heartofdakota.com

ok, this may be long lol

I am loving what I see with this curriculum, and I can't wait to order it and get started. But I don't know where to start. My daughter just turned 11 in Oct, and is in 5th grade, I pulled her from school b/c she was WAY behind in everything. Since we started working in Sept, she can now multiply and divide. She can do a little bit of cursive but not on her own, only if she sees it and has trouble reading it. She can read independently but as of yet does not enjoy it (How I ended up with 3 kids who hate reading I will never know, cause I love reading!) The other two will be staying in school. I am not sure if I should start with Bigger, or Preparing??

The next question is I want it all! LOL All the books the expansion packs etc. But I can't get it all at once, so I need to know what I need to get started for the first few weeks or months. I know it saves money to buy it all at once, but when you don't have it to spend it really isn't saving anything lol So if I get what I need for the first few weeks or months maybe, I can add the other books as they come along in the schedule.

So I would love some help figuring out where to start her out at.

Welcome to the board, EveryDayHousewife! We will all be glad to help you out with placement here. The first place to start is the placement chart. A lot of people print out the first page of it, and circle where they dc fall in each column. They then share the results of that here, and we all chime in with ideas. Age is only one factor in placement, and there are many options for placement for any given child. It is easy to customize LA and math for dc as well with HOD. So, here is a link to the placement chart...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

If you get the chance to share a few book titles your dd has read quite easily lately, as well as how much she is able to (physically) write each day (i.e. a few sentences, a few paragraphs, a page), that would be helpful too. As far as math, there is a free placement test at www.singaporemath.com. Just click on "placement", and be sure not to help her with any of it (as it inflates scores and makes them be off). Singapore is considered advanced, so I'd start her back at a lower level and go from there.

The ladies will all pitch in and chat through this with you then - we have enjoyed HOD so much in our own home. I think you will too! I am excited for you to begin homeschooling your dd.

In Christ,
Julie

ok Here goes

Reading - I don't know the difference between DITHOR 2/3 and 4/5 so I can't really say which would work better for her. But she does like the Diary of a wimpy kid series, and she is also reading the 39 clues series.

Writing - She can form the letters in cursive, upper and lower, but not really from memory, if she is copying something she does really well. She has been doing some creative writing is probably comfortable writing out 1-2 paragraphs.

Grammar - She knows the parts of speech, noun, verb, adj, adv. Still working on punctuation.

Math - We have tried Singapore Math in the past and did not care for it so we will probably not be going with that. We are looking at Horizons grade 5. She is fluent in Addition and Subtraction, still working on memorizing multiplication facts (probably going to introduce some speed drills she really likes those) She has mastered division, but it still takes time and she makes mistakes b/c of the multiplication facts, but she no longer hates math. She knows a little about fractions and decimals, but seems to struggle a lot with place value.

Hello!! Welcome to the HOD board ... I noticed that you shared a little more about your daughter and that will be very helpful, but I was wandering if you had a chance to look over the link to the placement chart that Julie linked for you? When I first started using HOD last year, it was so helpful when I was pondering where to place my own children. The guides in HoD are really very different from other curriculum because there are so many skills woven into each... not just history. So it really helps to look over the placement chart. I would print it out, get a pen and check or shade each box in the skill row that applies to your daughter. Then you can go back and see which column you have more boxes shaded in?

I have looked over the placement chart a ton of times, and she falls somewhere between BHFHG and PHFHG I am looking for some insight on which direction I should go.

I am thinking Preparing Hearts without the extensions. However, I would still pick up the Cheerful Cursive book and work on that throughout the year.

Thanks for sharing about your dd. Beverett asked a good question, and I'm glad you have had the chance to check out the placement chart. I will try to highlight some of the differences in BHFHG and PHFHG, and then get your feedback which seems to fit your dd better in these key areas, as this should help us arrive at a good placement.

One of the differences in workload in BHFHG and PHFHG is the amount of writing. Here is a thread that describes the writing done in each of them...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3602

When you read through the amount and kind of writing noted above in each guide, which do you think your dd fits best with?

Another difference is the amount of independent work dc do. PHFHG has dc reading half of their history on their own using the "Self Study History Package for the Independent Reader". You can scroll down and see these books at this link...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/preparing- ... ckages.php

Dc do the "Independent History Study" box in PHFHG on their own as well. You can see an example of the work in this box here (scroll down, it's on the bottom of the left page of plans each day)...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-sample-week.pdf

Dc also do the "Science Exploration" box completely on their own in PHFHG (you can also see an example of this at the above link, bottom right side of plans). Dc have to write answers to 5 comprehension questions in science in PHFHG as well.

History projects are started in PHFHG, and they are just harder than the activities scheduled in BHFHG. They are done over 3 days in short segments, and they are just more involved projects. Two days each week, dc do their "Bible Study" box independently in PHFHG, to begin to foster an independent Bible Quiet Time. Bible passages are memorized instead of Bible verses. Research using Wikipedia or a general encyclopedia is also started in PHFHG.

The thing about independent work is it needs to be able to be done independently, or the day just takes too long. So, I'd ponder whether dd can do the independent work well that will be assigned to her in PHFHG. If she can, then PHFHG is the one. If not, then BHFHG is the one. You don't want to be teaching things that need to be done independently, as you'll be setting a pattern to do this all the way through the guides - they just get harder. So, after reading this, I'd love to know what your thoughts are! Both are great guides, so you can't go wrong as far as that goes. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you Julie, that was very helpful! She is already working independently quite a bit, writing is something she is not used to, but is capable of it so I think PHFHG will be a good fit, and adding in the cursive. I may even get two of those as my 16 year old was never taught cursive and wants to learn.

Could you tell me what is the most important things to start with? What is the least amount I can get to get started? We just don't have the money to get everything at once.

I don't want to confuse you more, but if you're just bringing her home, sometimes you want to lean to the easy side to give you both an easier transition. If your dd lies between the two guides according to the placement chart, it's likely that she'll still be learning from Bigger, it just may not be as challenging. Sometimes that's a good thing . There really is no hard and fast rule that learning has to be hard to be effective. Of course, this may differ according to the personality of your child-if your transition home is going to be pretty easy, maybe she can handle, and would thrive from, more challenge? When I brought mine home from PS we had a lot of other issues to begin to correct in the way of our relationships, and it was nice for learning to be easier and fun.

I cannot speak to Preparing, since I don't have that guide yet...Bigger starts history with "A first book in American History" and "Journeys in time"; moving on to "Stories of Great Americans" by Unit 6. Science starts with "One Small Square: Seashore" and then moves on to "Science in Colonial America" in Unit 5. It looks like that will get you through atleast the first ten weeks. For storytime the order is Biography, Adventure, Historical Fiction. Hopefully someone with Preparing will dive in with some help from that guide if you decide you want to go that direction.

Hope that helps! Welcome to HOD