heartofdakota.com

Okay, I've been lurking for a while and I've felt prompted to post and ask some questions. First of all, background: I am not homeschooling yet, but I hope to next year. For the last 11 years I have been a 7th grade reading/language arts/social studies teacher. I enjoy my work, but lately I have really felt as though God has put a call on my heart to homeschool my children. I just feel like they are growing so fast, and the time is flying by and I think they need more of me. The problem is, my husband is a firefighter and we really need my salary to survive. The other option is for him to work a second job at the hospital on his off days, but that's not a sacrifice I'm willing to make. If the cost of me being at home is him never being home and being exhausted all the time, it's not worth it. Our boys need their dad around too. So I have been praying diligently for God to give me discernment about this issue so I can see what his will is here (you know how sometimes when we want something so badly we sometimes "interpret" things as being from God because we want them to be? well I don't want to do that). However, I still feel like God is speaking to me and telling me this is what he wants. So for now, I am continuing to pray and hope, because I know if it is His will, He will make a way.

So, I've been doing some research to prepare,just in case, and I have become very drawn to HOD. However, I know that if we do this, I definitely want to combine my kids as much as possible, especially for history/stories/bible etc. My boys will be 3rd grade (8y.o.) and 6th grade (11y.o.) next year. My 6th grader is gifted, especially in the area of reading/langauge arts/comprehension etc. He is currently finishing the last book in the Inkheart trilogy for his reading. Looking at the placement chart, he really seems to fit into Preparing. However, he has never done dictation before and penmanship is an area of weakness for him. My younger boy is more on the average area in reading/language arts although he has excellent comprehension skills and is what I would call a "deep thinker". He is just really starting to read early chapter books. Reading was difficult for him and something we have worked on a lot at home. Penmanship is an area of weakness for him too. Both of my boys love being read to, and our house is full of books. They enjoy learning new things. I am wondering if Bigger would be a good place to start them? I think Preparing would be too difficult for my younger, but I'm not sure if Bigger is enough for my older. I noticed that in the extension pack there is a 5th grade text book included. Is that used as a "spine" so to speak, that complements the regular Bigger plans? What about the geography activities? Are there suggested ways to "beef that up"? ( I think the placing the continents on a ball activity would be great for my younger, but my older is a little beyond that). I would use my own lang. arts/math/spelling etc. as I have plenty of materials for that already.

Please let me know what you think, any input (and prayers would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brandy

Brandy,
Just wanted to say welcome to the boards!

This is my first year to homeschool so I don't feel "qualified" to give you any advice.

I pray that God will give you discernment in the direction you desire to go with your family. If homeschooling is truly what GOD wants you to do HE will provide a way. But I do understand about truly knowing whether your desires and His Will are the same.

I know that you will get some wonderful advice from the wise ladies on this board!!

Thanks, I really appreciate that. I just want to be sure what I am doing follows the path he has laid out for me, because I know that utlimately, no matter what my personal desires are, keeping my family on His path is what's most important! I am hopeful about homeschooling and I know God can do amazing things in our lives, so I am waiting (and trying to be patient )

In the meantime, researching curriculum is fun and it keeps me occupied!

just bumping

Brandy,

Welcome! My prayer for you is that God will make is His will for you crystal clear and that the obstacles will be cleared. From my own experience I can tell you that God can do amazing things!! I had the homeschooling bug placed in me before my dc were even born but for my husband it took until my dd completed one year of pre-school for him to be on board. I still work outside the home, so it is doable but by no means easy and I have help. My work schedule always me to homeschool during the day and work at night and my mother lives with us so she is on hand to help out. All this to say, God will make a way if it is His will but it may not look the way you hope for, like being able to stay home.

I wish I could help you with your other questions, but I'm out of my depth in regards to Bigger. You could check-out "A Child's Geography Vol. 1" for more challenging geography for your older son. On the other hand, running 2 programs may the best way to go with your two boys. I know that if you continue in your prayers God will give you answers to all your questions. Blessings!

