Help, please.

[mystika1]

Hi,
I am interested in this but I am a bit scared as I have a closet full of curriculum that needs to be sold. I am a curriculum junkie. Currently we are using Ambleside Online and I really love the selections but I am not fond of the schedule. I would really like it more if it had a layed out schedule that I could follow every day with activities. My daughter(6 almost 7) would be happier with activities and I am not creative enough to consistantly think up activities each week. My daughter is getting that glazed over look and this week she just complained during class so here I am.

Anyway....
My daughter is not a big fan of programs with tons of writing. She was taught cursive first and only tolerates 1 medium length sentence or 2 really short sentences for copywork. After that she will fight it and whine until I go crazy so I try to keep copywork short. I was using spell to write and read and at first my daughter loved it but that love didn't last long. When I would pull out the book she would start crying so I shelved it. She does like it when I read to her so that has never been a problem unless the stories seem way boyish. We use mus for math and for the most part she likes it. I have added other hands on manipulatives to balance it out and she responded well. She lights up when she hears that we will do an activity. (I don't blame her as I would have enjoyed doing activities at her age rather than a bunch of worksheets.) I am just trying to see if this would be a better fit for us.

I have printed out the samples and like how everything is layed out. The activities look like something my daughter would like very much. I have many of the storytime titles already and would not have to purchase many. Do your kids like the history titles? I love Charlotte Mason methods and have read most of her materials. I just can't pull everything together with confidence. Any recomendations would help.

Thanks,
Penny

[sharonb]

My children are really enjoying the history books in Beyond. They are 7.5 and 6 years old. Plus my 4.5 year old listens in. They are loving the activities, and I feel like a great teacher/Mommy! Plus we are using suggestions in the guide for Storytime (we've read Squanto and now we are reading The 21 Balloons) and are really enjoying it. So, I say give HOD a try. Use the placement chart to figure out whether your child would fit better in Little Hearts or Beyond.

As for copywork, I think some people set a timer and ask the child to do their best work during that time. So, quality over quantity. I have my 7.5 year old copy the entire poem each week because she is able to do that (she has a notebook that is lined on the bottom half, and is blank on top. She copies the poems into that and then draws pictures to go with them). My 6 year old is not ready for that much copywork. I can usually get a sentence out of him. He is still learning proper letter formation (from a penmanship curriculum) so I am not pushing the copywork with him yet. So, do whatever is best for your child.

[mariaw]

You said your daughter is 6-almost 7? Mine is 8-almost 9 and just now able to do more copywork than what you said yours is doing. My son is 6-1/2 and is only writing 1 word at a time. I wouldn't worry about her being behind. She probably needs to develop more hand strength.

I totally understand about the curriculum junkie thing!! We started HOD over the summer, and it was the first year I didn't drool over all the curriculum at our convention. It felt so WEIRD. I found HOD to be the perfect balance between what my kids like and what works well for me (the way it's laid out). It's got everything in a little box to check off, but it's not so rigid that I feel like a failure if I get behind (there's no doing "Tuesday's" work on "Friday" since there aren't any days of the week!).

[jenntracy]

i am going to agree with with sharon b. said. my kids are almost 6yr, and 4.5yr, (and 19 months). they love the different activities and everything is just long enough not to loose their attention. they love the stories and we also use Math-U-See and add things here and there. We are also doing a few lapbooks. That might be fun for your daughter if she likes activities and being creative. i do love the way each day is boxed off. it is isn't rigid, but it keeps "mom" on task.

My son has nice writing and we never formerly do handwriting. we just copy things here and there. keeping it short is key. you don't have to do lines and lines of letters to have practice. i actually found a website that has little summaries of Aesop's Fables (5 sentences or so for each) and i plan on using some of that for copywork until my son is in the Beyond book. only a sentence or two at a time. We are in LHFHG now. we did half this past year and are doing starting the History portion soon. my daughter is finishing up LHTH and will join us for that side of LHFHG.

Hope you will give HOD a try and be blessed

Jenn D.

