heartofdakota.com

Carrie has given me a lot of information, but I am always so wishy washy on stuff like this. I like to have several opinions and as many facts as I can to make these decisions (I won't have the money to buy a different level if the first one wasn't 'right')

My dd's are going into 4th grade next year- 9 will be 1 in Sept, and going into 2nd grade next year 7 will be 8 in Jan. I also have b/g twins who will be 5 in Jan (probably not working with them yet) and a little boy who will be 3 in Nov. We are expecting a new baby in Aug (the last ones are more background so you can know more about our situation) We were previously using cyber charter school that utilized k12 curriculum- this curriculum does history from the fertile crescent forward. I would prefer to combine as much as I can for the girls.

I have looked at the placement chart- this is where I am wishy washy. My youngest dd who is going into 2nd grade: She reads independentaly from books like Danny and the Dinosaur, Frog and Toad, Picture of Owl's room. In looking at the Emerging Reader package- She reads from an EarlyReader's BIble and a Devotions for YOung kids book (so I assuming she has covered units 1-10). The listed books, she has probably already read or read a very similar book for units 10-14. THe remaining units she has not specifically read. Now it seems easy enough I can simply order only the readers she needs or substitute? Since my older dd will have DITHOR- I can advance my dd as she is ready? But should I start at the beginning and simply substitute comparable on that level for what she has already read?- or should I substitute with slightly more advanced like are found at the end of the emerging reader series?

Ok moving on to place her- Writhing- I would not say she has mastered manuscript- she still reverses a very few letters. However, she was sitting down the other day wanting to do cursive with her sister. She has been doing copywork all this year, and she writes to a penpal so she has me dictate to her- usually having me spell words as she writes. She does compose her own sentences (though the spelling is not always accurate). She has had to compose sentences for her history record book, in letters she writes, she writes us notes... She has not had spelling words per say before, but they had her in phonics doing spelling phonetically and she hated that. (she did not study the words in advance...)

She has had an introduction to noun, verb, verb agreement, we work on mad libs so she has had that as an introduction to parts of speech also.

My older dd is currently reading Charolette's Web (on her own). This year she also read Stone Fox, Sarah Plain and Tall, and A lion to Guard us (all for school, all with no problems at all). She enjoys magic treehouse books and reads those in 1 sitting. I know she will place in DITHOR, but what level? I am very confused as I do not recognize most on the 2/3 reading list or the 4/5 reading list- this dd has already read stone fox which appears on the 2/3 list. THe books she has read for school this year fall at 3.2, 4.2, and 4.9 - could not find grade level indicator for A Lion to Guard us.) She would 'choose' something more like magic school bus or magic tree house which fall between 2.1-3.2- however, she has had no problems reading the other books.

WRiting- she HATES compostion. She has been doing cursive, but generally chooses to print. She has not learned connecting letters in cursive, only individual letters. Her current work has required her to write a personal experience narrative, write to a prompt, write a report... she HATED all these assignments, and I do not feel she 'mastered' any of them. She does create and write out stories, journal entries, letters (all printed)

She has covered basic parts of speech... we work on mad libs... She has in composition been covering using more descriptive words, better word choices and such... She speaks well (proper use of words)- she has covered many homophones meat, meet, see, sea, and knows those well. She is solid in verb agreement, and covered tenses of verbs briefly.

So far, IMO, I think my younger falls in either Beyond Little Hearts or Bigger Hearts. My older falls I believe in either Preparing (possibly in Hearts for him- especially in reading??) but might even fall in Bigger??

Now placing in math- that has been very confusing for me. The descriptions on the placement chart don't make sense to me. I tried looking at singapores placement evals- but I think their math must be laid out very different than what we have done, because it seems my kids could whip through some of the questions, and stare blanky at the other half on any given assessment. My younger dd is working on learning place value, and adding 2 digit numbers, subtracting a one digit from a 2 digit..she has worked on space figures and plain figures, perimeter done in paperclips, measuring, basic volume (which holds more...) We have worked with money concept- basic, counting by 5,s and 10,s.....

My oldest, is learning her multiplication and division facts to 9, next she works on multiplying a 2 digit number by a 1 digit number. She has done comparing larger numbers, fractions, adding fractions, comparing fractions....

History-- neither have had US history really at all. Youngest has covered fertile crescent to ancient Egypt and such. Older covered teh ancients and is now up to the age of exploration- just starting to 'discover america'...

We have not previously had alot of formal Bible study for any consistant time. WE have memorized alitle, we have done some copywork, we read the Bible every night, we have had the girls read to us. MY oldest just recently requiested and received a real Bible (not a kids) to read on her own.

