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Dear Ladies,

We are new to HOD. I have been searching and searching for a curriculum to match my needs and style and I believe HOD is just that. I have gone over and over the placement charts but still need some recommendations as to where to place my 3 girls. Since placement seems to be the key to success with this curriculum I don't want to make a mistake. Please bare with my long post. I want to make sure I give you all the info you need to help with correct placement. I would have liked to speak with Carrie or Julie at a convention but they are not coming to Colorado.

My 13dd is a good reader. She has read through all the Sonlight core 4 readers this year. She comprehends well and is very good at recognizing underlying meanings in the books she reads and the ones I read to her. She hates to write. She has not done written narrations, but does very well with oral narrations. Not this year, but the previous two years she has gone through IEW Medieval and United States Book 1 writing. This writing curriculum has exposed her to literary techniques such as alliteration, simile/metaphor, personification, etc... , conflict, rising action and resolution and 9 different writing structures (essays, research papers, writing from pictures, etc... I don't know if that counts as literature study. We took a break from writing this year and she has worked half way through Rod & Staff Eng. 6. The diagramming was too easy for her but the usage was just right. She is behind in math. We do Math U See and Singapore together. Math U See explains how to do things well and Singapore exposes her to more topics sooner and mental work. She is currently working in Zeta(MUS) and 6A(singapore). For Bible we read through Character Sketches and discuss it and memorize chapters of the Bible. We also did Who is God and Can I really know him? I am looking forward to her having her own quiet time for Bible. She has been through all of history from Creation to Modern times, we are just finishing up Modern times. She did some of the history reading herself, but I mostly read to all three girls. For science she worked through Apologia General Science. She did all the reading/studying on her own. We read poetry together. She can work independently but she does not like to do school work. I have to prod her to get it done. For example, if she knows she wants to do something but I won't let her until all her school work is done she will get up early and get all the work done that she can do herself and will follow up with me on the things she has questions with. I was thinking of placing her in MTMM.

My 11dd is a voracious reader. She will read anything you put in front of her. She read through all the Sonlight Core 4 readers and 4-5th grade reader package with ease. She comprehends well and does well with written and oral narrations. She can do extensive copywork and correct all her own mistakes. She does well with dictation work. She is a very diligent, meticulous worker with chores and school work. For writing, last year she went through IEW United States Book 1 writing. This year we did some written narrations and the writing in Rod & Staff Eng. 4. She completed Eng. 4 with ease, I think I should have placed her in Eng. 5. She is behind in math. She is currently working in Epsilon (MUS) and 4A (singapore). For Bible we did Kevin Swanson's Biblical Worldview, read/discuss Character Sketches and memorized chapters of the Bible. I'm looking forward to her having some Bible quiet time and devotion. She has been through all of history from Creation to Modern and she just finished Modern Times. She read some of the history reading, but I read most of them. She does Sonlight Science E Electronics independently (she does need help every once in a while) and Apologia Flying Creatures of the 5th Day. She reads all her science independently. She read and memorized poetry. This year her 9yo sister and she did junior speech and presented a DUO interpretation of “Berries for the Queen.” I was thinking of placing her in Res. To Ref. Or Rev. to Rev.

My 9dd is a good reader. She has read some chapter books like Socks by Beverly Cleary, and has read all of the Emerging readers set. She reads her own Eng from Rod & Staff Eng. 2. then we review the lesson together. I think I should have placed her in Eng. 3, 2 was really easy for her. She also reads her own science from Apologia Flying Creatures of the 5th day. She has not done much writing, only some easy letters to relatives, a few written narrations and the written portions of Rod & Staff Eng. 2. She writes well in cursive and can do a small paragraph of copy work without complaint. She does well correcting her own mistakes. We have not done dictation work formally, but I have helped her write letters by dictating what she wants to write. She is behind in math. She is currently working in Gamma (MUS) and 2B (Singapore). She mostly does it on her own and just comes to me with problems she can't solve. She did Biblical Worldview with her sister, Character Sketches, and memorized chapters of the Bible. I can't wait for her to have her own quiet time with God. She has been through all of history but was very little when we went through Ancient and Medieval times. I mostly read history to her and we discussed it. She does well with oral narrations. Science she does on her own and we do oral narrations. Some times I help her with an experiment. She listens to poetry and memorizes it. She can be independent at times but is easily distracted so I need to keep my eye on her or she's off making something. I was thinking of placing her in preparing.

