Suggestions, please...

[ash]

Hello!

I recently discovered HOD and cannot wait to start using it! Our family just began homeschooling in Jan. so I am completely new to everything but this curriculum looks incredible and the excitement on here is absolutely contagious! Our older two used Abeka since k5 in school to now at home. They're in 4th grade (son) and 1st grade (daughter). If I go by my 'circles' on the placement chart my oldest would be in between CTC and Preparing, I'd lean toward Preparing for reading practice. My daughter would probably fit right into Bigger on the young end, she'll be 7 in June.

My dilemma is that I would REALLY like to do the same thing with both of them using Bigger. I know it has extensions for 4th/5th grade but I am just concerned about my son being on the oldest end (5th in fall) and if this would be a bad thing for him. I love the biblical character traits part of it and he loves American history. I will place them in their appropriate math/language area so I just don't know if I should worry about the rest being a little off?? I'd also like them together because we'll have a kindergartener in the fall and I know I will need to focus a lot of time on him.

Lastly, would I be crazy to go ahead and get it and start now??? With what we have I feel like I spend chunks of time preparing to teach a 'class' of one times 2 plus the things I do with our 4 year old. Our oldest is not having a pleasant experience and we basically dropped his history and just go to the library and read as a family on similar topics from more interesting books.

I look forward to any advice, and getting to use HOD soon!!

[lmercon]

I know others will have more helpful advice, but I'll throw out a few things to consider. My SIL used Bigger with extensions for her fourth grade boy last year. It was a bit easy for him, but she made it work. You may want to reconsider using Bigger for your 7 yo. Obviously, I don't know the skills of your child, but Bigger might be a challenge. Have you looked at Beyond? It is such a wonderful program - very fun and gentle. It would be a great way to begin your HOD journey. Bigger builds nicely on Beyond. It revisits American history, but with a biographical approach. My ds has made many connections this year to what we studied last year. Beyond also offers a really nice start to the study of poetry, the practice of narration, and history and science notebooking activities. You can adjust the skill areas, such as grammar and math to the level your child is at. It's just something to think about. I think it is a lot more enjoyable and easier to implement when you don't have a program that must be "watered-down" a bit because the activities are more complicated. It's always easier to add to a program that try to take things out. Your dd may do just fine in Bigger, but I'm personally glad that my ds is a bit older this year when we are using Bigger. He is able to understand the more complicated history readings and is able to do a great job on the mapping and notebooking activities. Last year, they would have been too challenging.

My sil is using Preparing this year with her fifth-grade ds, and it is going very well. Personally, I would not try to combine a 4th grader and a 1st grader into one program, but that is just my personal opinion. Others may disagree. Their skills and ability to comprehend concepts are very different. I think it might be better to use a program for each of them that is best for their level. However, with a little one coming along behind, that may not be what you want to do. Ah, decisions! It is very easy to get started with HOD - just open and go! So, whenever you've made the decision as to which levels to use, you can start right away if you want! If you start soon, you could start out slowly to give your kids some time to adjust to this "new" way of learning. The CM style can seem a bit foreign to kids who are used to a textbook approach.

Just some thoughts,
Laura

PS - You will LOVE these programs. They are a true delight. So fun, engaging, meaningful, easy to implement, and rich in concepts and Biblical truths. Enjoy!

[Tmisek]

Welcome!

I don't have too much advice, but just wanted to welcome you! This is our first year homeschooling and we are having a wonderful time with HOD...I know you will love it too!

It does sound like Bigger would be the best bet if you wanted to combine the oldest two. I also think that doing 2 or even 3 programs is very doable with HOD. I'm no expert, though, and I am sure you will get lots of good advice. Also, I don't think starting now would be a problem at all...I think it would be a breath of fresh air! Many of the ladies begin new guides in the middle of the year and finish the following year.

[kelli]

welcome!

this is our 1st year hsing and using hod. it has been an amazing blessing to our family. you are going to love, love, love it!! i have to 2nd laura's advice. i think bigger would be quite overwhelming for a 7 yo. we have been using beyond for 1st grade and preparing for 5th. it has been perfect. i would also encourage you to keep them seperated if possible. it is not only doable but thoroughly enjoyable. we tagalong for storytime and science and other interesting things, but without giving up any part of the guide. you will still have plenty of time for togetherness.

hope this helps!

