heartofdakota.com

I had originally planned on beginning HOD with my 3 oldest children this past fall, until a very colicky infant caused us to scrap that and stick with what we have always done. Now I'm thinking about what we will do when we finish up this school year. We definitely need a change and HOD looks perfect, but placement has me at a loss. I will have 4 school-aged kids...10, 8,7, and 5. Bigger seems to be a good fit for the 8 and 7 year old, but what about my 10 year old? How do the extensions work? Am I just on my own for english and math? Will it be too easy for him? We have followed a traditional textbook/worktext approach and he is an average student but w have gone slow in math so he is probably a grade level behind there.

I just don't know how realistic it would be for me to do 3 different programs (with a 1 year old in tow), but I don't know if putting my 10 year old in Bigger with my 7 an 8 year old will work.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Hi Stacy,
It sounds like combining the 10 year old in Bigger with the next youngest could work, if they are all close enough in ability. A different option, if the 7 year old might struggle with Bigger, is to combine the 5 and 7 year old in Little Hearts, and the 8 and 10 year old in Bigger. About English and Math, you are not on your own-HOD is a complete curriculum, and schedules English and Math (Rod and Staff starting in Bigger, and Singapore Math). About the extensions in Bigger, you would have your 10 year old read them in addition to the daily history and science lessons, and there is a schedule and directions for suggested follow-up activities in the appendix. Before you decide who to combine (which is a great idea with a larger family of young kids), make sure you see where each child places individually on the placement chart: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php
which will give you a better idea of which children could work best within the same guide (adjusting the level of grammar and math as necessary).

My 7 year old falls in between Beyond and Bigger. I don't think placing him with my 5 year old would work.

My question about English and math is if say I am using the Bigger guide with my 10 year old and he needs to be in a higher level...am I on my own in those subjects?

Ideally I would choose Beyond for my 7 and 8 year old (although 8 year old started grammar this year and is doing well with it and no grammar until Bigger, correct?) and Preparing for my 10 year old, but can I really do 3 guides at once? Of course I will have a 5 year old in Little Hands too. And my little 1 year old squirt. I am fortunate to have my husband be able yo help most mornings for a couple of hours.

Ideally, I'd go with the ideal. One question - When you look at the placement chart, does your 10 yo individually place in PHFHG or BHFHG? If your 10 yo can do the work that is intended to be "I", independent, in PHFHG, then placing your 10 yo in PHFHG and placing your 7 and 8 yo in Beyond will honestly be easier than stretching your 7 yo to do BHFHG. Here's a link to the first week of plans for PHFHG, check out the "I" boxes with independence for your 10 yo in mind...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-sample-week.pdf

If, however, your 10 yo places best in BHFHG, then you could do your 8 yo and 10 yo together for sure in Bigger Hearts, and you'll have to know if your 7 yo can handle it. If not, combining your 5 and 7 yo in LHFHG and upping the LA/math would be a good option and very easy to do.

We do 3 HOD programs and find it easy to do. Our dc are all placed where they need to be, and that honestly is easier for me too. However, if combining them would be a good fit, I'd do that. What do you think? So sorry you had a colicky infant - I am praying that is getting better - that can be tough on a mama!

In Christ,
Julie

It was tough but we made it through (colic)! We really slowed down our homeschool schedule but now weare back to full speed and things are flowing more normally then.

I rethought everything and decided to hold off on a guide for my kindergartener and am just going to use a Charlotte Mason schedule I found online (that way she can do 1st grade with Little Hearts). I'm going to put my 7 and 8 year old in Beyond, and I do think my 10 year old fits into Preparing.

Thanks for the feedback. Already wish it was the fall when we will be starting!

StacyinOhio wrote:It was tough but we made it through (colic)! We really slowed down our homeschool schedule but now weare back to full speed and things are flowing more normally then.

I rethought everything and decided to hold off on a guide for my kindergartener and am just going to use a Charlotte Mason schedule I found online (that way she can do 1st grade with Little Hearts). I'm going to put my 7 and 8 year old in Beyond, and I do think my 10 year old fits into Preparing.

Thanks for the feedback. Already wish it was the fall when we will be starting!

I'm glad things are flowing more normally now for you. Those precious little colicky babies can take a toll! I think this sounds like a good plan, StacyinOhio! If you get in a good rhythm with Beyond and PHFHG, you can always start LHFHG in the middle of the year too, half-speed even. Our middle ds was on a Jan. to Dec. (with summer break in the middle) HOD year for his first guides (from LHTH to Bigger Hearts), while my oldest was on a Sept. to May plan, and it worked just fine for each of them. So, you can always have that idea in your back pocket, but it sounds like you are set to go then!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks Julie. That is a great idea that I will keep in mind!