New here!!

[iamblessedtobeme]

Hi! I'm new here! Love all that I've seen so far with HOD, but don't know where to place my children...I was just wondering if I could get some suggestions on what programs I should use for them.

Here's my info: I have four children with another blessing to join our family, due in December.

Zach is my 8 year old son - he's very intelligent, learns quickly and LOVES to read (I'm excited to get him involved in DITHOR!), I like to have freedom to expand our learning experiences due to questions that he's constantly asking about various things we study! He's very fun to teach!

Bailey is my 6 year old daughter - she's quite opposite of Zach, learns at her own pace, not real interested in things other than babies! But is catching onto reading well with short vowel/simple sight word books (BOB books are great!). She's currently doing Explode the Code book 1, but doesn't have the writting down much yet. I'm hoping this summer to help her better her handwriting skills. This is my first year homeschooling (LOVE LOVE LOVE it!), but I have been focusing more on just getting my ducks in a row for Zach, not doing a whole lot with Bailey.

Austin in my almost 4 year old. We starting doing LHTH -so cute, he loves it, so I'm going to probably continue with it through the summer, then into the fall.

Cameron is my 18 month old son. He's full of energy and life!

My question is can I group the older two together in a program, it seems to be designed that way, but I'm not sure if I can group Zach (8) and Bailey (6) together without it being too boring for Zach or too discouraging for Bailey. Any suggestions? I know in the future it'd probably work better to join Bailey (6) and Austin (4) in a program because they are more alike and get along great, where as Zach enjoys more time alone with me. Would it be unreasonable to think I could do Beyond or Bigger for Zach (8) and maybe part of it with Bailey (6), with Zach adding in DITHOR, and then the following year do LHFHG with Bailey (then 7) and Austin (then 5)? Would it be confusing or frustrating for Bailey (6) to do and Bigger or Beyond this fall, and the following year go back to LHFHG? Hope I'm not making this too confusing! I feel like there are different program suited for each of them, but I really don't want to be doing three different books, especially with a new baby this winter!

Thanks for your help!

Blessings,
Laura

[funkmomma71]

It sounds as if your oldest should be in his own program, either Beyond or Bigger. You could easily group the younger two in LHTH and add in Kindergarten level math and phonics from LHFHG for your 6 year-old. You could then keep these two together from that point forward, by doing the Learning through History for both and customizing the Learning the Basics for each child. This would keep the madness to only 2 programs which would ease your work load. Another option would be to do Beyond for the 8 and 6 year-old, but do one of the phonics programs and the correct level of math for the 6 year-old. You would then keep these two together, otherwise you would be backtracking for the 6 year-old which is not recommended and you would end up repeating Beyond with her. Lots of decisions!!

Blessings!

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD board, Laura! I think compatibility of dc being able to work together well is an important determining factor in placement. You are wise to look at the long-term for this. It sounds like a good idea to combine Austin and Bailey for the long-term. For this year, she could either do LHTH with Austin, and then you could add in just the kindergarten options for Fine Motor Skills, Phonics Choices, and Math Exploration from the right side of LHFHG. Then, next year, you would do LHFHG with both Austin and Bailey, only for Bailey you would choose the first grade LHFHG options for LA and Math, and for Austin you would to the Kindergarten options for LHFHG LA and Math. You would be on a very nice pace to combine the 2 of them then. If you would like her to have more history/science this year than that, she could listen in on Zach's readings, but not do the assignments with them. Then, it would still be "fresh" for her by the time she gets to doing that HOD guide later.

For your older ds, I would love to hear more about his reading, writing, and math skills. Could you please take a peek at the placement chart in these areas, and let us know where he falls in those areas? That will help us get him a solid placement with HOD. Here's a link to the placement chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

In Christ,
Julie

[iamblessedtobeme]

Hi, and thanks for the replies! What a great support group!

After taking a better look at the placement chart I think that Bigger would be great for Zach. He's in a few catagories for Preparing, but I feel like he's not ready for the amount of writing (not exactly his favorite thing!) I've heard is in Preparing. Then, I'll probably just have Bailey sit in on some of the history/science, but place her with Austin for the most part. I do have the LHFHG book, so I might start some of that with her next year too, and Austin could sit in on that too.

Thanks for your help! I'll be around!

Blessings,
Laura

[spidermansmum]

Welcome

[Carrie]

Laura,

I just wanted to welcome you to the board! The ladies have done a terrific job of helping you sort through your options. It sounds like you have a good plan underway! If you have other questions, ask away. The ladies are so gracious with helping with questions.

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Hi, and thanks for the replies! What a great support group!

After taking a better look at the placement chart I think that Bigger would be great for Zach. He's in a few catagories for Preparing, but I feel like he's not ready for the amount of writing (not exactly his favorite thing!) I've heard is in Preparing. Then, I'll probably just have Bailey sit in on some of the history/science, but place her with Austin for the most part. I do have the LHFHG book, so I might start some of that with her next year too, and Austin could sit in on that too.

Thanks for your help! I'll be around!

Blessings,
Laura

That sounds like a great plan! I'm so excited for you to begin now. I think you will enjoy this so much - we certainly have.

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

I was also thinking that you could have Bailey be the helper and sit in on Austin's LHTH. Then, you could add only the right side only of LHFHG with the kindergarten options for Bailey to up the level of math and language arts for her.

The next year, both Austin and Bailey could head into all of LHFHG together full-speed, and you could do the kindergarten options with Austin and the first grade options with Bailey. Then, they'd be together for the long haul. Just a thought!

Blessings,
Carrie

[iamblessedtobeme]

Thanks Carrie! That's a great plan, she loves being my helper! I'm really excited now!

What a great propram and site...thanks so much Carrie for all your hard work! Many blessings to you!

-Laura