choosing the right level

[mer]

I am interested in purchasing HOD for my children, however I have been having trouble choosing which one(s). I have a 7 year old daughter going into 2nd grade and a 5 year old son going into Kindergarten. My question is, should I combine the two with one level(Bigger) and do the math, reading, phonics instruction separately or get 2 separate levels altogether. My son is just beginning 100 easy lessons for reading and has finished the Get ready, Get set,Go for the Code books and is doing very basic math. My daughter is an emerging reader who still needs more phonics instruction and has almost finished level B in Rightstart Math. I like the info in Little Hearts, but wonder if it's too easy for my daughter. I also wonder if my son would be lost in some of the lessons in Bigger?. Also, how does it work doing 2 different levels at the same time? This will be the first time both of my children will need a full days worth of curriculum. What does a day look like and what is the best way to complete a days worth of work? Any information would be helpful. I look forward to your comments! Thanks!!!

[pollo_la]

The best way to get a feel for what you should do is to tell us where each of your children fit on the placement chart. http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php Once we know where each of your kiddos place on the chart, then we will get a better feel for if you should put them in seperate programs, or which program would work best to combine them. So far, based on what you have said, if you were to combine them I would think that Little Hearts would be the best option for that. I know several people who have talked about using it with a 7 year old and there is plenty of "meat" there for them. But again, take a peak at the placement chart and let us know where your kids place and then we can help you better.

[srp1997]

Hi mer ,

Welcome aboard! I am finishing my first year with HOD using Bigger. We have soo enjoyed Bigger with ds 9/10 and ds 7, however, I would not encourage you to combine your 7 and 5 yo in it. I think your 5 yo might be too young for that book and, if you plan to move on to the next guide, Preparing has more independent work which would be too hard for a 6 yo. I think he would fit better in one of the Little Hearts books. Everyone loves the Little Hearts books. If you wanted to combine, I would choose LHFHG. Your 7 yo could do Bigger and 5 yo could do LHFHG half speed until you felt comfortable with doing two guides. Carrie and Julie will say the placement guide is the key. It's on the website and in the catalogue. Look there and see where you think your kiddos will fit in best. As for schedules, everyone's day is different but Julie gave me this link which will give you some great ideas. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&p=16049

I hope this helps. If you have other specific questions, ask. I know I had/have about a hundred.
Sarah

[WigglesMom]

I am combining LHFHG with my ds6 and dd7. She does the left side (history, science, and Bible) with him and the storytime (she likes the Thornton Burgess stories). Then for the right side we are using BHFHG for math and dictation. I also bought a Learn at Home Grade 3 for her language arts (english), spelling, and reading. The BHFHG guide has the emerging readers schedule in it.
I'm not sure if you are wanting a schedule breakdown of someone's day or just how the day looks in LHFHG. You can download a week of each of the guides to look at as well as the introductions to give you a really good idea of what they entail and what is required to teach them.http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/little ... -intro.pdf http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/little ... t-week.pdf BHFHG http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/beyond ... -intro.pdf http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/beyond ... t-week.pdf
Our day begins with me working with dd7 on her cursive and math. DS6 has playtime in his room during this time. DS6 then does either the R&S or handwriting book for LHFHG (they alternate daily). Then I do the left side of LHFHG and the storytime box with them both. After that, I do either spelling or dictation with dd7. Then we do recess for about 45 minutes. I then do reading and language skills with dd7 and she is done for the day. Sometimes lunch is before reading and language skills. ds6 gets computer time after recess then we have lunch then after finishing with dd7 I do phonics (the reading lesson) with ds6 followed by math. Then his day is over as well.
I was nervous about it being enough for my dd7 also, but it is working really well for us so far. http://ourtidbitsoflearning.blogspot.co ... -week.html
I do think the placement chart will help you to really decide. I chose to combine my ds6 and dd7 because of how well they get along together. Your daughter still falls in the age range for LHFHG and you can beef it up or do the right side of BLHFHG or BHFHG with her depending on where she falls on the placement.
Hope this helps.
Val

[mer]

Thanks for the replys so far-they are great! I noticed when I was checking the charts that I had stated wanting to try to combine my 5 yo and 7 yo in bigger, I meant to say beyond not bigger. That may clear up some of the confusion. My daughter is 7 yo and is finishing phonics, an emerging reader, knows and can form all the letters and is writing sentences. She is ready for grammar practice and is already doing math concepts on a 2nd grade level. My son is 5 yo and is ready for phonics instruction, learning to form letters and is ready to begin formal math instruction. He loves the reading that we do and is always interested in hands on activities that we have done. That all to say would it be best to do LHFHG with my son and BLHFHG with my daughter, or would it be possible to just get BLHFHG to do with both of them and add their own math and lang. arts lessons? I guess it would be possible to do LHFHG with both of them too, is it "meaty" enough for my 2nd grader though? I know so many questions, just trying to sort it all out in my mind and choose the best and easiest route to take this year.

[Carrie]

mer,

Ah! I'm so glad that you shared that your daughter fits better in Beyond instead of Bigger now as I was thinking the same thing! I agree that if you place your kiddos separately, your daughter would fit best in Beyond and your son would fit best in LHFHG. If you choose to combine them, you would most likely place both in LHFHG for the left-side of LHFHG and the storytime and then add on the right side of Beyond to up the math, emerging reader, spelling, and grammar portions of your daughter's day. If you do put your 7 turning 8 year old in LHFHG, you will have to know that your child is pretty much growing out of the target age range of the guide, so you'd want to make sure you adjust accordingly to have it fit her well. Most likely, you'd add some of the optional additional books listed in the Appendix of LHFHG as a start. I wouldn't place both kiddos in Beyond, as you'd find that while they may be able to go through Beyond together, the following year Bigger Hearts will be way too much for your then 6 year old son.

When deciding whether to combine or not, it's important to look at several factors. Take a look at how well your kiddos combine personality-wise and compatibility wise. Take a look at how the older would feel about doing school with the younger. Also, note what kind of teacher you are and what your preferences are for your kiddos and your school day. Take note of what other outside activities or unique situations affect your ability to do more than one program (i.e. a move, a family illness, chronic medical problems, working part-time, number of kiddos, how you handle stress etc.). Last, consider your own personality type and whether you'd rather combine and have a shorter school day (adding if needed which takes extra time and planning) or would rather have everything at each child's level and just open and go but have a bit longer school day.

If you have thoughts you'd like to share as you ponder, feel free!

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Hi Mer, and welcome to the HOD board! It sounds like you are well on your way to placing your dc. Whatever you choose, HOD has a fantastic line of programs! If you are wanting to combine, I think you surely can with Carrie's suggestions in mind. If you are already thinking LHFHG will not be enough for your older and are uneasy about that, I'd teach them separately for now with the thought of combining them later. You'll know what fits your family best!

In Christ,
Julie