A note about combining: I am not opposed to this but the 13dd does not want to do the same work as the 11dd. It makes her feel like a baby. She calls her sister the “perfect child” and does not like to be compared to her. My 11dd and 9dd are best friends and work well together but my 11dd is so much more advanced in all areas I feel like I would be holding her back if I placed her with my 9dd.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read all of this. I look forward to your suggestions. Please let me know if you need further information.

Shirley in CO
Married to Michael for 25 years
Sean 23, graduated 2008, currently serving in the Air Force, getting married Aug. 17, 2013
Mara 18, graduating in two weeks, taking a year to figure out what she wants to do
Taylor 13, currently in 8th grade
Charity 11, currently in 6th grade
Liberty 9, currently in 4th grade[/size]

Welcome to HOD! I don't know if I can help too much since most of the programs you are looking at are beyond what we've done, but I'll try. I think your youngest dd sounds like Preparing would be a great place for her to start. I like the idea of having a program spacing between each of your girls so that you aren't doing the same program two years in a row. So, Preparing, Res to Ref, and MTMM sound good. Is that where they place on the placement chart?: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php If you did want to combine your younger two, you could try Preparing for both of them using the extensions for your 11 yo, but I that might be a bit too easy for your 11 yo. If you are ok with having them in separate programs, I think I would go with the ones that you mentioned.

Hi Patty,

Thanks for your reply. I was unsure in the areas of reading, literature study and writing as to which book they placed in. That is why I gave so much information as to what they have been doing. My best guesses were preparing, Res. to Ref. and MTMM. I was hoping to get more clarity on this.

Thanks again,
Shirley

Patty you have a lot of good info here, but I would guess your best guess is to call HOD and ask them. I think your situation is more complicated than most on the board and with higher ages. They would be able to give the best advice!

I was hoping someone would be able to see what we've done for reading and writing and help me make the right placement choices. Anyone else want to take a stab at it? I really value your opinions as you have used HOD before and I am stuck not sure what to do.

It sounds like you have wonderfully smart girls. I do not begin to know how to advise you.....but I can give you a bump up!!

Your daughters sound lovely. I also think Preparing sounds like a fit for the 9 year old. I have been thinking about your older two. There are several ways your older girls could work. You could go with RTR and MTMM. MTMM may be a lot for your daughter just to jump into since she does not enjoy writing. REV2REV is a great year and would start her out with American history and government for high school credit. If the 13 year old did the extensions and the 11 year old did not, do you think then you could combine them? I would think they would enjoy doing the projects together and discussing some of their readings. If you had the extensions, that should clearly show her that her work is harder. You, as the mom, will know best about this. I combined my two younger boys with my 9th grade daughter in REV2REV this year. They all had a great year. I think three guides is a lot to jump into. If you still want to do three guides, I might suggest Preparing, RTR, and REV2REV.

The ladies are doing a great job of helping you talk through your options! You did such a good job of sharing about your kiddos, which really helps as we sift and sort to find the best placement.

In starting with your 13 year old, based on what you've shared so far, I think that the workload in MTMM would be much heavier than your child is used to in the day-to-day. The amount of reading required in MTMM, the level of the readings (including many speeches), and reading and following lengthy written directions (along with Rod and Staff 6 and WWTB Vol. II and DITHR) would really be a jump up in so many ways. So, I'd be inclined to step down from MTMM in order to find a fit that is less overwhelming to allow your daughter to work into the many new skills wound within the guide.

With this in mind, I'd be more inclined to look at either RTR or Rev2Rev for the upcoming year. I'm wanting to clarify when your daughter will turn 14 and when she will be a freshman? I'm also wanting to clarify whether she will continue on with Apologia for science, or whether you are possibly considering the science in the HOD guide for her as well?

