Everyone Check-In (just for fun)

[Melanie]

Let's all post which curriculum we're using, what week we are on, and if we have found any cool "extras" to go along with it plus anything else you want to add...

We are just finishing week 8 in LHFHG.
I love the songs from the gardenofpraise website, they go great with the Bible stories.
We've made little cards (index card cut in half) for each main character or event. I write the name or event on top of the card and then the kids draw a picture to help them remember. They are great for review and sometimes we mix them up and put them back in order. They each have their own set. We add King Solomon tomorrow!
We are currently reading 'In Grandma's Attic' (my copy my mom saved from my childhood), 'Among the Meadow People', and getting ready to start 'Danny Meadow Mouse'. We got way ahead on our storytime book and are trying to get everything back on the right page!

OK, your turn!

[beandip71]

We are just finishing week 6 of LHFHG. My 5 y/o dd has done very well in the review section of the memory verses. She remembers all of them so far. I think listening to the Hide Em in your Heart CD in the car has helped.

Gina

[ds4home]

We are in unit 9 of LHTH, the letter H. My little one loved the sticker page! It took her quite some time to fill the page with the misc. stickers I had. I had no idea this would be such a hit I love it when things go well

Dawn

[netpea]

We are starting Unit 2 tomorrow in BLHFHG. I've enjoyed Unit 1 with my son. Looking forward to the rest of the year.

[Susan]

I'm finishing up week 8. My daughter is having fun illustrating her copywork of the poetry. We are putting them in slip covers to protect so she can look through her notebook in years to come. She is so proud of the work she has done. She seems to try harder since she knows we are keeping her work in a special notebook. I keep her memory verses on spiral index cards. She had her older sister review with her and again there was a smile on her face as she shared this knowledge with her BIG sister. I give her tickets each Friday as she says all her verses to me. She is saving them for a special reward. For example, like going out to eat with the family when she reaches so many tickets. This is a high motivator. I love the art activities and experiments because it gives her a chance to move around and use her hands. We love BLHFHG!!
Susan

[LoriJo]

My husband and the kids just finished up week 8 of BLHFHG.
Loving it and having a whole lot of fun while learning-enough said

[Candice]

We are just finishing up unit 1 in LHTH! We keep getting side tracked, in a good way, my dd doesn't want to stop reading her bibles! She is learning so much. We also do a lit. based program so that takes up our time as well. Really loving LHTH and can't wait to get to LHFHG some day.

[Busymomma1]

We just finished up Week 9 in LHFHG. I have added timeline work by using The Big Picture Bible Timeline. My kids color the appropriate picture and we glue them on a board at the end of the week. Combining this with LHFHG is really helping me to keep the OT history straight, too! I always get mixed up after Jericho! So mom is learning, too!

We are also adding extra literature using the Sonlight read-alouds for K, and a smattering of other things in the areas of science (Usborne books and library books), art (Kumon Easy Crafts - a quick, easy way to satisfy my DD desire to do crafts with NO prep work for me! Can just pull out a page and off she goes!) and logic (Critical Thinking Co "Mind Benders"). Plus, we occasionally play games to reinforce math (Chutes and Ladders, Trouble, card games). And cooking together is also a fun way to do math and practical skills!

I appreciate the optional literature list in the back of the book. I've just started getting some books from the library from that list in the last few weeks. Surprisingly, my DD loved "The Trojan Horse" that goes with Unit 7, and I plan to read "Queen Esther the Morning Star" as we start Unit 10 next week.

The reason I love LHFHG is that it is simple and basic, giving you room to add any extras you want. That way, I don't feel overwhelmed. If we don't have time for some extra things, we just do the basics, and know we are covered! If we feel like doing more, then we add the above. I certainly don't do all of these every day, but just when I want to or feel we need more.

Ok...hope that wasn't more info than anyone wanted! Thanks for sharing your ideas, too! I always love to hear what other people do. It helps fill in gaps in my own planning and thinking, and I appreciate the input from this board!

[my3sons]

We're in Unit 3 of Little Hearts for His Glory (only doing a page of plans a day, so it'll take us 2 years to go through). We're in Unit 6 of Bigger Hearts... and on Adventure in Drawn into the Heart... We're having a great year!

One of the best things I did this year was look at the bookshop on the Heart of Dakota website, and get any books we have not done yet up to about Grade 3. I made a list of the genres, and put all the books in one of 4 categories for each genre: Read-Alouds (which we read for Storytime), Independent Reading "Choose from" shelf (he picks one to read, checks it off the list when he's done, and then gets a new one), Audio books (I bought 1 or 2 audio(s) to go along with each genre; he listens to this the first 15 min. of his quiet time), and Drawn into the Heart of Reading category (he reads for Bigger's... reading time).

We're also doing math flashcards, nature journal, piano, composer/poet/artist study. With our little guy, we do a lot of Lakeshore games and activities. Both of them also do computer. At night we read various children's Bibles, Joy Berry books, Fables, purity books, etc.

We love all of the Heart of Dakota things we are using!

[SouthernMrs]

Hi,
We will begin Unit 8 this week in Bigger Hearts with my 4th grade dd and Unit 8 in Little Hearts with my 1st grade ds. We're really enjoying this new curriculum this year! I love the Charlotte Mason style of learning and Carrie has planned it all out for me (thank you!).
I feel like my dd is finally doing something more than a math lesson each day while I'm working with her younger brother who is learning to read. I give her her own assignments from the Bigger Hearts manual and she goes off on her own while I work with younger brother. I meet with her throughout the day to check up on her. So far she's been doing great! She especially loves the poetry and art activities. My ds loves the Bible stories and the thinking/drama activities, and of course, the Story Time books are favorites!
Glad to meet all of you!
Charlene

[Tansy]

We just finished Beyond Woot woot! so yesterday was Unit 34 day 5!
Just in time for our Vacation that starts tomarrow. Whew I made it.
When we get back I'll be starting "Bigger hearts" Tho since we are going to the beach I'm taking the "One Small Square Seashore" book.

We did have some trouble yesterday I had no milk powder! My dd lives in a milk free zone. So we skipped it and just used crayons.