heartofdakota.com

Hi we are thinking of pulling our 2 oldest girls from their charter school. They are in 5th and K. The oldest was 10 in Oct and the middle will be 7 in May. We homeschooled until 08-09 and then they went to a charter school in Indiana that we were happy with. We have had to relocate this past year and we are not happy with their current school.

My 10yr old is a advanced reader and good in LA. Though she needs more grammer instruction due to the moving around and her current school is not providing much in this area. She has the potential to be a great writer with some practice and a little instruction. She also likes History and does well in it. Math and science she doesn't like that much and she has to work a little harder to do well. I am just not sure which program would work for her, PHFHG or CTC. Since we would be starting mid year, we would probably continue the same program for next year. I also have a 4yr old and am due with my 4th in March.

My 6 1/2 yr old is supper bright but has had trouble learning to read. She is progressing, but still not reading yet. One of the main reasons we put her in K this year instead of 1st. We are looking into working with a reading tutor that specializes in the Barton reading system to evaluate her and see what help they may be able to provide. She likes math and will probably like science as well. She hasn't had much science or history thus far. Her handwriting, comprehension, and creative abilities are far above her reading abilities. I am thinking of going ahead and doing LHFHG with her, since she is not reading yet. But I wonder if it will challenge her enough in other areas. I may also do some of LHFHG or LHTH with my 4yr old, once we get settled in school and with the new baby.

I know this may be confusing, but just not sure what to do. I feel like my oldest hasn't been able to really do what she is capable of with the moves and different schools etc. She isn't being challenged at the moment and has a tendency to just get by if she is not pushed a little. My middle is so eager, but reading has held her back from what she could do.

Thanks for reading this far and your suggestions would be appreciated.

Blessings,
Brandie

Brandie,

Thanks so much for sharing your family with us. It was so helpful to read the details about each kiddo and to understand their past education. It helps us as we give some possible scenarios for you to ponder.

A couple key thing to think about as you ponder whether your oldest daughter would fit best within Preparing Hearts or within CTC, is how independent she is and also how well she follows written directions. CTC is written more to the student and asks the student to follow a series of written directions in a variety of areas daily. In order for the program to work well as written, it really helps if the student has been trained in some independence and is able to follow written directions on her own quite well. Another thing to ponder is how independent you want her to be. Preparing Hearts will take more of your time to guide and direct, but will also be less intensive than CTC for your daughter.

As far as your 6 and 1/2 year old goes, I'm wondering how well she is able to write? Can she write her letters yet or write words? This will make a difference as to how well Beyond would fit her. Another thing to ponder is how well she listens to chapter book style readings with few to no pictures. Beyond will move to those types of readings. Next, I'm wondering how much formal math she's had. Has she had a kindergarten introduction to math yet, and if so how did it go for her? I'm leaning toward LHFHG for her in order to give her every chance to grow as a reader and to give her a solid first exposure to history and science. However, her writing, math, and listening skills will make a difference in that decision.

One last thing to think about is how close your 4 year old is to being 5. If that child is close to being 5, there is a possibility that you could combine your 4 year old with your 6 year old within LHFHG for the left side of the plans. Depending on how academic the 4 year old is (whether that child seems ready for phonics, ready to write letters, and ready for K level math) and also depending on how well you think the 4 and 6 year old would work together... that is one more consideration.

If you get a chance to pop back in and share your thoughts, we'd be glad to talk more about your options.

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi Carrie,

thanks for your reply. My oldest is not as independent as I would like her to be. Some subjects she does a little better in than others. She still wants my help a lot of the time, event though I think she could do more on her own. She wants my help, but then will argue with me when I try to help. etc. I would prefer her to be a bit more independent than she has been in the past. I would like for her to work toward more independence since she will be in "middle school" next year. I also feel like she has lost a lot of the time switching between schools and homeschool. In the sense that she needs to be ready for middle school and high school in a few years. I do not feel I have the time to start light like I did when she was in earlier grades.


My 6 1/2 yr old handwriting is ahead of her reading. She can write most of her letters from memory, all of them if she is copying. She can write most words if I spell them for her. She can copy words that I have written. She can write sentences with her sight words. Such as " I see a red _________" She fills in the blank with a word I spell or a picture she draws. She likes math a lot and does well with it. She does not know her numbers past 20, but has the ability to add simple numbers in her head etc. such as 3+4 etc. She has not had a lot of exposure to longer books, though she does like it when I read Little House in the Big Woods and others in that series. She likes for me to read nonfiction books about animals. She loves animals and usually will pick nonfiction type books when we are at the book store or library.

My 4yr old will be 5 in Oct. She doesn't know all her letters yet and isn't writing yet. I am sure she will want to do some of the work with us, but not sure what amount. She and the 6yr old get along pretty well. The 10yr old and 6yr old not so much.

Thanks for your help.

Brandie

bump

Brandie,

Thanks for your patience in hearing back from me. I appreciate the extra sharing you did! It really helps as we ponder your options.

