Placement

[Betameculia]

Hi I'm new here. I'm considering using Heart of Dakota with my 4 boys aged 6 (7 in September), 5 (6 in September), 4 (April Birthday) and 2 (December Birthday).

I can see my 4 year old easily fitting into LHTH, that's a no-brainer, and he would easily move into LHFHG next year when he turns 5.

My older two boys are not so easy to fit.
We have been homeschooling for 2 years already, nothing too heavy, just 4Rs, nature study and whatever interests them. They are both reading very well. DS1 can read anything you put in front of him, DS2 has discovered Magic Treehouse Books, and has nearly completed Abeka K5 Phonics. Both started Abeka K5 cursive this year, which I have found very successful. They can write words and do small amounts of copywork (lists of planets, animals, short excerpts from their favourite picture books), and will do their own writing on a very small scale (signs, cards, very short letters) depending on their interest. Their maths ability is also extremely good. We're doing Abeka 1 Arithmetic and, again, we are in a good rhythms and are doing very well with it.

I've looked at all the charts for placement and as far as skills are concerned they seem to fit in with BLHFHG and BHFHG for language arts and I am very relieved to find something that's so beautifully straightforward (thank you, thank you, thank you!). DS1 could do DITHOR and DS2 would handle the emerging readers. However, and this is where it gets complicated, we're in Australia and the US history compenet isn't as culturally relevant. I love American history and have a college major in it, but it's not quite what I want to begin with my boys. I really like the look of PLHFHG because of the world history aspect (we have Hillyer's book and have read and enjoyed bits of it), but I don't think they're quite mature enough for it yet. DS1 might be, particularly if the interest is there, and DS2 will tag along because he HAS to keep up .

So, I can see my options being as follows:
1. Do LHFHG history with BLHFHG or BHFHG Basics, followed by BLHFHG history and BHFHG history. (We'll be using them for the younger two anyway).
2. Do PLHFHG history, keep doing our own language arts and maths programs and add DITHOR, and take a little longer to do it.

Sorry this is so long, but I'd really appreciate any suggestions. The less tweaking I have to do, the better. I've looked at nearly every curriculum under the sun (Sonlight, Ambleside, Living Books, Abeka, Rod & Staff, Horizons the list goes on so I'm not coming in cold.

Annette
Wife of Francis and busy mummy to John-Paul, Patrick, Max and Ben.

[my3sons]

Hi Annette, and welcome to the HOD Board! Thanks for telling us about your sons! I have 3 sons, and we have enjoyed HOD so much in our home for many years already. I know your dc will enjoy it as well. As far as placement, LHTH sounds just right for your 4 yo, and even your 2 yo will be able to enjoy as much of it as he can too.

For your older 2 dc, I'd place them in Beyond and have your older ds use the right side of Bigger for his LA/math (or you could sub in the math you are already using for the math part). Whether you're from America or not, the stories are just inspiring and are written to show God's hand in history more than anything. However, since you have focused on the 3 R's mainly and haven't done as much history/science, LHFHG may be a very good fit too. The 1 year sweep of history is excellent, and I do think your dc would enjoy that as long as you use the appropriate right sides of HOD manuals for the basics LA/math for your dc. Have you had an opportunity to check out the one week sample of each of the guides? That may help in your decision as well. PHFHG would definitely be too difficult to begin with, especially in regard to the skills and the history/science focus. However, no matter whether you choose LHFHG or BeyondLHFHG, I think you would be thrilled with your homeschooling using HOD. Both are wonderful guides, and very delightful from with to both teach and learn! Keep asking questions here until you are set - this board is full of wise and encouraging ladies!

In Christ,
Julie

[Betameculia]

Hi Annette, and welcome to the HOD Board! Thanks for telling us about your sons! I have 3 sons, and we have enjoyed HOD so much in our home for many years already. I know your dc will enjoy it as well. As far as placement, LHTH sounds just right for your 4 yo, and even your 2 yo will be able to enjoy as much of it as he can too.

For your older 2 dc, I'd place them in Beyond and have your older ds use the right side of Bigger for his LA/math (or you could sub in the math you are already using for the math part). Whether you're from America or not, the stories are just inspiring and are written to show God's hand in history more than anything. However, since you have focused on the 3 R's mainly and haven't done as much history/science, LHFHG may be a very good fit too. The 1 year sweep of history is excellent, and I do think your dc would enjoy that as long as you use the appropriate right sides of HOD manuals for the basics LA/math for your dc. Have you had an opportunity to check out the one week sample of each of the guides? That may help in your decision as well. PHFHG would definitely be too difficult to begin with, especially in regard to the skills and the history/science focus. However, no matter whether you choose LHFHG or BeyondLHFHG, I think you would be thrilled with your homeschooling using HOD. Both are wonderful guides, and very delightful from with to both teach and learn! Keep asking questions here until you are set - this board is full of wise and encouraging ladies!

In Christ,
Julie

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your welcome and reply. I've had a look at sample pages from the history books in BLHFHG and I must say I warmed to the story-like presentation of Pioneers and Patriots - so much better for this age group than Usborne, IMO. I'm thinking I might run LHFHG and BLHFHG concurrently. The world history focus of LHFHG is great for context and BLHFHG will fit in well. It helps that the Family Time Bible is one of my DS2's favourite books. So, if it's the focus of his history study he'll be one happy guy!

DS1's a different kettle of fish. He's the one who's had bits of Hillyer read to him and has enjoyed it. He's more ready for it than DS2. He is primarily an aural learner and his power of attention (for what he's interested in) is phenomenal. He is a very determined, choleric temperament and if he doesn't want to do something, it's like pulling hen's teeth to get him to do it. He is a capable reader - reads everything from the Magic Treehouse books to the Dangerous Book for Boys and he needs to get his teeth stuck into something because when he's bored ... ugh! We've also read Famous Five books, Homer Price, Narnia Books, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Just So Stories and Aesop's Fables (basically, a lot of the reading from Ambleside Year 1). He really loved these books. I can see him ready for The Hobbit very soon.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm a bit dubious about LHFHG for him. Whereas DS will fit in very well, it will get a less enthusiastic response from DS1. DS1 will probably listen in, and that's fine, but I think he needs more. Also I am very keen to separate them for a few subjects-activities just so that I can have more one on one time with them. DS1 will certainly be ready for Preparing next year, when he'll be 8. Maybe I should keep focusing on skills from Bigger and doing DITHOR with him (these seem to be just right!) for the moment. He is a very independent learner. He can listen in to LHFHG if he wants (which takes a lot of stress off me) and, maybe, we can do Sonlight Core K (which I have) or Living Books Grade 2 to fill the gap and cater for his interests. I'm inclined to go with Living Books 2 because I like the literature, History and Science and it will fit in very well with LHFHG.

All this writing has really helped me work things through and, to my great delight and relief, I'm figuring out a plan that suits us all, without too much tweaking! Each of my boys will have some special learning time with Mummy, without sending me round the bend trying to plan and program.

Thanks!

Annette