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OK, I have 100% decided I will be using HOD for homeschool starting in August (YAY!!!!), but am needing some help deciding which to start my DS6 on. He is currently in PS Kindergarten and is an advanced reader for his age and gifted in creativity. When I went by the placement chart, he was lining up with Beyond, but my question is since this will be his first homeschool year, should I begin with LHFHG and do the 1st grade track(or w/e it's called lol) or just jump into Beyond?

I'm torn because I don't want to hold him back. I want to be able to push him, but at the same time I want him to get as much Godly education as possible. So is it best to start from the beginning or dive right into Beyond in your opinions? Thanks!

Oh and I have a DD3 that I will be starting LHTH as well

Well, the good things is, you really can't go wrong with either. Many who use HOD go through LHFHG with K and do Beyond...with 1st graders, and many wait until 1st to go through LHFHG and then have 2nd graders in Beyond... This is actually what I did. My dd was 8 and a 2nd grader when we completed Beyond...and I think it worked great. We had tried it in 1st and she had a really tough time with comprehension. However, we did have some issues with vision and learning to read, so I know that had an effect on her as well. I don't feel behind with her at all though...and doing Preparing ...with her this year, she is doing great! My humble opinion would be that it might be a better idea to start with LHFHG since this is your first year homeschooling. It will give you both plenty of time to grow into homeschooling and to have lots of fun together 'doing school' and with free time (as LHFHG will take less time than Beyond). Just my two cents...I'm sure others will come along with their suggestions. Hope that helps!

I have a 6 yr old dd and we are doing LHFHG. We tried it in K but it was over her head, no interest at all. This year is a different story and is wonderful. You could do LHFHG w/grade 1 materials and add some extra fun stuff if needed/wanted. It would be a gentle introduction to homeschooling and have a more relaxing year and plenty of time for extras...

I have a son who turned 6 in October. We have used LHFHG for K this year. He is also advanced reader and very creative. We are actually in the 3rd book from the emerging reader list in Beyond. We will use the rest of Beyond starting late summer for "1st grade".

my two oldest did LHTH, each starting when they were 3.5 yr old.

Welcome to HOD

JEnn D.

My 6.5 year old is finishing up 1st grade, and I'm actually getting ready to start him in LHFHG with his younger brother, so he'll be doing some of it as a 1st grader and most of it as a 2nd grader. He's very bright but his attention span for read-alouds just isn't where it needs to be for him to do Bigger with his big sister. He will be doing 2nd grade math, 2nd grade phonics, spelling from Bigger, and the Emerging Readers.

I think as long as you keep the 3R's where they need to be, you have a bit of wiggle room with the rest. Just make sure your child can handle listening to the readings!

Well - hooray for your decision to use HOD! The good thing is, your ds could really probably do either and be happy. One thing to consider is his writing. Beyond has copywork of the weekly poem and spelling lists with activities. It also starts gentle grammar lessons for the basic parts of speech 1 x a week. The core readings do not have as many pictures as they do in LHFHG. LHFHG has much less writing, and focuses more on learning to write letters/words/sentences. The following year, after Beyond, comes Bigger Hearts which has a substantial amount of writing and daily grammar lessons from R & S English.

You could easily do LHFHG with first grade options, and add in the Emerging Reader's Set from Beyond if you wanted and he seems ready for it (but then you'd want the Beyond guide for the Emerging Reader's Set schedule and comprehension questions). Or, you could do Beyond, and maybe do it just 4 days a week, stretching it out a few more months to give ds time to mature for Bigger Hearts. Just a few ideas - you'll know what's best! Either way, I'm glad you found HOD. It is such a blessing!

In Christ,
Julie

I am excited for you to start using HOD- it is such a blessing!!
I think you have two wonderful options! If it were me, I would maybe lean towards doing LHFHG so that you can get even more of HOD -I wouldn't want to miss a guide, just because I like HOD soooo much - LHFHG seems like such a sweet wonderful program (we will be using it next year)... but Beyond looks wonderful too. Praying that you will make a decision perfect for your family!
Jessica

The Emerging Readers are scheduled in Beyond. They are a book package that takes kiddos from learning to read to reading really well. It starts out with a Bible-and there are 2 you can choose from. Then it advances in difficulty pretty quickly. You could get them just to cement his reading skills before you jumped into DITHOR. You could also get them and look at them and decide if you wanted to start him in the middle. At the beginning they use around level 2 I can read books, like Amelia Bedelia and Frog and Toad and then they get into chapter books towards the end. I was just looking at ours last night and they do get pretty meaty. There are comprehension questions scheduled in the Beyond guide.

I'm so glad that you've decided to use HOD! I don't think you can go wrong with it. I've taught LHTH at church, we've used LHFHG, and we're now using Beyond with my 6 yo and LHTH with my 4 yo and we love it. I'm planning to keep the kids in HOD all the way through. It's just that wonderful.

We've loved the Emerging Readers' Set! It is the perfect bridge between phonics and long chapter books. I especially appreciated the bite-sized readings paired with the comprehension questions in the Appendix of the Beyond guide. Two of my dc have been early readers as well, so we did LHFHG along with the Beyond Emerging Reader's Set. Though my dc could easily read the first books in the set, we did them anyway to continue to work on building comprehension, and to continue to help them to be very confident in their reading. The comprehension questions are all based on Bloom's Taxonomy - which is a pyramid of comprehension levels that get progressively harder. In short, they are well-thought-out questions that I wouldn't be coming up with well on the fly myself! They do a lot to build and improve comprehension. Here is a link to the Emerging Reader's Set:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/emerging-reader.php

As the pp said so well, the Emerging Reader's Set consists of your choice of 1 of the 2 Bibles plus the other 13 books for a total of 14 books. Since one of my little guys was on the young side, we got both Bibles and extended the Emerging Reader's Set by a few months. However, 1 Bible is enough for most dc. (Plus, I couldn't make a decision which one to get. ) I think "The Beginner's Bible is harder, if that's helpful. The Emerging Reader's Set increases in reading level difficulty as you go, and can be started at any point in the set. I'd encourage you to do the entire set though unless your ds is way past Amelia Bedelia, etc. (though my oldest ds was reading much harder books than "Frog and Toad" and "Amelia Bedelia" when we began the set, he still loved them, and I thought they were good to do to cement his oral reading and comprehension, and to continue to keep his confidence high). But, you'll know best what you want to do! HTH, and this IS such an awesome community on this board - I'm glad you are now a part of it!

In Christ,
Julie

Just so you know, LHFHG is so much fun. We are currently doing it and my ds(7) is a first grader. I am so glad we didn't skip it. It does all the fun things they should get to do when they are little. My ds loves the Burgess books and we often read more than one chapter a day (even though that gets my off in my TM). The rhymes in motion part is a favorite of my ds(7) and ds(2). I haven't done Beyond yet. We will start it this summer and I can't wait. I know it will be just as wonderful. But, I highly recommend LHFHG for the ages of your little ones. Of course, all the advice in the world will not help, if you don't have the advice of your Heavenly Father. Ask him and all will be great.