[pamh]

We're Abeka users as well (my son just turned 7) and just from using Abeka and having the Beyond book as well, I personally would choose Bigger for my 7 yr old if your child did well with Abeka this year. I'm personally just basing my opinion in comparing the math and writing in Beyond compared to what we've done in Abeka this year. I'm sure Julie or Carrie will be able to guide you more carefully but just wanted to give you my input since we used Abeka. We'll be switching completely over to HOD in the fall. I appreciated how HOD introduces more grammar where Abeka does not cover it until 3rd grade. My son LOVES the history with HOD!!! Blessings to you!

Pam

[momofgreatones]

We began using HOD last month and are doing three different programs. I know it is an unusual time of year to begin a new program, but I didn't care - both the kids and I were really suffering with lifeless curriculum and couldn't wait to get started once we found HOD. I'm so glad we did! I still can't get over how happy my kids are with HOD, and me too. There's no law that says you can only start programs in the fall - whatever you and your dc need to be happy is what's important.

I'm using Bigger with my 9 and 10 year olds, and it is plenty for them. If I had a 7 yo, for myself personally I would do Beyond. My younger two that will be doing Little Hearts soon, will be 6 and 8 when we get to Beyond, which will be perfect. I have the Beyond manual and I am so sad to have missed it for my oldest four. It looks so wonderful, and I'm having my two in Bigger right now read some of the books because I don't want them to miss them.

That's my experience so far. These programs are so much fun, you will love it!

Monique

[gmhaynes]

Welcome to HOD! This is our first year homeschooling as well. My dd is in K5 this year and using LHFHG and we are moving into Beyond in the fall. She turns 7 in September and I found that LHFHG was very challenging for her this past year. So I agree with some of the other posts that you may want to consider using Beyond for your 7 year old. I also use LHTH for my younger 2 and using 2 books (and probably even 3) is not that bad. Most of the planning is done for you. I spend about an hour once a month to gather all of my supplies for the next 4 weeks and make sure that I don't get caught off guard. But other than that, I just pull out the books each morning and we get started. Really glad you found HOD! I have a friend that I have been trying to talk into switching from Abeka because she feels completely overwhelmed.The good news is that if you find your child needs more you can always change things up. That is one thing I LOVE about homeschooling. And kudos to you for switching mid-year. Do what you know is best for your family!

Mary

[ash]

Thank you ladies SO much for all the wonderful advice! I am pretty sure that we need to go ahead and make the switch. I am planning on doing some schooling during summer months. Our "fun" budget is tight and the kids get restless without having something to do so if they enjoy HOD it will be perfect to continue to use it a few days a week. I'm going to do a little more thinking after reading all your suggestions...it's good to hear some of you have used Bigger with a 10 year old and it worked though. I had not thought about my almost 7 year old not being ready even though young because she seems to be ahead a little with Abeka. Probably due to being in a k5/1st grade split class her first year and so this year is a lot of repeating what she already did with the same books and she was reading at a 3rd grade level in kindergarten. If I held her off a year I could even possibly have her in Beyond with our youngest, they would be 6 and 8 then but I'm just not sure that he is going to pick up things as quickly and easily as she did...is it a boy thing?? Oh, the decisions!! God has brought us so far in many things this past year so I will just trust Him to continue to guide our family in these decisions, too! If we need to do 2 programs I know He'll give me the time and strength. I can't wait to have HOD in our hands and be able to join in more here...may God bless your families!!

ashley

[lmercon]

Just to reiterate....the language arts and math are really separate parts of the program. You can easily substitute something else for what is in the guide. My ds did Singapore math with Beyond, but we used 2 A&B instead of 1 A&B that was written in the guide. If your dd is a strong reader, you could use the Drawn into the Heart of Reading literature program with her and still use Beyond. There are 2 levels of spelling lists provided. Another option is to use the left side of Beyond (history, science, poetry, Bible) and the right side of Bigger (skills areas). There are a lot of ways to approach it. I only suggested that you rethink using Bigger because of the harder history readings and history and science notebooking activities - much more writing and detailed drawings. And because Beyond is such a wonderfully simple, yet rich program that I hate to see anyone miss it if they could use it!
So glad you found HOD early in your home schooling journey! It's the best!!!!
Laura

[Carrie]

Ash,

I just wanted to welcome you to the board too! We're glad to have you here! The ladies are doing a terrific job of answering your questions, so I'll just pop-in to say that it is so helpful to check out our placement chart when determining where each child would fit best (all combining scenarios aside at first).

