heartofdakota.com

Hi everyone,
I placed my HoD orders last week, before I discovered all the resources available regarding placement---
I've been homeschooling off and on for about the last 30 years, and will be homeschooling my 2 youngest daughters this coming year. We've been pretty eclectic over the years, as many of my children (birth and adopted) had special needs. When I talked with them about next year, my 2nd grader very strongly desired to do ancient/world history and my older daughter (14 with learning disabilities) wanted to do US history. This led me to HoD Preparing Hearts, and Revival to Revolution. Loving what I saw on the website, I placed my orders for both levels. My concerns are as follows, hoping for some advice on how I can prepare in the remaining weeks of this school year and over the summer.
My 8 1/2 year old daughter is very bright, gifted in math, very literate- has been listening to full-length chapter books since she was 3, via read-alouds and audiobooks. (Her favorite book when she was 3 was Old Yeller- she made me read the entire book to her in one night, several times, and it's still one of her favorite books to listen to while she goes to sleep...) However, she had a slow start to read- we just finished All About Reading level 2. I realize that Preparing requires her to be reading more fluently than this. I did look carefully at the Bigger level, and I feel like everything else is below the level she is at. She's at a 4th grade math level, and has already studied the science and history topics. So I guess what I am asking is what would be the best route to take to prepare her for Preparing in the next few months? I've gathered up most of the Emerging Readers and All About Reading level 3. Are there comprehension questions or any other resources available with regards to the Emerging Readers? If I can get her fluency up, I am pretty sure she will be good to go in Sept. and very happy with the topics.
With regards to my other daughter who is 14, she has learning disabilities in language arts, reading, spelling. She does better in math; she's in Math-U-See Epsilon about halfway through right now, mostly only struggling with word problems because of her reading issues. My plan is to use audio-books for some of the reading, having her follow along in the print books as she listens. We've been using Spelling You See this year for her spelling, so I think the studied dictation will be easy to transition to and will work well. I'm going to get copies of Rod and Staff English 4 and 5 to see which would be a better fit, but she's always willing and cooperative so I know there won't be a problem with that. She has some experience with sentence diagramming and enjoyed it. I am planning to stick with the Math-U-See- I don't think the Singapore would work for her, although I would be open to try. What kinds of things should I be working on to prepare her for the Rev to Rev in the fall? She is already able to work independently for a large part of her work. Also a little unsure about how to progress with her- maybe not as confident about her placement...
I would be very grateful for any and all advice/suggestions!

The comprehension/critical thinking questions for the ER books are available only in the Appendix of the Beyond and Bigger guides, so you would have to get a copy of one of those to "run" the ER set of books, as scheduled by HOD.

I have had a 14 1/2yo (in 10th) with struggles with executive functioning and symptoms of dysgraphia, as well as a 13 1/2 yo (in 9th) with Irlen Syndrome (similar symptoms to Dyslexia when it comes to reading). We used higher science for high school credit (the one in 10th did use Rev2Rev's Advanced science in 9th, when using RTR, though), as well as different grammar, but we did use DITHOR for literature in 9th, as scheduled in the guide.

It did work really well for us. The oldest graduated last year after completing WG and higher science and LA (and at-level math, which was not as much as I desired). He is almost finished hairstylist school and this summer will begin a 2 year apprenticeship to become a barber. Meanwhile, my daughter graduated this year after finishing WH, with higher science, LA (having used a lot of audio books), and math. She is accepted to university for the fall.

While I know this does not reassure you that your 14yo is properly placed, do know that it CAN work to place a 14yo "so low" in the guides and have them go on to post-secondary, at a level appropriate for them. (My son was never university bound. He's very happy in his course and I think HOD prepared him well for the coursework he has been doing.)

Blessings as you decide. I'm sure Carrie or her sister/editor Julie will answer your questions, too.

Thanks for sharing about your daughters and the placement you've chosen for them! Rice had some solid and wise advice already - thanks, Rice! As she said, you would order the Bigger Hearts guide for the Emerging Reader's Set daily reading schedule and daily comprehension questions. As far as skills to work on over the summer, reading and writing skills would be at the top of my list. I would even consider doing the Emerging Reader's Set reading/questions through the summer, as this could help your daughter be more ready for the "I" independent reading in PHFHG for the science and the independent history. Then, she could finish out whatever she had left of the Emerging Reader's Set and start Drawn into the Heart of Reading, joining big sis (probably second semester) in whatever genres she had left to do, but using the Level 2 Book Pack.

In this blog post, I compared skills in PHFHG and CTC. I was thinking it might be helpful to see the details about skills in PHFHG...
https://heartofdakota.com/2020/07/17/co ... to-christ/

For your older daughter, you could possibly start RevtoRev now, but half-speed. This would let you take two days to do one day's worth of plans. It would also help you really begin to slowly train your daughter how to use the guide and how to follow the directions. Additionally, it would help you see firsthand what skills you would want to work on over the summer. Of course, this may not be possible! If it is, I would give it a go though! Otherwise, in general, I'd have her reading each day (audio books are also a wonderful idea), writing/journaling, casually narrating, and following step-by-step directions this summer. I hope something here helps!

I think you'll love Heart of Dakota! It has been such a joy in our lives - I hope it is in yours as well!

In Christ,
Julie