[Larissa]

You are going to LOVE HOD if you should choose it! I could have written your post above. . . only I have a 7 yo son. I know the glazed over look well!

I knew last school year that we were going to have to find a completely different approach to our schooling or we would not survive it! I love the CM approach. . . and I LOVE that HOD makes it managable for me. I have 4 children, I make all of our foods by scratch, and I am just plain busy.

I chose Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory for my 7 yo. We now get through our school day without complaining! Oh what joy that is!!! I cannot express to you enough how wonderful HOD is and how your daughter will love the hands on approach! I went ahead and switched to the Singapore math, so that I could do all of the activities that go along with it.
I agree with the statements above about copy work.
I give my son 5 minutes on a timer, and tell him to write as neatly as he possibly can, and to show me his work when the timer beeps. And he knows that if he doesn't write it neatly, he'll have to do it again. So far, he's never had to do it over. And NO COMPLAINING!!! WOOHOO!

We are having such a wonderful time with Beyond! My Kindergartener is doing LHFHG - and he's loving it too!

I recommend this curriculum every chance that I get. This is my 4th year with homeschooling, and I have tried so much and HOD is the right fit for us. We have found our niche. . . and plan to stick with it until we've done all the manuels. So far, I have gotten my sister to switch to HOD, my sister's friend, my best friend and I tell everyone who will listen about it!

[my3sons]

We love the activities in HOD! We NEED them. Our dc are very active and have been missing doing HOD over the summer. I confess I am not an activity girl without HOD. I need the plans and the no prep activities HOD has to get them done. We've found the HOD activities to be a great balance combined with the awesome living books chosen for each guide, plus the CM methods are all included and easy to do. Here's a link to the placement chart - that's a great place to start:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

In Christ,
Julie

[gotpeace91]

Welcome Penny!
Here is a link that will give you some insight on some of our favorite things about HOD. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4403

Leah

[Carrie]

Penny,

I know you were having trouble posting and are at the very least able to be reading these responses right now! I just wanted to make sure that you are now able to post and if not, feel free to email Mike for help!

In the meantime, be encouraged! The ladies are terrific at helping!

Blessings,
Carrie

[ncmomof5]

Penny,

I noticed that you said in your original post that you had tried using SWR. I ,too, tried that and ran into the same problem with my 8 yo ds. Too much writing. If you're interested, I found a great program that teaches the same phonograms, but is much more teacher and student friendly. It's All About Spelling. I saw great results in my son's reading, writing, and spelling last year.

Just thought I would throw that in there as I know how frustrating it is to try to make something work that just doesn't fit you or your child.

In His love,
RuthAnn

[Tansy]

On my way to the first Homeschooling conference I ever went to. I had a great lady talk me though what I wanted in a curriculum. I had previewed a few and they seemed to me to fall into 2 categories. worksheet oriented, or listening oriented. I didn't want that at all... I wanted balance and creative learning. I wandered around spent hours talking to various vendors... Spent at least an hour in HOD after a bit Julie sent me over to Carrie (much to my surprise later did I realize the lady who was so helpful was the author!!) In HOD I found that balance I was looking for as well as ease of use. Not having to figure everything out was such a blessing. Lots of reading and lots of activities, Lots of jumping around. and flexibility to tailor the program for your child.

My eldest did not enjoy copy work, so I only gave her a few lines but required it be done neatly. My second is just started bigger... but this one loves to copy so she gets more than her sister ever did. Tho we don't always do all of it.

And a big rubber band or a piece of elastic can really help your kids hand strength. With all fingers and thumb together put a loop of elastic around them in between the first an second knuckle (just on the knuckle of the thumb). have the child stretch her hand open like a star burst. do it for 1 min a day to build finger and hand strength. When her hand does not tired quickly and has the strength to hold she will complain less (unless it is a habit, like in mine) and her work will improve. Also I used to let my eldest use a marker to copy the work. As a marker does not require hard pressing down to get it to work.. bigger bang for your buck. As oft leaded pencil will do the same thing.
HTH
Tansy

[mystika1]

Hi again,
Thank you all for the wonderful advice. This seems to be a perfect choice for us. I just really dont like planning activities as I am not creative enough for that. I do have a question about singapore math. I am currently using mus and my daughter complains when I pull it out. She doesn't like using the blocks anymore and and has a fit if she gets a problem wrong. She gets angry if she doesn't get 100 A+ on her paper. Is singapore math easy to use?

