I need help!

[sbahnmiller]

I am going to begin homeschooling my 2 children in July of this year. I have a 7 (almost 8 year old) year old who is completing 2nd grade in public school and a just turned 5 year old who has completed 1 year of pre-k in public school. The 7 year old is excelling in every subject except language arts, so I have decided to start BLHFHG in the fall. My question for this curriculum, is whether I need to purchase a separate languages arts curriculum? I was unsure whether the LA is included. My 5 year old has spent 1 year in preschool, but is unable to recognize all letters and has not even began sounding the letters out. I had originally decided to use LHFHG but after reading further I am undecided. Does the curriculum LHFHG assume that the child already know there letters? I would like to order my curriculum soon and just want to make sure that I am making the best choice for my children!

Thanks,

Sarah

[raceNzanesmom]

Hello and welcome!

Spelling lists, weekly grammar/english lessons, and questions to ask with the emerging readers are included in Beyond. You'll need the emergent readers (or similar set), if your ds places there for reading. Copywork is used for handwriting, or you can use a handwriting program. We used a combo of both (handwriting and copywork). It sounds like your younger one would benefit using Little Hands and a phonics program. Later on, Little Hearts will make a great 1st grade year. hth.

[my3sons]

Hi Sarah, and welcome to the HOD Board! It sounds like you are getting excited to begin homeschooling your dc. I think you will love HOD as much as we have! It sounds like your 5 yo places well in "Little Hands to Heaven." I'm glad you will get to do this with her! It is a wonderful start to homeschooling little ones, and it does an excellent job of teaching letters, sounds, numbers, early math skills, shapes, colors, beginning fine motor skills like cutting, coloring, etc., as well as gives a great chronological flow of history of the Bible times. "The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes" would be the best Bible for the history for her. It is used daily and is the theme of the each day's of plans. It has beautiful pictures and good oral questions to ask after each reading to build comprehension and listening skills. Either one of the devotionals would be a good fit - so that is just your personal preference! Both are great. The music is the only other needed resource.

For your ds, it sounds like "Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory" is a good fit. That is early American history at its best! I think you will both enjoy it as much as we did. RaceNzanesmom already did a good job of describing the LA included in Beyond. I'd probably have ds do Spelling List 1 with Beyond, and next year Spelling List 2 with Bigger Hearts for His Glory. You can choose either phonics or the Emerging Reader's Set for his reading, whichever fits him best now. The Emerging Reader's Set is also part of Bigger Hearts for His Glory, so you can do it either this year with Beyond (if he is reading already), or next year with Bigger Hearts (if he would benefit from phonics this year with Beyond). Either way, you've got what you need! There are neat hands-on math lessons in Beyond for Singapore Math 1A/1B (which is often considered a year advanced). You can enjoy doing those with your ds, or if he is more than a year advanced in math and has already had multiplication facts, he could do Singapore Math 2A/2B, which is listed in Beyond's Appendix. I'd probably choose 1A/1B, as it's already advanced, and Singapore Math progresses rather quickly and is an advanced math program throughout. HTH, but if you have more questions, ask away, and we'll try to help!

In Christ,
Julie