Once you see where each child places individually, especially on the first page of the chart, you'll be able to see more clearly whether they'd combine well and if so within which program. Here's a link to the placement chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

If you get a chance to pop back in after looking over the chart, we could advise you even better.

Blessings,
Carrie

[ash]

So after some pondering and such encouragement that more than one program could be easily done I've come up with an idea...

I still feel strongly about doing Bigger with our son 1)because I don't want him to miss out , 2)it sounds like it will fit right in with some current issues we are discipling him on in his character molding, 3)I am hoping it will help motivate him to want to learn and enjoy it more.

So...I thought we would start that and see how our daughter (1st grade, 2nd in fall) flows with it. I may have even convinced myself to slowly start LHFHG with our almost 5-kindergartener in the fall and let her go back and forth some if needed. If she fits in ok with Bigger we'll stick with it. If not, she could float along with LHFHG until fall and then I could start Beyond with her and give our son some "space" in his own program.

Any thoughts on this idea?

[kvmck]

Hi,
I just wanted to share a bit too because this is such a wonderful curriculum! We just started HOD a year ago, and I started my then 7 and 8 1/2 year olds in Bigger. After 11 weeks we decided to go down to Beyond and for us it was the perfect thing to do. I am using LA and math in Bigger for my son and he does extra history and science reading (because he wants to, not because I feel like he needs it). The main problem both my kids had with Bigger was the amount of writing--definitely the weakest part of my teaching It didn't sound like a lot when I was reading the guide but in the day to day of it all I was having a lot of whining, esp. from my 7 year old. I will be starting my now 9 year old in DITHOR very soon but will not begin that with my 7 year old until the fall when we start up with Bigger again. We plan to keep doing Beyond all summer (probably 3 days a week) because my kids actually like having something to do.
I had even debated in my mind in having all 3 of my kids in different programs and feel like it would be very do-able, I find the teacher guide to be so well organized and thought out that it is not overwhelming for me to think of doing several programs at the same time anymore.

[my3sons]

Hi Ash! I agree with the ladies that the amount of writing in Bigger Hearts is the thing to consider. We do have our 7 yo doing BHFHG half-speed, and he's doing fine, but he has done all of HOD prior to this and it is still plenty on his plate. I would not have him do BHFHG full-speed right now. However, dc can vary so much, and age is only one indicator of placement. So, I was thinking these past posts might help you, as they describe in detail the amount and types of writing dc do in BHFHG:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3005
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1516&p=11829

If you desire to do only 2 HOD programs (which I advise when just starting with HOD anyway, unless you're going half-speed with some of them), I think in the long run, it would be easier to combine your 5 and 7 yo than your 7 and your oldest. I'd lean toward doing PHFHG with your oldest, and LHFHG for your younger 2. This would set up an awesome teaching pattern for you, as you'd have a year between teaching the same guide, and as your oldest would be appropriately challenged, and your 7 yo would not be overly stretched. Your 7 yo could do LHFHG left side with your 5 yo, and do the right side of Beyond. This will give your 7 yo time to learn CM style skills, and will let your younger duo be more independent. However, if you are feeling like there is no way your 7 yo would place adequately in LHFHG, than you could do Bigger Hearts half-speed with him. This would put your oldest in PHFHG, your middle in BHFHG half-speed, and your 5 yo in LHFHG half-speed. Just so you know, when you do DITHOR, it covers Godly character traits as well, and your Bible studies in each of the guides really do so much for heart/attitude issues too (as evidenced in my sons ). As you suggested, you could start in Bigger Hearts (especially if you are for sure wanting oldest to do that still), and see how 7 yo hangs with it. Your 5 yo could definitely do LHFHG. We have started a new HOD guide in January before and loved it. So, yes, I'd say pray about it, ask any more questions you may have here or share your thoughts, and then make a plan and begin! Placement is the only time taking thing in HOD, but you are wise to spend some real time pondering it. What are your thoughts now? I'd love to hear what you think after reading the BHFHG writing requirements, as you'll know if that sounds right on for your 7 yo, and if it does, then combining with the oldest WOULD work, and oldest could do extensions.

