heartofdakota.com

Hi all,

I think this is definitely because I'm a first year homeschooling mom and probably overly concerned, but I have been back and forth sooooo many times trying to choose the best curriculums for my two kids. I have a son who's six and in first grade and a daughter- 3 1/2- preschool/ kindergarden. I have spent HOURS and HOURS along with a lot of prayer trying to figure out which curriculum to get for them. Ifelt like I should get LHTH for my 3 1/2 yr old because of her age, but I was concerned that it would not challenge her- she already knows her letters, letter sounds, and numbers. So I decided to try LHFHG for both kids- figuring I would use it for the kindergarden level for my daughter even though she is preschool age and first grade for my son. HOWEVER, I was also concerned that this might not challenge my son enough academically, although there was a lot in this curriculum that I felt he needed and could not miss out on particularly the bible lessons and history part. But for some strange reason I was under the impression that it did not cover geography or spelling- two things I wanted to introduce to my son. SO, FInally, I decided to purchase LHFHG AND beyond little hearts so that I can use them both. Now, that I have LHFHG I'm realizing that I should have stuck with the placement tests on this site. I feel so foolish like I've made a mistake. The LHFHG is definitely challenging for my son academically while of course being excellent with the biblical foundation and teaching it provides (which is extremely important to me) and being lot's of fun. I definitely don't think I need to use the BLHFHG until next year- except for the math and maybe spelling?

I'm so sorry: this post is turning out longer than I planned. My main concern is that the LHFHG is a little too much for my daughter and going over her head. She enjoys the rymes in motion and the science activity in day 1 along with the handwriting and artwork, but is she understanding the principals? And is she retaining any of this information? I fear that she's not. The devotions for the children's hour along with the history for little pilgrims, and reddy fox books are just too much for her and while she LOVES books and being read to, she cannot sit still a few seconds for these. Maybe it's because of the no pictures..LOL...But she is surprisingly doing well with the scripture memory verses.

So my question is should I just give it some time? I've only been using it for three days. And my daughter can just recieve from it what she can. I really can't afford to invest in a third curriculum- that's if I held on to the beyond little hands to save it for next year and purchased little hands now. But I can try to return beyond little hands. Although I'm not sure how that will work since I purchased it from amazon? The bottom line is while I want my daughter to be challenged and not bored, I want her to have fun and LOVE school time. But does it make sence to go over one letter a week with a child who already knows her letters and sounds and numbers for that matter? Okay, I'm so sorry for the long post. I'll go now..LOL..
Thanks so much for any inputs you can give. And I do want to say that despite my confusion and overly concerned attitude, I do feel sooooo BLESSED that I found or rather that the Lord led me to heart of dakota. It has exactly everything I had been looking for and praying for in a curriculum. All those sleepless nights researching curriculum paid off when I found this one. Thanks so much again.
God bless you all, Charika

Oh you sweet girl. If you were here, I'd give you a big hug and make you a cup of hot tea. And probably hand you a sweater, because it's COLD here tonight!

So, let's think this through. You have a couple of options as I see it. You could try and return your books to Amazon. If you ordered them through the main site, then there is a form you can print out for returns. It takes awhile though. If you ordered them from a seller on the Amazon site, then I'm not sure how that works.

Personally, I would be inclined to hang on to Beyond. You'll use it next year, so it won't go to waste. And especially if you wanted to use it for spelling and math for your son this year. There are two spelling lists for each unit and alternative math assignments, as I'm sure you've noticed, so you could use one set of spelling and math assignments this year and the next set next year.

If your daughter is doing well with the Bible portion of Beyond, and already knows letters and numbers, then I don't think I would order LHTH for her. What I would be inclined to do is keep your son in LHFHG, adding in the spelling and math from one of assignment lists from Beyond if necessary. Do the Bible portion and the art and handwriting since she enjoys that with both of them, and then just add in picture books to read to your daughter instead of history and Reddy Fox. Then next year you can do LHFHG with your daughter, and Beyond with your son using the alternative spelling and math assignments.

I think it's OK if your daughter doesn't retain much at this age. She has lots of years of school ahead of her. She has tons of time to get the concepts. I think the important thing at her age is that she gets a foundation of Biblical truth and that she enjoys the experience of school so that she develops a love of learning. If she loves to learn, the rest will come.

Charika,

It's so nice to "meet" you! I think it's so exciting to be at the beginning of your homeschool journey! (And totally understand about the searching for curriculum... I think all of us have been there at least once while finding what God has for our family! ) You have come to the right place to get advice. The ladies here I have found to be very helpful, encouraging, and godly (which is a breath of fresh air )! I'm still nearly at the beginning of my homeschool journey, too, so I don't have experience with a lot yet (and am on the receiving end of much of the wisdom here) BUT LHTH is one of the things that I can tell you about.

