New here - Picking a level

[Christy]

Hi all,

I am so happy to be here! I used Little Hands and Little Hearts a few yrs ago. I remember meeting Carrie at our local HS Convention. She was so nice, and I remember thinking it was sooo cool to meet the author of the program.

I have 3 kids and they have all been hsed all their lives. We have a lot of fun and I look forward a long hsing career.

Nicholas is my 10yo. He hasn't had as much history as I would like. I have focused on the 3r's for the last few yrs. He is doing beginning 5th grade level work, nice & solid, using Rod & Staff's texts for math & LA.

Xavier is 8 and has had a rough time reading. He is 3/4 of the way through 1st grade phonics and still struggles to read books. Thankfully he has a good attitude about it. He is super creative (writes his own stories!) and his math is excellent, he is doing R&S 3rd grade math.

Marie is doing great. She has really picked up reading & math in the last 2 months. We started her with Christian Liberty Press' K stuff in the fall but she struggled a bit. After Christmas break it all started to come together for her. Ahhh, sorry, but after all the work involved with getting X to read, it has been a nice break with her. She can read Bob books almost fluently and started R&S math 1.

Well, that was a lot longer then I intended! I was looking for a little advice on placing these kids in a program. I don't suppose I can put them all in one. (sigh) We're on a tighter-then-usual budget here. But I have access to an awesome library system. I already own a lot of the spines Carrie uses. Great minds think alike?! He-he. And I have Drawn into the Heart of Reading, so I don't have to budget that in.

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it!
Christy

[beandip71]

Hi Christy and welcome to the boards. I wanted to suggest that you check out the placement charts on the HOD website. They should be helpful in trying to place you kiddos. Here is a link to them.

http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I hope that helps. Take care,

Gina

[MamaMary]

Welcome Christy! It was so FUN meeting you! Go to the link sweet Gina gave you and then come back and tell us what it said. We want to walk this journey "with" you!

I myself have found the placement charts to be SPOT ON!

[water2wine]

Welcome Christy! Can I just say that I love your kids names. Welcome back I guess I will say. I know you are going to get good ideas by looking at the chart. I also have a struggling reader. She is ten and on first grade level doing third grade R&S, she has special needs that really is essentially brain damage to the normal pathways. So we essentially have to find new ways to get the information in for her. I have found that the Emerging Readers have been great for her. We are also using the later part of The Reading Lesson with the Cd to really cement in the phonics even though she has done phonics. Something about the Cd and the book has really been different for her and doing that while she is reading has helped. She has problems with recall though and maybe that is why. So this obviously would not be the normal way to use these resources but I just share it with you in case your son has done phonics but still struggles with applying the information. I have found that combining the two works great in that instance and also when memory is an issue as it is in our case. That would be the only reason combining the two would be helpful I think otherwise they are wonderful as they are intended and I have two others using The Reading Lesson at two different levels and they will both follow with just the Emerging readers as they are intended to be used. Neither one have any learning issues and are just excelling with The Reading Lesson and the CD.

I hope that is not confusing I hesitated to post it because I did not want to confuse you but for a special needs learner I have just found it to be such a huge boost. You know how it is when you kind of hit a road block and something helps to get you through. I hope there was something in it that may be helpful for you. If not please just put it out of your head.

I am very interested to see where the charts place your children and again welcome.

[my3sons]

Nicholas is my 10yo. He hasn't had as much history as I would like. I have focused on the 3r's for the last few yrs. He is doing beginning 5th grade level work, nice & solid, using Rod & Staff's texts for math & LA.

Xavier is 8 and has had a rough time reading. He is 3/4 of the way through 1st grade phonics and still struggles to read books. Thankfully he has a good attitude about it. He is super creative (writes his own stories!) and his math is excellent, he is doing R&S 3rd grade math.

Marie is doing great. She has really picked up reading & math in the last 2 months. We started her with Christian Liberty Press' K stuff in the fall but she struggled a bit. After Christmas break it all started to come together for her. Ahhh, sorry, but after all the work involved with getting X to read, it has been a nice break with her. She can read Bob books almost fluently and started R&S math 1.