Brandy,

Welcome to the boards! We're glad to have you here and appreciate you sharing your heart for us. I'll say a prayer that the Lord will clearly reveal His will for you in the schooling arena and that you'll have peace with your decision.

As far as your kiddos go, I am going to ask you to take a look at the placement chart and tell me where your kiddos fall on the first page of the chart. Here's a link: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Once you get a chance to pop back in and share that information (especially for reading, writing, math, grammar), we can all toss around possible options that would work for your kiddos and your family best. Right now I'm leaning toward either Bigger Hearts, with the need to add some additional material for your 6th grader, or toward doing 2 programs most likely Bigger and CTC. However, I'd love to hear more about where you think your kiddos place on chart in the 3R's (all combining scenarios aside).

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi Carrie,
Thank you so much for responding. In looking at the placement chart, in the area of reading, I would say my younger ds falls into the Bigger category, he is reading short chapter books on his own, but very slowly, and with support. My older ds definitely falls into HFHTH, he is a voracious reader and he can pretty much read any book I hand him. His comprehension is good, but I do want him to slow down and work on literary elements, and I think DITHOR would be great for that.

In math: both of my children are at, if not a little above grade level. Math is a strong area for them. I would say that my younger is in the PHFHG area here, with my older in HFHTH. However, I do know that a spiral math program does NOT work for my children. They find the format very frustrating. They need a mastery-type program. Fortunately, I do have materials already that I can use in this area.

IN grammar: this is an area that, unfortunately, does not receive a lot of attention in school. My younger ds would be in the Bigger area for this. He has done some work with basic parts of speech and punctuation, but that is about it. My older ds would be in PHFHG here. He has had more exposure to grammar than his brother, but still hasn't had extensive work on this. Because I teach English I do have materials I can use for this as well.

In writing: This is any area of weakness for both of my children, not for content, they make up and write excellent stories (even my younger) but penmanship is a struggle for them both. Handwriting itself is laborious (almost painful) and it is one of those things we struggle with daily. My younger ds still needs work on manuscript handwriting and my older can write in both manuscript and cursive, but in order for it to be readable he has to go very, very slowly. Neither of my children have had much exposure to dictation.

I'm really hoping I'll be able to combine, even if it's only for the left side of the plans and storytime/DITHOR. (and I'm hoping to be able to take both of my boys through the next guides together too). But of course, I want to make sure both of my kids get "enough". I do have materials I can use for the "learning the basics" portion of the program if my children need more.
Thanks for the help,
Brandy

Brandy,

I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten you! Thanks so much for sharing more about your sweet boys. We've just finished up our Texas convention this evening, and we'll most likely be back on the board tomorrow evening after we drive as far as we can get toward home tomorrow. So, I'll pop back in tomorrow evening to work through catching up on more of the board and will have better advice then I would tonight (with the weary thinking I'm doing now)!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,
I totally understand, conventions can be fun, but also totally exhausting (My school used to send me to the Florida Reading Conference every year, and somehow I always felt I spent most of the weekend kind of glazed over from all the stuff going on ). I appreciate your willingness to help. Get some rest and get back to me when you can.
Brandy

Brandy,
Welcome the HOD Board! We have similar life stories, so I can easily place myself in your shoes as you describe your life. I also taught in ps (for 7 years), and had just gotten my master's degree when I felt God tugging at my heart to homeschool. It was not an easy decision, and my dh took a bit of time to come along with that idea, but 7 years later, here we are happily in our 7th. year of homeschooling! Our mighty God is powerful, and the God of possibilities.

Thank you for sharing about your dc. That really helps with placement. From what you've shared, I am thinking you could combine your dc in Bigger Hearts, with your older ds doing Bigger Heart's extensions and the right side of HFHTT - CTC (but not CTC's Geography of the Bible Lands or Genesis Finding Your Roots, or the poetry, since you'd want to save those for when he's gets to CTC later). I think this is a good placement because it will meet your dc's needs very well, and it will give your ds's time to grow in their writing skills before doing PHFHG. Your younger ds would begin learning cursive, could do R & S English 2 for his grammar, could do either Singapore 2A/2B or 3A/3B for his math (both are included in the Bigger Hearts plans), and either the Emerging Reader's Set schedule (in Bigger Heart's Appendix) or DITHOR Level 2/3. He would love Bigger Hearts, and it would challenge him but not push him too hard.

