Choosing where to begin

[shanadd]

I am homeschooling my 4 children ages 10, 9, 7 and 6. We are currently using MFW K/1st for my youngest and the other 3 are using MFW ECC. I have been looking through HOD and it seems like a better fit for my family. At this point I am trying to figure the best guides for us. I want 1 guide for the whole family. Has anyone else made the switch from MFW to HOD and how did it work for you? I am thinking of starting with Bigger since my youngest will be 7 when we finally make the switch. Any suggestions on that would be great too. Thanks.

[mom23]

I haven't tried MFW, so no help on that one, I'm afraid. On placement, though, Bigger might be a possibility. It usually is best to place the younger one correctly and then beef things up from there as needed for the older ones. Did you look at the placement chart at all? That will help you look at more areas than just age and give you a much more accurate picture of where to be looking.

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD board! Mom23 gave a great suggestion to start with the placement chart, and then, if you can share your findings here with us, we can all chime in with better advice for your specific family! Here is a link to the placement chart...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

The first page is most important, especially the reading, writing, math, and grammar columns. If you can share a bit about each of your dc with that in mind, we will all chat through this with you until you are good to go! This board is full of Christian ladies that are gracious and so helpful - you've come to a good place!

In Christ,
Julie

[shanadd]

Hi,

My youngest child is finishing up MFW K. My husband and I have decided to start him off in January with Little Hearts instead of MFW 1st. When he was in school he was diagnosed with a Mild Cognitive Delay. My 7 year old is doing MFW ECC now with her 9 and 10 year old brother and sister. She struggles and is not a very strong reader or strong in Math. My 9 year old son is a slow learner and struggles with writing, math and reading. I have been told he is dyslexic. My 10 year old has problems with reading comprehension but is stronger in Math. They have all been in Public School at one time or another and have all had IEPs. They all have some Speech issues. I was thinking Bigger for all 4 when we start. I have gotten some advice form the Face Book Page about putting my younger 2 in Beyond and the older 2 into Preparing. Thanks.

Blessings,

Shandra

[my3sons]

Hi Shandra! Thanks for sharing a bit more about your dc! Placement is important, and it is so worth spending a little time on. It really helps us to give more sound advice when we know more about individual dc and families specifically. From what you've shared, I think you could actually very easily combine your youngest and your 7 yo in "Little Hearts for His Glory," using the first grade options for your 7 yo. You can then choose either "Bigger Hearts for His Glory" or "Preparing Hearts for His Glory" for your 9 and 10 yo - either would be a good choice! Doing 2 programs with your 4 dc would make things sooooooo much easier. Your younger 2 dc would be doing age appropriate activities and skills, and I know they would love LHFHG! Your older dc would be able to soar in their older program, and they could truly be successful with the independence planned in the guide because they would not be having to wait for their younger siblings, nor would you have to take over activities meant to be "I" independent because your olders could do them on their own (whereas the youngers could not).

It is rare for 7 yo dc to do BHFHG, especially those who are new to HOD. It is a very meaty program! Unless dc are somewhat advanced in LA and writing skills, or unless they have previously completed HOD guides prior to BHFHG, BHFHG is rarely the best placement for 7 yo dc. Carrie had this to say about BHFHG's writing in a previous thread...
Bigger requires more writing in the areas of a once a week history notebooking assignment, a once a week science experiment sheet and a once a week science notebooking entry, along with once a week copywork of a Bible verse, 1-3 vocabulary cards each week, cursive handwriting practice daily, and daily grammar instruction with written practice. It also provides a choice of spelling or dictation passages...

It is key to take into account the reading and writing in an HOD program when choosing, so here is a comparison of the writing in BHFHG and PHFHG...
Bigger Hearts:
Copywork of the poem (1 per week)
a Cursive program (daily)
R & S grammar (we wrote about 1/3 of it, doing the other portion orally, or on markerboard; daily; about 1/2 a page skipping lines)
Dictation OR spelling words (daily)
DITHOR Student Book (Level 2/3, approximately 2-3 workbook pages a week)
Science Notebooking (1 per week; approximately 2-4 sentences)
History Notebooking (1 per week; approximately 2-4 sentences)
Science Lab report (1 paper, 1 per week, not much writing - maybe 3-5 sentences with picture)
1-3 vocab. cards for history (1 time a week)
Bible Memory Verse copied (1 time a week)
*I'm pretty sure that's everything - I did it last year, but afraid to rely just on my memory (I'm getting older, you know ), I did double-check looking at the plans. If I forgot something, someone please post it.

Preparing Hearts:
R & S Grammar (we write about 1/3 of it, same as I said above, only more like 3/4 a page or so of writing, skipping lines)
Dictation (3 x a week)
DITHOR Student Book (if you do Level 4/5, approximately 3 workbook pages a week, with more writing on a page)
Science Notebooking (2 times a week, approx. 4 sentences)
History Notebooking (2 times a week, approx. 4 sentences)
Science lab report (same as above)
3-5 vocab. cards for history (1 time a week)
Common Place book (copy Bible verse, quotations, special things from reading, probably 3-5 sentences, 1-2 times a week)
Creative Writing of a poem using RLS's poetry as a model (approx. 4 stanzas, 1 time per week)
Written Narration with history (5 sentences, 1 x a week)
Science short answer (answer 5 questions, 1 x a week)
*I am hoping I didn't forget anything, but if I did ladies - please add in what I did. I am doing PHFHG now, so I think I have it all. I guess I didn't say "timeline" for both BHFHG and PHFHG, but that comes up 1 x a week and has very minimal writing, like a label.

As far as the reading, in BHFHG, you are doing all of the reading, other than "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" which is used for students' reading instruction. In PHFHG, dc are reading a portion of their history on their own, using the Self-Study Deluxe Package for the Newly Independent Reader. The parent is reading the other portion of history using the Economy Package's resources. Students are also reading their science books independently, which are listed in the Science Adder set. Here is a link to these resources so you can see the level of reading for each...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/preparing- ... ckages.php

I think you would really enjoy using LHFHG and either BHFHG or PHFHG! I am currently teaching LHFHG and PHFHG (as well as MTMM), and we are LOVING our year! The HOD guides are a blessing to me. They are open and go, well-balanced, age appropriate, academically strong, yet spiritually saturated - I am excited for you to start using HOD too! But, what are your thoughts now?

In Christ,
Julie