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Allrighty mama's! Just when I think I have things figured out, I get the HOD catalog and all my plans go *poof*!! LOL

I will be teaching a 9yo DD (almost finished w/3rd), 7yoDS (almost finished w/ 1st) and an almost 5yo DS (just doing basic pre-K right now) and I have a 2yo DD tagging along with us!

There is no way that I can do 3 programs at once, so who do I combine? My oldest is a strong reader, but struggling speller and this makes her weary of doing much writing. My 7yoDS is still learning to read, nowhere near fluent yet. I think we'll continue phonics instruction through the summer and into next fall. My little guy knows the alphabet and knows most of the letters by sight and their sound. He has also been doing basic copywork of the alphabet. I'll continue with our math program (MUS) for all of the children. We've used R&S English and it didn't go over very well, so I think we'll continue with Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons.

So, tell me what I need, who to combine and into what program, and anything else you think I need to know. Oh..do the older programs include writing/spelling instruction?

Thanks!

HOD has a way of "poofing" lots of moms' plans! It's incredible isn't it?! Welcome to the boards

Have you checked out the placement chart? Can you and then let us all know where each child places individually? This will help us better in the brainstorming for combining. My first thought is Bigger for the 9yo. Writing is there, but it's hidden within fun stuff for the most part. Spelling is dictation and is very casual and non-intimidating, as well as highly effective. Starts off rather easy and progresses at a good pace with your child's successes.

Then 7 and 5yo in LHFHG, phonics for the 5yo (I personally prefer Reading Made Easy with the workbooks) and K options for math/handwriting/thinking skills. Complete phonics for the 7yo and move into the Emerging Readers set using the schedule for them in the appendix of Bigger. 1st grade options for math/handwriting/thinking skills.

You don't have to add grammar lessons in for the youngers-- and when they are in Beyond, there are gentle grammar lessons included once per week. For your older, I'm curious how you implemented R&S? Most of us here have children who actually enjoy (some just tolerate) R&S b/c we do it orally and/or on the white board together. Then dc either do the worksheet or do a 1-3 sentences from each section either on paper or the white board. It takes about 15 minutes total, unless it's my dd...then she doodles and dawdles and takes 30. I've used PLL and find my children to highly prefer R&S now Also, dictation, copywork, oral and written narration, and the like are all included in the LA portion of HOD and many times, copywork links to the lesson (like through poetry or notebooking). Narration ties in with Bible and History with the character trait lessons in the story time box. Much of PLL or of HOD would have to be dropped in order to not be doing too much of a good thing! R&S provides a great balance with just the grammar portion and some writing lessons (letters, envelopes,...not creative as that comes later) and Level 2 can be used in 3rd grade for a very gentle intro.

HTH! Let us know how they fare on the placement test! If you have more questions, this board is wonderful to gather wisdom and advice from.

I'm looking at the placement chart:

My almost 5yo DS places in the LHFHG all the way down.

My 7 yo DS, finishing 1st grade places in beyond for reading, writing and grammar, but is ahead in math.

My 9yo DD, finishing 3rd grade places in preparing for reading, and writing (except for composition) and places in bigger for grammar.

Here's one idea.
5 yo - LHGHG
7 yo - Bigger with right side of Beyond (lang. arts and math - could use Bigger plans for math if advanced)
9 yo - Bigger with extensions

Sounds like you have already gotten some great options! I just wanted to say welcome and that I am doing LHFHG with a 5 year old and a 7 year old. We started when they were almost 4 and 6 and I stretched it out using the appendix and reading the Ergermeier's Story Bible chronologically and adding some of the books from the appendix but still kept phonics and math going at a regular pace. Now they are both really getting going with reading. I am thinking by September they should both be ready for Beyond. It has worked out wonderfully for us. I did it this way because in the long run I felt they would be good to keep together once we were done with phonics. I like to think long term since we know we are going to stay with HOD for as long as they write them.

LoveBaby wrote:...I will be teaching a 9yo DD (almost finished w/3rd), 7yoDS (almost finished w/ 1st) and an almost 5yo DS (just doing basic pre-K right now) and I have a 2yo DD tagging along with us!

There is no way that I can do 3 programs at once, so who do I combine? My oldest is a strong reader, but struggling speller and this makes her weary of doing much writing. My 7yoDS is still learning to read, nowhere near fluent yet. I think we'll continue phonics instruction through the summer and into next fall. My little guy knows the alphabet and knows most of the letters by sight and their sound. He has also been doing basic copywork of the alphabet. I'll continue with our math program (MUS) for all of the children. We've used R&S English and it didn't go over very well, so I think we'll continue with Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons.

