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Hello everyone! My name is Alicia and I am new HOD and to homeschooling. I have four children, Ava- 8.5, Anabelle- 6.5, Charlotte-4.5, & Landon-21 months. God has laid homeschooling on my heart since before Ava started Kindergarden but I am on of those people that has trouble listening the first time around! Anyway Ava went through k-2nd in a public school in our area and did very well, however last year she had a few friend issues that caused some distraction in school, it was then that I decided it was time to pull her. I was going to keep Anabelle in the school through 2nd grade as well but she actually asked me if she could be homeschooled this too. I don't normally allow my children to influence such large decions but the fact that she was asking me to do something that some kids would downright resist being a part of made me realize that God was asking me to homeschool them BOTH. Ava is advanced in both Math and Reading and Anabelle is advanced in Reading and probably a little in Math as well. My stuggle is that I just don't which kit to choose because they obviously haven't gotten the history, geography, science and Bible from HOD and so I'm afraid if I put them up too far they will miss some of the basics in those subjects. Ava is reading at about a 6th grade level and Anabelle at about a 3rd grade level. I also don't want them to get bored and I'm also concerned about teaching 2 different things this being my first time. Anyway, I welcome any and all suggestions! And sorry for any typos and spelling errors I'm in a hurry! Oh Ava would be going into 3rd and Anabelle into 1st. Thanks!

Alicia

Hello Alicia and welcome to HOD!
Sounds like language arts are a strength for your girls. Look at Carrie's placement chart. Do one for each child. Circle the best answer in each column. Then look at where they fall. Your 8.5 year old could be placed either Bigger or Preparing easily. It depends on whether you have had any American history, any background in teaching from a Charlotte Mason approach, doing narrations and copy work. That will also help you in your decision. Carrie or Julie can assist you in finalizing your placement for the girls.

Thank you Laura! I haven't had experience in any of things you listed and after doing the placement chart they both fall about 2 programs ahead in LA and Math which is why I was leaning towards Ava in Bigger and Anabelle in Beyond. The only other thing I'm wondering about is whether to do level 3 of DIHR or level 4/5 with Ava, I will do level 2 with Anabelle as she is an independent reader already.

Alicia

Bigger is a good fit for the new homeschooler. There is a lot of meat to the program and the children will get a good dose of American history before they start their world history cycles. What grade is your child in at the church? This may seem like a silly question but I think it makes a big impact on how the children see themselves. My son is in 3rd grade and he is using Bigger. He is just now ready for it. He is not as advanced as your daughters but your daughters will have no trouble finding book packages ready for them. As far a Drawn into the Heart program, use your best instinct and review the titles suggested for the levels in question. The Drawn program is for the children to read by themselves. You will also be choosing a read aloud Storytime package that hopefully will be a little above their own level. Have a great year!

Welcome to HOD!

I think I agree with your assessment of Beyond and Bigger for your girls. The great thing about HOD is that you can do math at your own level. I just do math at my own pace which is right for my kids. I have found Singapore math very easy to just move ahead as needed. In regards to the LA, it is great that you have strong readers (I do too), but HOD involves so much more than reading in their LA. It is their interaction with the text that makes HOD what it is. It is the listening, the narrating, the communication skills, the analysis of genres, language, plots etc which challenge our children. If your older dd is a strong speller, you may need the Preparing manual just for the dictation instead of the spelling lists in Bigger, but I would not start her on Preparing. Bigger will be a good place to introduce all the skills necessary for future grades.
In regards to DITHOR, you can always buy the reading books which are appropriate for their reading age, but then use the DITHOR activities which are more age/skill appropriate eg. Level 4/5 books with the 2/3 activity book. This will still work.
HTH,

Corrie

Welcome to the HOD Board - we are so glad you are here! These ladies are so helpful, aren't they? I thank God for this board - such a wealth of wisdom shared in such an encouraging way.

I do think you have your dc properly placed in Beyond and Bigger Hearts. As it is your first year homeschooling, do you think you would like to just try to do 1 program with the 2 of them though? They are actually quite close in age, only 2 years apart, and could probably work together if you upped the LA/math for the older. I think I have an idea to try. Could you start with Beyond Little Hearts for the 2 of them, and get the Bigger Hearts guide just to up the LA/math for your older dd? Then, a few weeks into the guide, I think you'll be able to tell if you should just move your older dd up to Bigger Hearts, and you'll already have that manual, the LA, and the math anyway, so you'd be able to probably better make that decision then.

If you did this, you'd probably have your 6.5 yo do the spelling and 1 x a week grammar from Beyond. You can choose between the Emerging Reader's Set or Drawn into the Heart of Reading Level 2/3 for your 6.5 yo. Though 2 of my dc were reading quite advanced levels of books when doing Beyond, I still had them do the Emerging Reader's Set. Even though it was easier reading for them, the comprehension questions, exposure to different genres, and beginning oral narration skills that were taught were a big help. The Emerging Reader's Set goes up to Level 4, so though it starts out easier, it clips along.

For your 8.5 yo, you'd have her use Bigger Hearts dictation for spelling and R & S English 2 for daily grammar (it is a year advanced), as well as Drawn into the Heart of Reading Level 2/3, choosing whichever DITHOR book packs you think fit her.

For math, you can give each of them the Singapore math placement test. It is free and can be printed right off their website at...
http://www.singaporemath.com

Be sure not to read the directions to them or help them during the test in any way as this inflates scores. Singapore math is considered a year advanced, so don't be surprised if they place a bit lower than you expected. Beyond has hands-on plans for 1A/1B, and Bigger Hearts has hands-on plans for 2A/2B, as well as a schedule for 3A/3B, so wherever they place, I think you'll be covered.

This is just an idea - if you are feeling you for sure want to do Beyond and Bigger then you definitely should! I am just thinking this may be worth a try. If you keep the 2 of them together this year, next year, when they moved on to Bigger Hearts, your older dd could do the extension package. There are extensions for Bigger Hearts on up in HOD, so you'd be set. Combining Ava and Anabelle would make it very doable to begin either Little Hands or Little Hearts for His Glory mid-year or so with little Charlotte. However, you will know best here though! Keep asking questions until you are set to go, we like to help here! We have loved HOD so much and have been doing it for 9 years. I pray it blesses your home as it has ours!

In Christ,
Julie