heartofdakota.com

Hi there!
New HODer here:) We have just started working through LHFHG.I AM ACTUALLY GETTING ALL OUR SCHOOL DONE - GLORY HALLELUJAH! I am loving the structure and heart behind HOD - I feel that this is right for us and as a reformed curriculum junkie - - I have quit frantically trying to find "it." I love how uncomplicated HOD makes schooling - it has been a joy and so peaceful in my house the last couple of weeks. If you are considering HOD and have small children-I highly recommend it. I have a 6.5 year old, 4 year old, 18 month, and 3 month old. Like I mentioned, school has actually gotten done and it has been manageable - and FUN.
I. HAVE. HAD. FUN. teaching and watching my kids enjoy the music and rhymes in motion, asking to do more math pages, etc - haha. The Thorton Burgess Books are great. In the past I have tried a literature based program, because I wanted to read to my children. The thing was I couldn't get all the HUGE amount of reading done and with so many moving bodies and interruptions- I was constantly getting behind and frustrated. Especially frustrated by not being able to tie the concepts together for my daughter. HOD's key concepts keeps us on track and I love how the lessons are woven together. A BIG thank you to Mrs. Austin from this momma!!!

Here's my question for all you seasoned HODer's - Looking through the forums I have gotten a little bit familiar with the concepts of going "full speed" and 'half speed" - but has anyone ever gone at an accelerated pace through LHFHG? If so, how do you do it? This might seem like a silly question, but I was curious because placement wise my daughter fell right smack between LHFHG and Beyond.

I chose Little for several reasons - 1)being that we are newer to HOD, 2)she will be 7 in August 3) she is on the verge of being an Emerging reader. I knew that putting her in Beyond too early - we might meet some challenges later on as the workload/writing picks up in Bigger/Preparing.

Having gone through a couple of weeks of Little - my daughter is loving it. Do we keep on truckin'?
Part of me wants to keep us on a steady pace and follow the manual as written and trust the process.
OR since she will be an Emerging reader sometime late summer/early fall - do I start the Emerging Reader's schedule in Beyond. Will that throw us off in the future?

Thanks you all! I would appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions.
E

I am so glad your experience with HOD has been so great! I agree with everything you said. If things are going great I would not change anything. When your daughter is ready for the emerging readers you can definitely begin. You will need the Beyond guide for the schedule and questions that go with the readings, but you will need that next anyway. Language arts and math can certainly be tweaked to match the child and there are various levels that can be pursued in each guide. It sounds like your daughter is perfectly placed.

You could always add a box or two each day and just see how it sits. There have been a few times we have dune a full unit in 3-4 days because things came up, etc.
As for starting the ER books with Beyond - that is no issue at all. My oldest started them half way through LHFHG ands she will start Preparing next month. We spread them out some by adding in the supplemental titles (there is an additional book suggested for each unit) when we could get them easily from the library. Then we finished the Beyond year by reading books off of the $5 sample book list hod sells.