heartofdakota.com

Hi!

This fall I'm planning on doing Bigger Hearts and Little Hearts with my two boys and I have to admit I'm a little nervous about doing two full guides at once. I did Little Hearts a couple of years ago with my oldest son and I don't remember it being too time consuming, but Bigger looks pretty teacher-intensive to me. Has anyone done this combo of Bigger and LHFHG? Can you tell me how it went and how long your day was (or is)? I'm getting a little panicky here thinking that out days is going to be super long, lol.

I really wish I could just combine my boys in history and Bible, but I don't see how I could since oldest has already been through Little Hearts and is now finishing Beyond and my youngest is all ready for Little Hearts.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

We aren't doing that exact combo, but we are doing and have done more than one guide. It's very doable, especially if you do it as written, without adding stuff to it.

We are doing Bigger and LHTH so far this year, while the oldest finishes up some stuff from last year before jumping into RTR. Bigger is tons of fun! It's taking us between 3 and 4 hours to get Bigger and LHTH done, but that's including piano practice. Experience has shown me that our times decrease as we get the flow of our days down.

Don't be discouraged if your days are a little long at first---as you find your rhythm, the time will decrease. You could also start half speed for a few units to get the feel for the curriculum if you are worried about your days being too long.

The guides really are so much fun. I hope you have a great year!

I just finished doing LHFHG(with first grade options, Beyond math plans,Beyond Language Arts, and Beyond Emerging Readers) and Bigger this past year. Bigger is very teacher intensive, but we were still mostly done by lunch time. My oldest, who was doing Bigger, often had written work/independent work, reading to do after lunch, but for the most part, I was able to get all of my part of it done before lunch, so that I could spend the afternoon doing chores, and cooking dinner. I think that particular combination is not only doable ... it's fairly easy.

I will be doing a modified LHFHG, Beyond, and Preparing this coming year ... I'm a little more nervous about that!

Hey thanks, that does help me feel better.

Also not done the same exact combo, but have had the experience of running more than one guide. It's pretty smooth! I did have burn out, BUT it wasn't from multiple guides...it was pregnancy/health problems with bedrest, three kids getting out if control, DH is school full time and always gone, and no support system or friends nearby bc we had recently moved.
You can see in my signature what I'll be doing this fall. I'm pretty confident about it. I'd link you but I'm on my phone.... Search my posts and you can see my schedule I have planned. (post will include the words ETA SCHEDULE ATTACHED) Not your exact guides but should give an idea!

I did LHFHG and Bigger Hearts a few years back at the same time and enjoyed it very much! Bigger Hearts is such an important year of teaching many skills that lead dc to successful future independence. That's why it's very important not to have a tag along child younger than the age range trying to do Bigger Hearts - way too many skills are simply lost on that child. So, I am VERY glad that you are not trying to have your little one do Bigger Hearts, but are rather meeting that son's needs well by doing LHFHG. I didn't find either guide difficult to teach - in fact, it was fun to move between the two. HOD made it easy to focus on what each of my dc needed. I looked at the LHFHG year as a year to hit phonics/reading/writing hard, as well as to train that little child to listen better, to comprehend more, and to do each subject area of school in bite-sized short lesson format. I looked at the Bigger Hearts year as a year to teach new skills that my dc would be doing more independently the next year. I really stayed by my Bigger Heart's child's side for the first about half of the year, making sure he knew exactly what was expected of him from each box's assignment. Neat and colorful drawings, organized work, neat writing, careful reading, growth in oral narrations by working on the narration tips in the Appendix a little at a time, correct copywork and dictation, locating verses in his Bible independently, answering comprehension questions more fully, reading through each box's directions in the plans with me first - then first on his own and summarizing what he'd be doing - and then finally independently, getting out materials, putting away materials, handing in work, Biblical discussions that get to the heart of the matter... that year in Bigger Hearts is an important one, but it is not hard to do, as your LHFHG child will be finished with school very quickly. The time I spent in Bigger Hearts really training my dc in all of those skills has paid back tenfold in the guides after Bigger Hearts. My oldest ds just finished RTR and is still reaping those skills from Bigger Hearts that started him off on the right foot in soooooooooooo many ways.

I would share my BHFHG and LHFHG schedule, but I was still really figuring out how to best type a schedule at that point, and I think it may be too much information (i.e. menu and snacks, baby's schedule, just too much info.!) . However, last year I did RTR, Bigger Hearts, and LHTH, and that schedule may be helpful. It is on the very last page of this schedule's thread, but you'll find many other ladies' schedules in this thread too that are great food for thought!
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I will say that by the time I was teaching 2 guides and especially by the time I was teaching 3 guides, a schedule/routine became my best friend. We like to finish by lunch here, which I realize is not everyone's goal, nor is it possible for everyone due to family size, work schedules, when dh is home, etc. - but I will say that it is very possible to be done with school doing 3 HOD guides in 4 hours or less with a good schedule/routine in hand. So, it's well worth putting some time and research into that! If you get going and have more questions, I'd be glad to help more! I think you are going to love LHFHG and BHFHG - they are both excellent programs!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you so much Julie, you have given me so much confidence! I will definitely be keeping my boys in their own guides as I completely agree with you about everything you said. When I did Little Hearts last year with my oldest, it was a very enjoyable year and I'm looking forward to doing it again. I guess I freaked out a little when I looked through my Bigger guide because it looks like a lot, but I think we'll probably only have about an hour more of work each day next year than this year, so that's not too bad. I've been pouring over all the Bigger books and they look so great, I'm really am excited to get started this fall!