My almost 5yo DS places in the LHFHG all the way down.

My 7 yo DS, finishing 1st grade places in beyond for reading, writing and grammar, but is ahead in math.

My 9yo DD, finishing 3rd grade places in preparing for reading, and writing (except for composition) and places in bigger for grammar.

So, tell me what I need, who to combine and into what program, and anything else you think I need to know. Oh..do the older programs include writing/spelling instruction?

Thanks!

Welcome to the HOD Board, LoveBaby! We are so glad to have you here. The ladies are doing a super job of helping you out with some ideas here. We like to do this because HOD makes it possible to customize programs for an individual best fit for families.

I've been reading this over and praying for you. Your 7 yo could go either way - either up to be with older dd or down to be with younger ds. I'm leaning toward this idea so far...

9 yo dd does Bigger Hearts, which would allow her to grow into the writing required later for PHFHG and would fit her well all around (if she'd love a reading challenge, you could have her do the BHFHG extension package, but I'd be more apt to challenge her with DITHOR titles instead)

5 and 7 yo do LHFHG together for the left side; 5 yo does right side of LHFHG; 7 yo does right side of Beyond Little Hearts using the Emerging Reader's Set and schedule, the grammar on the fifth day, spelling list 1; also 7 yo could use math plans from Bigger Hearts

This would fit all of them so well, and these programs are so great! I taught this combo a few years back and the kids and I loved it. You'd be on a nice pace this way for the future as well. Your older would be placed correctly so she can grow into the writing and also benefit from doing Bigger Hearts as a training for doing PHFHG more independently. You could teach her to use the guide herself to move through her independent boxes, and have her read the plans with you for the semi-independent ones, holding back the teacher-directed boxes for you to use. Then, in PHFHG, she'd be used to using the guide and be able to easily do her independent boxes, as well as get going on her semi-independent assignments with a little direction first from you. You'd still do your teacher-directed boxes, but there is fewer of them in PHFHG. The next year, your older would do PHFHG, and the 2 would do Beyond (Bigger right for older of the 2), and tot would run around . By the next year, your oldest would get to CTC, your 2 little ones would be in Bigger Hearts, and your itty bitty would be in LHTH. This would be VERY doable (I'll be doing it this year.) CTC is very independent, though still keeping you in the loop - it streamlines your teaching time for the very important things for that age. You'd teach your 2 to use the Bigger guide independently - the bulk of your teaching time would be with them at this point, and your tot could do LHTH which would give you 20+ minutes of "mommy time" together. Perfect! And, you get a year off between teaching programs as well. So, this is just a thought for you to consider - you are mom, and you will know your goals best!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you so much for your replies, mama's! I really appreciate it.

So, I would need to buy 3 guides, then? Beyond, Bigger and Little?

But what about the beyond materials? I already have math and phonics, so what else would I need for my 7yo to do the right side of beyond? That's the basic side, right?

Would I be teaching 2 levels of science and history then and how much of bigger will my daughter need help with?

Julie, your post was very helpful, can you share a little bit more of what your day looked like doing the programs you suggested? How it "flowed" so to speak? That is one thing I have found the most frustrating w/ teaching 2 (soon to be 3)...they all need me at the same time!! How do you work it so it rotates a little better?

LoveBaby wrote:Thank you so much for your replies, mama's! I really appreciate it.

So, I would need to buy 3 guides, then? Beyond, Bigger and Little?

But what about the beyond materials? I already have math and phonics, so what else would I need for my 7yo to do the right side of beyond? That's the basic side, right?

Would I be teaching 2 levels of science and history then and how much of bigger will my daughter need help with?

Julie, your post was very helpful, can you share a little bit more of what your day looked like doing the programs you suggested? How it "flowed" so to speak? That is one thing I have found the most frustrating w/ teaching 2 (soon to be 3)...they all need me at the same time!! How do you work it so it rotates a little better?

You could just use 2 guides, LHFHG and Bigger Hearts and be just fine. I'm just thinking because your 7 yo is reading well (HOORAY!), you may enjoy having him do portions of the right side of Beyond I'd mentioned. If you did that, you'd just need the Beyond guide and the Emerging Reader's Set - all of the rest of it is in the Appendix of Beyond. You'd then use all of LHFHG and Bigger Hearts for the rest of your dc. This thread I'm going to link you to should be super helpful as you look ahead to planning your day:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&p=16049
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3806&p=28182

I'd love to share what I did for Bigger Hearts and LHFHG! I cannot find the past thread where I posted that, so I just copied it from my hard drive here. I apologize for its length and detail. I was trying to help a dear friend and gave as much detail as possible when typing this. Anyway, maybe something here will be helpful!

