New with a question of which to use??

jcsngirls · Post by **jcsngirls** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:46 pm

Hi group - I am so excited to have found this wonderful curriuculum. It looks so perfect for our family and much more "fun" than what I have used this year. But here is my situation that I need help with.

I have an almost 6 year old daughter that I am doing Kindergarten with this year. I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter that is doing preschool with my good friend and a 2 year old daughter that is just being the funny, cute girl that she is!

So next year I will be HSing both the 6 & 5 year old (1st gr. & Kindergarten). What I am wondering is if I should do the Beyond Little Hearts with both girls but adjust the LA & Phonics for the 5 year old or do the Little Hearts and adjust the LA & Phonics for the 6 year old? I just don't think I have it in me to try to do both curriculums every day...and keep a 2 year old happy! Does anyone have any insight???

Also, I noticed that in the Beyond program, handwriting isn't scheduled. Is that because actual "formal" handwriting instruction isn't really needed until cursive starts? I did the Reason for Handwriting K this year and had planned to do the next level next year but maybe it's not necessary??

Thanks for any help you guys can provide. I have loved reading through all the great posts and have gotten a ton of info.

beandip71 · Post by **beandip71** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:54 pm

Hi Cristi and welcome to the boards! First, I just wanted to ask if you have checked out the placement chart on the HOD site? It is very helpful in deciding where to place your kiddos. If it were me I would do Little Hearts w/ your K and 1st grader. It has a schedule in the appendix for LA and Math for a 1st grader. You could also continue w/ A Reason for Handwriting if you wanted for your 1st grader. I think Beyond would be too much for K. The reason there is no handwriting program is because it has copywork scheduled in it.

I hope this was helpful. I'm sure some of the other ladies will chime in w/ some help as well. It was nice to "meet" you.

Gina

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:57 pm

If you only want to use one program for both, I would go with Little Hearts. You would use the Do It Carefully / Finding the Answers with the K'er and the Thinking skills book for the 1st grader. Math would depend on where you think they would place. The activities in Little Hearts can stand by themselves or you can add Earlybird Math or 1A (Singapore). Singapore has a placement guide to see what you should get.

I'm sure you will get more advice from the other ladies here. We all love to help.

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 5:12 pm

Hi Cristi!

I'm using Little Hearts this year with my 1st grade twins (just turned 7 in Dec.) and my k'er (6 in April) and it is a perfect fit! One of the main concerns with doing Beyond so early would be that your dd's would not be ready for Bigger the next year...we always have to be thinking ahead!

Little Hearts was designed to be a k, 1 or even 2 grade program. Beyond could be a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. So, if you follow this track, you dd's could stay together for a long time (which is what I'm shooting for at my house).

So glad you found HOD...we call ourselves Hodies! Hope that doesn't scare ya away!

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 5:30 pm

I just visited your website...what you are doing is so heartwarming! There are several ladies on this board who have adopted internationally and I have a sister who has as well. My sister gets very emotional when she talks about the other children that are left at the orphanages. She wanted to take them all home with her. Are you able to help the orphanages is Russia or do they allow that?

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I was very touched by your mission! Such a great idea, and not one that just anyone could have thought of.

jcsngirls · Post by **jcsngirls** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:04 pm

Melanie - thanks so much for checking out Raising Hope's website. It is such a privilege to provide the sweet children waiting in orphanages with play equipment! Our three girls are amazing blessings in our life. Training up our children in the way that they should go is my first passion...providing some fun and play equipment for orphans is my second! We haven't done a project in Russia yet but just because we don't have a link to an orphanage there. It is certainly something we would pursue.

Thanks again for the kind words!

jcsngirls · Post by **jcsngirls** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:14 pm

Thanks for all the great info, ladies! I guess I should have asked...does it work to do 2 different programs for 2 kids so close in age? Is it overwhelming? I just always assumed I would do them together with the more age appropriate stuff being separate.

I'm going to go look at the HOD Placement chart again and see where the girls fall.

Post by **Carrie** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:05 pm

Cristi,

The ladies on the board have given you wonderful advice!

Here is the link to the placement chart: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I also would agree that if you wish to combine your kiddos, it would be best to begin in "Little Hearts...". Since your dd's are so close in age, they would work well to be combined. They also fall within the target age-range for "Little Hearts..." and then could continue on up to "Beyond..." together.

If you can combine, it's great to do. If it doesn't work out, you can always separate them later if needed.

Blessings,
Carrie

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:16 pm

HI Cristi! I just wanted to send a warm welcome your way! We're doing Little Hearts for His Glory for the second time now, and you are right in thinking you and your girls are in for a lot of fun! The placement chart will probably help you with any fine-tuning, but from what you've shared so far, I really think LHFHG would be a great placement for both your dc. Also, like Melanie said so well, it's great to look down the road and make the best choice longer-term too, and I think LHFHG fits that view too. Hope to hear more from you and glad you're here!

Candice · Post by **Candice** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:02 pm

Christi,

Hello and a warm welcome, so glad to have you here! I had a chance to look at the Raising Hope website and was very touched by your mission. What a unique and special way to bring joy to children's lives.

Look forward to getting to know you!

Candice

MamaMary · Post by **MamaMary** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:59 am

Hi Christi, (((Waving from Florida)))

I LOVED your post! Your warm sweet spirit came shining through. I will tell you that I also would recommend "little hearts" this year, BUT also that if down the road you need to seperate not to feel overwhelmed. Let me tell you my story...,

I am finishing up my tenth year of homeschooling and I have preached on other boards about not getting caught up in the super homeschool mom syndrome of overdoing programs. It's my mantra.