In Christ,
Julie

[ash]

Julie, THANK YOU, that was tons of more great information! I just accidentally deleted my response so now you'll get a condensed version! I absolutely think that our 10yo son would fit best in Preparing. He actually placed more in CTC on the placement chart but I was desperate to combine and now knowing that DITHOR has Godly character traits has helped me tremendously! Since this is all new for us I think Preparing will be the best starting point for him over CTC.

Now with our other two. My hubby and I looked at the links on the amount of writing in Bigger and we both believe our daughter could do it with no problem. HOWEVER, we are starting HOD now and she won't be 7 until June. If we do Beyond with her that will put her exactly in the middle for the rest of the guides, help keep content more for her level, and we could always add the extensions if she needs more later on. I think I would much rather have the option to add the extensions with her if needed later than have our 10yo start out in the highest level of the extensions in a guide.

So, my last two quesions (sorry for more)... Do you think I will need extensions for my oldest in Preparing? He will be 5th grade in the fall and we'll probably break for summer now since I won't feel so rushed to get him through Bigger and work on some biblical character traits and other activities. I totally appreciate your wisdom and honesty that it would be plenty to start out with only 2 guides since we are not only new to HOD but homeschooling in general! What do you recommend for our youngest? Do you think if I get started with my older two now and just keep working with him like I have been we might be ready to start him in LHFHG in the fall? He will be 5 at end of March so he will be a kindergartener in the fall.

I can't tell you what a relief this information has been to me! Thank you and everyone else for taking the time to share your much needed wisdom!

Ashley

[my3sons]

So, my last two quesions (sorry for more)... Do you think I will need extensions for my oldest in Preparing? He will be 5th grade in the fall and we'll probably break for summer now since I won't feel so rushed to get him through Bigger and work on some biblical character traits and other activities. I totally appreciate your wisdom and honesty that it would be plenty to start out with only 2 guides since we are not only new to HOD but homeschooling in general! What do you recommend for our youngest? Do you think if I get started with my older two now and just keep working with him like I have been we might be ready to start him in LHFHG in the fall? He will be 5 at end of March so he will be a kindergartener in the fall.

I can't tell you what a relief this information has been to me! Thank you and everyone else for taking the time to share your much needed wisdom!

Ashley

Thanks, and I'm so glad you and your dh were able to talk this through, and for any help we were able to give! I would only do the PHFHG extensions if you are quite sure ds could truly do them independently and would enjoy doing them independently. The reading level of the books in the PHFHG Extension Package range from mid-fifth to upper seventh grade reading level. Since your ds is right on the bubble of either doing the extension package or not, and since it is his first year with HOD, I think I'd lean toward not doing it - unless your ds is an advanced reader that would love to rise to the challenge and you would enjoy that for him.

For your 7 yo, I really like the Beyond placement and think that is wise. I taught PHFHG and Beyond together and enjoyed that. I also think that by placing each of your dc as you are, each of them will be able to be more independent which ultimately makes it easier to teach multiple programs. You may want to stagger start them, starting one of your dc first for a few weeks, and then adding the next child. Or, if they would both want to be starting at the same time anyway, you could start each of the guides half-speed. You could do the left side of the guide one day, and the right side the next day. You could do this for several weeks or even a month, until you got into a nice rhythm. For your oldest doing PHFHG, it will be especially helpful to teach him to use the PHFHG manual himself for his Independent and Semi-Independent parts (marked with "I's" and "S's" in the boxes' corners in the plans). He can check off the corners of the boxes as he goes so you can see what he's done. He can also get used to gathering the books and supplies he needs to be ready to do each box in whatever order you've determined to go in. These all seem like small things, but they go a long way to making it easy to teach multiple programs.

For your little one, where does your almost 5 yo fall on the placement chart? If it's in LHTH, that takes 20-30 minutes a day and is easy to do. If it's in LHFHG, I'd start that half-speed, and take 2 years to go through it. You can do the left side of the plans one day, and the right side the next day, but do daily phonics and possibly daily math. I would start your 5 yo last, and get a month in with your older 2 first.

Here are some great links to read if you'd enjoy seeing other people's schedules and routines, but maybe save it for later if you're on overload:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=95&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15
Schedule or Routine link:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5244

Keep asking away until you're set, but I sense a fantastic plan coming together for you and your dc!

In Christ,
Julie