As far as your 11 year old goes, I would place her in RTR. I think this would fit her well overall based on what you've shared about her thus far. I'm not sure if she has already done Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons, but if so, she could do Igniting Your Writing II instead. She would also do Rod and Staff English 5 (either just the first half or all of English 5). RTR schedules only the last half of English 5, as the first half was in CTC, so you'd have to follow your own pacing for English anyway. All of the rest of RTR should suit her well, along with DITHR Level 6/7/8 (3 times weekly as scheduled in RTR).

After thinking through the placement for your 11 year old, it would be good to revisit the options for your 13 year old. Since the 13 year old could do RTR or Rev2Rev, you have a choice as to whether you'd like to combine your older two (in RTR) or whether you'd like your 13 year old to do Rev2Rev instead. Either option would work. Rev2Rev will be more challenging, and does have the option of the hands-on Exploration Education Physical Science (which your older daughter would probably really enjoy). Rev2Rev also does creative writing, which might be a breath of fresh air for her in the writing area. It also schedules English 6 at half-speed, so you could just finish out English 6 (the last half instead). It will be important for her to do DITHR Level 6/7/8 in preparation for high school literature study (no matter which guide you use). Since you shared that your older daughter doesn't want to do the same work as the 11 year old, I'd probably be inclined to separate them, but I did want to let you know that combining is a possibility.

As far as your 9 year old goes, I do think that Preparing Hearts is a great fit for her. She should be able to use it as written, and I think you'll have a wonderful year!

As you ponder your options, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi Carrie,

I'm sorry I haven't responded sooner. My oldest daughter just graduated from homeschooling this past Sat. She is my first homeschool graduate. Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I found it difficult to make an informed decision based on only a one week sample. It is so hard to know how much work is really involved if you haven't read through the whole program. I am grateful that you take the time to respond to placement questions. My 13 year old will be 14 in December of 2013. All the girls are a grade ahead of their age because we started schooling them when they were 4 and just kept plugging ahead. I have come to a crossroads where each is now behind in math. The oldest is behind in writing skills and is not ready to move into 9th grade so after much prayer and discussion with my husband we are just going to stay at 4, 6, & 8th grades this year and really work on their math and writing skills and all the other skills taught in the HOD programs. My oldest was in tears about maybe doing Rev to Rev instead of MTMM. After much prodding she was able to tell me that she too thought that MTMM would be too hard but she didn't want to move down a level because she was afraid her younger sister (11) would catch up and pass her. I told her that it was really important to place her in the guide that she would have success in regardless of what her sister was doing. I also told her that this guide was written for her age(11-13) and that she could do the extentions to consider it 8th grade work. I also told her that the Physical Science could be counted for High School if she did the intermediate program. She really liked that idea because she is strong in science. I think when I originally wrote for help I was also thinking that MTMM might be too overwhelming for her, but I wanted to hear it from the horses mouth because I really didn't know for sure. She was adamant about not doing the same guide as her younger sister so I'm settling with Preparing for the 9 yo, RtR for the 11 yo, and RevtoRev for the 13 yo. I feel at peace with this decision. The oldest also said that she would like the creative writing instead of the WWBII for her first time in HOD especially with all the English components HOD weaves in. I can't thank you enough for your recommendations. I'm looking forward to a exciting year using HOD.

Shirley in CO

Shirley,

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! It is such a process to find the right fit, but I'm so glad that we talked through it. I do think your plan sounds very strong. I think your kiddos will be challenged but not snowed under. Remind them that beginning something new always takes more time, but after the first 4-6 weeks their days will feel shorter as they get the hang of everything.

From what you've shared, I think having the older two in two different guides will be a good move. It will let your older daughter be older. You may want to begin them at half speed training them for the first week or two, doing the left side of the plans one day and the right side the next. Or, you could consider stagger starting them, starting the oldest first, and then the next oldest and so on.

We look forward to getting to know you even better and pray that the Lord will richly bless you as you homeschool your precious children!

Blessings,
Carrie