THEN, I come to Heart of Dakota and realize that 3 of my boys tested PERFECTLY into three different programs.

I was very hesitant and skeptical about using three programs so I started by ordering two. I found that in all the years I've homeschooled I have never found a program so easy to implement and yet so perfectly full that we walk away each day satisified. (not too much and not too little)

Needless to say, I started with 2 programs (just to get my toes wet) and after just a few days quickly decided to go for 3 because it works so well. (my boys are further in age span than your girls)

I will be using 3 different programs this year. Now I also have a 16 year old son who reads the read a louds to the younger boys for me and my 11 year old using Bigger is in the transition of working more indepedently.

I also use a wonderful phonics program that allows my little ones to work independently on the computer and my 11 year old son uses Time4Learning for his math and LA which is independent. So these things make my life much easier.

All that to say, I would never normally encourage using more than one program, but I feel confident that you would do fine using two if you needed to. You really could combine this year though, but if you need to seperate them next year it would not be a big deal.

If you did decide to use two programs I would almost tell you to go with "Little Hands" for your younger and "Little Hearts" for your older. I mean only you know your daughter, but if you do "Beyond" this year, Bigger might be too much the following year.

I would rather have my child working at a level that lets me immerse and embrace the material than always being challenged as this can become discouraging.

HTH,
Aunt Mary

Edited to add: Check w/ me in 6mos to make sure I still feel this way

jcsngirls · Post by **jcsngirls** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:56 pm

Thanks for the great info, MamaMary and others. I think I am struggling most with this decision because my K is reading now and will definitely be ready for the Emerging Readers books by summer. She told us on the way to church today how excited whe was because she finally finished reading "The Beginner's Bible". This is the child who reading just clicked with her and she took off! My younger one (4 1/2) knows all her letters and sounds but is definitely not putting letters together into words.

SO, should I do the Little Hearts with both and just use the Emerging Readers schedule for the older one? Do I need to worry about LA for her?

My older one is a voracious learner and my younger one is the life of the party so I just want to make sure that I have enough "umph" for my 6 year old without overwhelming the 5 year old! Oh, I just think I'm making this too complicated. I'll keep praying and trusting in the One who knows my children best! Surely, clarity will come soon!

Thanks again for all the help. I love how warm and friendly these boards are! And I love the Hodies...that cracks me up!

blessedmomof4 · Post by **blessedmomof4** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 3:04 pm

Hi! I still think that Little Hearts for His Glory would be perfect for your girls. The target range really is K to 1, it will be just right, I think. You would need a complete phonics program for the K, and age-appropriate math for each girl. You could choose the Grade 1 science text and use it for both. You would use the Rod and Staff workbooks with the K, and the Thinking Skills for the 1st grader (see Fine Motor Skills). You would use handwriting books at their respective levels. They would use the same History and Storytime books. They would both use the devotions book and the Bible memory CD. You might consider adding just the Beyond Little Hearts manual so you can have the emerging reader's schedule and hands-on activities for Singapore Math 1A and 1B, which would mean you would only need the workbooks for that, and it wouldn't be a waste because you would use the whole manual the following year when they are in grades 1 and 2. By then you could add Drawn into the Heart of Reading 2/3 for your older girl, and the Bigger Hearts Manual for hands-on math activities for Singapore 2A and 2B, and use the emerging readers for the younger one. (Once you get to Singapore 3A and 3B and up, there is a schedule for using the texts and workbooks in the higher level HOD manuals-Carrie isn't writing hands-on beyond Level 2B, so you would then need both the texts and workbooks).
Sorry-I'm big on thinking ahead

Just wanted to add, that even though a child is an advanced reader, doesn't always make them ready to do intense work-I made that mistake with my oldest, who started reading on his own at 3 and a half-I thought he was automatically ready to do full-blown school-boy was I wrong! I wish I had HOD at the time, because he would have still learned what he needed to know, and still enjoyed being a little boy, without me overwhelming him with things he wasn't ready for-thankfully, after a year of that, I backed off and found a much gentler program (almost as good as HOD, but not quite

)
That's my $.02

I'm sure you will make a good decision-choosing is hard, but once you get your hands on this program, it'll be smooth sailing

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 9:07 pm

I ditto absolutely everything Lourdes just said! She hit the nail right on the head, and I think that she gave some excellent advice. I think this will be a great balance for your 2 dc with the choices Lourdes mentioned. But, what are you thinking now?

jcsngirls · Post by **jcsngirls** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:05 pm

Lourdes, thank you so much for taking the time to post - it was a confirmation of what I've been feeling. It is so amazing because I have been thinking these last couple of weeks exactly what you said... about how my K girl is a great reader but she is not ready for all the LA stuff that my current curriculum recommends doing. I've lately been feeling like I'm robbing her of the FUN of kindergarten with all this LA stuff I'm "supposed" to do to go along with the readers. I've just now started ditching the stuff that is over the top but it's taken me 24 weeks to get to that point! Can you tell it's my first year??

Anyway, these thoughts are the thoughts that brought me to HOD and got me SOOO excited about this curriculum! This looks like it will be so much more fun than what I'm doing now!

My3sons you are right - this was excellent advice and I'm going with it! I'm going to get the Little Hearts for the main curriculum and get the Beyond so I have the Singapore 1A & 1B activities and the Emerging Readers Schedule. And then I'll be all set to do Beyond the next year! Now I'm really excited about what we'll be doing!

Thank you so much to everyone for helping me reason this out! DH is great but certainly gets a little bleary-eyed when I'm trying to explain all the differences!

I appreciate the wisdom you all have shared! What a great group of ladies...I'm excited to be joining in on the fun!