I think that you would love using LHTH with you daughter. It's so much more than just learning letters, sounds, and numbers. While those things are taught or reinforced, what I love about LHTH is that it is teaching my little girl (and guy) Who God is and what He's done, and how they should respond to Him. It's teaching their hearts to be tender to Him at this tender age, and LHTH does it right on their developmental level. We're "playing" and they're learning! Since you don't have a LHTH guide, let me give you a sneek peak into what kinds of things you'd get to do...

~Daily, there's a fingerplay to do. These are a tie for "favorite activity" at my house! The finger plays include truths from the Bible story while also ephasizing the letter sound for the week.
~There's a Bible story daily, too. We're using the Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes.
~Several times a week (almost daily) you get to act something out. Frequently we're reencting the Bible story. This really helps the truths of Scripture to stick with her, and at this age learning by doing is very important - not to mention enjoyable! Sometimes there is acting out to see how God wants us to respond based on choices that the Bible characters have made. (ie Lying vs Being Truthful from the story of Jacob, Anger vs Kindness from the story of Cain & Abel, etc)
~Active Exploration such as experimenting with what things float after reading about Noah and the Ark, looking for different color things after reading about the variety of things God made, having a "picnic" with Abraham's 3 heavenly guests, making rubbings of different coins and learning the difference between them after reading about Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery...
~The Singing Bible has some great songs that put the Bible stories to music to match what you're reading.
~There is a different letter activity every day. One day each unit you make a huge masking tape letter on the floor and do something special with or on it. THIS is the other tie for favorite activity at my house! In fact Tape Day may be pretty close to a holiday! Carrie's creative ideas of things to glue on a large letter (to recognize the shape of it) and to practice "writing" it in are great! This week we "wrote" D's in pudding. Yum! You shared that you 3 yo already knows her letters and sounds which is great! So, these concepts wouldn't be new to her, but I sure don't think it would hurt her to do these fun things to help cement them in her mind before you start doing phonics with her when you're ready. The activites are really fun and my 4 yo (who also knows most of her letters and sounds) is loving them!
~You do an art activity weekly to go along with the Bible story. These are wonderfully fun and use things that I have around the house. They're doable for my kiddos and aren't too time-consuming.
~For the 1st 10 units, you make a "number page" for a little 1-10 book. You also do a counting page weekly that corresponds with the Bible lesson and has the kids either counting by 1's or 2's.

Now, I've scratched the surface of LHTH here, but I think that's it. There is so much more in there! (I bet you'll be surprised at all that's there just as you were with LHFHG. ) All the things I mentioned above are in the 1st 5 units...I've got 28 more to go! I probably sound like an infomercial by now , but honestly, we truly love LHTH! We're making wonderful memories!

I think you'd love doing it with your 3 yo. (Obviously you've figured out I'm a little biased with my gushing... ) But, you're the mom and you really know what will work for your family. Hopefully my snapshot can help you see if it's right for you. To do LHTH, you don't have to purchase nearly as much as for the other programs. You'll need the LHTH guide & a Bible (one of the story Bibles HOD reccommends if you want pictures). This would get you the majority of the program. The Singing Bible CD's have corresponding music almost daily, which is enjoyable at our house, but could be skipped or added later if finances are tight. And one of the devotional books HOD reccommends - these are used weekly also, and could be skipped or added later when finances allow.

Kathleen

If you decided to keep your daughter in LHFHG I wonder if using some of the books in the appendix would be more appropriate for her instead of Reddy Fox. You might could use some of them for her story time instead.

i don't know what your finances are but perhaps you could use some of the R&S Little Jewel books. I ordered some of them for Brendan because he can't sit still for Reddy Fox either. My 10 yr old really likes it but 6 yr old doesn't. He had originally placed in Beyond but Carrie gave me additional criteria that helped me place him in LHFHG. He is a bit hyper and doesn't like sitting still for things like reading. He loves the rhymes though! sorry, didn't mean to go offsubject with your little one. Does she like picture books from the library? Maybe you can find some books there to go with your studies. you know, something that builds upon the basic alphabet for little ones. Alphabet books, chicka chicka boom, etc? Maybe you can get some of those for her. i would go ahead and keep the beyond manual for next year. some of the ideas Kathleen had are really good for the alphabet also. They sound so fun! I wish i knew about HOD when my kids were little!

My fellow homeschooling Moms, Thank you sooooooo very much for your responses I'm a little tearie eyed because of the time that you took to really access my confusion/ situation and give me very thorough and helpful advice. ALL of it is extremely helpful and insightful and I just wanted to thank you again. I'm also relieved that you understood my post.. I was concerned that it might have been too confusing...But again thanks so much. I now have a lot to base my decision on and some thinking to do. I'm so blessed to have found this site..God bless you
Charika

charika30,

The ladies on the board have done a great job of talking over some options with you. I just wanted to pop in and ask which level of math you're using with your son and where your son is at as far as reading goes? If your son isn't ready for the Emerging Reader Set yet, then you could most likely do LHFHG as is with your son and send your Beyond manual back for credit. Then, you could purchase your LHTH manual. Kathleen did a great job of outlining the things you could do without in LHTH in order to make that work for you financially.

