heartofdakota.com

Hi,
I have a 7 yr and 9yr girls. They have just finished 1st and 2nd grade. My 9 yr.old is an independent reader and learning cursive. She did public Kindergarten 2x due to reading issues, however now she is at a 3.7 level of reading . I was wondering if we should do PH this year and have my 7 yr. old do this as well, because I'd like to keep one curriculum. I was thinking my 7yr. could do English 2 and Math 2, would she be able to handle PH? Thanks so much for any advice!
Kristie
p.s One more thing my 9yr old did MFW this past year and it was American History 1500's to 1800's which is what BH studies, so would it be to redundant to do the same history again?

hi- I'm new to HOD, but just rec'd my books for Bigger and Little Hearts. I have a very bright 10-in-October who will be in 4th grade this fall. I thought and prayed long and hard about whether to use Preparing with her. I also have a 7 yr old DD rising 2nd grader and 5 yr old K DD. The books in Bigger are so rich and with the extentions will be plenty for my DD. She could definitely handle Preparing but there is so much in Bigger that I didn't want to skip it. After looking at all of the books, I can tell she will not be bored and it will be plenty challenging. As for the redundancy on the history. From what I can see, HOD covers it from a different approach and there is so much to American history, I don't think it would be a problem. We did Sonlight American history this last year, but very lightly- as I wasn't comfortable with many of the books, etc. Hopefully, many other ladies will chime in too.
Best wishes,
Beth

sweetkeys,

You've already received great advice, so I'll just pop-in to agree. The recommended age range for Preparing Hearts is ages 8-10 with extensions for ages 11-12, so we wouldn't recommend for a 7 year old to do Preparing. It would be a much better route to do Bigger Hearts with your 7 and 9 year olds, as you won't be pulling your 7 year old behind for years to come that way! At HOD, when looking at combining, we find it easier to correctly place a younger child and beef up for an older child as needed.

We follow-up our Beyond Little Hearts program with Bigger Hearts as they are two different approaches to the study of American history. Bigger is completely biographical, so your kiddos will learn about the men and women who were important in American history. This gives a completely different feel from what you studied this past year through MFW.

Blessings,
Carrie