heartofdakota.com

So ladies,
SO here is my problem. I'm still trying to figure out where to put my oldest. I want to do Bigger with him but I'm just not sure if it will be to much. He will be 9 in July and is reading chapter books o.k. But he does not like to dictate or write hardly at all. It is like pulling teeth. School comes a bit hard for him. He is a wonderful student and doesn't fight when I put something in front of him but he struggles over them. He would rather be building creations or outside working on the farm then do math or spelling/writing. I've heard that the dictation and writing is so much more intense. But I hesitate to hold him back too and not challenge him some. Maybe it is just me and I'm more nervous and think that he can't handle it. I, like I'm sure most of us on here, was not schooled this way. But this is what we have been looking for, for the last 3 years of our home school journey. I am so excited to start and as I have shared it more with him and what this new curriculum is all about, so is he. He is our oldest and I feel like he is our guinea pig. So is the dictating/writing paragraphs or just a sentence? We are trying to get on a good track with him and just move forward. I fear that I have failed him in teaching him the CM way from the beginning so I feel like he is so far behind. If he does Beyond this year won't that put him behind in finishing up the other books before high school? I I would hate for him to miss even one book cause they all look so good.
Sorry if this seems all confusing. I think my mind is still all spinning around with what to do.
My other two will be starting LHFHG (they are 7 and will be 5 in July) with the 7 year old doing the right side of Beyond.

Thanks,
Jennie

Hi Jennie,
Our boys are the same age! My ds will be 9 in July also. Although I know age alone doesn't make children the same, how you described your boy made me smile in recognition.

I was a little concerned about the writing also when we started Bigger this year but we've just taken it half-speed most of the time and just this past February got up to full speed. The slower pace spread out the writing at the beginning but now that my ds knows what to expect he doesn't balk at it at all. The dictation is actually something he looks forward to!

If you look at the placement chart and see where he places in most of the categories that might help you decide more than just on the amount of writing. And you can always adjust the pace so that he can "grow into" the guide and it's requirements. If however, according to the placement chart his skills fit mostly into the Beyond category you can place him there and beef-up as needed. I hope that this has been helpful in some way.

I agree with the previous poster, please check where he fits on the placement chart http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php especially the first 5 blocks (age, reading, writing, grammar and math). From what you have shared, I am inclined to believe he is ready to start Bigger Hearts. In the appendix, you nhave a choice of using a spelling list or dictation passages. If the spelling lists are too easy, he would be ready to start dictation. Spelling lessons and activities are written into the daily lesson plans of Bigger. The dictationinstructions are in the appendix along with the passages. Each passage is to be studied by your child, then you dictate it to him a phrase at a time, having him repeat what you said, then writing it down. Every element must be correct, including capitalization and punctuation. If it is all correct, he goes on to the next passage the next time. If not, he makes the corrections after comparing with the model, and studies the same passage the next tiime. The dictation passages in Bigger are short sentences, followed by a short list of words. Here are the first and last dictation passages:
#1 Sue has a bird. It can call and sing.
king ring wing
# 102 Fred takes a lesson on Monday and Friday. Do you take your lessons on those days?
bed led red bled sled
fed Ned wed fled shed
Here are the Spelling lists for Unit 1 and Unit 34:
Unit 1 short "a" words
am bad tan hand land last fast glad back that
Unit 34 days of the week and seasons
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday spring summer autumn winter