From what you've shared, I'm thinking that it would be good to place your older daughter in CTC, knowing you will need to train her in independence for at least the first month of CTC. The boxes marked 'I' are those that your daughter will eventually move toward doing independently. She will read the directions right from the guide and complete those assignments on her own, eventually. She should hand the assignments in to have you check them. Any boxes marked 'S' are meant to be semi-independent, meaning you will either begin or end the assignment with her (or oversee it). The boxes marked 'T' are meant to be teacher-directed and guided by you.

As far as the Extension Pack goes, since your daughter will be 11, you would likely not need it. The Extension Pack is targeted for students aged 12-13 and takes a mature, independent reader due to the content. If your daughter is an excellent reader and can handle mature content (meaning she is not a sensitive reader who requires screening of content), then you could weigh whether you'd want the extension pack for her. Otherwise, I'd lean toward getting the Basic Package Option 1 to do with her as a read-aloud instead. Linked here: http://www.heartofdakota.com/hearts-for-him-history.php If you'll be too overwhelmed with that set as a read-aloud, you could possibly have your daughter do the Basic Package (intended to be read-aloud) on her own instead, just following the schedule in the CTC plans.

I would lean toward doing Rod and Staff English 4 with your daughter, unless she has had quite a bit of grammar instruction. If she diagrams sentences and writes well already, then you could do Rod and Staff 5 instead. Both are scheduled within CTC at half-speed to allow time for writing instruction and DITHR, which are both important for high school/middle school preparation. Also, make sure to use Write with the Best as scheduled within CTC for writing instruction.

I would have her do the dictation passages in the back of CTC for her spelling instruction. If she is an excellent natural speller, she could begin in Level 5 of dictation. If she is an average speller or is completely new to dictation, she could begin somewhere within Level 4 instead. If she has a tough time with spelling, you may need to back up to Level 3 of the dictation passages. Level 3, 4, and 5 passages are all included within CTC.

I would also place your oldest daughter in Drawn into the Heart of Reading Level 6/7/8, doing it 3 days a week as scheduled within the CTC plans. If your daughter has not had much literature study or does battle with you over written work, you could instead do Level 4/5 for a year in DITHR instead, and just choose higher level books for her to read. With DITHR, you can either choose books off of our booklist, choose your own books, or use a book pack. It truly works with any books you choose.

Since your daughter is a strong reader,if you desire for us to pick the books for you, instead of choosing your own you could likely choose the Girl Set from CTC to use with DITHR. Even though these were intended as read-alouds, they also work well for strong readers in grades 6 on up to use with DITHR instead. The Girl Set is linked here: http://www.heartofdakota.com/hearts-for-him-girls.php

Or, if those look too difficult, you could instead choose the Level 4/5 Girl Set linked here for her to read instead: http://www.heartofdakota.com/DITHOR45-girls-pack.php

As far as math goes, if you do not have a different math program you'll be using and would like to use SIngapore, you'll want to give the Singapore placement test. You'd give the U.S. Version third edition, linked here: http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm

You'd like begin testing around 4A or 4B to see how she places. Just keep testing until she no longer passes. Make sure not to guide or direct, but just let her take the test on her own. If you have your own math instead that will work fine too.

For your 6 and 1/2 year old, I'd lean toward placing her in LHFHG in order to allow her reading skills time to really grow. Since she hasn't had a formal introduction to history and science, this will be a good first look at those areas. It will also allow your 4 year old to join in as she's able.

I'd place your 6 year old in A Reason for Handwriting 'A', which is for first grade and is scheduled within LHFHG. I'd also lean toward having her do Thinking Skills for Grade 1, as scheduled within LHFHG. If your 6 year old still needs more work on cutting and pasting, along with critial thinking, you could have her do "Do It Carefully" and "Finding the Answers" instead. These are also scheduled within LHFGH.

I'm assuming you have your phonics covered for your 6 year old, but if not you could look at the two programs we carry for phonics instruction (The Reading Lesson and Reading Made Easy).

You could weigh whether to have your 4 year old begin A Reason for Handwriting 'K' (if she seems ready to begin writing her letters). The 4 year old could also begin Do It Carefully and Finding the Answers, if she seems ready to cut and paste. If not, just hold off on those areas.

For math, you could likely begin the 6 year old in Earlybird Kindegarten book 2B, which is halfway thorugh the LHFHG plans. You'd just keep a separate sticky note in your guide to mark her spot in math. When she finished 2B, she could move on to 1A (which is first grade math). It is in the Appendix of LHFHG and the hands-on activities for 1B are found in the next guide up, which is Beyond Little Hearts.

When your 6 year old seems ready to begin spelling lists, you could purchase the Beyond guide for the spelling and grammar activities only. You could also use the hands-on activities for 1B math from the Beyond guide as well when she seems ready for 1B. Doing this will ensure that LHFHG is not too easy for your daughter, as you "up" the level of language arts and math by adding those parts for the 3R's from Beyond whenever she's ready.

Whenever your 4 year old seems ready to begin 'K' math, she could just start with Earlybird Kindergarten 2A as scheduled within the LHFHG plans.

I know this may seem overwhelming to think about, but once your get your kiddos placed and going it will flow pretty easily. If you have other questions or thoughts, don't hesitate to share. This is only my assessment based on what you've shared thus far, so if you have a different feeling about any of these areas, you would know better than me!

Blessings,
Carrie