Since I just finished LHFHG and Bigger... a couple of weeks ago, what ended up working in the end is still fresh in my mind. I've also been meaning to post a detailed description of our schedule too - in the hopes that it may be of some use to those of you doing LHFHG and Bigger... next year! I'm even going to put in the WHOLE schedule we used, including chores, etc. -just because that's come up on the board too and is a constant thing for me to consider (as well as everyone else, I'm sure!) NOT that this schedule is the end all - by any means - but if any of it can be of benefit to someone, then it would be worth it!

7:30 AM: Everyone gets up and cannot head downstairs until...
*beds are made
*rooms are neat
*clean clothes on
*teeth brushed
*hair combed
*hands washed
Meanwhile, I am getting the baby up and dressed, etc.

7:45 AM: Chores - 5 yo unloads the dishwasher, 8 yo lets out the dog and does one other chore on a rotating basis

8:00 AM: 5 yo and 8 yo grab juice cups, dry cereal in cups, and dried fruit and head upstairs to eat and play until 9:00 AM
Meanwhile, I am feeding the baby and getting ready myself. Baby has time in his room in his playpen with happy play music on and lots of toys and books, and then he plays out downstairs.

9:00 AM:
Everyone must be ready for school to start. All toys upstairs should be picked up. Dog kenneled. We say a prayer all together and "x" off the date on each of our calendars, noting any special things going on for the week/month.
Baby heads upstairs to watch his Barney video in his saucer for 30 minutes.

I start teaching LHFHG to 5 yo in the living room on the couch, left side of plans first. I read the "Reading about History" box first. Then, we do the rotating bottom left hand box next (Artistic Expression, Thinking Games, Science, or Dramatic play). If there is a science reading for the day, we do that before the activity in that box.
Meanwhile, my 8 yo using Bigger... begins his independent work at the kitchen table. He does his Cheerful Cursive, Preparing to Build (he read this on his own and chose one section to write - or I told him which section I wanted him to write - and then we went over it orally later). He also did his Singapore math workbook unless there was a hands-on lesson for us to do together.

9:30 AM:
Baby comes downstairs to crawl around.
Bigger... son does his educational computer CD at the dining room table.
LHFHG son and I do "Rhymes and Motion" box, "Corresponding Music" box in the kitchen/living room. Baby loves this!
LHFHG son and I head upstairs to our master bedroom to do "Bible Study" box alone where it's quiet. Bigger... son sort of keeps an eye on crawling around baby as he does his computer (doors are shut, house pretty child-proofed).

10:00 AM:
LHFHG son must play with baby in makeshift entryroom/playroom, door shut.
Bigger... son and I read "Reading about History" assignment together on living room couch. (He ended up reading this on his own by the end of the year - he wanted to and could. ). Next, we do "History Activity" box together at kitchen table.
Last, baby and LHFHG son come out and we all sing Bigger...'s hymn together, "Corresponding Music" box, marching around the kitchen, each with a copy of our music. Baby loves this!

10:30 or 10:45 AM:
Baby goes to nap.
LHFHG son does 15 minutes of an independent educational "game" at the kitchen table. We used puzzles, A Buki color by number/dot-to-dot, scissors books, Lakeshore boxes of things, etc. After the timer rings, he switches to listening to audio books on tape for 15 minutes with headset in the kitchen (my sister, parents, and I recorded books on tape, and also I bought some audio books).
Bigger... son and I do "Poetry" box and "Bible Study" box together on living room couch.

11:00 AM:
Baby napping.
We get a snack and a drink (coffee for me, drink box for them). LHFHG and Bigger... sons and I all sit on the living room couch as I read Bigger's... "Storytime" box to everyone. Older son narrates and is responsible for whatever is planned in the box. Younger son may not interrupt older son. He understands his part in this is to enjoy his treat/drink and listen.

11:30 AM:
Baby napping.
LHFHG son and I read and do "Storytime" box in living room on couch.
Bigger... son did his Copywork in the "Language Arts" box, studied for his dictation in the "Language Arts" box, and copied his Bible verse if it was one of the days he had to do that, all at the dining room table (so he could listen in on LHFHG's Storytime as he worked).

11:45 AM:
Baby napping.
LHFHG son and I did phonics on the living room couch.
Bigger... son did 15 minutes of independent reading anywhere he wanted (NOT upstairs near napping baby though). I made a shelf of extra chapter books I owned that I wanted him to read just for enjoyment that he chose from for this time.