Carrie had suggested Bigger Hearts with the add on for older students (and of course the DITHOR? I THink?) Does this sound about write? Sorry I just am no good at these forms. I am going to go try to have them take some tests for the math, but I am not real hopeful as from lookinng at them it really seemed that they had covered half of this one, and half of this one....

Thanks so much!
Brenda

Bigger with the extensions sounds like a good placement for your dc. The Bigger guide has the emerging reader schedule so you could start your younger dc off with that, at the place she is at which is probably about halfway and then move her into DITHOR. If your dc haven't had American History, you certainly want to have that covered before you move on to more world history. As for math placement, you should definitely test your dc and then place them accordingly. Each year of Singapore is divided into an A and B level so you could start in B of a level if that's how they place, or you could move through the levels and skip or skim over what you dc already know.

I was thinking Bigger would be a good place to combine, too. Glad to see that is what Carrie had recommended. We will be starting Bigger in a few weeks and I can't wait. I already have the manual and have been reading it....oh so good!
We made the switch to Singapore a few months ago. My oldest ds 8 (going to be 9 in the fall) placed into 1B. He knew alot of the information but hadn't had any division (switched from MUS). We did the entire book just slowing down when we came to something new. I was worried he would complain (his younger brother placed into the same book) but he didn't. Actually he loves math now!!!! And I can see that he is grasping concepts better. Even ones I felt he already knew, thanks to the review and the different thinking in Singapore. We are now in 2A moving at the same pace. The activities Carrie as scheduled has been very valuable. My son is not a hands on learner but he likes them....
Hope this helps...

As I was reading your post, I was thinking Bigger. I was so glad to see that that is what Carrie recommended too.

Brenda - Thank you for sharing about your dc! That really helps all of us chime in on placement issues and give a more accurate answer. I also agree that Bigger Hearts (with extensions) would be a good placement to combine your dc. We did Bigger Hearts last year - and oh, are you in for some fun! What a wonderful year is ahead of you!

For your younger dd, I would really consider going through the Emerging Reader's Set, even though she has read comparable titles already. My ds had been able to read more than 2/3 of the set at the point I started at the beginning of the Emerging Reader's Set, and I decided to go through the set anyway, because building reading comprehension is a very important skill set, and this set does it better than for beginning readers than anything else I've tried. At the very least, you'd want to start in the middle and move through that through the end. Reading well out loud is not the same as comprehending well - and we found this set along with the questions to be the link to the next skill of analyzing literature through story element study, etc. that comes next in Drawn into the Heart of Reading. It is just such a solid way to build reading comprehension - plus it is just one great set of books to go through!

Thanks for sharing about your dd's writing. I think she should do the spelling list in Bigger Hearts. The CM style activities teach dc to constantly be asking if "it looks right". The model give on the index cards for spelling, as well as the copywork, will make for a solid way to build your dd's writing skills. You could have her do either A Reason for Handwriting A or Italic B to continue solidifying her manuscript. If you are thinking you'd like to have her start cursive, Cheerful Cursive was wonderful for our ds. I'd lean toward the manuscript first, but you will know best. For grammar, it sounds like she'd place in R & S 2. We did that along with Bigger and enjoyed it very much.

For your older dd, the extensions will do a beautiful job of beefing up history and science. It sounds like she'd place well in Level 2/3 of DITHOR because she doesn't love writing, and this part of DITHOR has to do with their level of independence and their level of writing. She sounds like she'd place well in the Level 3 Book Pack, but if you really want to challenge her - she could do Level 4/5 Girl Interest. I'd do a year of this to get her a firm foundation (especially in the story elements study), and then next year move her up to Level 4/5 Student Book. You could either put her in R & S 2 and do this together along with your younger dd so they could be on the same grammar, or you could do R & S 3 with her.

For math, giving the Singapore placement test will be well worth your time. It doesn't take long and is accurate. I'd start with Level 2 and work up or down through the tests as needed until you find her placement. If she places in a "B' (like, for example 2B), she can start with that and finish with 3A. Wherever she places is where I'd start her. Singapore is known to be advanced. Here is a link to that placement chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

For history, hooray! American History sounds like a great fit, and should be a year full of wonderful learning. You will surely love the Bible! That's so neat that your dd got her own Bible - she will learn to treasure it, and she will put it to good use with Bigger Hearts.

HOD is such a blessing. I think you have a good placement for combining your dc, and Bigger Hearts is just a gem of a program. If you get a chance to share what you're thinking and if you have other questions, be sure to ask away here. We are passionate about helping moms get a custom HOD fit for their families.

In Christ,
Julie