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This is where new posts begin. All questions or discussions about any of Heart of Dakota's curriculums start here. If you wish to share a one-time post about your family's experience with our curriculum, you may post under the specific curriculum title (found beneath this "Main Board" heading).
Kelly
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:10 pm
Location: South Carolina

new here!

Post by Kelly » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:20 pm

Hello everyone! I have been reading the posts for a while and i am now ready to ask a few questions.
I have a son who will be 8 in May and a daughter that is 6. I am thinking I am going to buy BLHFHG and combine them.
My son reads well but has a VERY, VERY difficult time spelling even simple words. He has a hard time hearing the letter sounds within a word. He reads mostly by sight but does use some sounding out. Anyway, we are using Math U See and will keep that. He is very bright , just has a hard time with some of the "skill" areas.
My daughter reads short vowel words but that is all.
My question is what to buy for them . I have determined from the placement chart that BLHFHG would be a good fit. I just am wondering what else to get. Do you use Rod and Staff for 2nd grade?
Any info would be very helpful.
I look forward to reading the replies. I have enjoyed learning from you all!
Kelly

Melanie
Posts: 777
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:37 pm
Location: north Missouri

Post by Melanie » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:36 pm

Hi Kelly! :D Welcome to the boards. We are going to be doing Beyond next and mine will be about those same ages.

Well, you'll need the history books, science text, memory verse cd and devotional Morning Bells. You'll need to choose your books for storytime....I'm mixing and matching from all three sets and it's very easy to just pick what you think would interest your kiddos. (For me, this is the hardest step b/c I want to do them ALL!)

LA and spelling lists are included in the book. You'll need to add a reading program for each. Probably Reading Made Easy or the Reading Lesson for your dd, and either the emerging readers or Drawn for your ds. You could add R&S 2 for your ds, or just wait for the next year...it's scheduled in Bigger. But you could easily do R&S 3 with Bigger if you want. (See, it's so easy to just do what you feel is best!)

That's it!!

If you have any other questions, just ask. There are some amazing ladies on this board and everyday I learn something new from one of them! :wink:

We are so glad you're here and look forward to getting to know you better!

:D Mel
Using LHFHG with
ds - '00
dd - '00
dd - '02

Kelly
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:10 pm
Location: South Carolina

Post by Kelly » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:58 pm

How do I know if my son should be in Drawn... or the emerging readers? He has read two chapter books so far; they were the Geronimo Stilton ones.
Also, since he can read but not spell does that mean we should still be doing phonics lessons? Or will what is is BLHFHS be enough?
Sorry I have so many questions- I just don't want to spend tons of money on things that I don't end up using like I have the last two years! :roll:
Thanks so much,
Kelly

Kathleen
Posts: 1980
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:23 pm
Location: NE Kansas

Post by Kathleen » Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:32 pm

Hi Kelly!  It's nice to "meet" you. :D

I'm sure you'll get more knowledgeable responses...I don't have much experience yet.  (LHTH is the only HOD program I've used, but I'll be starting Bigger in a few months.)  But I'll share what I've figured out so far. :)
BLHFHG doesn't actually have phonics in the guide.  You pick a phonics program of your choice - The Reading Lesson and Reading Made Easy are reccommended. As far as knowing where your son should be, I'd just let him try reading some of the books on the emerging readers list and see how it goes. If it seems too hard, you could do a little more phonics, if they seem to be right what he needs, use them, and if you think he could read something more difficult, go into Drawn Into the Heart of Reading. You could go to the "Book Shop" to get the titles and get them from your library to try them.

Hope that helps! :D

(I'm adding one more thing...If you decide that you want to use the emerging readers with your son, I understand that there is a schedule in the appendix of Beyond that would schedule your reading. And there are some great questions to use with them. Kind of a nice lead in for DITHOR.)
Last edited by Kathleen on Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Homeschooling mom to 6:
Grant - 19 Kansas State University
Allison - 15 World Geography
Garret - 13 Res2Ref
Asa - 8 Bigger
Quinn - 7 Bigger

Halle - 4 LHTH

Melanie
Posts: 777
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:37 pm
Location: north Missouri

Post by Melanie » Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:34 pm

I'm going to guess he's probably ready for Drawn. I have a few of the G. Stilton books, and my kiddos can't read them yet. You might also want to get a few of the books on the emerging reader list (most libraries have them) and just see how well he reads them.