Well, that was a lot longer then I intended! I was looking for a little advice on placing these kids in a program. I don't suppose I can put them all in one. (sigh) We're on a tighter-then-usual budget here. But I have access to an awesome library system. I already own a lot of the spines Carrie uses. Great minds think alike?! He-he. And I have Drawn into the Heart of Reading, so I don't have to budget that in. Christy

Hi Christy! I would love to hear your thoughts after checking out the placement chart. It's easy to use and is usually right. If I had to make a guess based on what you've shared so far, I'd say since you are doing your own LA and Math for your 10 yo, I think you could do Bigger Hearts for His Glory with both your 8 and 10 yo, adding in the extension pack for your oldest. You could do the Emerging Reader's Set with your 8yo and use the schedule in the Appendix of Bigger with that. It sounds like he'd be fine with the writing part - writing creative stories already, hooray!!! Also, it would be neat to do DITHOR with both the 8 and 10yo's when your 8 yo finishes the Emerging Reader's Set.

I am not sure how old Marie is, but from what you've said, I'd guess she'd be in Little Hearts for His Glory. It sounds like you already own that, so that would be a great way to save some money too. Otherwise, if you look at the placement chart and she seems past LHFHG, then Beyond... would be wonderful too! Perhaps you could do it more slowly though, like over a year and half then.

Please be sure and let us know what you are thinking after taking a bit to glance at the placement chart! I just thought it might be useful to have a "ballpark" idea. Whatever you do, you will LOVE HOD! We've done all of their programs, and I know you'll enjoy them too!

In Christ,
Julie

[water2wine]

Julie did a superb job

[Candice]

Christy,

Welcome to the boards!

Candice

[Christy]

I decided to go with Bigger Hearts. But I wonder if someone can answer a few things for me? I want to make an order now and another order in about 2 months. I usually split up my hs purchases like that, its easier on DH's wallet!

#1 Will I need Journeys in Time right away?
#2 I am planning on using the extension with my oldest, Do I need to get the 2 science books right away? Is Exploring Planet Earth used first?
#3 Same thought for the reg. science books; Can I buy 3 now and then 3 later? Or are they mixed up in the units where I need the whole set now?

If that is too much info for the boards its ok, I can just order the guide and work from there. I don't want to cause trouble!

Thanks so much!
Christy

[Marsha]

Hi,
Journeys in Time and Exploring Planet Earth is used first.

[Melanie]

If that is too much info for the boards its ok, I can just order the guide and work from there. I don't want to cause trouble!

Only 2 posts and already in trouble! hee hee Sorry, I couldn't resist! I just realized that I had not said my proper "howdy" to ya, so ..... howdy Christy and welcome!

I don't think anyone would mind telling you what you need first, we all respect wanting to be nice to our hubby's wallet!

Look forward to getting to know you better! Mel

[Kathleen]

Christy,

It's nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to using Bigger with my almost 8 yr. old soon, too.

[Carrie]

Christy,

Welcome to the boards! It's so nice to "see" you again! As to your questions, the ladies did a great job of chiming in to answer you. Thanks ladies!

Marsha already helped out with your questions about Exploring Planet Earth and Journeys in Time, yeah! So, I'll answer the other questions.

You won't need the Edison book in the Extension Pack until the end of the year, so you can wait on that. You can also wait on any of the Extension Pack books that are in the later units, I believe they are all listed in the order they're used on our website.

As far as the science Economy Package adder, you do read through the books one at a time, so you should be alright ordering the first half now and then adding the second half later.

Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Christy]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate all the responses. You have a great board here!

Blessings,
Christy

[Carrie]

Christy, you are so right! The ladies on the board do such a wonderful job of welcoming everyone and love helping each other. We are so blessed to see their Christian spirit running through every post! We're glad you're here!

Blessings,
Carrie