I also wanted to add he will likely benefit from Rod and Staff grammar 2. You can have him do most of it orally, only requiring a little bit written, like a sentence or two, or have him do some on a white board. Gradually he can write more as he grows in that skill. Cheerful Cursive is a great handwriting program if he hasn't learned or mastered cursive yet-it's only a page a day and lives up to its name. If he is past the Emerging Readers set, Drawn into the Heart of Reading level 2/3 would be great as well. If you plan to use Singapore math, be sure to go on their website to get a placement test for him. Let us know what you think after you look at the placement chart-you will know best, but we add our suggestions to hopefully be of help. By the way, you have not failed! You are a great momma looking for the best you can give your children I felt the same way when my oldest was little-he was my "guinea pig" and survived many of my mistakes -but I assure you your son will do great with a momma like you Edited to add-I just reread your post and see you are going to use part of Beyond with another one of your children. If your oldest places better in Beyond, you do have that option open as well, perhaps adjusting the areas of math and grammar. Don't worry about being "behind" in the guides-you should place your child where he fits best, so that he can have a successful year and make steady progress, rather than being overwhelmed or underchallenged.

Your ds is blessed to have a mom carefully considering what is best for him! These wonderful ladies have already given good solid advice here. I too would recheck the placement chart, and if according to the first page of it, he fits mainly in Bigger Hearts, I would definitely go with that. If you feel he really fits best in Beyond Little Hearts, I would go with that. I am thinking from what you've shared that half-speed Bigger Hearts would be a good fit, but you will know best after checking out the chart.

We went half-speed for awhile with Bigger Hearts, and I really liked how my ds eased into everything. Choosing to go half-speed does not mean that a child will go half-speed always with that guide. At any point, when the child shows himself ready, he can go full-speed. This past thread about going half-speed may be helpful as you ponder this. I did share our half-speed schedule for Bigger Hearts there in case that may be beneficial:

How does half-speed look in your home?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5600&p=41232#p41232

I can't wait for you to start - I remember reading about CM and being so inspired. And then just as quickly being overwhelmed as I didn't quite know how to go about truly teaching in a CM way. HOD has taken care of all of that beautifully for me, and now I am just enjoying teaching in a CM way with no more stressing! I know you will too, and I am so glad you are using HOD.
In Christ,
Julie

We're doing Bigger right now with my dc who will be 9 in May. When we first started last fall, the writing was a bit of a stretch especially for my ds, but as the year has progressed they have really grown into it. Now it's no problem at all doing all of the writing for the full program everyday. You can certainly start at half-speed to allow your ds time to grow into the program. I just wanted to encourage you not to let the writing hold you back too much. Bigger is a wonderful program and if that is where you ds places on the placement chart, he will be fine.

Your son sounds a lot like how I would have described my son last year. He was 9 last July. We went ahead with Bigger and it has been an amazing year for him! We have had to be tough with him, but it has paid off. If your son has a physical issue with writing, then adapt how much he writes. Otherwise, gradually build up to all the writing in Bigger. I really don't think it is that much personally. I know some boys are allergic to pencils, though. You can try setting a timer, allowing a short break after so many minutes, and then continue to stretch how many minutes you expect him to work/write. The poetry copywork is optional. English can be done mostly orally. Spelling isn't that much. One day/week the Bible verse is copied. Then, you have the science notebook page, experiment page, and something for history each week. I just wanted to encourage you to give Bigger a shot! My son would still rather play duck hunting, be outside, etc., but he has learned that school is his job and it must be done. Bigger has been so wonderful for both of us. I cannot sing its praises highly enough!

I went with Beyond for my then 6 and 9 year old sons, and it has been the perfect choice for us. We do higher level math and LA with the now 10 year old, and he does a little extra but, overall, it was the right choice for us. My oldest is a little immature and is not what I would call very "academically oriented" in the sense of sitting down and writing, etc, didn't like to read at all when we started, but all that has changed now! He is an AVID reader! He LOVED the boys interest books of 2/3 level with DITHOR. I think if you did Beyond with your 7 and 9 year old, it would fit them just fine, adding DITHOR for the 9 year old.

Those are just my thoughts. I am doing Bigger next year with both of them, with Extensions for the oldest.

Blessings!