The spelling words in the Beyond manual do a great job of covering the first spelling rules, but if he's really struggling with this, something like Phonics Pathways might be a good option. It covers all the spelling rules and exceptions and uses lots of examples for practice. I just started using this myself and I am really loving it!

I think The Reading Lesson and First Reader are set up similar to Phonics Pathways, so you might be able to use it for your dd's reading/phonics AND use it for your ds's spelling, which would be a real budget saver!

Keep asking questions....the board is slow on weekends....my dh is out of town and I'm killing time sitting up waiting for him to get home. I'm sure some other moms will join in soon! :D
Using LHFHG with
ds - '00
dd - '00
dd - '02

inHistiming
Posts: 1301
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:30 pm
Location: Central VA
Contact:

Post by inHistiming » Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:04 pm

Kelly,

I used BLHFHG for my daughter's 1st grade year and we loved it! The spelling is excellent. Because she was a struggling reader, we are going through the spelling lists again this year in 2nd grade, and she is doing very well. Now that she is reading, we're concentrating on learning to spell. She truly enjoys the different spelling activities that Carrie has in the manual. I will be starting R & S 2 with her for 3rd grade and R & S 3 with my 5th grader (next year) because we haven't done a lot of grammar with either of them. My son is familiar with nouns, verbs, adjectives, proper nouns, pronouns; but needs help in diagramming. Anyway, I think using the Beyond manual would be plenty for your son in spelling. It's been great for my daughter. It has built her confidence, and she even tries to spell on her own now, where before she wouldn't. And, she reads things that flash on the TV screen, which she's never done before. I attribute much of her success to the wonderful curriculum Carrie has put together! We are continuing with Bigger...next year with both of our older children, and starting Little Hearts...on Monday with my little one. HTH, and good luck.

Kelly
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:10 pm
Location: South Carolina

thanks for the replies.

Post by Kelly » Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:59 pm

I am an unschooler at heart, I am definately a Betty, and tend to be disorganized. I am thinking that i probably should have some sort of structure ( even though it is hard for me to stick with it.) I just seem to be all over the place with our schooling and go with the moment and that works well with some things but not others. Anyway, from reading all of your posts it seems that HOD may be just enough of a framework to keep us on task and give us some order to our day but not be stifling to us. I don't want my kids to hate school time which seems to happen when I tried to be more formal in the past.
I am also going to try LHTH for my three year old. He just wanders around and plays by himself when I am concentrating on the other kids, so this will give him a chance to feel like he has his own "school."
Kelly

MamaMary
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Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:52 am
Contact:

Re: thanks for the replies.

Post by MamaMary » Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:48 pm

Kelly wrote:I am definately a Betty, and tend to be disorganized. I am thinking that i probably should have some sort of structure ( even though it is hard for me to stick with it.) I just seem to be all over the place with our schooling and go with the moment and that works well with some things but not others. Anyway, from reading all of your posts it seems that HOD may be just enough of a framework to keep us on task and give us some order to our day but not be stifling to us.
Well, from one Betty to another..., I think HOD is a good fit for us. Just enough structure to create, "Consistency and Continuity", but not so much we take a whole day off if we start late or decide to do park day.
Mary, Mama to 4 amazing sons and wife to one incredible husband! Come check us out on the blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MamaMary/

water2wine
Posts: 2743
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:24 pm
Location: GA

Post by water2wine » Sun Mar 02, 2008 3:45 pm

Kelly,

I just want to say welcome! I am not sure what a good answer to your question would be so I will just say welcome! I will say that The First Reader and the CD might be an excellent program for your child that just does Short vowels to finish out their phonics. I love this program and you can start where ever your child fits. Not sure on your son if he would be better off with emerging readers of DITHR so I will let the more experienced moms answer but did just want to welcome you! :D
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13
~Six lovies from God~4 by blessing of adoption
-MTMM (HS), Rev to Rev, CTC, DITHR
We LOVED LHFHG/Beyond/Bigger/Preparing/CTC/RTR/Rev to Rev (HS)