12:00 PM:
Baby napping or getting up to crawl around, or just happily on my hip! The rest of us were at the kitchen table.
LHFHG son started on the "Storytime Box's" writing if there was any, then also did his "Fine Motor Skills" box, and last I did hands-on "Math at the kitchen table with him.
Bigger... son and I went over "Preparing to Build" together and his hands-on math lesson (if there was one that day) at kitchen table. If there was something to do for DITHOR first for me, I did that with him too. Then, I sent him to the living room couch to read his DITHOR.

12:30 PM:
Lunch for all of us. Children help with baby as we eat a simple lunch. We have quick and easy lunches the children love, sort of on a rotation (i.e. mac & cheese, hot dogs, nachos, chicken fries, salmon patties, PB & J, ham sandwiches, frozen pancakes reheated in microwave etc. with easy fresh fruit -bananas, apples, pears, grapes; cheese slice; go-gurt, and muffin). We often listen to an audio book on tape for about 15 minutes sometime while we're eating too. (Supper is a more elaborate and is more for dh and I to enjoy than the dc.)
Middle son dustbusts high chair and under the table.
Older son clears table and loads dishwasher.
I clean baby up, change diaper, etc.

1:15 PM:
Outdoor playtime for older 2 sons. If weather doesn't permit outdoors, indoors then. Baby does downstairs playpen time for 30 minutes, sometimes with a Gaither music video on within eye range. Then, he's out and crawling around downstairs by me.
Meanwhile, I set out frozen meat to unthaw for supper if necessary. Make as much of the supper as I can, either putting it in a crock pot or getting it ready for the oven if need be. Check what my wonderful friends at the HOD board have to say, check emails, make phone calls, throw in laundry - eat chocolate chips - whatever needs to be done most.

2:00 PM:
Baby makes a real mess of things, usually standing near the tupperware drawer and chucking it over his shoulder.
LHFHG son does his educational computer CD at the dining room table.
Bigger... son finishes DITHOR if it's a workbook page day. Then, he reads science (I read to him at the beginning of the year, but he took it over by end). We do experiment, narrating, etc. for science together.

2:30 PM:
DONE WITH SCHOOL!

Boys take 15 minute turns playing with baby. I pick up whatever needs to be, return phone calls, etc.

3:00 PM:
Older boys outside or inside for playtime (probably whichever they didn't do during morning playtime). Baby plays with them or just is by me.

3:30 PM:
Baby goes to nap.
Older sons continue to play.
FREE TIME FOR ME - which means I'm probably back talking to all of you!

The rest of the evening is meant for family time and relaxing. One other thing that we started that may be of use to you is the "Cleansweep". This is something Carrie and I came up with. The children and I "sweep" through every room in the house and make sure it is all picked up and ready for school the next morning. It doesn't take long with all of us working on it together, and I feel so much better and ready for school the next morning!

One last thing, when Carrie and I were talking about schedules, we both came to the conclusion that there are 2 VERY important things we needed to keep in mind...
1. We keep the order of things the same, no matter if we got started late or got "off" somehow.
2. We keep the time allotments for things about the same, that meant no going off on tangents and taking an hour for poetry when we've planned 5-10 minutes for it, etc.

So, sometimes school started later or ended later, due to unforeseen things, or maybe even just due to their outdoor playtime going longer because it was a beautiful day... but whatever the reason may have been that the actual time we scheduled got off, all things were still done in the same order, and subjects were not skipped. This helped the dc immensely because the schedule "felt" the same, and the same amount of work was expected of them each day - no "getting out of work" if we got off the times planned for school, and also no "flipping" between different days of the HOD guide of plans either. Forward motion... that's the goal!

WHEW! I know that got very long, but if it can help someone plan their day to fit their family better - great! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

LoveBaby,

We're glad to have you here! I just wanted to welcome you too. It sounds like you are getting some wonderful placement advice and are progressing well in finding the best fit for your family.

If you have other questions, ask away. We love to help!

Blessings,
Carrie

I haven't read other responses, so pardon me if I repeat. I also have a 9 yr old finishing 3rd, a 7 yr old finishing 1st, then I have 2 4 yr olds who are just starting letter recognition/phonics, and I also have a 2 yr old, plus a baby due in Aug.

