heartofdakota.com

Wow! This curriculum looks great! We've been homeschooling for 7 years now and have used Sonlight and MFW.

We have 5 children ages 12dd, 9dd, 5.5ds, 3.5ds, and 7months ds.

My 9yodd is on the immature side, she's actually doing 2nd grade work this year (officially ). I could do HOD with her and the other youngers.

However, it looks like it wouldn't work with my 12yo dd, right? She is very mature and reads very well. She really liked Sonlight. Maybe I will put her back on Sonlight and just do HOD with the others (?).

I looked at A World of Adventure and the huge IG scared me! I mean, I haven't had it in my hands, but it reminds me of TOG. I bought TOG Redesigned last year but didn't use it because it was so overwhelming to me.

We've enjoyed MFW and it has worked fine, except that my 9yo dd just isn't getting much out of it. This year we are doing Creation To The Greeks. She does seat work fine with me, but the stories, etc., are just not grabbing her attention. My 5.5yo ds is doing MFW Kindergarten and is doing pretty well with that, although he isn't quite ready for handwriting or actual reading yet. He's doing great remembering the letter sounds (the vowels are a little tougher for him), though.

Anyway, my point is: I'd love to try HOD with ALL my children...is there a way? I think my 12yo dd will always be ahead of it, though, right?

I'd love to hear any advice! Thanks!

What grade is she in? There are extensions for Preparing to give more work for 5th and 6th graders. You might be able to do that just fine with her. I would look at each of the books suggested for the extension packs or higher grades, and see if they would be a fit for her.

I would think she would be fine.

I just bought some of the sets with the higher end of things for my children. When it came time to ordering and I was looking hard at which book to pick, checking any online sample pages I could find, I was even more impressed at the levels these guides reach. They really do span across 2-3 grades/ages.

You can always jump up a level in your basic subjects, if that is what is needed, to meet her needs that way.

I also think that since it's a new program, it's nice to take it easy and have a bit of fun, get use to the layout and scheduling of it, etc.

Keeping SonLight for her, and HOD for the others seems like a nice plan as well.

Not sure if this is much help....

Hi Tracey! Just wanted to say welcome!

No advice here for your olders, but did want to say that we used MFW K and went right into Little Hearts with no problems. That might be a good option for your 5.5 yo.

I'm sure there's also a perfect place for you 9 yo, but I think you should really study that placement chart to see where she would best fit. (I'm thinking maybe Bigger?) Not sure if Preparing would be enough for a 12 yo really strong student....hopefully Carrie will chime in for you.

You'll get lots of great advice here! Glad you found us!
Mel

Hi Tracey!

I'm really no help with your question...you're ahead of me. But I wanted to pop in and welcome you!

Kathleen

Hi there. I am using BHFHG with a 10/11 year old and Preparing with a 12 year old. My dd is an avid reader and she is fairly bright. I think it could definitely work for you if you just add a few resources. That way you can have them all together with HOD. It would be a lot easier plus they get to share together.

Here are some threads that might help you.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/view ... +preparing
http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/view ... =preparing

and for Bigger

http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/view ... or+richard

Hope that helps! You will love HOD and it is worth adding to it for older kids.

My oldest is only 8 (but advanced), but I am actually surprised so far using Bigger....I thought it would be too easy for him, but it isnt. I added the extension package, and also on the history reading books, you can do more than one set....I have a lot of those books from SL, so I am going to have him read as much as we have time for. Having used SL myself, as well as MFW, I think you could do any of the options....but it sounds like your heart is telling you you want to use HOD. In that case, I would follow that.....I think you could EASILY just add in more reading from the extension package, and SL books if you like....I would use the library for any SL books you want to add in. I truly think it would be easy to add in a bit if you want more....it is always easier to ADD TO a curriculum to beef it up than to TAKE AWAY to make it easier. That way, you can add to the areas that she is especially strong in. I am so impressed, and I think the character, heart, and interconnectedness of all of it makes it phenomenal, and I would choose this any day over SL or MFW. I am so glad my friend introduced me to it! I thought I was DONE looking for the perfect curriculum, I had resigned myself to stop looking and just use SL or MFW because they were what I had found to be the best so far. Boy, am I glad God brought Leslie to me to suggest this!