Thank you so much ladies for everything. I don't know why I didn't think about doing Bigger half speed. I was considering doing that with LHFHG with the other two to ease into it but didn't even consider that for my oldest. DUH! That would be perfect for him at the beginning. We are planning on doing Singapore 2a and 2b, R&S grammer 2, 2/3 level with DITHOR. He is going to love the science part since he can't get enough of it right now. I know he will love Bigger from what I've read about it. He really does place well in Bigger.

Now for another question. When it says child is done with phonics (in the placement chart) does that mean, done with going through the Reading Lesson and moving onto readers or does it mean that they have to have more then just that? Like another phonics program (Explode the code or something like that). Maybe I should of posted this as another question?

I've been on these forums so much the past few months. My words cannot even explain how excited my husband and I are to find HOD. And mostly the encouragement from all of you lovely women. I have truly learned so much from just reading what everyone writes. God is so good and faithful to us who diligently seek Him with all of our hearts.

In Christ,
Jennie

Sounds like you have a good plan for Bigger at half speed. I'm sure you and your son will have lots of fun with it!

I'm not 100% sure but I believe when the placement guide says finished with phonics, it basically means finished a phonics program (I would think the reading lesson would qualify) and reading mostly on his own. My understanding would be that they know all the phonics stuff (sounds of letters, blends, etc) but maybe just need more practice with fluency. Maybe Carrie or Julie can chime in and explain better.

Jennie,

I just wanted to pop in here and welcome you, too. I think you've got a good plan going. We came to HOD with my oldest using Bigger our 1st year. It was wonderful!! He does NOT love to write, but has done very well with HOD. I know that I saw Carrie share that about 3rd/4th grade there is always a jump in what is expected of kids in "school"....whether that's homeschool or a classroom. And, especially with boys, this is sometimes not met with eagerness , especially in the writing department. So, it's totally normal for your child not to love more writing. But, it's very necessary to up those requirements as they grow. Just to encourage you, my little dawdling guy has grown and matured SO much these past 3 years with HOD. He has always written neatly, but can now do so quickly. And he is doing great in the creative department as well as the more technical areas. I love how HOD has guided our learning in every area...but especially in teaching writing!

Kathleen

We also came to HOD with Bigger. My kids were neither good narrators or writes at the time. It is such a full program. Really skills are eased into to where they do not feel it. If you had to go half paced you would still have a very full program. First is always the placement chart. If you are close to Bigger it is a great one to ease into skills and slow down a bit if you need to do that. I have one doing Bigger now and she is a little young for the guide my other using it just turned 9. I really feel I am able to give them both the best with Bigger even slowing it down when needed for the youngest. I am keeping in mind all along the skills needed for Preparing. I would take a good look at that as well just so you know where you are headed and if you decide you are close enough to Bigger to adjust it as need, know those skills that you will need to build for Preparing. That really helps me to know what skills my youngest needs and if we need to slow down a bit for her to get them. Her issue is mostly writing. But I know there is a fair amount of writing and cursive in Preparing so I am mindful of that. Just shows me what I need to concentrate on for her to keep her on target.

Wherever you decide is the best placement, you will love HOD. Welcome.

Thank you ladies for all the encouragement and kind words too. It truly helped me in making the final decision. I am very eager to click the purchase button and have it in my hands to start looking over preparing. Just have to wait for our tax return to come in. Any day now. YAY!

It sounds like you have a good placement figured out! As far as your question about phonics, the suggested LA reading choices for Bigger Hearts are either the "Emerging Reader's Set" or "Drawn into the Heart of Reading 2/3". So in general, dc should be reading books somewhere within those levels. Here is a link to those sets so you can see the approximate reading levels of the books:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/emerging-reader.php
http://www.heartofdakota.com/drawn-into-optional.php

Some dc are still doing a review of phonics at this time (i.e. something like Explode the Code workbooks), which is just fine. If dc are still learning their letters/sounds and doing their first year of phonics though, they would be better placed in "Beyond Little Hearts". HTH!

In Christ,
Julie