I have chosen to do Beyond with my 2 olders. I will be supplementing for my 9 yr old, because I feel she will need some additonal. I chose Beyond for a few reasons. First, I felt, like you, that it was best to combine. I did not feel I could do 3 programs- and looking ahead, if I didn't combine, I would soon be doing 4 or more programs. I had actually been searching for a program specifically that I could combine various ages when I found HOD. Second, we are having a new baby, and I felt I could successfully complete Beyond- our first year of true homeschooling, where if I went with a new programbut harder level, with a new baby, I was afraid of getting overwhelmed. Third, I really felt my younger dd needed in that Beyond level. I already knew I would be doing seperate math for each child, and seperate grammar/english, plus they would have their own 'reading'-- so that meant I was really looking at combining science, history, storytime, Bible... From what you have said, if you are not using the recommended math and english- you will be doing those seperately on your own anyway, and based on their reading levels you have listed, they will be on seperate levels there too- that is ok, (as far as I can see anyway). I am pretty sure Beyond in the reading block gives choices for phonics, emerging, or DITHOR anyway. (you basically go to whichever you are using and work in that) Neither of my dd's have had any American History- so Beyond fit nicely that way. We have not done as much as I would have liked with Bible study- so it fit nicely that way too. I have looked at the 'activities'- I was a bit worried my 9 yr old would say- ugh, that looks like for a 'baby'-- but, I asked her to look at some, and she thought they 'sound like fun' (you know how 9 yr olds can be!) I do feel my dd could use a bit more science than is offered in Beyond- so that will be part of my supplementing (I will simply help her choose some additional reading and discuss the reading with her. I thought about having her do an activity book for colonial times or a cookbook of early america, or something, plus some kind of science readers or something.)

My older dd does ok in spelling, but my younger does not. My older though, I did not feel her writing was where it should be- and she HATES math, and is slow with it, even though she 'gets' it- so I feel it is best to start lower, review, recover etc- than it is to start at a higher level and struggle. I obtained, used, most of the books for Beyond and Bigger, as well as teacher's manuals for Little hearts and little hands. After looking through the actual manuals, I do feel this will work well. Little hands was definately too young for my 9 yr old (the reading, the activities, the amount expected). Beyond is a little 'young' in some activites, but she enjoys playing with her younger siblings so, if she has to do some 'young' activities for 30 min a day it won't kill her (she will be 10 in Sept)- and like I said, she says it looks like fun. The reading looks like it will interest her, I am not worried that the reading is 'young' for her in Beyond. Spelling is broken down into word groups- the first list for example is words spelled with the short a sound. I like this approach alot. THe word lists are very easy IMHO- but it is definately easy enough to come up with your own words that follow that 'rule'. I will likely have my 9 yr old do dictation of passages that contain words that follow the given rule (so combining my 2 girls using the HOD spelling, but making it more challenging for my 9 yr old- my dd's cyberschool had her spelling things like because, refridgerator, crazy, etc- the words in the HOD lists are basic words- which is great for my younger who is struggling with spelling- and is actually in this level, my older, will need me to modify is what i am saying, and I am ok with that, this is an easy modification)

I think my 4 yr olds will joing us and do ok, listening along to the history readings, maybe the story time, poetry, and it even looks like they can join in some of the activites-- I would be including them simply to keep them busy and out of trouble while we are working. I did purchase Little Hands for them and I think they will have fun doing it (I am letting my girls lead it mostly) If your 5 yr old knows letter sounds, he might do fine in Little hearts- depends how well he can sit and listen. (there is more sitting and listening in Little hearts than in Little hands. If I weren't having a baby this year, and encouraging my older dd's to teach my twins, I Would probably opt to place them in Little hearts instead. Little Hands is very very basic- very cute, very well done, but I just never really did any preschool education with any of mine (let them learn it from life)- so for me, I wouldn't choose it. I am going to try to get my 2 yr old (who will be 3 in Nov) to join my twins in Little Hands- that was the plan to get them to do little hands together)- but so far he is being totally 2- with no interest at all in joining in. You will have to do some thinking about what you want for your littler ones. For me, 2 of my youngers are boys, and I feel boys need a bit of extra time on phonics, a little more time to mature to really sit and listen thoroughly- so I am going to try to do Little Hands at 1/2 or so pace- cover it in a yr and half or so-- and then cover Little hearts for 1 1/2 yrs or so- keeping all 3 of these little ones on the same level, but adjusting to different reading and math levels if necessary.

Brenda

LoveBaby,

I was just thinking that if you did end up with the LHFHG for the 5 and 7 and Bigger for your 9 year old, you could use the Emerging Reader's Schedule for your 7 year old out of the Appendix of the Bigger Hearts guide if you didn't desire to purchase the Beyond guide. Bigger Hearts also contains the Emerging Reader's Schedule in its Appendix and contains spelling list 2, which you could also use for your 7 year old's spelling.

Blessings,
Carrie

Good idea, Carrie! That would make total sense and make it easy to just use 2 guides then.

In Christ,
Julie