Carrie
Site Admin
Posts: 8128
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Post by Carrie » Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:33 pm

Kelly,

Welcome! We're glad to have you here! :D The ladies on the board have done an excellent job of answering your questions. I'll just pop in to say that it does sound like "Beyond..." will be a good fit for your kiddos if you are wishing to combine them. They fit in the target age range for "Beyond...." which is ages 6-8. :D

You'll need a phonics program for your daughter, if you don't already have one. We carry both Reading Made Easy and the Reading Lesson, however any phonics program will work. Depending on how well your daughter writes, if copying a line of the poem each day will be too difficult, you may want to add either "A Reason for Writing 'K' (letters only) or 'A' (short phrases) for handwriting practice.

As far as your son goes, since his spelling is still needing some work to come along, I am assuming that writing overall is a bit of a struggle as well. So, even though he may be ready to start "Drawn into the Heart..." reading wise, I'd wait to start it until much later in the year, or even the following year, until his spelling/writing skills can catch up to his reading a bit. Beyond..." does include literature study in the storytime part of the box of the plans each day, so your son won't be falling behind in that area. :wink:

"Beyond..." works hard at teaching kiddos to visualize how words are spelled and after a year of steady practice in that manner, I think you'll see they'll have made good progress. I would also recommend that your son do the copywork in "Beyond...", copying only one line of the poem each day very carefully. He can always move up to copying two lines a day or more after awhile, if he shows careful attention to the spelling as he copies. But, steady copywork over time will also greatly help his spelling. :D

I would also just teach the gentle grammar lessons that are in "Beyond..." (on Day 5 of each week). I would wait to start Rod and Staff English 2 until the following year, when it is scheduled for you in "Bigger...".

As far as reading for your son, I would check out the last half of the Emerging Reader Set (possibly around Unit 15 or 16) and probably start there with him. Then, you can always decide whether to add "Drawn into the Heart..." after he finishes the Emerging Reader Set, if it appears he's gaining as a speller/writer.

Here's the link to the Emerging Reader Set: http://www.heartofdakota.com/emerging-reader.php

If you have other questions feel free to ask. The ladies on the board are so gracious about helping! :D

Blessings,
Carrie

my3sons
Posts: 10702
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Post by my3sons » Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:12 pm

Hi Kelly! Welcome to the boards! I agree with what has been said already. We did Beyond last year, and we'll do it again next year. I know you'll love it! As far as the Emerging Reader's set, you really can start anywhere within the sequence and work to the end then. You also can start DITHOR whenever you finish the Emerging Reader's Set, so it's very flexible! So glad you are here - keep on posting so we get to know you well!
In Christ,
Julie
P.S. LHTH is going to be a blast for your little one, too!
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

Kelly
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:10 pm
Location: South Carolina

Post by Kelly » Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:21 pm

Thank you all so much!! All of your input was VERY helpful. I pretty much know what to order now. Carrie, I especially appreciate the extra advice about what to use with my son. He really has me perplexed. I always thought that reading/writing/simple phonetic spelling went hand in hand, developing together. hat is how it has been with my daughter. My son, on the other hand, reads great but can only spell a handful of words(like cat, dog, rat,etc.) and not other simple words like and,hand,cup. It brings him to tears. And often simple words like on,it,is will be reversed. Is this something you all have experienced with your boys (he is going to be 8 in May) and they improved with age? He is able to decode(reading) but not really encode(spell.) I am not a perfectionist and don't expect him to spell perfectly it just seems he is having extreme difficulty in this area.
And yes, Carrie, the act of writing itself is difficult for him.
He is my oldest, so I am new at all of this and maybe it is normal. That is why i thought I'd ask some other moms on here. Everyone I know here IRL has boys that seem to be advanced for their age.
Thanks for listening(reading :? ),
Kelly

