New with a few questions

[sunshinestatemom]

Hello Ladies and /or Gentlemen
I am grateful to of found this board.I have been reading all the wonderful posts for the past few days.I was having some technical difficulty logging on to post.I am here now! My name is Elizabeth and I homeschool my soon to be 10 yr old dd.We used Five in a Row this past yr.We enjoyed it but it is alot to plan and my dd was getting bored I am very pleased from what I have seen so far on the HOD website.I am glad God led me to it.For some reason I had seen it before and thought it was a bible curriculum,I had no idea it was a full curriculum! I am trying to decide where I should start my dd this year.I am leaning towards Bigger or Preparing.I feel Preparing may be a better option as my dd reads chapter books already and is a quick reader.I feel maybe Bigger may be under her level but Preparing just right? KWIM? I am a huge CM advocate! We do alot of nature walks/studies.I plan to use Langauge Lessons for the Elementary child this yr which I already have and Making MAth Meaningful for Math.My dd hates math!As do I but I try not to let it show )I have been looking through the MMM parent guide and it seems confusing for me to even teach?! I wanted to ask you all -I have never tried the Singapore Math but looked at the samples.Would this be a good choice for child who gets easily fustrated over math.Does it explain the facts and what to do? And last but not least Is there any volumes planned for after Preparing? What will we do when this yr is over? I am a big planner,I love the idea of knowing what to do each day . Anyone else have an only they are hsing? Thank you for reading thus far!
Blessings
Elizabeth
Mom to a horse lover,2 cuddly cats and one huggable minpin!

[water2wine]

Hi there. I can't answer your question but just wanted to say welcome. There are plenty of moms that use Singapore so I know it will be answered. In the meantime just wanted to say welcome. You will love HOD whatever program you decide is the best fit for your family.

[Kathleen]

Elizabeth,

Hi! And, welcome to HOD! I'm glad you're "here", and I'm sure that you'll soon be just as thankful for this godly, encouraging group of moms as I am!

Here's a link to Carrie's plans for future guides...viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43&p=96 Here are ideas she just posted recently on the guide she's working on to follow Preparing...viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1655&p=12905 Now obviously the last 4 guides that are planned aren't done yet and no one can predict the future, but Carrie is working on these to have done to use with her youngest 3 boys, so she's planning on getting one done a year to keep up with them. And, I believe that the Lord is strengthening her for this task as her writing is having such a ministry in our (HOD users) homes!

Now, as to which guide to use, I'd say there are a couple of options. First you should look at the placement chart as it's really helpful and accurate in placing your child. Here's a link to that.http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php I'm guessing your dd will place in Preparing...but here are the options I was thinking of. You could do Preparing (which looks awesome! ). Or, you could do Bigger with the extension pack which makes it more to a 10 yr old's level if you wanted Am. History or the security of knowing that next year's guide is already completed.

There are a lot of more experienced moms who I'm sure will chime in to help you.
I'm ready to start Bigger tomorrow and we're SOO excited!! I'm really sure that you'll love whatever you chose!
Kathleen

[my3sons]

Hi Elizabeth! Welcome to the HOD boards! And here is a standing ovation for Kathleen's post - very helpful advice and links!!! I agree with what Kathleen said. Those links are going to be very helpful for you, and the placement chart has always been very accurate in helping me place my children correctly. Could you please tell us what you think after checking out the placement chart? I think either Bigger... or Preparing... would work well. As far as Singapore math, we've been really happy with it. I like the way it explains mental math, and I also like the fact that it does not take forever to do. I think LOTS of math problems frustrates children, especially children that don't particularly enjoy math. Singapore teaches difficult concepts in a simpler way, and then it has just enough problems to challenge a child without overwhelming him/her. I also think accurate placement in Singapore is very important. It would be worth your time to have your dd take the free test Singapore has to see what level she should start in; just go to www.singaporemath.com and click “placement” for that free math placement test. It doesn't take long to do, and wherever she places, that is would be the best place to start her if you decide to do Singapore. I think the Singapore Textbooks and also their Workbooks are easy to use for both the teacher and the student. I know you will LOVE HOD! We've done all of their guides so far and been so happy. Please drop another line here if you find more you can share after checking out the placement chart - then I know others will jump in to help you decide between Bigger...and Preparing... Either way, you can't go wrong!

In Christ,
Julie

[Candice]

Elizabeth,

Welcome, so nice to have you here!

Candice

[netpea]

Welcome Elizabeth. We have used singapore from the start, it is strong in teaching mental math and not hard to teach. My son gets frustrated sometimes because he doesn't want to do all the problems, but that's not Singapore's fault. Since he's never used any other program, he doesn't realize that Singapore's workload is actually lighter than other programs. We are pleased with his progress. I would definitely start with the placement test to see where he falls. if your child is in Singapore 2A/2B, there are corresponding hands on math activiites in the Bigger program. Once you hit level 3A/3B, there aren't anymore hands on activities. So if you're in 2A/2B, you could easily do the Bigger program with the extensions.

[sunshinestatemom]

Thank you so much for your replies ladies!! You have helped me tremendously! I had my daughter take the placement test and she seems to be ready for Singapore 3A math.My question is we dislile textbooks here lol Do I need the text for her or can I get away with just the workbook.Does the text include how to work out the problems?? Does it have work they need to do out of the text also on seperate paper?

As for HOD we will be going with Preparing.As alot of the thigs in Bigger we already covered.DD reads on her own and write cursive on her own.Im really looking foward to this year! Reading everyones posts have gotten me excited! Thank you all in advance for any advice you give!

Blessings
Elizabeth
Mom to a horse lover,2 cuddly cats and 1 huggable minpin!

[my3sons]

Thank you so much for your replies ladies!! You have helped me tremendously! I had my daughter take the placement test and she seems to be ready for Singapore 3A math.My question is we dislile textbooks here lol Do I need the text for her or can I get away with just the workbook.Does the text include how to work out the problems?? Does it have work they need to do out of the text also on seperate paper?

As for HOD we will be going with Preparing.As alot of the thigs in Bigger we already covered.DD reads on her own and write cursive on her own.Im really looking foward to this year! Reading everyones posts have gotten me excited! Thank you all in advance for any advice you give!

Blessings
Elizabeth
Mom to a horse lover,2 cuddly cats and 1 huggable minpin!

I bought the 3A/3B set for next year too, and I think you'll need the textbooks. They show the strategies and how to teach them, and they have things in them that aren't in the workbooks sometimes. We do each section of the textbook on markerboard with dry erase markers. Each skill has a different subsection. If my son shows me he can do the skill well independently after a handful or problems, we skip the rest of them and move on to the next skill. Doing the textbook part on the markerboard breaks up the lesson nicely, and lets my son know that the textbook part is the teaching part I do with him; the workbook is the paper/pencil part he does by himself. HTH, and I think you are going to love Preparing...!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Elizabeth,

Since the ladies have done such an excellent job of guiding you through your options, I'll just pop-in to welcome you to HOD! We're glad to have you here!

We'll be doing Preparing... this year with our second son, so we'll enjoy the journey with you!

Blessings,
Carrie