 6 ½ year old daughter in. she was in public school kindergarten last year, and we are going to start homeschooling this school year. We came across HOD and LOVE what we see. I am just having a REALLY hard time deciding which program is best to start her in. like I said, she is 6 ½ years old. She is an emerging reader. She is very eager to learn. I don’t know if it is better to put her in the “beyond little hearts” (not sure if she will be challenged enough) or start her in “bigger hearts.” I don’t want her to be overwhelmed and for it to be over her head, but I also don’t want it to be repetitive for her either. I looked at the program placement charts and still just don’t know which way to go. I am leaning more towards “bigger” but her spelling is what holds me back. She spells everything phonetically, so her spelling is not that great. I don’t know if that should be a huge factor or not. other than that, her kindergarten teacher said she is above grade level. She has been writing stories (making them up) for the past year. She writes little “books” and is very creative, but like I said her spelling is bad. She copies passages from the Bible and other books and does great with that. I guess the grammar part is my drawback. I just don’t know where she would fit into that category. She doesn’t know parts of speech. She LOVES school and loves learning, so I want her to be challenged but I don’t want her to be overwhelmed if I choose something over her head. I would appreciate any advice you can give me.

[Tmisek]

My "vote" would be for Beyond! I pulled my daughter from Public School after 1st grade, and we did Beyond when she was 7. She also was above grade level in every subject and very bright, and Beyond was such a WONDERFUL start to homeschooling! We used it as 2nd grade, and added DITHOR 2/3 which was quite challenging even though she was an excellent reader/writer.

We used Bigger last year as 3rd grade, and it was quite a step up from Beyond. I think Beyond would definitely be the best fit!

We have loved HOD and have been so blessed by it. I pray you will, too!

[netpea]

You said you looked at the placement charts. Where did she fall on the charts, particularly on the first page of the chart?

[Kathleen]

Hi! Welcome to HOD!

From what you've shared about your daughter, I think that she sounds like she'd be a perfect fit for Beyond. My 7 year old is also enjoying it for "2nd grade" this year. Honestly, your description of your daugther is where mine was last year, and we used Little Hearts for His Glory with the 1st grade options for Fine Motor Skills and the 1st grade math and the Emerging Readers. It was a fabulous year! I've done Bigger Hearts, and I do not think she would be ready for that yet. And, there's really no need to rush to it when there are so many great options you could use 1st! I have found that the copying in Beyond is perfect for my little writer. While she may want to go copy SEVERAL verses from her Bible on her own, or write me a story, or make a whole book; I have found that she doesn't want to be told she has to write too much during school. She does enjoy it, but copying part of the poem and a few other sentences WELL have been perfect for us, and then she's free to write and create on her own during her free time. The writing in Bigger will be a big step up when we get there, and much more will be expected. And, I think that it will be perfect for us next year. I'm guessing that you would find the same to be true.

Kathleen

[arstephia]

I say Beyond also. You need to not only look at this year but where do you want her to be in the later guides? If you put her in Bigger as a 1st grader, she will hit CTC as a 4th grader and that might be more than she can handle later on. I am doing Beyond with my 2nd grader this year. She is soon to be 7. My friend is doing Bigger with her 3rd grader and after seeing what they are doing, I am glad I started my dd at the age/guide I did. The HOD method is not meant to push and make things hard. Use the placement guide, but don't think you have to push her. It is easy to make minor adjustments to their level. For instance, my dd is strong in math. The math activities will be too easy for her as written so I am just altering them a bit. Like in Unit 9, Day 2 the activity is to use 15 items and making groups of ten. She has that concept down so I am using 100 items and doing groups of ten, counting by 10s to 100. Minor adjustment but one that will make the program work for us and still meet her needs. The history portions are very appropriate for this age and we are enjoying them tremendously.

[msegedy]

thanks for all of your input and responses. i think i will definitely go with BLHFHG. I am excited to start our HOD journey!!