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I hope this is where I’m supposed to ask for placement help. My son has a late October bday and will be 6. He has been reading since 3.5. He is not reading chapter books due to his attention span. We are completing a gentle kindergarten math curriculum this year and he has known everything. I don’t want to rush him through anything but want to get the right level. We will still be starting all about reading 3 in the next few weeks and will continue into next school year. I have placed him in little hearts but wasn’t sure if that would be right either. He has not had handwriting instruction but has had Bible study and memorization. I’d love for some guidance in selecting the right placement. I don’t want to rush him through the levels as I see it does get heavy with some fine motor things in a couple of years. Thank you for the help.

I agree with your placement of Little Hearts based on not having had writing instruction yet. You could use the math from beyond if you felt the kindergarten math is too much of a repeat.

I agree, too. LHFHG is a great 1st grade year! Of course, you would do math at his level (simply using the Math box as a reminder to fit that into your day), and go ahead with the reading program you have planned.

If you would like to switch over to HOD's Emerging Readers program at some point, you could probably do that now. I have heard others say that once their children were between half way through or finished AAR level 2 they were ready for the ERs. If you continue with AAR 3 and 4 first, you can move into the DITHOR program whenever you're ready.

That said, if you choose to use the ERs, you will need to purchase both the book set and the Beyond guide in order to use the schedule and the questions (which follow Bloom's Taxonomy - if that means anything to you; it didn't to me ). Once you are ready to purchase the remainder of the Beyond package, just let HOD know that you've already purchased the guide and they will remove the cost of the guide from their package price, so you don't miss out on those great savings!

LHFHG has been a great first grade for my boys so far: one started at 6 3/4 - he was almost done a phonics program at the time; the other started at about 6 1/2 - so just half way through phonics, which we start when they turn 6. The first son took about 13 months per guide for the first 3 (I was busy with 3 older siblings and still having babies ) and started Preparing in January of 4th, but since then has caught up a couple of units per year so he started MTMM back in September of 8th - he'll be on track for one guide per year through high school. The second son, however, is a keener and very internally motivated. He started Preparing in September of 4th, so would be "on track" if he started Rev2Rev next September for 7th, but he has done an extra few units each year (by his own choice) and started Rev2Rev last week. His goal is to finish high school in 11th! (we'll see ) I tell you that just to point out that there is lots of flexibility to work ahead if your son shows he is ready (you can do an extra couple of boxes from the guide each day if he's finding it easy); but taking longer than a year to complete the first few guides (while fine motor skills and readiness for academics are still developing) doesn't adversely affect them long term, either.

Welcome to HOD!
Blessings,