heartofdakota.com

I'm considering HOD for next year. I originally was set on MFW....but....I dont know that combining my kids is the best idea with that. In HOD I think I'd have a 7 year old 1st grader in Beyond Little Hearts and a 9 year old 4th grader in Preparing Hearts. (based on what I figured from the placement charts). I also have a 3 year old so eventually I will have three kids doing school.

How much time does it take do the guides each day? If I'm doing two guides, will it consume our entire day? Also, since my 4th grader is pretty independent, can some of Preparing Hearts be done indendently so it frees up time to work with my younger child who needs more help?

Thanks for the input.

Preparing has a good amount of independent work in it. You can make a little more independent if you feel you need too.

We are currently doing these two guides. I work with my BLHFHG chap first and do everything all at once. Normally takes 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours including his reading and math. While I am doing that, my girls are both doing their independent work. I end up spending approximately an hour to 1 1/2 with my girl in Preparing working on the other stuff. Hope that helps some.

According to the catalog...
Little Hands to Heaven: 30 minutes
Little Hearts for His Glory: 90 minutes
Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory: 2- 2 1/2 hours
Bigger Hearts: 3 - 3 1/2 hours
Preparing Hearts: 4 hours
Creation to Christ: 4 - 4 1/2 hours
Resurrection to Reformation: 4 - 4 1/2 hours
Revival to Revolution: 4 1/2 hours
Missions to Modern Marvels: 4 1/2 - 5 hours
World Geography Guide: 6 1/2 hours

And if you go to Share Your Schedule and search for the guides you are using, you can find a variety of schedules families have used. It will help you see what is independent and what you have to be there for as well.

I am doing both of these schedules right now and we are getting done fairly well. Attached is my schedule. I work from home so my oldest has to get started by herself. I do talk with her for about 5 minutes before she starts though to make sure she knows what to do. But this schedule has been working very well. Julie actually helped me set it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wj6c62okos0i7 ... edule.xlsx

Also - in my schedule, we have quite a few breaks planned. My oldest starts school around 8:45 and finishes her day by 3:00. And she has breaks in there too. My two younger kids in Beyond start their day around 10:15 and finish by 3:30. The two youngest have LOTS of breaks though. It seems nice for us because my oldest usually finishes school before the two youngers. And if we don't have sports in the evening, if I want to finish anything else up and stop a little early, we can finish stuff after dinner. But I actually hate doing that and avoid if I can.

Hope this helps.

starryiz929 wrote:I'm considering HOD for next year. I originally was set on MFW....but....I dont know that combining my kids is the best idea with that. In HOD I think I'd have a 7 year old 1st grader in Beyond Little Hearts and a 9 year old 4th grader in Preparing Hearts. (based on what I figured from the placement charts). I also have a 3 year old so eventually I will have three kids doing school.

How much time does it take do the guides each day? If I'm doing two guides, will it consume our entire day? Also, since my 4th grader is pretty independent, can some of Preparing Hearts be done indendently so it frees up time to work with my younger child who needs more help?

Thanks for the input.

It is not hard to teach multiple HOD guides at the same time. We have been doing it for as long as I can remember, with almost every combination of guides possible, and we have always enjoyed our past 12 years with HOD. If your dc place in Beyond and PHFHG, I think it is a good idea to teach them separately, and I don't think it will be hard to do. We are doing the World Geography guide for high school now, half-speed RTR for the end of this year for my soon-to-be sixth grader, and Beyond Little Hearts for my 7 yo. We are enjoying our days so much! I also work part-time, have a husband who travels, and have recently been through some health difficulties with my parents. Everyone is busy - I know - I am just trying to share that multiple guides with dc appropriately placed works well for busy moms.

You'd asked how long it takes to do the guides each day. For PHFHG, it took us about 3 to 3 1/2 hours, and for Beyond Little Hearts it takes us about 2 hours. My teaching time for PHFHG was around 1 1/2 hours, and my teaching time for Beyond Little Hearts is about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Here is a breakdown of the times, in case this is helpful...

PREPARING HEARTS FOR HIS GLORY...
Left side of plans...
Reading about History: 15 minutes
Research/Geog./Timeline: 20 minutes
Independent History Box: 20-25 minutes
History Project box: 20 minutes
Storytime: 20 minutes
1 hour 40 minutes

Right side of plans...
Math: 20-30 minutes
DITHOR: 30 minutes (3 x a week); Creative Writing: 20-30 minutes (1 x a week)
Dictation: 5 minutes (3 x a week)
Grammar: 15 minutes
Bible Study: 15 minutes
Science: 20- 30 minutes
Poetry: 5 minutes
2 hours 10 minutes

BEYOND LITTLE HEARTS FOR HIS GLORY...
Reading About History Box: 10 min.
Poetry and Rhymes: 5-10 min.
Bible Study and Music: 10 min.
Rotating Bottom Left Box (Artistic Expression, History Activity/Timeline, Geography, Science twice weekly): 15-20 min.

Language Arts Box: 15 min. (spelling/grammar)
Reading: 15 min. if doing the Emerging Readers and 20-25 min. if doing DITHR 2/3
Math: 15-20 min.
Storytime: 15-20 min.

You can see in the PHFHG plans there are little boxed letters in the corners of the daily plans. "I" is independent, 'S" is semi-independent, and "T" is teacher-directed. These letters help show the nice balance of the day. It is during those "I" times that I am teaching another child. So, while my oldest 2 dc are working through their "I" boxes of their plans, I am teaching my youngest in Beyond Little Hearts. So, work continues even when you are not teaching a child, thus your day is not made up of teaching a guide all to one child, and then teaching another guide all to another child. They will overlap, making your days shorter, causing your teaching time to be divided nicely among blocks of time among the dc. Here is a link so you can see the first week of plans of PHFHG with the little letters noted in the corners of the boxes...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-sample-week.pdf

HOD guides are written to be open and go, and they are also written to help dc take on necessary independence as they enter upper elementary, middle school, and high school years. I hope this helps, but keep asking questions until you are set! I think you'd love Heart of Dakota and find it to be as much of a blessing in your home as it has been in ours!

In Christ,
Julie