heartofdakota.com

Hello Carrie and families!

We’ve used Heart of Dakota in our homeschool for the past 6 years for our younger students. We have some special needs in our family. Our oldest is 11 with aspergers and our 5 year old (February birthday) also shares many of his brother’s traits (we
Also have an 8 yr old and 3 yr old- all boys!). Our 5 yr old is undiagnosed because our current insurance will provide services regardless of diagnosis. THAT said, our 5 yr old son, Asher, has attended playschool as well as preschool. The reason for this was so that he could utilize early intervention services and receive speech, physical and occupational therapy at the school. He NEEDED to be in school when we sent him originally, he really loves the structure of the classroom and knowing exactly what will come next in a rigid schedule. At the time when we sent him I was also dealing with educating his older brother with aspergers, driving him around to all his therapy, and preschool has been a super fit for him. He’s absolutely flourished in school. He started talking after we sent him to preschool. Anyway, as he’s now 5 with the February birthday, we debated wether we should begin homeschooling and we decided to let him do an extra year of preschool “officially.” This way he could continue with the same special ed teacher and therapists who have worked with him and who he knows and loves. He will be attending 5 day afternoon preschool at a very nice school where they have 15 students, 1 teacher, 3 aids, a sensory room, in addition to his therapists who come in to work with him. I’m very happy with this arrangement. Anyway, I had planned to unofficially begin LHFHG with him in the mornings before sending him off to preschool, so that next year when we begin homeschooling we can just officially make him a 1st grader. However, I’m not sure if this is a good idea. He CANNOT pay attention. He has an incredibly short attention span. This is his main problem. He could learn anything if he could focus long enough. He can learn anything to music. Anyway I’m not sure what I should do. Should I just delay kindergarten and have a 19 yr old high school graduate? Should I start reading, math and FMS at home in the mornings before preschool and call this his kindergarten year? Every one of his therapists and teachers are in agreement that he is not kindergarten ready, however that is according to public school standards. I just want to do the best thing for my boy. His fine motor skills are very poor and I’m also concerned about burning him out when he’s not ready. Thanks for any feedback!

Thought I’d add: He knows shapes and colors and some letters.

Many, if not most, families that use HOD long term used LHFHG for first grade OR spread the guides through Bigger out so that they reach Preparing for fourth grade. So there is no rush to do LHFHG this year!

You might want to get the older Bible from LHTH as well as a devotional (either LHTH devotional or one that is age appropriate that HOD doesn't use), and use those this year. Read a story from the Bible each day. Do the devotional at least weekly. And then maybe get some picture books in a subject he loves and read those as well. Basically work on the attention span so he is ready for LHFHG hopefully in the fall

I’ve considered doing right side K options of LHFHG

I love doing the K options (excluding science; basically just FMS books and printing) from LHFHG for K, and adding in good read-alouds/picture books, then we do the guide with the 1st grade options (but K science, so it matches the science activities). My boys all start 1st with LHFHG when they are at least 6yo (one was 6 1/2, two were 2 months shy of 7). They are neurotypical and I don't consider them "behind" at all! It's been a perfect fit.

For a boy with special needs, I would start LHFHG for 1st, then follow his lead for how much you can complete in a year. The reality is that HOD is advanced enough that graduating without completing the last 1 or even 2 guides is not unusual, and still is an excellent education; the last two middle school guides can count for high school credit with very little adjustment. So, if your son starts LHFHG in 1st AND takes longer than a school year to complete some of the guides, he will still do just fine.

FWIW, my oldest son, who struggles with Executive Functioning skills, will finish 12th after WG (skipping the last 3 guides) with some higher science and LA, and it's been great because he has been able to learn at his own pace, and has learned SO much that way, as opposed to in a situation where he would have been pushed through, whether he was learning or not.

Blessings,

Sarah Angeline,
I delayed LHFHG with my youngest. In kindergarten she used LHTH with kindergarten resources. Eventually she caught up, though that's a funny term since she is really where God wants her. She is starting MTMM with resources from US1 and US2 (science, literature, government, living library) for her 8th grade. We are required to test annually, starting in 2nd grade, and she has always tested in several grade levels ahead of her own. This post addresses some of your concerns and I commented on this post. Rather than repeat I linked the post below. HOD has been a blessing every day for our family despite some learning challenges.
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