Need Help Choosing

[kaprz]

Hi. I am trying to find a good fit for us next year. I have a 5 yr old daughter who is in Kindgarten this year (using SL P 4/5), so she will be 6 and starting 1st Grade next year. I found CLE recently and really love the gentle approach they seem to have in their material and I had planned on doing that pretty much exclusively for next year. Complete opposite to what we have done this year, I know, but I am new at HSing and want to try some different approaches. Their history is very basic and I am looking for some Early American history and the "living books" approach (for some subjects anyway) which has led me to HOD. It looks like Beyond is where my daughter would place. And I realize that HOD is a full curriculum but also understand that I could still use CLE Math and LA if I wish, and even Reading. Sounds like I could get everything that I am wanting. Pretty straightforward...so, what are my questions exactly?

One thing I am not enjoying with our program right now is the hands-on activities are more for preschool kids that kindergarten so we skip them and I think my daughter would love to have more hands-on activities to do. Would Beyond have age appropriate hands on act. for a 1st grader?

Another thing is with our LA/Reading program I don't feel like it is guiding me to teach her to read very well. She is reading simple books (on her 20th book) that come with their program but it seems like there are a number of times where she is asked to read a word that she has not been taught how to read (TM never brought up hints or clued me in on how to teach it...it just shows up in the book and then I am trying to figure out how to teach it to her without any guidance for me on how to do that). Does anyone have any experience with the CLE Learn to Read program compared with the two listed for Phonics in the HOD program (Reading Made Easy or Reading Lesson)? Is there one of them that you would recommend over the others? My daughter is very quick to pick things up and has even taught herself things with reading that amaze me (without any instruction from me she has just figured it out), and I feel like with the right phonics program she will just take off in reading.

Is it easy to add more books to read as Read Alouds together? We love to read and I want to be able to read more than maybe just the "scheduled" readings each day.

Also, does it really work to use HOD for some subjects and use another curriculum for others? (Use the left side of the guide only basically)

That is all I can think of for now. I hope this makes sense and that someone can help me figure if HOD would be a good match for us. Thanks!
Katie

[Heidi in AK]

Hi Katie, and welcome to the boards! Carrie's left the right side of LHFHG fairly open to the individual family's selections for phonics and math. I would advise you follow her program for Fine Motor Skills and Storytime, though.

I'm bumping this for you to see if some other mamas can help you further with placement.

[creativemommy]

Welcome!

Beyond is a great program for a 1st grader. I used it last year with my son (though he was 7 yo) he really enjoyed it. He loved the read-alouds and it is easy to add more reading to your day if you wish. I will be using it this next school year with my dd who will be 6yo.

Yes, you can just use the left side of the Beyond guide if you have other handwriting, LA, Math, and Phonics programs you enjoy already.

[kaprz]

Thank you, Heidi and Beth! Do either of you have a preferred program for phonics? One that is that really helps teach step by step?

Katie

[my3sons]

Hi Katie, and welcome to the HOD Board! I think Beyond sounds like a great fit for your dd. We did Beyond with both of our sons when they were each 6 yo, and enjoyed it completely. The hands-on component of HOD is a favorite aspect of ours. The history activities and science activities partner with the living books being read so well. I felt great about our dc doing 2 science experiments every week in Beyond, doing art activities, and doing history activities. They learned so much from them, and they were able to take the driver's seat and do the hands-on work themselves (rather than me taking it over and doing it for them, as was the case with some other hands-on activities - not in HOD - that we tried to do). As far as phonics, you can use any phonics program you want. I think both "Reading Made Easy" and "The Reading Lesson" are good phonics programs. Here are a few links that may help you find out more about them...

Carrie compares The Reading Lesson and Reading Made Easy
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2503

The Reading Lesson:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9993&p=72922#p72922
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5541

The Reading Lesson CD:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9276

As far as choosing your own math, certainly you can do that. We do enjoy Singapore Math, but math is one of those subject areas that if you have found something that is working - great! Might as well stick with it.

We enjoy read alouds too, and Beyond has 3 Storytime sets to enjoy! The Storytime sets are the read-alouds, and each set is so nicely balanced, with one book from each genre. If you love to read, you could surely get all 3 sets instead of just 1. We have collected them all now, and the books are excellent.

HTH!
In Christ,
Julie

[kaprz]

Thank you so much, Julie! That really helped to see the two phonic programs being compared! HOD sounds like a perfect fit for what I am wanting. It is so exciting! To think that I thought I had next year all figured out and just wanted a good history program to add to it and now God has lead me to HOD and I can get a WHOLE curriculum that looks perfect for us and still keep the LA and Math that seemed the best fit. I can have everything that I was desiring in a curriculum! I feel so blessed and thankful to have been lead to this website--God is so good!

Now, I just need to order. Is it recommended to wait until the new catalog comes out to order to see if there were any updates/changes made to the guide or book list? Or better to order before new catalog comes out?

Katie

[glperky]

I just wanted to say that we haven't started HOD yet but are really looking forward to using it in the fall. We will be doing the same as you and using HOD for the History and Science and we are using CLE LtR and Math now. We started off with Reading Made Easy and it was going great at first but then we just hit a brick wall. I switched to CLE LtR for several different reasons and it is going great for us. My 6yo DS loves it. However, Reading Made Easy came highly recommended by a lot of people. I am just rambling, sorry, but hope you got something out of this post.

[kaprz]

Thanks for your input, glperky. I have looked over RME and TRL and LtR and was thinking of going with RME. After reading your post I wonder if there was something specific that made you switch to LtR or just because the other one seemed to no longer interest your child? Do they both take about the same amount of time per day? I am hoping for a phonics program that will really help me to teach my daughter, do you feel like one of them has a better teacher's guide than the other?

Sounds like we are using a lot of the same curriculum --very exciting! Which HOD program are you going to be using?

Look forward to getting to know you more!
Katie

[glperky]

Katie,

I like RME and it didn't take as much time to do as LtR does, but DS loves LtR much better and is retaining much more with it. Both programs have step to step for the teacher. RME tells you exactly what to say. The LtR TM is more like a school teacher manual, I'd say. It does give you step by step instruction. I change for lots of reasons, 1. because of the brick wall and DS was wanting nothing to do with it. 2. I wanted to use CLE LA and so I thought it best to use the whole program instead of having gaps. I have gaps with my 14 yo for many reasons, (he hasn't always been HSed.) and now that he is going into the 9th grade, it is catching up to him and I didn't want that to happen with my little guys 3. 6yo DS loves workbooks (momma does too), those are my basic reasons for swithing. HTH! Also, if I remember correctly, TRL doesn't help you teach your child, I could be wrong. I have all three programs, I guess I need to get rid of two! Let me know if I can be any more help! You can Email if you would like!

[kaprz]

Thanks so much! That really helps. Since I too plan to go with CLE LA I may end using LtR. So much to consider. I appreciate your thoughts on the "gaps", I know that can happen switching around from book to book too much. I will do more looking online. Thanks for the offer to e-mail you, I may just do that if something comes up!

Katie