heartofdakota.com

Hi everyone,

I found this website,by accident and I am getting so excited about it.
This question might have been asked before, so feel free to point me to a specific discussion.

My kids are 8 and 5 1/2. Youngest turns six in April 2010 and my oldest in October.

I am thinking in getting Beyond Little Hearts, and adapting for my daugther. That should be fine, but I am still second guessing... maybe if I get her separate readers?
What do you suggest?

depends on your child's levels. if you haven't looked at the placement chart i suggest doing that.
i was actually going to combine my two for the History side. Son turned 6 in October and my daughter will be 5 in March.My son is finishing up LHFHG in spring.
now i am going to keep them separate. My son is finishing up LHFHG in spring. my son seems to be a little advanced , while daughter right on target. Plus son seems to compare his work alot and i don't want my daughter thinking her work is any less. i am going to put my daughter into LHFHG. we have actually started, but slowly. don't do much on the basics side. when she wants to do it we do it. or i might suggest it and then she wants to do it. She wants to do some kind of school like her brother. we already finished LHTH in September.

i am thinking Beyond would be fine for your younger. i have heard that adapting for an older one is easier than the other way around. i don't know about that age span so maybe some else can advise you there.

Jenn D.

Hi Twinzen, and welcome to the HOD Board! I'm so glad you found it as well. You will find this board to be such an encouraging place to be. It is full of wonderful ladies who do their best to teach their dc well and honor God by doing that. I would love to hear some more about your dc. jenntracy gave some good advice about checking out the placement chart. It's short, easy to do, and is accurate. Here's a link to that:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Could you take a minute to check that out and share your thoughts about that, especially in the areas of reading, writing, and math? Then I will come back and give some better advice for you than I feel I can give now, and I know the other ladies will too. Glad you are here! HOD is easy to use, academically strong, and Christ-centered - you've come to a good place.

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks for the warm welcome! I have been using a borrowed Sonlight and purchased Abeka workbooks. We are discouraged and burned out. I was looking into Konos, but I am not sure that I can keep up with planning. HOD seems the perfect fit, for creative hands on activities,great reading selection, gramar & spelling included

Okay,
My daughter is 5 1/2
And Little Hearts seems right for her
Ready for phonics instruction: She can read short vowel words, like: hat, cap, pass, Sam, etc. We are using Hooked on Phonics and will continue
Ready to learn formal manuscript printing, or able to begin writing words: Yes, she can write her name, is learning to write lower case letters. Most of her writing is in capital letters.
Math, she can count 20, and do simple addition. We have Math U See for her

Son is 8

He fits right in with Beyond. Cannot compose paragraphs on his own yet. He can formulate sentences, and do copywork. He's an emergent reader, reads somewhat independently. We are working on fluency. He is also doing Hooked on Phonics.I am using Math U See for him as well.

Thanks for telling us about your dc - that helps so much. What you'll find is HOD is very flexible and can easily be customized based on your wants and needs. You have several good options here. If you would like to combine the 2 of them, I believe you could do so in Beyond Little Hearts, but still have your dd do a handwriting book (we liked A Reason for Handwriting K and A), as well as her own level of math. If she is ready for simple spelling words, she could do Spelling List 1 in Beyond's Appendix, and your ds could do Spelling List 2. She would need to be able to listen to chapter books with fewer pictures, for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Looking down the road to doing Bigger Hearts the following year with the 2 of them, it would be very important that her reading and writing skills develop.

Another good option to consider is having her do LHFHG at half-speed, only doing phonics and math daily. So, she would do the left side of the plans with you one day, and the right side of the plans the next. I am thinking if you decide it's best to do them separate, it would be very easy to do LHFHG half-speed along with Beyond for your ds full-speed. Then, the following year, your dd would finish the other half of LHFHG, and your ds would do Bigger Hearts. This would set up a very nice teaching rotation for you.

Combining is a personal decision, and we have ladies that love combining and other ladies that love doing separate programs. So, I'd consider the dynamics of the 2 of your dc working together, how you feel about teaching them combined vs. separately, etc. I'd also consider your dd and if she is likely to feel stressed at the prospect of doing a program a bit above her placement, or if she is likely to rise to the challenge and enjoy it. Here is a great thread on the topic of combining/not combining that may help you decide what you like best:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5290

Praying for you as you ponder 2 wonderful choices! HOD is such a blessing in our home, and I know it will be in yours too - whatever you choose.

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks so much!!! Wow!

I think I might take your suggestion and do Little Hearts at slower speed. I didn't consider this option.
My daughter doesn't sit well for long stories without pictures.
And she does need to improve her fine motor skills, so the activities in Little Hearts will help her.

Now, what I need to figure out is schedule. I've been reading posts here, to help make my decision.

At the moment, I am homeschooling my two children and a dear friend's 2 children as well. So, I also have another Kindergarten and a 4th grader. The 4th grader is higly motivated and brings her own work to do.

Most of time, we start our mornings with Bible reading and they work on their prayer journals. When it comes to phonics, I give the older kids copywork to do, and take 5 year olds, for short phonics lessson. When it comes the time for my son phonics lesson, I let the younger ones play, so he can focus on his lesson. And is very short 10-15 per day, while the 4th grades works independently. However, we've only been doing the basics, Bible, phonics, grammar, and math. I have not been able to do crafts, or science/history. Once in while we will do a craft project- but not on a systematically manner.

From the samples I really like how this program is laid out, and I'm beginning to feel hopeful again.

edited subject to better reflect topic

Glad to help, and I think LHFHG half-speed sounds like a good fit for dd. How kind of you to help your friend out with her 2 dc - I am sure that brings some special consideration for scheduling. Here are a few great links to read through on scheduling:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=95&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

Here are some wonderful schedule suggestions by Carrie:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4615&p=34067#p34067

Finally, here is a link with some great thoughts on Schedule vs. Routine:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5244

If you have any other questions, be sure to ask! The ladies are super about helping out here.

In Christ,
Julie

Cool! I am going to read right now. After much prayer and researching, I put my order in last night!!! Can't wait!!!
Thanks for all your help!

Twinzen,

I think the ladies have given you wonderful advice. The plan to do LHFHG at half-speed over two years should be a good fit for your daughter. We did it that way ourselves with our third little guy and really enjoyed ourselves. That will give you about 40-45 min. of LHFHG per day, leaving you plenty of time to do Beyond with your son. Beyond takes about 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours (including read-alouds, phonics, math, and copywork). You could ease into Beyond at half-speed for the first few weeks as you settle in as well. Then, bump up to full-speed as you get comfortable.

If you have other questions, feel free to ask away! The ladies on this board are so gracious with their time and are very helpful!

Blessings,
Carrie