confused about placement

[kahlanne]

I am having trouble placing my daughter and would love some help. She will be 10 next month. When we started she was a very slow learner and didn't do well with my choice of Abeka which moved too fast for her. Last year we tried different curriculums but I had trouble putting it all together and keeping on top of it. It didn't help that I was going through my first difficult pregnancy, my sixth and last. We only made it halfway through the third grade curriculum. Now I don't know if I need to continue along with the curriculum I chose last year or go with HOD. One thing I loved about and miss with Abeka is that it is all planned for you. I am not sure if it was the pregnancy that held us back or trying to combine so many different curriculums. I have never been great at time management so trying to combine my own curriculum may be a downfall. This year I will also homeschool my 5 yr old daughter so time isn't something I have in abundance. (My oldest two are in public school although we did homeschool for years successfully. I also have a two year old son and a three month old daughter to care for.) Textbooks haven't worked completely for my daughter. She has trouble working independently. With workbook pages, she always needs the instructions read to her before fully understanding what is being asked. It takes her at least a week or longer to grasp new things but she tires of doing the same type workbook page over and over during this time. To be honest, she doesn't like anything about school. Her reading is on level but she doesn't comprehend as well with silent reading. Although slow, she is beginning to pick up speed with division and multiplication. Word problems are easily accomplished if I read them to her but she will get them even if she reads them herself. She can write great in manuscript and her cursive is coming along great. She isn't at the level to write or read whole sentences by herself but she has copied a few successfully so far. Her grammar skills are the most lacking. Even though she can narrate a story, she has trouble putting it to paper. She can answer basic grammar workbook questions but can't seem to put it into practice by writing well formed sentences herself. Honestly we haven't spent much time on writing skills beyond this. All of that said, I have looked at the placement guide and am torn. Should she be placed in Bigger or Prepared? I don't want her to get further behind but at the same time I don't want to have to push her too hard to keep up. Plus I have to consider my younger daughter's schooling as well. I don't want to be so busy or stressed that she starts out on a bad foot. What do you think? Is HOD for us? Which level?

[water2wine]

Hey there. Just reading all your things you are dealing with and I am coming at this of a mom of six two of them having special needs. You need a personal planner. I have this great one called HOD. Seriously that is what you get with HOD. The thing is, and I am speaking hugely from BTDT, you have to use it as much as possible as written and trust it. It's especially important if you have a ton on your plate. It took me a while to take my hands off the wheel and just let HOD go but when I did my day got easier and my kids learned more and better. And please know that I am talking completely from my own experience and my own weakness in that.

For levels I think Bigger sounds like where your dd should be. It sounds like she needs a little more time to get ready for the new skills need in Preparing and Bigger will do that. Plus Bigger is enough, especially if you use the extensions if needed. The other option I think would be to do Preparing and start at half speed while beefing up skills. But honestly that is going to require you put more of your own spin on the guide instead of making it work for you. I think letting Bigger work for you will be easier in the end.

Then lastly I really do think HOD is for you. Your life sounds as hectic as mine and HOD honestly is the absolute biggest blessing in our hsing. I think you will find the same.

[holdinon]

I agree with everything w2w said....especially this part:

The thing is, and I am speaking hugely from BTDT, you have to use it as much as possible as written and trust it. It's especially important if you have a ton on your plate. It took me a while to take my hands off the wheel and just let HOD go but when I did my day got easier and my kids learned more and better.

I felt like my kiddos were a little (or A LOT in some cases) "behind" when we finally found HOD. (Mostly due to having so many "baby years" back to back to back). I wouldn't change it for the world at this point, but there is no denying that it is h-a-r-d in those early years. HOD has been a life saver for me, and my dc. It has met them where they were, and brought them all to a place far beyond.

I would also agree that it sounds like Bigger would be a great starting point for your dd. Skill wise, it should be a good fit. Teaching time wise, it will be good for you as mommy to your youngers. I am also guessing that she will also gain a more positive outlook of school in general. Bigger is a fun year--and interesting too--I think I learned as much as they did .

We tried several "programs" before finding HOD. I see people describe it often as "a breath of fresh air", and I can't agree more. I have actually grieved that my older kids didn't get to start it from the beginning. We have definitely found our home!