For your older ds, the Bigger Hearts history/science extensions would be good for him. He would be challenged by using CTC's Language arts - Write with the Best for writing, the science, dictation, higher level grammar, either DITHOR Level 4/5 or 6/7/8, etc. The left side of Bigger Hearts would give him time to work on his writing skills within notebooking, and he would enjoy doing these plans with his younger brother.

I know others will chime in - but that's what I'm thinking thus far. I will pray for God to make clear what it is you should do! You cannot go wrong with HOD; it is just a joy to do with your dc. Praying for your decision!

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,
Thank you so much for the advice. I was hoping I would be able to do something like that. So, if I use the right side of an older guide now, how does that work when I actually get to that guide in the future? You don't repeat the same things do you?
If we use the extension pack, are the textbooks in there used as a sort of "spine" to add on to the history already included in Bigger? Like, will my older son listen to the history I read from bigger and then go read some from the additional text on his own? and then read from one of the chapter books?
Thanks for answering my questions!
Brandy

brandyb wrote:Julie,
Thank you so much for the advice. I was hoping I would be able to do something like that. So, if I use the right side of an older guide now, how does that work when I actually get to that guide in the future? You don't repeat the same things do you?
If we use the extension pack, are the textbooks in there used as a sort of "spine" to add on to the history already included in Bigger? Like, will my older son listen to the history I read from bigger and then go read some from the additional text on his own? and then read from one of the chapter books?
Thanks for answering my questions!
Brandy

If you use the right side of an older guide now, you'd just continue using the next older guide's right side of plans the next year. So, your 2 dc would always be doing the left side with extensions of a guide together, but they'd move through their separate right side plans of different guides sequentially from their starting place. That way, you'd never repeat the same right side of plans.

If you use the extension packs, yes - they are additional history/science readings to add on to the history already included in Bigger. So, your older son would listen to the history you read and then read his extensions on his own. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Brandy,

If you were to place your kiddos separately I would place them in Bigger Hearts and CTC. This is not an option that is overwhelming, as CTC is quite independent and doing 2 programs that fit your kiddos well is definitely something to weigh in finding the best fit for your kiddos.

Ultimately, if it is your heart's desire to combine, then I would recommend either the scenario that my3son's outlined or possibly the scenario of combining your kiddos within Preparing Hearts and adding the right side of CTC for your older instead. The main deciding factor in choosing between Bigger and Preparing Hearts (in the combining scenario) would be the area of written work.

When you mentioned that writing was an area of weakness for both of your boys, I'm wanting to clarify whether you meant in the area of penmanship or in the area of actual written work. So, I guess I'm really needing to know whether your boys struggle with being neat or whether written work is a struggle because they dislike it or have a tough time completing the assignment (such as copying several sentences or a paragraph, writing a written narration/summary, completing a creative writing assignment, etc.).

This will make a big difference in which of the options above would fit your boys best. So, if you get a chance to get back to me with your thoughts on the placement options above and your insights on writing that would be great.

Blessings,
Carrie

HI Carrie,
Thanks for responding. Let's see, I guess what I mean is that the actual process of writing is problematic for my children. For example: when my second grader does his grammar homework and has to recopy sentences and add punctuation, it's a chore. He either has to go very slowly, to make his handwriting legible, or he has to redo it a few times, which leads to tears. What we've been doing is just have him add the punctuation without copying the sentence. It is a similar story with my older son. If he has to write a 5-paragraph essay for school, I either have to stand there and make sure he writes slowly and neatly (which can take a while) or he scribbles it down and has to redo it. Both of my children have good ideas for writing stories and they are able to complete grammar excercises etc. at their grade level, but writing neatly is difficult. This concerns me when it comes to copywork/dictation. It's something they really aren't familiar with and I am concerned it will dissolve into an argument when I have to make them write it again.

bumping..hoping for more input...