heartofdakota.com

Hello,

I have a 5.5 year old son that I have been doing Kindergarten with since August 2009. He actually turned 5 the week before we began school, so he is one of the younger fives.

Anyway, I ordered LHFHG for him and we have been progressing wonderful with it. However, my son will be turning 6 in a few months and we will be starting with 1st grade. There are a few things from the History this year that I felt were maybe harder for him to comprehend right now, and so I am thinking about using the same stuff and doing it again for 1st grade just to make sure he completely understands.

However, I don't want him to be behind and then trying to rush to catch up with where he really should be in first grade History.

Most of the other subjects seem to have been fine. We will be moving ahead on those for 1st grade, aside from doing some of the science experients again to better understand our Science portion.

Soooo... will this work? I know that there is an age range with Heart of Dakota, but I am unsure of how we should progress with this next year. Thanks for any advice. I greatly appreciate it! : )

Are you almost finished with Little Hearts? If so, I would probably move on to Beyond if he places there on the placement chart. I think HOD says to place more emphasis on where they are on the "academic" (3 Rs) part of the placement chart. So if he is placing at Beyond for writing, reading, math, etc., then I would go probably go with Beyond and maybe do it half-speed for a while, since he is on the young end of the age range. The idea is to give the child an introduction to history, so even if he has not understood all of the details, I think that's fine.

That being said, we are finishing Little Hearts with my almost 7 year old for 1st grade and the history and bible, art, etc. have been a really good fit. So, if you want to repeat Little Hearts in order to go more in depth, then that would be great too. He definately would not be behind in history. Something to consider though is whether either of you might lose steam going through it a second time back to back.

HOD provides a very rich education, which is why it is so flexible for different ages. They can go as deep as they want to, and are capable of. Different ages will get different things out of the readings and activities.

Hope this helps!

Listening attentively and comprehending well are skills meant to be slowly acquired over time. Students are first introduced to these skills in LHFHG, and they are to grow more in these skills in Beyond. I wouldn't use LHFHG again for first grade, but would instead start Beyond half-speed, especially considering this was about the only area your ds needs improvement in. Doing LHFHG twice - though it is a wonderful program - could be redundant, as dc do start to remember what they've done more and more at that age.

We started Beyond half-speed with our 5 1/2 yo, doing the left side of the plans one day, and the right side the next day. We did daily phonics review and the Emerging Reader's Set. We started going full-speed with Beyond when my ds showed he was ready. We are now doing Bigger Hearts half-speed and will finish it full-speed next year. HOD has flexibility such as this, so that there is no need to repeat programs until dc "get it all right". Instead, it's meant to be a progression of skills through the guides, rather than a mastery of skills within one guide. So, I just want to encourage you that your ds is easing into learning listening attentively just like every other child out there doing LHFHG, and he will grow into this skill more in Beyond, and probably continue to strengthen this skill in Bigger Hearts, as well as in the years to come. I think your ds will thrive with Beyond, but I'd just take it half-speed for as long as that's a good pace for him. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

The ladies are giving you wonderful advice! I would agree that it sounds like your little guy is ready to move forward to Beyond. We rarely recommend repeating a guide, as each guide builds well upon the previous one. Many skills within LHFHG are meant to be at the introductory level. You will build to the practicing to mastery level as you move through future guides.

Blessings,
Carrie