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I am so excited to start using HOD with my younger children. I've homeschooled for 11 years. My 4 older ones are in ps So that leaves me my 5 younger ones to continue teaching. Years ago I used LHTH to teach the preschool class at our co-op. The kids loved it! In my recent search for a science/history curriculum to teach all the kids together, I have come to find HOD. I absolutely love everything about the curriculum. Even though I've been teaching for years, I still prefer the "open and go" type curriculum.

I have 6 year old twin boys and 8 and 10 year old daughters. I originally thought I would put them all in Bigger but after much reading of the boards, I think it would be best to put the 6 yr old boys in LIttle Hearts for his Glory and my daughters both in Bigger.

Here are my questions: About how much time does it take to complete LHFHG and BHFHG using all BUT the English, Reading, and Math(I will be using BJU and teaching textbooks for these subjects)?

My 10 year old daughter is dylslexic(4th grade at a 3rd grade reading level). She has just about finished 3rd grade R&S reading but we just stopped and went to easier readers b/c of her frustration of not understanding what she's reading and difficulty in completing the workbook. As I look at the extension package for BIgger, she would be frustrated reading those books on her own. It seems as though the readers listed for emerging readers in Beyond are more at her level. Does anyone have suggestions as to whether I should just do the program with her without the extension books, or maybe just add in a few like the ones that have book on tape and possibly getting "A Child's Story of America" and "Exploring Planet Earth"?

Thanks!
Ann

Hi
There is a placement chart-that might help.I am using Little hearts and it takes about 90 minutes to two hours get through all our studies-including Math and English.

I'm using Little Hearts and Bigger Hearts with my two oldest and to do BOTH we are done before lunch INCLUDING math, phonics, and R&S english. We usually start around 9-10am. So, it's very doable to teach from more than one guide! I combine teaching and try to do them both at the same time-- meaning I get one started, then let her do something independent while I start with the other...so, while I teach one, the other is doing something independent or taking a break. I also have a little guy running around getting into everything that I sometimes do LHTH with as well.

If your daughter is on the level of the emerging readers, then by all means enjoy those together! The schedule and comprehension questions/discussion for those is also in the Bigger manual.

You could just go without the extensions or you could read them aloud to her. Or you could read them along WITH her, to help her when she gets stuck. My almost 3rd grader is actually reading those right now (not all, some are too high of a level). She is especially enjoying "A Child's Story of America" and "Exploring Planet Earth". She may not understand everything, but she still enjoys them! Your dd might enjoy them as well, even if she is like my dd and not able to understand all the info. I give it to my dd as extra "fun" reading...no questions, no discussion unless she asks, no anything "school" to go with them. We've only gotten to the first of the other books (Pedro's Journal) so I can't say much about the others, but I know you could do without them if they will be a source of frustration for your dd! Bigger is pretty deep either way!

You have so many options with HOD!

Welcome to the HOD board! I also taught LHTH in our church for several years and have loved teaching it to our own dc as well. You will find the same easy-to-use, materials you have on hand, fun, balance - etc. in all the HOD guides just like you did with LHTH.

I did Little Hearts and Bigger Hearts last year (along with the LA and math), starting at 9:00 AM and finishing around 12:00 PM or 12:30 PM at the latest. The LA and math choices do not take long to do with HOD though, so if your LA and Math take longer than 30 minutes a piece to do, you will need to add some more time for those. I'm sure you'll be using some of the LA HOD choices, but since I'm not sure which (or maybe you aren't using any of them), I'll list out the time increments as I remember them.

Approximate time it took us to do these LA/Math boxes in Bigger:
Poetry - 10 minutes (we copied a bit of the poetry each day too for copywork)
Cheerful Cursive - 10 minutes
R & S English 2 - around 20+ minutes
Storytime read-alouds - 20 minutes
Spelling or Dictation - 10 minutes

We've done both of the reading options, but you just do one of these in Bigger Hearts:
Emerging Reader's Set - 15 minutes
DITHOR Level 2/3 - about 25-30 minutes

Math 2A/2B - 20-25 minutes

For LHFHG, the whole thing took us maybe 1 1/2 hours to do. The math accounted for probably 15 minutes, and the Storytime about 15 minutes. Phonics probably 20-30 minutes. Handwriting or Do It Carefully/Finding the Answers 5-10 minutes.

HTH!
In Christ,
Julie

Ann,

If I haven't already welcomed you, I just wanted to pop-in and say we're glad to have you on the boards! The ladies have done a terrific job of answering your questions. If you have more, ask away!

We'll look forward to getting to know you better!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thankyou ladies for your thorough answers and for your nice welcome! Just to be clear...I can use the emerging readers set from Beyond for my 10 yr dd in Bigger for her extension reading? Because of her age would it be best to go ahead and get "A Child's Story of America" and "Exploring Planet Earth" and read it to her for more meaty content? Or, like you said do you think it would be o.k. to skip those and stick with just the manual? I don't want to skimp on her education. I've made way too many mistakes not using strong enough curriculum with my older ones that I don't want to repeat.
Thank you!
Ann

Ann,

I do think that the Emerging Reader's Set sounds like a good place for your 4th grader this upcoming year to give her confidence in her reading. I'd choose The Beginner's Bible for her, rather than the Early Reader's Bible.

Since the Extension Pack would be too difficult for her, I would add in A Child's Story of America and Exploring Planet Earth as read-alouds (if time allows) to up the level of history and science for her. The rest of Bigger Hearts should work well.

Blessings,
Carrie