New homeschooler

[street57]

I just have a question about how kids do with this curriculum coming out of public school. We want to start it next year and I will have two 5th graders and a 9th grader. I have been looking at Revival to Revolution for them but don't really know what to do.
Thanks

[psreit]

I can't help with the questions, but wanted to say welcome and bump this up for you. What a great change you are making in the lives of your dc. If you have specific question, just ask. I'm sure there will be someone to help guide you.

[julsoliveira]

I took my son out of PS, and he really HATED doing any kind of school work period. Once we started using HOD, the wining started to disappear. He went from pulling teeth to read 20 minutes of required school reading, to reading 3 inch thick chapter novels...in his free time! You will be surprised when you tell them something and they look at you like you have three heads when you say, "Really, you didn't learn about XYZ in school??" . I know for a fact that he studied more historical and scientific topics in Preparing hearts with me, than his local PS counterparts did. And he's proud of that!

You don't have to "know what to do" Carrie has already laid it out for you. You open the guide and go! The only thing you'll have to work on is time management with the kids, but that comes in time.

Hope that helps. Best wishes this school year

[countrymom]

I just wanted to add that you will want to look at the placement chart, http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php, as placement is very important with HOD. HOD builds skills with each new guide, so is not exactly a one size fits all curriculum. When properly placed children will truly excel and enjoy school. The two top stickies at the top of this forum, "Sneek Peeks.... (new geography guide geared for 9th grade) and "beefing up a program for highschool" should help you with your 9th grader.

[street57]

Thank you for your input. I am looking at the catalog right now trying to figure out which one I would need.

[mom23]

With the span of the ages of your kids, you may want to consider placing the 9th grader seperately from the 5th graders. Combining them would mean more work for you to make a program enough for your beginning high schooler, yet simple enough for the younger two.

Please feel free to come back with specific questions about the placement guide, if you have any. I know it can be hard to just look at that chart and know which guide will be best; I wish when I had come to HOD (from public school, like you )that I had taken that chance to ask on here for placement help. I spent the first year and a half or so correcting my first decision and placing them where they should have been in the first place ! I think sometimes it's easier for someone who has run the guides and know where/how the skills are used-whether they're needed to begin successfully, or can be built as you go on, etc. So, feel free to come back with specific areas and skills that your kids have, or need. It really is helpful!

[street57]

Yes I thought it may be easier to place my kids separately just like you suggested.
I am not sure where my kids are academically at a homeschool level. They are straight A's at a public school level.
My oldest in is the gifted program which to me seems a lot like a homeschool program.
I homeschool my oldest until 4th grade and then they all went to ps. The twins started there.
They are going to finish their year this year at ps then we will hs starting next fall.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

[mom23]

So, when you start homeschooling, your kids will be 6th grade and 10th? Am I understanding that right? If so, you have a neat opportunity here to really try to get a grasp on their abilities as you observe them through this next year. Take a printoff of that placement chart and take a look at some of the work they're bringing home, talk with their teachers, talk with your kids. Find out, if you can, a little bit about their abilities. HOD isn't really a grade-based curriculum, in the sense that all 6th graders should do this one, and all 10th graders that one. Instead, it's written to fit a wider variety of ages, and really targeted to their skills. That way, you can really give your kids what they, personally, are needing. To give you a bit of an idea, my 6th grader is in Creation to Christ (CTC) this year, but others are using Resurrection to Reformation (the guide above CTC), or Preparing (the guide below) for 6th graders. Being new to Heart of Dakota, and homeschooling, you may want to consider Preparing Hearts for His Glory, because it begins to lay foundations for narrating (which is something new to lots of people who come into HOD from other schooling) and it begins to train and build foundations for more independent work in CTC. It might be really overwhelming for your kids to be thrown into those things if they've never done anything like it before. You're not going to "be behind" if you place them in a lower guide-you can easily run any of the guides with a different level of math and grammar and reading/literature. With your high schooler, a similar thing will be true-there are a variety of guides that different families are using for their 10th graders. For the sake of making it easier to cover high school credits and requirements, you may consider doing the new Geography guide that's coming out right now; that would possibly require less "tweaking" of the program and substituting of things to meet high school credit requirements. If you are able to observe some things as this year goes along, come back here with some of those skills and people will be able to help you gain a better idea of where to look.

[street57]

When I start they will be in 5th and 9th. This year in ps they are in 4th and 8th.
I just don't want to buy two levels. That might be more than we could swing financially.
I don't know but I have a long time to figure it out.

[MelInKansas]

I know how it feels to think about buying outright two whole sets for two grade levels. (and I am in lower grade levels so the cost for me has been a lot less than it would be for 9th grade). But it is well worth it! Since you have a whole year to work on it, maybe you can buy a little at a time, or buy one chunk here in a few months and another chunk in the spring, and then more in the summer. That way you get the package discounts and shipping discounts with a bigger order but don't have to lay out all the money at once. Also keep in mind that 1) most of these materials are re-usable so if you keep going with HOD your younger ones will use the materials your older one has used 2) they have great resale value, especially as a set, so you can expect to get at least 60% of your money back if they are in very good condition when you are through with them. The fact that you have two in one grade, who will definitely be able to be combined in one guide, makes it more cost-effective also. And as someone else said, you will find 2 guides much easier to use if the kids are placed well in them. It takes a lot of planning and tweaking out of your hands and makes your life so much easier! The kids are challenged and growing and the guide is open-and-go (once you get used to using them).