Placement help for mixed skill levels

[jdgblg]

Hi, I have enjoyed reading through the various posts and reviews I have found regarding HOD! There are so many books that I already own, or have had on my to-buy list for some time. I am pleased to see so many great titles. I am almost ready to dive in and start right away, though I am having a little trouble deciding on placement. I have gone through the placement charts and am still not sure.

I have twins who turned 8 in Dec. We have been using an intensive phonics/reading/handwriting/spelling program for 4 years, so their skills in that area are probably a little advanced. They have been writing in cursive for about 2 years, and are reading chapter books with more--for lack of a better word--"old-fashioned" language, and have excellent narration and comprehension skills. We did Rod & Staff English 2 last year, but didn't continue to 3 this year because I have been indecisive on the idea of doing so much grammar at this age. I am still not convinced either way. So, other than some quite undisciplined copywork and occasionally writing in their own journals, they have had little writing and grammar instruction this year. Scripture and catechism memory have been a big part of our lives. They are in RS level 3 math. We read Guerber's Ancient History last year and loved it. And, I just bought the 3 main history books used in Beyond Little Hearts when I was at our homeschool convention. I was getting ready to start reading those to them. So, as you can see, we are pretty much all over the place in skill levels!

I also have a 5 year old, who will be 6 in September. We started the same phonics/spelling/handwriting program in the fall. She is almost finished learning all the phonograms, has beautiful cursive writing, and is about to start reading in some books. (This program teaches all phonograms and starts spelling lists, along with handwriting, before introducing the student to any readers.) She is able to copy short sentences, orally form some of her own original sentences with spelling words, and is casually working her way through R&S Math 1. I am thinking she may be a bit ahead of Little Hearts, and may be ready for Beyond Little Hearts now, or at least very soon.

I don't want the older girls to miss out on Pioneers and Patriots from Beyond Little Hearts, but I also don't want them to be stuck in a program that is below their ability. So, I am interested in hearing your suggestions.

Thank you!
Brooke

[countrymom]

It sounds to me like your twins would fit into Bigger nicely and that is a wonderful program. Given the older two seem to fit in Bigger and your younger won't be 6 until September, you could consider putting her in Little Hearts and do math where she places, the emerging reader set, and you could even do the language arts on the 5th day of each unit from Beyond. You could add some copywork for her each week if you thought it necessary. You do need the Beyond guide for the ER schedule and questions, but you will need it anyway. Many families find it beneficial to not do guides back to back, although it certainly can be done if needed. You could always have your twins read the Beyond history books on their own, or sit in when your younger eventually goes through them. You could place them all 3 in Beyond and beef up for the olders, but based on my own experience that probably wouldn't be my first choice. I would worry about the younger as you advance to the next guides and it can be more work to beef up than to just do a guide as is. Still, it would be a viable option if you really wanted to do that. If you did that you could also do DITHOR with your twins to beef up the program a bit and the following year you could add the extensions in Bigger.

[raceNzanesmom]

It sounds to me like your twins would fit into Bigger nicely and that is a wonderful program.

I agree.

[jdgblg]

Could you give some reasons why you think Preparing Hearts would be too advanced for the twins? Going down the placement chart, they are 8, reading independently, have actually mastered cursive writing, can copy sentences in cursive, have gone through Rod and Staff English 2 (which is used in Bigger), are in Grade 3 math daily, are already doing extensive memory work through the Children's Catechism with scripture proofs. These are all on target for Preparing. I certainly don't want to make it too difficult, so please let me know of I am missing some aspects of these levels.

Thanks!
Brooke

[Molly]

I would suggest you print out the sample week from Bigger and Preparing and compare the two. You will know best where they fit. When looking at the placement chart focus on the skills on the first page rather than the second as that gives a better idea which guide they would fit best. The second page you can arrange to fit whichever guide really. One option though which I would suggest if you choose to go with Preparing is to start half pace to ease yourselves into it. I thought my then 8yr old was sufficiently capable of doing Preparing but after six weeks we ended up taking her back to Bigger, it was just too much in a day for her, and she really needed to gain skills before she could handle it. She is breezing through the end of Bigger now and I can imagine she will glide into Preparing when she is finished.

[holdinon]

I would not recommend starting Preparing with a newly 8 year old based on content (and moving forward wouldn't have a newly 9 year old in CtC)----not that it hasn't been done successfully.... *I* just wouldn't do it . But....I see your kiddos were 8 in December, so assuming we are talking for the upcoming school year, I would say that based on what you've shared, they may be ready. I'd say it will come down to writing most likely.

Here is a good comparison between Bigger and Preparing that may help you decide. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3602#p26654

Also know that Bigger has extensions if you felt they weren't being challenged enough (the extensions are geared toward 4th and 5th grade). Honestly, if it were me, I would choose Bigger, but that is based on the fact that my older kids have gone through the guides at the older end, and I see the difference in how much they have gotten out of them as opposed to my younger kids who I started earlier. They were doing fine academically, but we chose to move a bit slower to move them into the older range for the guides. It just works for our family. There are many here though who have kids who thrive at the younger age range. You know your kids best (which is one of the many things that make homeschooling great )

Oh, and I'd put your younger one in Little Hearts adding the emerging readers (and whatever level math). If you went with Bigger for your twins, it would have the emerging reader schedule and follow up questions (in the appendix). If you go with Preparing, you will likely want to purchase Beyond for the ER schedule.

[countrymom]

I was basing my recommendation on the fact that it is generally better to go down then up when first coming into HOD, your children are 8 and I have a young 8 yr old (good student) that just started Preparing and I am slowing him down a bit, and you had also mentioned looking forward to the American history books for Beyond, and Bigger is also a great American history program. The pp poster gave you a good thread and some good ideas to consider. You can keep your children at their current math and English level even if you do Bigger, so that is not a worry. You can also put them in the DITHOR (reading) program and that will definitely add to your program. So Bigger with DITHOR will keep them busy and challenged.

[jdgblg]

That makes sense. I trust that the many moms who have used these programs have more experience with this, so I think we will start with Bigger. I would hate to have to stop, yet another curriculum, with these girls. They have had a stop and start experience, being my first!

Rather than start a curriculum with the 5 yo, I plan to continue with her reading and math as we are currently doing. When she is ready, I will start her in Beyond. I am sure my twins will be listening in on her history, for that is something they all do, even when I am reading to my 2yo!

Do I need to have 2 sets of readers, or can I just alternate the books between the twins throughout the year? It looks like the only other thing that I would need to buy two of is the DITHOR student book. Is this correct?

One more question: Do I purchase the DITHOR student book based on the level of books they are reading, or based on their writing abilitiy?