Need help choosing curriculum for 1st time homeschooler

[karenk]

This will be our first year of homeschooling. We are pulling our children out of public school. I am questioning which product package to order. I think it will be easier picking for my son as he is going into 1st grade, turned 6 in May and it sounds like we should pick Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. My problem is deciding on my daughter. She will be 10 in October and is going into 4th grade. I dont know if we should do Creation to Christ or Ressurection to Reformation. I would love any advice you could give. She is a great reader and was in high level of reading in class at public school. Thank you for your help.

[pjdobro]

Welcome to HOD! A good place to start is the placement chart: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php In particular the first page is considered the most important. If you can share how your dc place on the chart that will help everyone figure out what placement to recommend.

In general you are correct that Beyond can be used as a first grade program. Often times many people use LHFHG as a first grade curriculum. That's what we did just using first grade options for math and language arts. My first thought for your daughter when you mentioned her age and grade was Preparing. I suppose that it is because my dc are 4th grade this year and that is what we will be using. She could possibly do the higher programs you mentioned, but one thing to keep in mind is that this way of schooling is going to be new and that in itself can take some adjustment. Each subsequent guide is going to be more and more independent and build on the skills of the previous guides. So thinking about how independent she'll be able to be with some of the tasks is something to consider. You might try taking a look at the first weeks of each of the programs that you are considering and ask yourself if you feel she can do the "I" boxes independently and if she'll be able to do the "S" boxes semi-independently. I hope that's not too much information as you begin to ponder placement. If you can share back here how each of your dc place on the chart, I'm sure many of the ladies will be able to share suggestions.

[raceNzanesmom]

I agree, check the chart of placement. Age/grade aren't nearly as important when picking a HOD guide. We did Little Hearts for 1st. Wonderful program! We using Beyond now and really enjoying it. Coming from ps I'd be inclined to go down a guide for your 4th grader (vs up) since she hasn't likely had the narration and dictation in HOD. Preparing seems to make an excellent 4th grade choice. But, again, check the placement. You can still do math/reading at their level.

Welcome to HOD and HSing!

[MomtoJGJE]

Definitely check the placement chart... if they seem in between guides on some aspects its' often better to go down to the lower guide. It's much much easier to make something more challenging than it is to bring it down to their level if it's too difficult.

We've homeschooled from the beginning, but I can share my experiences. My oldest is finishing up Bigger Hearts. She just turned 8 in April. We'll be moving on to Preparing in November. We've used HOD from the beginning, so the style is completely known to us. She is learning, in Bigger, the same things her PS friends are learning in 3rd grade, plus more. Preparing has 4th and 5th grade level (according to the PS students here) material. I don't know above that. So that's why we are changing mid year instead of the beginning of the year, and even with that she's still ahead of her age range in public school.

With her we started first grade with Beyond. Looking back on it I would start her with LHFHG for 1st (We didn't find HOD until 1st grade for her) I was having to leave out a lot of stuff for her to be able to finish the work. It would have worked much better for her to start with LHFHG, but she FIT in Beyond on the placement chart. But we had never done narration before, nor had we ever really done copywork or history readings at all where she had to actually listen.

My second DD is technically in 1st grade this year (would be in 1st in PS). She is finishing up LHFHG and will go straight into Beyond. It is going to work out better for her because she's done LHFHG.... but we'll still start out "half speed" just to let her get used to the amount of work.

My third wouldn't even be starting K in PS until next year, but she's been hanging around her sisters, can read and write at a K level already. We will be starting LHFHG in November with her, and she'll be starting Beyond sometime in the year she would technically be in K in PS... after she turns 6. BUT she will have gone through LHFHG completely before starting Beyond.

Hope some of this helps you pick. After starting with Beyond for my oldest I just realized how much easier it is and how much more they get from it when you go through LHFHG first.

But I would definitely go with Preparing for your 4th grader. If it seems too easy you could add in the extensions.... but the Charlotte Mason method does SEEM easy on the outside.

[Heidi in AK]

I agree, check the chart of placement. Age/grade aren't nearly as important when picking a HOD guide. We did Little Hearts for 1st. Wonderful program! We using Beyond now and really enjoying it. Coming from ps I'd be inclined to go down a guide for your 4th grader (vs up) since she hasn't likely had the narration and dictation in HOD. Preparing seems to make an excellent 4th grade choice. But, again, check the placement. You can still do math/reading at their level.

Welcome to HOD and HSing!

Angie, this is great! I guess my personal advice is just that, don't look to place her according to what would match her age/grade level. If this is your first time homeschooling, and you've checked the placement charts, I'd be conservative. Go down to the lower guide you have predominant circles for. If I were in your shoes, I'd consider Preparing.

[cirons]

Hi there!

I definitely agree with others. The placement chart is the best place to start and I would be more conservative in your assessments. HOD has meaty programs and it requires a lot more to interact with the material the way the programs ask than to just be strong readers. It takes a higher thinking process that is often not required in the school system. My dd is a very strong reader at age 9, but I have found Preparing has really stretched her this year and I am so glad I did not start at a higher level. The comprehension, narrations, written work and memorisation work is definitely more in depth than a child would ever need to do in a school situation. My ds 7 is doing Beyond and it has been a great start to his HOD journey, gently introducing him to grammar, narrations and history. He is in year 2. You will know best.

HTH,

Corrie

[Heather4Him]

I agree with Patty and the others!

We are using RTR for high school this year w/ extensions. The content, itself, is very meaty! I think your dd would get more out of it if you waited a little. (i.e. Shakespeare, etc.)

Plus, like Patty said, you may have some adjustment from the different school setting. And, if you start w/ Preparing, you will have more guides to grow with (rather than being near the top end of guides) as you go through subsequent years of homeschool!

HOD is wonderful no matter where you start! You don't want to miss anything good!

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD Board, karenk! Aren't these ladies so helpful? I think they have given wise advice. I agree with you that Beyond is probably a good placement for your 6 yo. For your 10 yo, I'd be inclined to do either PHFHG or possibly CTC. Have you had a chance to look at the placement chart yet? If you could share a little about your 10 yo in regard to just the first page of the placement chart - that would help us give more specific advice. I have used the placement chart to place my own dc, and it's worked well. It may help to just print the first page of the placement chart and circle where your 10 yo falls in each of the columns. Then, you can let us know those things, and we'll all chime in with specifics. I think you'd love HOD - we sure do!

In Christ,
Julie