Meg

twfleger,

"Preparing..." is scheduled for ages 8-10 with extensions for grades 5-6, so your 9 and 12 year olds would both fall into the recommended range for "Preparing..." (if you heart is leading you to combine your 9 and 12 year olds in one program). I am comfortable in saying that even an academically strong 12 year old would find much to be gained from the readings, discussion, and skills laid out in "Preparing..." (along with the Extension Pack readings of course).

As the ladies mentioned, you would want to add a higher level for language arts and math to round out your 12 year old's program.

I am very interested in where you think your 9 year old places on the placement chart (as I wouldn't want "Preparing..." to be too much for that kiddo). If you get a chance to pop back in and let us know what you think after looking at the chart that would really help us advise you even better. Here's the link to the chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Welcome to the boards! We're glad you're here!

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi!
I will be using Bigger exclusively for my 10yo AND I will be using the scope and sequence of the history/science and some of the older readers for my 14yo.

I have a small booklet I got through Rainbow Resource called "Turning Back the Pages of Time". It is a book list for American History. It will be a wonderful addition to the history BIGGER is teaching this year. It is nice to see that alot of the books Carrie uses are in this helpful little booklet.

I will be using an older math and science, but Bigger will be my base for her history and science this year. The readers and read alouds seem so good! She always listens in to read alouds and loves to read to her sister so, she will be benefiting in many ways!!

Ruth

It does sound like I might be able to do Preparing...with my 12yo dd (she turns 13 on Feb. 4). She is a voracious reader, but with a little tweeking we should be able to.

I am starting to think that 9yo dd would be better off in the Beyond...program. She matched that level in the Program Placement Chart almost to a "T" (except for the age). She can read...but still has to have me there to catch any words she might miss. She does pretty well with Dr. Seus books, Frog & Toad, and she is also currently reading the God Is Good series by R&S. She is getting better every time she reads.

I am also still wondering about my 5.5yo ds (he will be 6 on Sept. 15). He knows most of his letter sounds (I will finish up with the rest of them this Spring). He is just starting to write, but it is hard for him. He only does it if I ask. He has no idea what grammar is all about. He knows his numbers up to about 20, and understands that they stand for a quantity.

I love CM's teaching philosophy, by the way.

More input needed, please!? Thanks!

Little Hearts...is supposed to take about an hour, I think. Bigger...about 3.5 hours. Preparing, I'm not sure since it's new, but I'm guessing about 4 to 4.5 hours? If you could schedule your kids to do independent work while you read to one of the others, then switch, I think you would still be able to finish within a reasonable time.

Like this:
First, have 12 yo read independent reading, 9 yo doing independent table work, and you do the reading aloud portion of Little Hearts with your 6yo (you may be able to do all of that in one sitting, depending on how long it takes your other dc).

Then, have 12 yo do independent table work, you do read aloud time with 9yo, and 6yo can play.

After that, you do read aloud time with 12 yo, while 9yo plays or reads with 6yo. You could even have 9yo or 12yo do some of the 'school' with 6yo if you wanted or needed to.

Does that make sense? You would just be rotating between kids until all are done. If the others finish what they are working on before you are ready to rotate, you could have them draw or read a book until you're finished and ready to switch.

Those are just my suggestions as I was thinking about this. I am doing three programs right now...only 2 are HOD but all three children will be HOD next year. We'll be using Bigger...with the extension pack for my oldest child, and Little Hands...with my ds4. I am not nearly as organized as I would like to be, but I think once we're all using HOD we will use a schedule similar to the above. I hope that helps and makes some sense!

but I am just going to stick with My Father's World. I read back through the TM's with what we have and I forgot how much I like it!

If I had to do 3 programs (and more later as my baby boys grow) and a bunch of "tweeking", it might burn me out. I don't have time for all of that.

Thanks, though! This curriculum still looks really cool to me!

Blessings to all!

If you're happy with MFW then you should stick with it. HOD is what works for our family. Blessings to you and your family.