heartofdakota.com

Hi! I am a homeschool mom to three beautiful children. This is our third year homeschooling and we are loving it! I just discovered Heart of Dakota and all the programs look great. My question is about Bigger Hearts for His Glory.....Is anyone using this with a fourth grader? My two oldest will be 3rd and 4th graders next school year, although they will have just turned 9 and 10 when we begin. They would really like to do another year of American history, so I thought BHFHG would be perfect, but am concerned whether it will be "enough" for a 4th grader. Any opinions? I have been looking at the extension package too. Would that be considered independant reading for a 4th grader, or for read alouds? Thank you!

Allison,

During convention season there were many moms who bought "Bigger Hearts..." to use with 4th or 5th graders (along with the Extension Package) so they could keep their kiddos together with younger siblings. The Extension Package is meant to be a set of books that your 4th grader would read independently by following the daily schedule in the Appendix of "Bigger Hearts...".

You would need to have your 4th grader have his/her own language arts and math. You may eventually want to use "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" for literature study for your kiddos, unless you already have that area covered some other way. The Storytime part of the plans in "Bigger..." does do literature study as well, so you would have it covered that way too in "Bigger...".

The other consideration would be whether you'd rather do "Preparing Hearts..." which is a one-year overview of world history. However, if you want to stick with American history "Bigger..." would be a better fit.

On a side note, my third grader is thoroughly enjoying "Bigger Hearts..." this year, and I often catch my sixth grader listening in, so it's holding our interest here.

You may want to check out the following thread and pay special attention to blessedmomof4's post. She's using it with a third and a fourth grader this year.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=41

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi! I just wanted to add that for my 3rd and 4th grader, I found that the math in Bigger Hearts was actually just right, as well as the grammar. My daughters were coming from a different math curriculum, so I used Singapore Math's placement tests, and the 3rd grader placed in level 2, and the 4th grader placed in level 3. Bigger Hearts has math activities for level 2 and a schedule for using level 3, so it was just perfect. The Rod & Staff grammar grade 2 is also just fine for them, neither of them had had any formal grammar before, and I just make sure the 4th grader does all the written exercises (which she doesn't mind because she likes writing), and the 3rd grader does much of the work orally (because she writes very slowly-I think she'll grow out of that). My 3rd grader uses the spelling lists, and my 4th grader uses the dictation assignments-both of them have been poor spellers, but I can honestly say they are improving! I am also using the extension books for my older student, though because she has struggled with reading and it is not her favorite activity, I chose Drawn Into the Heart of Reading level 2/3 for her reading plan, and the emerging reader books for my younger student, who is still finishing phonics.
As a homeschool parent, you are the best one to determine what is enough for your kids-I found looking at Carrie's sample pages on the website and the placement charts to be a great help.
Finally, I wanted to say that I appreciate the flexibility of the program, that you can use it with any math and language arts that you are comfortable with, and still benefit from a wonderful program with excellent coverage of American history, Bible, Science, music, poetry, and art (my girls' favorite part-these art lessons they can actually do themselves, are fun, and don't require extensive prep on my part).
BTW, I am so surprised at how much the girls (and I!) have retained through read-alouds and narration! It's really working for us.

Thank you Carrie and Blessedmomof4 ! I appreciate the replies. It does sound like it will be a good fit for both my boys.

Allison