heartofdakota.com

Hi All

I am going over and over the lovely catalog from HOD and really like what I see - for some reason, it clicked more than the website did.

I do have some questions, I am hoping you can answer. We are looking at Bigger next year for my 3rd grader. She is an excellent reader, and while we've done some ancient and some US, we've not completed a US history cycle (we just finished the colonial period - pre Rev War) so I think this will fit her well.

As I mentioned she LOVES to read but also enjoys hands on. Can anyone share (without infringing copyright) some examples of the hands on related to history. Is there cooking or anything like that?

Also, with the reading are the read aloud packages different from those used with DITHOR or do we use those books? I'd rather have the read alouds be one thing and those used for DITHOR the others (in other words 2 books going) in order to satiate my little bookworm , but wanted to make sure I had that right.

Also I can mix and match books right?? And put together my own Read Aloud Set and my own DITHOR set? I know I can swap one, but as long as I have each genre covered for both read aloud and DITHOR (assuming thats the right interpretation), I'm good, yes? I just don't get the ordering discount. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE, LOVE LOVE the titles, just some we have read and others I know my daughter would just adore and so I think we'd want to mix and match.

I have other questions too, but will wait until tomorrow.

Thank you for putting up with all of my inquiries...I'm so tired of curriculum hoping and just praying the Lord will lead me to the place he wants me to be. I'd like to put this searching to rest.

Blessings
Kelly

I'll try and answer you. Yes you choose a set of storytime books, these are for you to real aloud to your dd. You can mix and match from the book packs, or in the back of the guide there are actually 5 recommendations per catergory. You could also choose any other book you want as long as it matches the genre. We have been very pleased with all of HOD suggestions so far. For DITHR you can get the books recommended, or pick your own books to match the genres. The DITHR books are for your dd to read. You also get a book suggestion list when you buy the DITHR TM that you can use to pick books. As far as hands on we have not started Bigger yet, but my kids have loved all the activities in Little Hearts, and Beyond. There has been a few cooking things in them such as baking bread, and making homemade ice cream. You can look at a sample week of Bigger on this website too. HTH

With science, there are experiments twice a week. Then for history, each week you'll do the following: geography activity, timeline, art, vocab (not really hands on), and a history activity.

I've heard that you should get other books for DITHOR. I was concerned that it would be a lot more reading if we did it that way, but someone assured me that it's really not that much more. Storytime books get about 4 weeks to be read and DITHOR books are to be read in about 3 weeks I think. I'm going at it at this angle with my kids-- storytime books enhance what we're already learning and DITHOR books are their "fun" books. (Not that they won't enjoy the storytime books!).

If you go to the Bigger page, you can click a link and see an example of an entire week of lesson plans. http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-first-week.pdf

I think your questions about storytime and DITHR have already been answered. We have used various books from the different packages for our storytime using the ones that appealed to us. So feel free to mix and match from the classic, boy, or girl set. They are all wonderful books and you can't go wrong! We've used a variety of books for DITHR too and really enjoyed both the ones we've chosen from the book packs and the ones that we have chosen based on the sample book list. Again, all of the books that HOD recommends are wonderful. The only thing you have to make sure of is that you are matching up the correct genre and choosing the appropriate reading level in DITHR.

For the hands on projects in Bigger, you are going to find a large variety from crafts to cooking. A couple of things we've done recently are make butter, make a bear mask, make johnny cakes, make an Andrew Jackson hat, herd "marble" cattle across the table, stake a claim/mine for gold activity, and make a painting by blowing paint with straw. Those are just few from the last couple of months that came to mind. The activities are varied, but the wonderful thing is they are all quick and easy to accomplish. To see more projects, check out the week in review board. Julie's middle son is doing Bigger this year and she often posts pictures of the fun they have had during the week. I'm bad about not getting pictures taken and posted. Also check out the photo book for Bigger here: http://heartofdakotasphotobooks.shutterfly.com/28 Those places will give you some more ideas of all of the fun things that are done in Bigger. Welcome to HOD!