heartofdakota.com

My son, age 8, will finish Preparing Hearts in a couple months. He is generally ahead for his age, and he has enjoyed most of the curriculum. However, he really struggles with the writing from poetry activity on Day 2 and the written narration of history on Day 4. I have no experience with either Bigger Hearts or Creation to Christ. Given his struggles, I've been thinking that maybe it would be better to wait a year (til age 10) before moving on to Creation to Christ. Would Bigger Hearts be too much beneath him now that he's done Preparing Hearts? We do our own grammar and math, so the "younger" assignments for those wouldn't really matter. I could go back to Ambleside just for a year since that's what my older kids have done all the way through and I have all the books, etc. What would you recommend? (I should add that I'm considering switching his older sister, almost 11 years old, from Ambleside to Heart of Dakota. It might be nice for them to do CTC together, whenever that is to be.)

Hi JennyJo! Thanks for sharing about your son! In answer to your question, the absolute youngest we'd recommend doing CTC is 9 years old, and that would be for a student who can write 5 sentences or more for written narrations, small enough to fit on wide-lined notebook paper. CTC also has mature content for a little guy, and the reading/writing across the entire guide will be in the 5-7 sentences range with skills closer to 5th grade level. However, I think you would probably absolutely love doing Bigger Hearts with him! That was such an inspirational year for our sons, as we read many narrative biographical stories of American heroes. The kids STILL talk about those "red books" (the Eggleston books)! It has a newly created full color notebook and timeline as well, which I am sad I missed with my own kiddos. There is a fair share of writing in Bigger Hearts, and I would guess from what you've shared, it's going to fit your son very well. You can easily challenge him with reading, choosing whatever level in DITHOR fits him best. I know you mentioned you have your own grammar/ math, but as a plan B, Bigger Hearts now has plans for R & S English 2 and for R & S English 3, as well as for Singapore Math 2A/2B and for Singapore Math 3A/3B. Both R & S English and Singapore Math are considered at least a year advanced. So, you can always check those out as another possibility if you want! As far as your daughter, if she places in CTC, I'd have her start - what fun! She would probably love the maturity of the guide and the intriguing study of the ancients via living books. I've done these guides together before, not hard - as long as dd is ready for the "I" independent work assigned in the guide, which you can check here...

https://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/CTC-First-Week.pdf

Also, here is a link to the placement chart, which is printable and very accurate (first page is weighed most heavily)...
https://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Hope this helps!

In Christ,
Julie