How does this look?

Colleen · Post by **Colleen** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:07 am

So, would this look right:
For my 6 (7 in Dec) yods
Beyond....
RME (which I have) or R&S 1st reading (which I also have)
R&S Math (I own)

For my twin 8 (9 in Dec) yods and my soon to be 10 yods (who is a struggling reader at this point):
Bigger...
R&S English (I own)
R&S Handwriting (I own)
R&S Math (I own)
R&S reading (I own)

would the R&S spelling (which I have) be necessary?

Is this it??? Is any of it overkill?

susie in ms · Post by **susie in ms** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:24 am

Hi Colleen,

I think your plan looks good for the most part. I was just wanting to point out that there is spelling in BIGGER so you wouldn't need to use R&S spelling unless you just wanted to.

Also were you planning on doing R&S reading in addition to or instead of DITHOR ? Now this is just my humble opinion, but we have always loved full lenghth books and DITHOR looks so full and fun. I actually have R&S 1st grade readers and 8th grade reader. I do plan on using the readers for grades 1-4 as they are wonderful Bible stories and great practice. You could do just R&S reading and still use HOD successfully, but it would be more complete to use DITHOR too. And from what I hear HOD is not a time hog so it is possible you could do both. I do realize that you have your hands full, so maybe I am way off here.

Vicki · Post by **Vicki** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:41 am

That looks fine. I don't use a separate reading program with my 7/o. I actually taught him to read using word families on note cards, and now we're just going over phonograms that are used in the Writing Road to Reading. I am not using that program as written, but I am trying to tie it into the spelling words that are written in the back of the manuals--Beyond and Bigger both have lists. That is all that I do for spelling or reading. We use the Emerging readers listed in the manual (there are extras listed there as well, most you could find at the library). We really don't need those as my little guy is reading very well at probably a 4th or 5th grade level, but I want him to read these for the questions in the manual for comprehension. Clear as mud?

I don't know what R & S reading looks like, but I guess it could be used in place of DITHOR. With a busy household, it seems like it's best to simplify, right? Carrie's programs are great because they're so flexible. If you can find the history and science readers, add Bible, I think you'd be set to go.

Hope some of that helps!

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:44 am

Looks good!

Spelling is not necessary as it is included in all the guides (isn't that nice!)

You know, Drawn is a great reading program but (and don't shoot me, I'm just thinking of Coleen's very precious TIME) I think I would wait until all of your kiddos could do it together. The way it is set up, all of your kiddos could be reading from the same genre and be doing the same activities...so in the long run, Drawn could be a BIG timesaver for you! Come to think of it, you may want to start it now with as many of your kids as possible and add the youngers in later....the guide and workbooks can be used over and over.

But, if you're already comfy cozy with R&S, then you need to stick with it!

Change is fun, but sometimes I can only handle it in small doses!

I don't think I welcomed you yet, so welcome!

Hope you enjoy HOD!

Vicki · Post by **Vicki** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:56 am

Wow, that's great advice Melanie! I hadn't even thought of DITHOR in that way, but you're right on target. That really would be a great timesaver to have just the one guide, and work with it at the different ages with one genre.

Hope some of this is helping you, Colleen. We're trying to help simplify things for you so that HOD will work. I just had a thought about handwriting too. Unless you're teaching cursive or they just need extra practice with the letters, the copywork done in Beyond and journaling in Bigger should be plenty of handwriting exercise. That's all we're doing this year for handwriting. We'll start cursive in the fall with Bigger, but it will be short lessons, and we'll have the journaling and copywork for practice.

Oh, one more thought...could the readers in R & S replace the emerging readers for you? I'm guessing you might already have most of those little readers on hand, and that could also simplify things for you. Just a thought to get you started...

marypoppins · Post by **marypoppins** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:41 pm

Howdy "neighbor!"

Glad to see you over in this neck of the woods!

I think your program looks great. The fact that we can continue to use our favorite publishers for the skill areas, and still get so much out of the HOD programs is one of the big benefits of HOD, I think.

Next year I will be using LHFHG with my 5yo dd, and Bigger with my 9yo ds.

With LHFHG, I'll be using RME and Singapore Earlybird 2A/2B math.

With Bigger I'll be using:

R&S English 3
BJU Spelling 3(I had it on hand already, and the words in BHFHG are a bit too easy for ds)
CLE Math 3
CLE Reading 3

I like to stay pretty traditional in the skill areas, but I love the living book approach to history, science, and how the weekly art projects tie in so nicely. At some point we may switch to DITHOR, but for now, we are going to stick with what we know and what works.

Post by **Carrie** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:42 pm

Colleen,

The ladies on the board have done a wonderful job of sorting through your various options with you! It is wonderful to be able to "kick ideas around" to make sure you find the right fit for your family. I would have mentioned each of the possible ideas the ladies tossed out, so you can rest assured they're doing a good job of keeping your bases covered and your time well spent.

Let us know if you have other questions, as we love to help one another. We're glad you're here and will be looking forward to you beginning with "Beyond..." and "Bigger...".

Blessings,
Carrie

water2wine · Post by **water2wine** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:17 pm

Colleen,

I am so excited you are thinking it could work for you! I can't wait to hear about HOD on the farm.

I also wanted to say that we really very carefully added DITHR because we already have a groove with R&S reading and though we have no chickens

and about half as man kids (not too many people I can actually say that to

), we have a lot of therapy/doctors appointments with one of my dd's and I just needed the transition to be easy. And it was very easy that way. Especially if you are not trying to start new Math and LA it was really easy to transition.