New--Question about placement

[SKCarol]

This should be worded well--since this is my third try to type this out!

I am wondering about how to place my youngest two in HOD. My third youngest dd will be 11 in the fall, and my husband and I are quite content to have her in CTC without the extension. She has been partially through the history cycle already and doesn't need the overview of Preparing.

My second dd will be 7 in the fall. Presently we are finishing phonics this spring and she is just starting to read. She hasn't done a lot of writing sentences, but knows all her letters and does write words. So she would fit into the Beyond as far as language arts. Math isn't an issue, since we have a different program.

My youngest ds just turned 4 and is presently doing Little Hands, although slowly since my dd 20 is teaching him, and she is often busy. But I am also teaching him phonics, so that isn't an issue either.

The youngest two are very close; they play together, they do chores together... So my thought is to put them together in Little Hearts. But my youngest is not yet 5, so I am not sure what to do with my dd 7 in the meantime. Do I wait until next February to start them in Little Hearts? Or could my ds 4 do Little Hearts in the fall, though he will not be 5 until after Christmas?

I have some books to ancient history with my dd 7 this fall, alongside my dd 11. But I'm undecided what to do for science. If she is going to do HOD with my youngest, I don't want to do Beyond with her now.

Any suggestions?

Carol

Mother of 6-- two homeschool graduates, ds 13, dd 11, dd 7, ds 4

[netpea]

Have you checked the placement chart here:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Does your youngest fall in the Little Hearts program?

[Kathleen]

Carol,

Hi! Welcome to HOD!

If you check the placement chart like LeeAnn suggested and your youngest looks like he fits in LHFHG, I sure think you could combine them. There are moms here who are starting their child on LHFHG before they turn 5. (There are also moms starting LHTH with an already 5 yo. It just depends what they're ready for.) I would think that he might be ready since you've done quite a bit of LHTH with him. If you did this, I would say you could combine them for the "left page" (history and science), and the storytime. I would maybe suggest using the Beyond guide for the LA part for your 7 yo dd. You could do the spelling, grammar, emerging readers (a great follow-up to phonics!).

Kathleen

[my3sons]

I was going to say exactly the same thing as Kathleen said. Ditto to her entire post! I did want to ask - are you wanting to start now or sooner than next year with your almost 5 and 7 yo? If so, you could begin LHFHG half-speed to see how it goes combining. You could do the left side of the plans one day, and the right side of the plans the next day for a bit, adding in Beyond Little Hearts right side for your 7 yo (even if you aren't wanting to start until next year you could do this). You could just do the LHFHG storytime and not double up on that by doing Beyond's storytime too (unless you are a family that loves to read, in which case you could do the LHFHG and the Beyond read-alouds and then the next year pick a different Beyond read-aloud set to do since there are 3 package options for Beyond read-alouds). I started LHFHG with my ds when he was 4 1/2 years old, and it went great.

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Oh, and I'll be doing Creation to Christ next year too - doesn't it look great? It will be fun to share our experiences with each other. Welcome to the HOD Board, Carol!

In Christ ,
Julie

[pollo_la]

I just wanted to say that I just started LHFHG 3 weeks ago with my 4 year old dd (she will be 5 in August) and it has been great so far!! I just went by the placement chart and it was clear that LHFHG was a perfect fit. We are going half speed though. We do half of a unit (2-3 days worth) each week instead of a full unit. Although, we do do phonics daily. In all honesty she probably could handle full speed, but I would rather not go full steam ahead at this age and get to the "advanced" material too soon. Anyway, as the others said, check out the placement chart and if it looks like your son will be okay in LHFHG before he turns 5, then by all means jump right in!

[SKCarol]

Thank you for all your advice!

Hmmmm, looking at the placement chart, I'm not sure that my youngest is ready for Little Hearts in all areas. He would be okay with the writing if it's on a white board; the phonics might be a stretch--of course, he still has two or three months to go this year; it's hard to know how much he will mature in half a year's time.

So it is not unusual to have children go through the levels a half year early? I guess I am wondering because he would always be half a year younger than the suggested age for each level.

Maybe it would be a good idea to try LHFHG half speed in the fall... I'll have to see what my husband says--hopefully I can talk with him about that Monday.

Thanks again for answering!
Carol

[Jessi]

I too started my daughter in January when she was still four in LHFHG at half speed. It has been going well. My plan is to continue at half speed through summer and then go full speed in the fall. I might change that depending on how she is handling the workload but I agree with pollo_la that my daughter could handle it full speed right now but again I don't want to rush her too soon. But if you think he won't be ready, then hold off until fall and re-visit it. I will say that LHFHG done at half speed only takes about 30-40 minutes a day. It isn't overwhelming at all.

[Carrie]

Carol,

I just wanted to pop-in and welcome you! The ladies have done a terrific job of talking through options with you. I agree wholeheartedly with their advice.

If you do end up beginning LHFHG with both kiddos at half-speed, you could always do the right side of Beyond at full-speed (at the same time) for your 7 year old (so that her emerging reader schedule, spelling/grammar, and math won't get behind). That way your older child's 3 R's will be in place with Beyond, and you'd just be giving your son a bit of time to catch up in the areas of history and science in LHFHG.

Blessings,
Carrie

[SKCarol]

Thank you again for all the advice.

With what you are saying, I am planning to start the right side of Beyond with my 7 yo in the fall, as well as the left of Little Hearts with both. I don't think my 4 yo is particularly advanced for his age, and in future years I may be able to put my 7 yo ahead in the science/history once my 11 yo is working mostly independently.

I wish I could just order the whole package from Carrie, but the shipping is too high here in Canada . So it will take some time to order things...

Carol

[Carrie]

Carol,

You will most likely be able to use all of LHFHG with your almost 5 year old so that is what I would plan on doing (choosing the 'K' options). This would work well if you go at half-speed awhile doing the left side of the page one day and the right side the next.

Then, your 7 year old would listen in on LHFHG to the left side of the plans and to the Storytime Box on the right side of the plans each day. If you have a good library, you could add some of the books listed in the Appendix of LHFHG to extend the learning a bit for your 7 year old.

You'd also add the right side of Beyond for your 7 year old daily (using the Emerging Readers, a handwriting workbook (you could use A Reason For Writing A or Italic B which we carry as they are scheduled in LHFHG), either Singapore Math 1A/1B or 2A/2B for your 7 year old (based on that child's placement tests results), and then use the spelling and grammar included within Beyond as well. This will cover your 7 year olds 3R's.

Here's a link to the Singapore placement test: http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm
I'd give your 7 year old the 1A test first and see how he/she does.

Once you know what you'd like to order, you could always email my hubby and have him let you know how much the shipping would be to Canada before making your purchasing decisions.

Blessings,
Carrie