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Hi everyone, I am new to the board and new to heart of dakota. What I am wondering is it ok to have a 6yr old and 7 yr old do LHFHG or is that not enough for a 2nd grader. I would say the 7yr is an emerging reader and 6yr is just starting phonics. We really haven't focused to much on science or history yet other than the Bible. also, has anyone used The Reading Lesson? What do you think of it?
Thanks for the help
Angie

Welcome Angie,

I would think LHFHG would be fine for your kids. I would get the 1st or 2nd grade science book to use and look at the emergent reader list for Beyond to use with your 7 year old.

I am currently using LHFHG for my 4.5 for K but I am hoping to repeat it with him in 2nd when his little brother might be ready for K other wise my middle will do it twice with his younger brother.

I think there is plenty of meat in the curriculum to do it twice at different ages as long as you place them correctly for reading and math.

HTH

Here are a few tips for "beefing up" Little Hearts...
I have my kids draw a little picture for each key event of person that we study in history and we are gluing them on a roll of adding machine paper. Very easy to get out, add to, review, and roll back up.

I just made color copies of the map of Palestine in my Holman's Bible Atleas, and the kids take a highlighter and mark all the places we study from birth of Christ forward. We'll start a different map when we finish New Testament.

I also went ahead and purchased Beyond Little Hearts so we could start on some of the literature studies. You may want to go ahead and purchase both manuels so you could have the questions that go with the emerging readers.

My twins will be 7 in a few weeks and my youngest will hit 6 right when we finish Little Hearts, so I think you would be fine with either LHFHG or Beyond Little Hearts. I personally like to keep things "light" in all areas except math and reading, so LHFHG is perfect for us.

You're going to love Heart of Dakota!
Melanie

Hi and welcome! I'm not really sure about LHFHG and a second grader. But I have used The Reading Lesson. My son is on lesson 14 and doing great with it. I do make flashcards and review with him. He loves the CD-ROM. I think it's great the way it introduces it.

Angie,

You may want to take a look at the placement chart on our website to see if LHFHG will be enough for your kiddos. That is one of the best ways to tell. Give more weight to the areas of reading, writing, and math when making your decision. I would usually recommend using "Little Hearts..." or "Beyond..." for that age group. Here's the link to the chart:

http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Hope that helps. Post with any other questions you might have. The ladies on this board are wonderful in responding.

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi Angie!

I'm torn in my answer to you. From reading what you've said, I think you could start out with both of them in Little Hearts..., but I don't know that you'd want to do it that way forever or that it would be best.

The placement chart would definitely help you decide how far apart the two of them are, and if Little Hearts... would be enough for your older one. It would definitely fit your youngest one well.

That being said, I am doing 3 of HOD's curriculums right now, and not having trouble getting it done. (If I can, you can too!) I think you could easily do Little Hearts... with your younger, and Beyond Little Hearts... with your older. If you get a chance to look at the placement chart, could you share your thoughts about where you think your children might fit best? I'd love to hear your thoughts about that and then "chat" more with you about that.

It's so nice to meet you!
My3Sons

thanks everyone for the advice.

my3sons......do you do the science and history all separately too or do you combine? I was thinking I could combine both because we haven't really done anything for history/science. My son is just starting phonics and my girls (2nd) are reading but not quite independently yet. They are not really confident at reading. We are actually still doing some phonics. My son is doing singapore earlybird 1b and my girls are doing primary 1a. We have switched math trying to find something that clicked for them and I wanted to start them at the beginning because it is so different.

boy in rereading this post it doesn't seem as if the first two years of hsing we got much done. I think a lot of the problem is me for switching things around too much. If I could start all over again.........

Hi Angie!

Great to hear back from you! I'll do my best to answer your questions here, but just keep firing them away until you get to the bottom of it and feel comfortable! There are super moms on this board with great ideas!

As far as science and history:
I do the science and history separately, but I think you could combine them and that would be just fine, especially since you're starting fresh with that. I think you should use "The World God Made" for the science text. The next level, "God's Wonderful Works", is also written in the Appendix of the plans, but you'll probably want to use that next year with Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory.

As far as the phonics:
Your son could do the phonics, either the Reading Lesson OR Reading Made Easy. There was a great discussion on these two on this board. Just scroll down on the Main Board to the post called:
Little Hearts users I need help choosing phonics

As far as my 2 cents about that, Reading Made Easy goes further and takes longer than The Reading Lesson. You could start your son at the beginning of Reading Made Easy, and your girls somewhere in the middle or near the end, just to brush up on phonics.
OR, you could just do The Reading Lesson with your son. It would probably be too easy for your girls though. You could always still do it as an easy review to boost your girls' confidence if you wanted.
EITHER WAY, for your girls, I think it would be great for your girls to do the Emerging Reading set, whether they do the phonics or not.

OTHER PHONICS THOUGHTS: The Reading Made Easy guide is a little more to take in for you as the teacher. There is some card making and more scripted teaching, but it is a very good program.
The Reading Lesson has an accompanying CD, so if your son is into the computer, that is a good reinforcement of the lesson (though it does increase the price to get the CD).

As far as math:
In the Appendix of the Little Hearts... guide, there are plans written for Primary Singapore Math 1A/1B. So you could use those for your girls. Your son could just continue with his earlybird math. They could all do the hands-on math activities in the plans together.

As far as the Bible choice:
Either Bible is great! Just pick your favorite and use it with all of them!

As far as the Handwriting choices:
I guess if I were you, I'd choose A Reason for Handwriting K for your son, and A Reason for Handwriting K for your girls.

As far as the Fine Motor choices:
I think I'd choose the Do It Carefully/Finding the Answers for your son, and the Thinking Skills for your girls.

As far as Storytime: Just read to them all and do that activity/discussion all together! Great fun!

As far as The Rhymes, Devotions, and Corresponding Music: Do them all together and enjoy!

So, I guess I'm saying do Little Hearts... with these choices in mind. Just remember, you can start out like this, and always choose to do Beyond Little Hearts with your girls if you think Little Hearts is not fitting their level.

Don't be so hard on yourself either - we have ALL used things that seemed like they were going to be great and fell short. It takes courage to admit it's time for a change. You are going to LOVE Little Hearts... though. I KNOW it in my soul! Please drop me a message after you've done it for a bit (if that is what you decide - not like you have to do what I said here, by any means!!!), but let me know how it's going!

Love in Christ,
My3Sons (Julie)

angie wrote:I am wondering is it ok to have a 6yr old and 7 yr old do LHFHG or is that not enough for a 2nd grader.

As others have said, you can always try it and see what happens. I would imagine they would be fine. Especially if you use some of my3sons ideas. You will need to use separate workbooks for some parts like Math and writing, and the Do it Carefully/thinking skills. But they would be doing the same program so some things like music, history, and crafts would be the same. You would then have the luxury of time to add things of interest. I highly reccomend getting the coloring books that go along with the history book. I don't think Carrie sells it, I bought one off Ebay and then discovered my local homeschool store sells it. My kids loved coloring in their books while I read the history lesson to them.

I am using separate programs for my 2 kids age 5 and 7. It is a bit diffcult for me as my 7yo must know exactly what the 5yo is doing at all times and sometimes point out her mistakes, and do the same activities she is doing. I am not able to work with them together much. My 7yo will not work independently. So we mostly do the 5yo's program first and then the 7yo. Not what I had in mind. I would like to do them together, but she is not ready for Beyond which is where he is.

Hope that helps a bit.

Angie,
I just realized I put A Reason For Handwriting K for your daughters too - I meant to say A Reason for Handwriting A. Sorry!