Angie

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD Board, Kahlanne! Your 10 yo dd sounds like a sweetie, and I think she would thrive with the way HOD brings dc along in their learning. HOD takes down skills that are to be learned and breaks them down into steps learned progressively from year to year. This really all but ensures dc success with skills. It teaches them to learn step by step, until they can be independent with skills successfully and move on to learn new ones. There will be no more of you reading directions step-by-step - HOD will slowly train her to use her HOD teacher's guide as a student planner. By CTC, she'll be following many directions successfully on her own.

You'd mentioned that you liked how Abeka was all planned out for you. Well, get ready for some very good news... HOD has every jot and tittle planned out for you too! And, it's fun to boot. I teach 3 HOD guides and never plan ahead for it. Each day is laid out in an easy to use 2 spread page format. So, you will love that HOD is all planned out, easy to use, and requires no prep - I sure do! I want to teach not plan, and HOD lets me enjoy doing that.

You'd mentioned your dd doesn't like anything about school - HOD can change that! HOD accommodates every learning style, and it has variety that makes it very fun to do. Fun and manageable hands-on activities are interspersed with reading excellent living books. Heartfelt discussions are intermingled with Scripturally based devotions and Bible studies. Experiments the dc do themselves are mingled with learning the scientific method, and are based on reading narrative science books. Every guide is fresh yet familiar from year to year, as they have their own variety yet continue building skills learned previously. I think your dd would enjoy this so much. No more doing workbook pages over and over - get ready to let the Son shine in - this is going to have some pizzazz to it!

You'd mentioned that dd's reading skills need to grow - well, "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" can do that for her! We have used it many, many years, and it truly fosters a passion for reading over time, and gives dc reading comprehension skills that will aid them in all subject areas. HOD's powerful combination of LA skills will help her writing come along as well - through dictation, copywork, written narrations (which begin in PHFHG), R & S English's teaching grammar for the purpose of writing well, and creative writing - dd will improve in these areas too.

I think "Bigger Hearts..." is a good choice for dd. It will have you giving her the tools to be successful with future independent work in HOD, and it will have her learning some very foundational skills to be successful not only this year but for years to come. I think of "Bigger Hearts..." as a launching year. I give it my all as a teacher. I make sure every single box is taught very well, and I give my dc the guide to read along with me. This helps them learn many independent skills. They learn to read a box of plans, get out the appropriate materials, do the box of plans with me carefully making sure they do it all, clean up their materials, hand in their assignments on the counter, and move on to preparing for the next box of plans. Eventually, they are able to do more and more on their own, and I am able to oversee things more and come in for my key teaching parts and follow-ups. By the end of Bigger Hearts..., my dc have learned to follow a box of plans, built up their writing skills through following steps for history and science notebooking, are ready to do science experiments on their own, learned the basis for grammar study to be able to do diagramming the following year, have a sound habit in place of Bible study and devotional discussions and are more ready to have some Bible Quiet Time individually mingled with parent-led Bible study the following year, are ready to take over a portion of their history reading, all of their science reading, and so much more. I think "Bigger Hearts..." is going to help your dd learn to enjoy school, to be more independent in school, and to feel very confident in what she can do.

I would do Level 2 dictation from Bigger Hearts with your dd, and the R & S English 2 as well. I'd start with "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" Level 2/3, and choose whichever DITHOR book set seems to fit dd's reading comfortably. You can give the Singapore math placement test for free to see where she places within that, being sure not to help her with it, as that inflates scores. It's at:
http://www.singaporemath.com

Or, you can use your own math if you'd rather. I'd say after a few months of training, you can have your dd take over her science readings. I'd hold back the rest of the readings for you to do though. They are excellent read-alouds, are short, and let the student focus on learning the habit of listening attentively, comprehending well, and doing follow-up skills such as vocabulary, notebooking, comprehension questions, etc. Doing LHFHG with your younger dd will work great with doing Bigger Hearts with your older dd. I did it myself several years back - worked great. As long as each child is appropriately placed, HOD makes it work very well to do multiple guides at the same time. I hope this helps, but we would all love to hear your thoughts on this when you get a chance!

In Christ,
Julie