heartofdakota.com

In searching for new curriculum for the 2017-2018 school year, I found Heart of Dakota and absolutely love what I am seeing. The thing is I am really wanting to do American History next year with my ten year old and according to the placement recommendations, Bigger Hearts For His Glory is perhaps not as well suited for this age as Preparing Hearts or Creation to Christ would be. I see that there is an extension for ages 10-11, but I'm still skeptical and concerned that this curriculum will not be challenging enough. Would love some insight from someone who has used Bigger for a 10-11 year old and how it has worked. Thank you so much!

I'm using Bigger for my son who has just turned 11. He is doing fine, and it is plenty challenging. We started out doing the extension books with him but soon gave it up. The work in Bigger was plenty. As long as he is placed well on the placement chart, it should be enough for him. This is my 2nd round through Bigger, and Preparing is definitely a step up, so Bigger might be a good place to start. If he places in Preparing on the placement chart, though, you might want to start him there, regardless of the content.

Here's that placement chart. http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php It's pretty accurate. I had taken a break from HOD with my oldest for a couple of years and used the placement chart to see where she should be, and she is doing great. It was spot-on where she should be.

Thank you so much for your feedback. According to the chart, my daughter places in Preparing. However, we are really needing and wanting to do a year of American HIstory. We covered the Preparing time period this year. And between her time in school and this year (her first year of homeschooling), she has yet to study American History. So...even though she places in Preparing (and even could potentially go into Creation to Christ), could we still make Bigger work?

In that case, I would definitely use the extensions for her if you go with Bigger. It might work fine, but I could see the science potentially not being enough. One question I would have is what you were wanting to use after Bigger. If you want to jump to CTC, then that might feel like a big jump for her. I personally would probably put her in the guide in which she placed and then try to read books and watch some shows extra that cover the time period you feel she hasn't gotten yet. Maybe something like the Rush Revere books or watching Liberty's Kids. You could even work some American history type books into DITHOR. I don't want to dissuade you from Bigger because truly it is a great guide, and it's working very well for my 11yo and almost 9 yo. But I also know from experience how much better it is to have your kids well placed.

I wanted to encourage you to go with Preparing since she places there. The guides are meant to build skills as you go through them and they gradually increase and encourage independence in more and more subjects. It's okay if she doesn't have American history until middle school when it is in the guides. She will remember it more by being a little older.