If you're unable to return your Beyond manual, it is possible to do LHTH with only the guide if need be. You have to be willing to read the Bible stories out of your own Bible then (but we do give you a Scripture reference to do this with). I think you'll find LHTH to be a great fit of activities for a wiggly 3 and 1/2 year old. I did LHTH with my second son when he was 4 even though he knew his letter sounds, was beginning to read, knew his beginning math, and had very strong fine motor skills. We enjoyed it so much, made wonderful memories, spent time hiding God's word in His little heart each day, and filled in a few holes I was surprised to find he had! I

Anyway,I just wanted to encourage you that you did a great job picking LHFHG for your son, and you can easily add LHTH for your daughter to get the right fit for her too! You're doing great mom!! Enjoy your year.

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi Charika, and welcome to the HOD board! I just wanted to say that LHTH is such a special blessing. I think you'd love doing LHTH with your dd, and you'd be laying the foundation for LHFHG for her the next year. I've done LHTH twice now, and for both of our dc, it's given me precious memories. I have one more child that I'll be doing LHTH with in a few years, and it's making me tear up right now thinking that that will be my last go-around with LHTH -( I guess there's always grandchildren though, right?) . I just wish with all of my heart that you could have that special 1:1 time with your dd that LHTH gives. Ponder your funds carefully - and if you can swing it - I think LHTH would be an investment you'd always be glad you'd made.

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you so much Carrie and Julie ( and again to the other moms who gave such wonderful advice and suggestions.) Carrie, I ordered the singapore primary math 1 A workbook for my son and waiting for it to arrive. My son is just begining to read. And now that I have been working with him more consistently over the past week or so, I am seeing wonderful improvements. I am currently using a phonics workbook. Not sure if he's ready yet for the emerging reader's set? Maybe in a few months? But I am SOOOOOO EXCITED (especially after reading the last post here from Julie) to share that I was praying the other day that if it was the Lord's will he would put it on my husband's heart to let me order LHTH for my daughter. My husband had already strongly discouraged it just two days prior if I was deciding to hold on to Beyond little hearts (which I actually realized I needed for the math- I never ordered the singapore textbooks for my son..just the workbooks). I didn't really blame my husband because I have spent soooo much money already on books- money we actually had to borrow from his mom. Anyway, he warmingly and very quickly said yes after I explained to him why I felt I NEEDED it- particually for the bible portions/ actvities for my daughter. I want her to understand God's truths and really enjoy and retain, etc... So Praise God! I will be ordering it very fast before he changes his mind...LOL...
Thanks again everyone
God bless you all, Charika

Oh Charika, I'm so excited for you! God can move mountains, can't He?!? Those dh's of ours often come around if they understand the decision we're making is grounded in our dc knowing Christ. I can't wait for you to get your LHTH and start it with your dd - another "little one raising her hands to heaven"! Thanks for sharing!

In Christ,
Julie

Charika,

I'll just take a moment to celebrate with you on getting to use LHTH! I loved what Kathleen had to say about using it, and certainly couldn't have said it any better! Thanks for typing all of that out Kathleen!

As to the math, if you're using 1A, then I'd agree with your decision to keep Beyond, if possible, to do the math activities out of there. It sounds like you're moving forward with phonics and will eventually get to the Emerging Reader's Set, so it would be good to have the Beyond manual when you get there too. I'd just keep plugging away with your phonics.

I'm excited you'll get a chance to use LHFHG too! We're using it this year with my just turned 6 year old and are having SO much fun! He's really hiding God's words in His little heart too!

Sometimes finding the right fit takes a little time, but once you find it (as it sounds like you now have), you'll be set!

Blessings,
Carrie

Charika,

I know you're going to love LHTH! (And I bet your daughter will too.) Have fun teaching your precious kiddos! It's fun isn't it? (At least most of the time...)

Kathleen

Thanks guys again. I am ordering it this morning and I cannot wait until it arrives I do have a question about LHTH and beyond, but I guess the best thing to do is to post them on the LHTH and the beyond boards...
Ok, have a very blessed weekend moms...
Charika

Oh I forgot to add Kathleen that YES it is a lot of fun. I just LOVE this curriculum. After only a week of doing LHFHG, my daughter told me that she loves having her school time If she loves it now, I can only imagine when LHTH arrives. They love the rymes in motion. And the first two days of reading reddy fox, both kids had a hard time focusing and sitting still for it. Last night (day 5), my son was BEGGING me to read the next chapter so we could find out what was going to happen next. And this morning my daughter saw me reading and was asking me to help her find the reddy fox book and asking me to read it to her... Maybe this is a post I should have posted on the LHFHG board

Charika,

Actually all new posts go on this main board. So, you're posting in the right place. The LHTH and LHFHG folders are just for testimonial type posts.

My boys beg to hear more of the Thornton Burgess books too!

Blessings,
Carrie