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Hi! I'm eager to start Bigger Hearts with my 6 & 8 YO daughters in a couple of weeks. This will be my 1st HOD curriculum, but I've been looking at them for the last couple of years.

Age placement wise, they "should" start with Beyond, but I chose Bigger for two reasons: The biography approach really intrigued me and my 6 YO is a great reader and always asks for more school work. I think I can just scale down the notebooking if it gets too intense for her. I'm using a different math and language program that we are already into.

Just a couple of questions:

1. I'm wondering, though, if the material as we move on with the other HOD programs will be at the right level for her. She'll always be a year behind the recommended age. Should I take Bigger 1/2 speed as I've read others do so they both fall into the age range? What exactly does that look like?

2. If I do a 4 day program, does that get confusing since you aren't changing the topic (verses, hymns, etc) each week?

3. I was actually thinking of combing 2 days together and making the 5 day program 4 days. Is this doable realistically?

4. As I think ahead for my 4 YO son and newborn, do you think I'll be able to teach them together down the road, or is the gap in their ages (4 years) too much?

I can't wait to get my books and get started!!

1. I'm wondering, though, if the material as we move on with the other HOD programs will be at the right level for her. She'll always be a year behind the recommended age. Should I take Bigger 1/2 speed as I've read others do so they both fall into the age range? What exactly does that look like?

I am doing BHFHG with my dd8 right now. I would be a little leery of starting it with a 6 yr old no matter how much they ask for more school. Not looking at the age part of the placement guide, where do your 8 and 6 year old place individually on the placement chart. http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php There is a big jump from BHFHG to PHFHG skill and ability wise. The history goes up in more mature topics as well. If you can, let us know where they place individually on the chart and what they have done before now.

2. If I do a 4 day program, does that get confusing since you aren't changing the topic (verses, hymns, etc) each week?

If you are wanting to slow it down some, you can do a 4 day week and just pick up where you left off that next Monday. It doesn't get confusing to me to do 4 days and just continue where we left off. We were doing 5 day weeks until the baseball/softball season started and we are now doing 4 day weeks b/c of games and practice and my dd hasn't skipped a beat with the change.

3. I was actually thinking of combing 2 days together and making the 5 day program 4 days. Is this doable realistically?

It is not easy to do 2 days in 1 day with BHFHG for me. You are doing too many notebooking and geography or notebooking and science experiments to really give them the focus you would need by trying to combine them into 1 day. I know b/c we have taken a day off for errands and then I could double up with LHFHG but it never seems to quite work out to double up on BHFHG without losing something in the mix or really over doing it for my dd8. The notebooking really prepares the kids for PHFHG the next year so if you tone it down for the 6 yr old she wouldn't be prepared for the next guide. The PHFHG really starts having a lot more written narration and independent work. Each guide builds upon the skills learned and honed in the previous guide.

4. As I think ahead for my 4 YO son and newborn, do you think I'll be able to teach them together down the road, or is the gap in their ages (4 years) too much?

With my youngest and my next to youngest being 4 years apart, I know that they will never be together in school. That is a big gap to try and overcome. I couldn't see even contemplating it with their capabilities and skills so far apart and maturity level also.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your dc.
Val

Thanks for the feedback! Here is how my 6 YO dd places on the chart:

Reading: Done with Phonics and most early readers. Has moved to chapter books. I might have her read a few of the emerging readers we haven't read yet. She loves to read to me, and really pushed herself through this, asking that I sit on the couch while she read to me. (Much different from my first dd!)
Writing: Copies passages. Has done a basic cursive program (after begging me to start) and did very well.
Grammar: I am going to be using Primary Language Lessons w/ her & my 8 YO dd.
Math: She is ready for book 2 of Shiller Math.

Any further thoughts after looking at this?

I'm glad to hear how at times you've only done 4 days. I don't like feeling "behind" so it is good to know that if things come up, as they always do for one reason or another, I can just keep going, even if I'm doing two different units in the same week.

Also, thanks for the input on trying to do 5 days in 4... good input! It's hard to know what to expect by just reading it, without actually getting into it. I can see how that would probably be too much.

Indymom wrote:Thanks for the feedback! Here is how my 6 YO dd places on the chart:

Reading: Done with Phonics and most early readers. Has moved to chapter books. I might have her read a few of the emerging readers we haven't read yet. She loves to read to me, and really pushed herself through this, asking that I sit on the couch while she read to me. (Much different from my first dd!)
Writing: Copies passages. Has done a basic cursive program (after begging me to start) and did very well.
Grammar: I am going to be using Primary Language Lessons w/ her & my 8 YO dd.
Math: She is ready for book 2 of Shiller Math.

Any further thoughts after looking at this?

I'm glad to hear how at times you've only done 4 days. I don't like feeling "behind" so it is good to know that if things come up, as they always do for one reason or another, I can just keep going, even if I'm doing two different units in the same week.