Thanks,

Penny

[Tree House Academy]

Hi Penny! Welcome!

I started with Beyond for my 5 year old son (he will be 6 at the end of September) and I actually dropped back to Little Hearts after 6 weeks in Beyond. In Beyond, he was asked to do some copywork, but the amount was up to me. He would copy 2-3 sentences and did beautifully. The one big reason I dropped back was the activities and the comprehension level. He does wonderful in the basics. He is reading the emerging readers in Beyond without a problem, doing the 2nd grade spelling words with absolute ease, and is 3/4 of the way through his 1st grade math program (CLE); however, when it comes to his listening skills, he needs work. Little Hearts is much more on his level with the language in the books. The History book asks questions every so often (in the reading) which keeps him alert and paying attention. He is also much more geared toward listening to books where an animal is the main character. We started with the book Squanto in Bigger and while he loved it, when we got to "Sword in the Tree," I lost him - glazed over look isn't even the word. There was too much dialogue and he couldn't follow it. When I asked him to just tell me the main points of the story, he couldn't. That is when I knew that, as advanced as he is in the basics, he needs to step back and have fun with the rest.

I am new to the CM approach and have always fallen more into the Classical style prior to now. However, my children learn so much better with CM's gentle approach. It is no longer like pulling teeth in my house! And stepping back one guide with HOD didn't feel like stepping "back" - it felt like stepping over. That may make no sense, but because the guides fit such a large age range, it never feels too "childish" or young. My 10 year old is doing Bigger with Extensions and we love it as well.

I am sure these ladies have answered all of your questions. I just wanted to welcome you and tell you a bit about our experience. I too was a curriculum junkie before HOD (and CLE - I love CLE for math and LA...but for reading, my heart belongs to DITHR!), but after using these guides, I have no desire to curriculum shop anymore. It is all so complete, it never feels like I am missing anything!

[Tree House Academy]

Hi again,
Thank you all for the wonderful advice. This seems to be a perfect choice for us. I just really dont like planning activities as I am not creative enough for that. I do have a question about singapore math. I am currently using mus and my daughter complains when I pull it out. She doesn't like using the blocks anymore and and has a fit if she gets a problem wrong. She gets angry if she doesn't get 100 A+ on her paper. Is singapore math easy to use?

Thanks,

Penny

My son was the same way. However, he has had to learn that not making 100% is part of life. He is not perfect and I try to let him know that I only expect him to do his best. The sooner your dd learns that, the better off she will be...and the more fun homeschool wiil be for her. My ds10 came out of ps last year, and he actually cried when he didn't get a A on something. Now he reviews his work. looks over what he did wrong, and tells me that he will do better next time (and generally he does).

Sinagpore is not hard to teach - especially not with the HOD manual as your guide. I had a hard time teaching it to my 10 y/o with the Singapore guides (the homeschool version), but I can see how much more fun we could have had with Carrie's version in the manuals. We had stopped Singapore by the time we decided on HOD, and we are happy with our CLE, so we didn't switch back. However, if I ever had to change again, I would go back to Singapore with the HOD guides for sure.

[my3sons]

The hands-on HOD math plans for Singapore are awesome! They've made my dc love math and feel confident in their math skills. The hands-on plans are written through 2B, and when we did 3A/3B last year, my ds had no trouble dropping the hands-on. We followed the Textbook/Workbook plans at that point, and he's doing well. My middle ds finishing 1B also loves math - says it's his favorite subject. It is not hard to teach with the HOD plans. I've looked ahead through 6A/6B - at that point, I may want the Home Instructor's Manual, but not probably until then. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie