heartofdakota.com

Hi Ladies,
I'm a newbie to H.O.D. I recently received our boxes and can't wait to start our new schoolyear this August. I will be using Res to Ref w/extensions for my 13 year old, Preparing w/extensions with my daughters who will be 9 and almost 11 when we start, Little Hearts for my 5 yr. old, and little hands with my youngest (will turn 3 end of August.) I'm probably insane to do 4 guides my first year, but Carrie spent so much of her precious time helping me place them , I am positive they are where they need to be. My questions are about the narration and dictation. In the Preparing guide, written narration is scheduled on the fourth day of each unit, but in the appendix of the guide the dictation guidelines say not to do written narration until the age of 10. My 8 yr old (will be 9 in July before we start) does do oral narration now twice weekly with Story of The World but has no experience with written. Am I supposed to only do the written with the 11 year old and do oral all 4 days with the 9 yr old? I feel she could handle the written. My other question is about the dictation. Are the levels supposed to correspond to grade levels? I had my 13 yr old do one dictation exercise from the middle of the 6th level in the Res. to Ref guide and found it was very easy for her. Should I do a different dictation program or use the 6th as that's what's scheduled for this guide? I am also unsure of what level to start the girls in Preparing. Should they be on the same level or the one that goes with their grade (4 and 6?)
I've been a quiet lurker here and have enjoyed reading the posts/replies here. You ladies always seem to have wise advice.
Joyful Blessings,
Pam
joyfulmomma to 6 beautiful blessings
16 yr old price and 5 princesses (13,10,8,5,and 2)

If you feel your 9 year old could do the written narration then I would let her do that. I do want to clarify that you aren't going to have her do the extension readings are you? The extension readings are only for children doing the guide that are in the extended age range of the guide. The dictation levels do not correspond to grade as far as I know. There are only 8 levels and when they finish those they are considered done with dictation. I would say though that just doing one may not give you an accurate assessment. You could start in the middle of 6 and have her do a few weeks worth. If she gets all those right without needing to repeat any then it would be considered too easy. You are looking for the spot where she has to redo about 1 passage a week. Also make sure she is getting everything correct. That means indenting, all punctuation, capitalization and spelling. With the girls in Preparing again you would start them where they seem to only miss about one passage a week. That may mean one starts at level 3 and one at level 4 etc.

Thanks Lynn,
Only my 11 will be using the extensions. My oldest daughter has done some dictation in the past. We used Sandi Queens copywork for girls a few years back. Writing/spelling/grammar basically all language arts are her strong suit. I think I'll do as you suggested and start her in level 6 and go from there. As for the girls in preparing should I start them both in 4 or one in 3 and the other 4?
Joyful Blessings,
Pam

It sounds like you have a good plan in place Joyfulmomma! LynnH already gave solid advice, so I'll just address this part...

Joyfulmomma wrote:... As for the girls in preparing should I start them both in 4 or one in 3 and the other 4?

I would do R & S 3 with the 9 yo, and R & S 4 with the 11 yo. If you do the lessons mainly orally, saving just a small section for them to write, it goes quickly. We are doing R & S English 3 with our 9 yo, and R & S English 5 with our 12 yo now, and it does not take long when doing a good portion orally. I'm excited for you to start - you have such great guides here- lots of good days ahead! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you for your input, Julie. I plan on having both girls in preparing use R&S 4 together. My 8 year old has already used C.L.E English 3. The two programs seem to be at the same level. I've spent some time going through the R&S 4 and think she'll do very well. My confusion is about the dictation level and how to know where you start. I think Lynn gave good advice to start them on different levels. I didn't realize that they are only 8 levels of dictation. I thought perhaps they "matched" up some how with the English level. On a side note, btw, I am enjoying reading your posts following your boys adventures with H.O.D. They're such an encouragement.
JOYful Blessings,
Pam

Joyfulmomma wrote:T...On a side note, btw, I am enjoying reading your posts following your boys adventures with H.O.D. They're such an encouragement.
JOYful Blessings,
Pam

Thanks, Pam! I'm off to do the weekly check-in now!
In Christ,
Julie