Also, thanks for the input on trying to do 5 days in 4... good input! It's hard to know what to expect by just reading it, without actually getting into it. I can see how that would probably be too much.

Thanks for sharing about your dd. I agree with Val, I'd be pretty leery about starting a 6 yo in Bigger Hearts. It is much easier to beef up a program than to water it down, and when you water it down, you're missing the skills dc needed to be learning for the next guide. I'm assuming your 8 yo fits squarely in Bigger Hearts though, right? So, with all of that being said, I think you have 2 options:

1. Do Beyond Little Hearts with the 2 of them, and have your 8 yo do the right side of Bigger Hearts, which would cover grammar, dictation, copywork, math, DITHOR 2/3 reading program, and cursive (or use your own harder materials for these areas). I would not do the Science in Bigger Hearts yet, as it matches the history on the left side of Bigger Hearts and is better reserved for when you do that. You could choose just 1 of the Storytimes to do, either Beyond's or Bigger's with the 2 dc.

2. Do Bigger Hearts with the 2 of them at half-speed, but doing LA and math that fits their individual needs daily. Your 6 yo dd has quite a few of the necessary skills to be able to begin BHFHG, but I still hesitate with this placement a bit. It would be very important you give your 6 yo time to really grow into the Bigger Hearts skills, so by the time she reaches PHFHG, she is truly ready for it. Otherwise, you will always be in the position of making things easier for her, and she will never really get all that she should from a guide. By the time the 2 of them reach CTC, she will really need to be able to be independent with the skills she is expected to do independently, because CTC is written to be quite independent - and also, you will be teaching your other 2 little honeys a good portion of time then as well, and will need your oldest 2 to be more independent.

Our dc are all 3+ years apart, and we've found that it's easier to teach them in separate HOD programs and meet their needs exactly than try to put them together. However, when your 2 little ones grow up a bit more, we can chat again and see what would be best for them. I think it's easier to combine dc when their reading and writing skills are in place, so if your little one really came on strong in these areas, it may be possible to combine down the road, especially by the time they'd get to BHFHG, since that is when extensions begin being planned for olders.

HTH, and I know you will know what is best for your dc! Either Beyond or Bigger are fantastic programs!

In Christ,
Julie

Indymom wrote:Thanks for the feedback! Here is how my 6 YO dd places on the chart:

Reading: Done with Phonics and most early readers. Has moved to chapter books. I might have her read a few of the emerging readers we haven't read yet. She loves to read to me, and really pushed herself through this, asking that I sit on the couch while she read to me. (Much different from my first dd!)
Writing: Copies passages. Has done a basic cursive program (after begging me to start) and did very well.
Grammar: I am going to be using Primary Language Lessons w/ her & my 8 YO dd.
Math: She is ready for book 2 of Shiller Math.

Any further thoughts after looking at this?

It sounds like she has had a great start with school. I am torn on what to tell you. On the one hand, it does seem like she could start BHFHG; but, on the other hand, being young in PHFHG and CTC is another story.
I would say do BLHFHG left side with both and right side BHFHG with the older dd, but looking at your choices for Language Arts and Math I think that would be redundant. Primary Language lessons has copywork and dictation included. I only found samples online. It may include poetry also. You wouldn't want to start the science yet. That would only leave storytime and reading. You didn't mention whether you were going to do DITHOR or something else. So just assuming you are going to use DITHOR, BHFHG just says do DITHOR daily in a box. You could just buy DITHOR guide and student book and not worry about BHFHG this year.
If BHFHG is really want you are wanting to do, then I would say do 1/2 speed. You do the learning with history one day and the learning the basics the next. So you would do history, poetry, bible, and the left activity box (alternates vocabulary, notebooking, geography, art...) one day and do Language Arts (Primary Language Lessons), Math (Shiller Math), Science, Reading (DITHOR or whatever you plan to use) and storytime. You could continue cursive study or just have her do her copywork in cursive. I'm assuming your dd8 writes cursive since dd6 has already done it. Basically it would take 2 weeks to do a unit and draw the guide out to 2 years. I would try to get dd6 to being at least 8 by the time you start PHFHG if you do BHFHG this year and would do it exactly as written even if I had to slow down more.
I know it is hard to figure out exactly what to do when combining. I thought long and hard before I decided that I would do left side of LHFHG and right side of BHFHG with dd7. She just wasn't ready for the notebooking and amount of writing in BHFHG this year. It ultimately came down to my gut feeling about how she would do in the future guides. She may would have done okay with BHFHG this year, but I don't think she would have done well with PHFHG or CTC if we would have went that route.
I think it is going to come down to your personal gut feelings about what your dd6 can handle.
Val

My 6 and 8 year olds had a great year with Beyond this year.