Melanie
Posts: 777
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:37 pm
Location: north Missouri

Post by Melanie » Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:34 pm

Kelly wrote:My son, on the other hand, reads great but can only spell a handful of words(like cat, dog, rat,etc.) and not other simple words like and,hand,cup. It brings him to tears. And often simple words like on,it,is will be reversed. Is this something you all have experienced with your boys (he is going to be 8 in May) and they improved with age? He is able to decode(reading) but not really encode(spell.) I am not a perfectionist and don't expect him to spell perfectly it just seems he is having extreme difficulty in this area.
I had to wince, groan and smile when I read this....my son is kinda your ds's mirror image. He can spell anything with the rules we've studied and has beautiful handwriting, but ask him to read anything beyond his comfort zone, and the waterworks begin.... :? You're so correct with your word "perplexing"! We got reading glasses recently and that has helped, but he still needs much practice and patience.

I just keep telling myself to "keep on keeping on" and plug away. Did I mention patience..........

I know this wasn't helpful, just wanted to let you know you are not alone.

:) Mel
Using LHFHG with
ds - '00
dd - '00
dd - '02

Carrie
Site Admin
Posts: 8128
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Post by Carrie » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:34 pm

Kelly,

I'm glad we're able to help in some small way! :) After you shared the latest bit of update on your son, I was wondering if your son had been through a complete phonics program, or whether he has had more of a whole language/sight word approach to reading?

The reason I'm wondering is because when I was teaching third grade (for years and years) we often found that kiddos who were taught to read using the sight word approach (mainly) hit a wall around grade 3 when their little brains could no longer store all of the needed words by sight. That was also the time where we were moving into reading chapter books with almost no picture cues, harder words, and lengthier sentences. So, when the kiddos didn't have any phonics, and they didn't know the word by sight, they couldn't decode it. This lack of phonics often shows up first in spelling and later in reading.

Now, this may not be the case with your son at all. It is just one possible explanation for the spelling troubles. Another possibility is that he has some eye issues or motor skill issues. But if he reads well and can track a line of text across the page without issue, then it may not be his eyes. If he can do other small motor skills pretty well, such as picking up tiny objects, doing detailed drawings, assembling tiny things, than it most likely isn't a fine motor issue.

The last thing to consider is whether he is just not visualizing the words in his mind, which is the most common of the spelling related challenges. "Beyond Little Hearts..." spelling lessons and copywork will really help with that issue.

So, I just mention these things to help you see if your little honey may have any of these other issues going on in the area of spelling. If you think he has any of the issues I mentioned above going on, we'd be glad to mention some things that would help there as well. :wink:

Blessings,
Carrie
Last edited by Carrie on Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Kelly
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:10 pm
Location: South Carolina

Post by Kelly » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:51 pm

Carrie,
Thanks for the reply. I taught my son to read using TEACH YOUR CHILD TO READ IN 100 EASY LESSONS. He seems to read mostly by sight though even though I used that program. The reason I am saying that is because I only see him resort to sounding out if he doesn't know the word. He can read well. He has read three chapter books so far. He just always seems to see the whole and has trouble seeing/hearing the parts. I am using Explode the Code and he has done book one but having trouble with consonant blends in Book two. I was hoping these would help.
As far as motor skills, he builds small legos a lot, but doesn't draw at a "developmentally appropriate" skill level.(So says our pediatrician. They asked him to draw something at his 7th yr checkup and she said it was a 4yr old level.) I didn't pay much attention to this at the time, allowing him to be on his own timetable.
He is very bright in most areas- has a fantastic vocabulary, reads well, comprehends at a mature level, just having these difficulties with hearing sounds and arranging them in proper order.(Had his hearing checked and was ok.) Writing is tough, but I know it is for many boys.
This may not even be the appropriate place for me to be getting into all this and I am sorry if it is too much- I haven't even purchased your program yet.(Waiting for payday :oops: ) I appreciate all the answers you all have already given. I know that God will make it clear; I am just waiting.
Kelly

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