Questions about the program..Help!

[Peggy4]

Hi,

I'm new to this message board thing, but I'm going to give it a try. I am a mom of a 1st grade girl and a 4th grade boy. I am currently using Sonlight for my older. He enjoys the readers but not really the spine of the program. It's too much and he doesn't really retain. There aren't any hands on activities to help "stick" the info and make it fun. I would like to put my 2 together with the History and bible and was thinking of doing Bigger hearts with both of them. But I'm not sure of a few things. Maybe someone out there can help. What kind of hands on activities are there? Do they use "A cild's story of America" as one of the spines? That looks like a great book!! Although I want hands on activities and real books, I also have to make sure that they are "on track" for testing... Does this program keep them on track? What are the differences between Sonlight and this program? A lot of questions I know, but as I read the threads on here, I noticed everyone was so helpful and informative.

Thanks so much!!

[Samuel'sMommy]

Hi and welcome to the boards!

I haven't done Bigger Hearts so I can't comment on it specifically, but there are all kinds of hands on activities throughout the HOD guides. If you go here viewforum.php?f=14 you can read everyone's weeks in review and see pictures of things they have done with different HOD programs. My son is currently using Little Hearts for His Glory and we have something hands on just about every day. Some are simple things like hands on activities to reinforce his math lesson, others are art projects or science experiments that are a little more involved. But all are wonderful and he loves them! And I love that they are all simple and done with things I have laying around the house and I don't have to get a bunch of random supplies together to make sure they happen.

Also, I don't know what levels your children are at, but I would think Bigger would be fine with your 4th grader but would be a big stretch for your 1st grader. Have you looked at the placement chart at all? You can find it here http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I'm sure some of the other ladies will chime in with more advice.

[4Hispraise]

Hello and welcome to the Board! I am just jumping in to let you know that we did exactly the same thing. I am a former SLer. SL was all we had used from K through 4th, but then God led us here last year when my ds was entering 5th grade. The hands on projects are great. Ds-11 loves them. We started with Preparing Hearts for His Glory and are completing Creation to Christ now, so we never did the earlier programs...I am sooo looking forward to doing them with my younger ds. The difference b/t Sonlight and Heart of Dakota...somewhere there is a really good link..I am going to look for it for you.

As far as the testing, we don't do testing, but my son is progressing so much more in skills and knowledge than he was before...and most importantly, in his love for God and his joy of learning!! We have repeated books, and ds has learned new things from them because of the kinds of questions and the projects. For him, the hands on projects seem to help him retain what he is learning in history. And...everything is so well linked together. Science topics (loosely) relate to History - at least that has been my experience. So, kiddos retain so much more. We love it!! I can't really say enough about it. Also, I don't know if you use SL language arts, but this LA is much more ....MORE intensive than that.

Anyway, I am going in hunt of the link where this question was answered better than I am doing.

[4Hispraise]

Sorry...couldn't find the thread. Maybe I imagined it. Julie usually does a great job answering these kinds of things.

[Carrie]

Peggy4,

We're glad to see you here! It's nice to meet you. I was a former Sonlight user with my oldeset son for our first 4 years of homeschooling, and as we moved along our homeschool path it seemed to be less of a fit for us with each subsequent year. After that we began writing our own guides for our kiddos coming up. Here's a link to our story: http://www.heartofdakota.com/educational-philosophy.php

To give you a bit more information on our philosophy and the design of our guides, I'll also give you a couple of more links to read if you get a chance. Here is a general overview of our program: http://www.heartofdakota.com/general-overview.php

Here is a link to a closer look at how we handle each subject: http://www.heartofdakota.com/subject-areas.php

This will give a good glimpse into our thinking and the design behind our guides.

When looking at where to place your kiddos within HOD, when you have kiddos as far apart in age as yours, it will likely mean that your kiddos may need to be in separate programs. You'll be able to tell better by looking at the first page mainly of the placement chart and finding out where each of your children fit as individuals. Link: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

At HOD, we actually plan for families to be able to use more than one program at a time. You'll find that our older guides train children in moving them toward independence, while our younger guides are short and sweet but still contain what is needed in a rotating fashion each week.

We'd love to hear back from you once you get a chance to check out the placement chart. Then, we can advise you better.

Blessings,
Carrie