heartofdakota.com

I'll try to make this concise as I'm sure all the newbies ask the same questions.

I am the mom of eleven children ages 18, 16, 15, 13, 12, almost 10, 8, 8, 6, 3, and 20 months. We live and work on a very busy, multifaceted farm in Ohio.

I am thinking of using Bigger....with my two 8 yods and my 9 yods. Maybe Beyond....with my 6 year old, but I haven't decided.

I have every Rod and Staff book for every subject at every grade and we like them (esp the Eng and math), but I thought HOD looks a little too interesting to just brush aside. Hence I come here to figure out if I can swing it or not.

I know with HOD I will need a couple of subjects in addition to the basic program.

Specifically which subjects do I need and even more specifically, is it fine to use the Rod and Staff books I already have for those subjects? I don't want to replace them with something similar as I already own these and they are working well enough for our family.

Thanks, and I look forward to the replies.

Colleen

Colleen,

Hi! I wanted to say welcome to the HOD board. You have a busy, and blessed household!

I'm relatively new to HOD...only using LHTH with my dd and soon to start Bigger with my 8yods. You probably noticed that HOD uses R&S English for part of their LA and the rest is in their guides. I've seen a few moms who use R&S for math, too. (You can really use whatever works for your family. ) I don't know what other subjects you may be wondering about...just thought I'd share my limited knowledge with you.

Kathleen

Hi Colleen,

Glad you made it!
I have not used any level except LHTH, but my thinking is this: If you want to use R&S for math and English it would work just fine. But if you want to get the most out of HOD you might want to consider using the science, reading, and history readers that are scheduled in the HOD guides. They really are a big part of the program.
Welcome to the board!

PS I LOVE that you have such a large family!!!!!!

Hi Colleen! I think I remember you from FIAR--right? You have the neatest family, and I know you truly are a very busy mom.

We switched from FIAR to HOD, though we still do a FIAR unit in the afternoons as time allows. I love how Carrie has everything laid out for us to follow in the manuals. It's really a "check off and go" kind of set-up, and just about anything you'd need for the activities is right there in your kitchen or art supplies--nothing fancy necessary at all!

We're using Beyond right now, and I have to say that the retention from this program is great! I do have R & S for grammar for next year (already bought it, then realized it was part of HOD's plan for grammar--that's one of the things that swayed me in this direction).

I agree with what's already been posted about using the readers Carrie has scheduled in order to get the full effect from the program. Carrie can give you more insight on this, and that's what I also love about this program and company---Carrie pops in on the boards and takes a personal interest in guiding us along with her thoughts on how she envisions the program to be used. You can also e-mail her with your question, or even call, and she is great to provide help that way too!

I hope you can find what will work for your family. I love HOD, and I've decided that this is the path we will follow with our homeschooling. It just gives us so much peace.

Colleen,

Welcome! And congratulations on all of your blessings! I think it's wonderful that you have such a large family, and you're working/living on a farm. Your children are experiencing so many wonderful things in every area of their lives...

As for your HOD questions...

R&S English is used, beginning in the Bigger...manual. You could use a different language arts program if desired; but since you already use R&S anyway, that part's easy.

There are 2 spelling lists in the appendix of both Beyond...and Bigger...Bigger...also has dictation passages to be used with older students (or any age) that have mastered the words on the spelling lists. Future manuals have dictation only for spelling, I believe.

Math: Singapore is suggested, but you can substitute your favorite program. The only thing would be the Math activities Carrie has incorporated into the Math box may not go with your program. Others have said,though, that the Math activities stop after Singapore 2A/2B anyway. Carrie can clarify, I'm sure.

The storytime selections in Beyond (we're using this now) and Bigger...(using next year) are so wonderful. There are about 4 to chose from, plus if you buy the book list for $5.00, you have many more selections. Carrie selects books to read from each genre as the year passes: biography, adventure, mystery, fantasy, etc. It's so much fun! And my kids are always begging to read more than scheduled.

For children who are still using a phonics program, there is a box for that. You may use your own program, or select Reading Made Easy or The Reading Lesson on the web site. For students who have completed a phonics program, you would use the emergent reader's schedule in the appendix. The schedule is in both Beyond...and Bigger...and it is the same list of books. Once your dc is reading independently, he/she would move into Drawn Into the Heart of Reading, which is Carrie's reading program, for 2nd-8th grade students. It is set up a bit like the storytime readings; using books from selected genres, discussion questions, and there is a workbook to go along with it.

As for the rest of the HOD lesson plans in each manual....I would highly reccomend using them as is. History, Geography, Science, Art, Music and Bible are all incorporated into the lessons. There are even 'wiggle' activities included in some of the lessons for those dc who need tht extra outlet for energy! Carrie has done all of the work and everything flows so well together. There are connections between each subject, which I absolutely love!

There is so much about HOD that I could just go on and on about! We are so glad we've found it and are so excited about our learning journey in the years to come. The manuals and books are inexpensive, especially compared to many of the popular curriculum choices out there. And, most importantly, it is God-centered! My suggestion is that you keep reading the posts here on the boards, ask as many questions as you want because we LOVE to help, and check out the web site some more to see all of the various book choices, etc.

If you haven't looked at the placement chart yet, you will find it here:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

If you need to see a sample week of Beyond, look here:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/beyond ... t-week.pdf

For a sample week of Bigger, look here:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-first-week.pdf

You may have already looked at all of these things, but just in case I wanted to provide them! We're glad you're here. Please feel free to ask anything; all the ladies here, and Carrie (the author) are so very helpful.

One more thing-check out this thread to view some samples of work and comments about various HOD manuals:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/viewforum.php?f=14

Let us know what you decide to go with...I don't think you'll regret it!

Just bumping this up so others can respond!

I'm combining Bigger and Beyond for myboys, same ages as yours! It's VERY doable!

The only thing I wanted to mention is all my kids are emerging readers, so they have the same books to read for the emerging reader set. Makes it easier! LOL

Hi Colleen! Great to see you here. You can definitely use R&S Math and LA in place of what is in HOD or on a different level for the English since it uses R&S. We have been doing that and it is working very well. And it is very doable running two programs. I would think you could even have some of your older kids help with the read aloud time if you wanted. I also love R&S's program but HOD just adds a different kind of layer to it. For us it has added not just a lot of learning and fun but a lot of memories that I am so glad we are getting to share. My kids beg to do HOD and beg for more reading. They love it. I bet yours would as well.

Anyway welcome to these boards. Hope you decide to do HOD. I think you would love it!

Colleen,

I just wanted to pop-in and answer your post, as we just got back from our convention (and I've missed all of you wonderful ladies on the board SO much!)

You can easily use your own language arts and math with HOD. We do strive to make our guides as time-conscious as possible, so you may find as you use our guides, some time-saving things you'd like to use from the language arts area as you get going. That will give you a great back-up plan to what you have in place already.

You may want to take one more look at the placement chart to see whether "Beyond..." or "Little Hearts..." is a better fit for your 6 year old.

Let us know if you have other questions, we're glad to help!

Blessings,
Carrie