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Hi Sarah,
Welcome to the boards. I wanted to let you know that my plan is to finish up HOP with my ds and then start the Emerging Reader Set. We just finished Level 3 and are currently reading the Chapter books in the deluxe version. My ds read all of one to me the other day because he wanted to know what was going to happen. I couldn't believe it.

Math wise my ds can write his numbers, count to 100 by 10's, 5's and 2's. I have him roll a dice and tell me how many more he would need to make 10. I already own the singapore earlybird series, which I should probably pull out again. I have heard that in Singapore they don't start 1a until age 7 but I am planning on using or at least trying Singapore. Does that help you as far as the math is concerned? I have been toying with the idea of order 1a and 1b now but I haven't decided yet.

Is LA included in? I thought it was but then I have seen some people asking about Queens LA and I got confused.

According to the placement chart it sounds like my son would fit into Beyond but after looking at the Table of Contents for Little Hearts I am thinking of putting him in there. If he does Little Hearts, it would put him at 7 for Beyond, 8 for Bigger and 9 for Preparing. I think it would be better for him to be in the middle age range rather than the younger end of the programs.

So Carrie you don't think it is important for me to combine my kids or think about that at this point. I'm just wondering.

Thanks for taking all of this time to answer my questions.

Sarah

Sarah,

If you're planning to give Singapore a try, I would give your ds the Singapore Placement test to see if he is ready to start in 1A. Here is the link: http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Test_s/86.htm

The reason I asked about math placement, is because "Little Hearts..." includes math lessons and activities for Earlybird Kindergarten 2A/2B, whereas "Beyond..." includes math lessons and activities for Singapore 1A/1B. I was just checking to see if math was a factor in which guide you would use with your son.

A plan for all areas of language arts is included in our guides, but moms are welcome to substitute or add-in something else if they already have something they love using.

Some moms who are using Little Hearts... with an older kiddo also add some more formal language arts to "Little Hearts..." to beef it up, because the gentle grammar lessons don't begin until the "Beyond..." guide and then "Bigger..." follows with Rod and Staff English 2 as the primary grammar text.

We do start copywork in "Beyond..." as well and spelling. Cursive writing begins in "Bigger..." and spelling or dictation is also done in "Bigger...". Poems by classic poets are included in both "Beyond...' and "Bigger..". "Little Hearts..." has more fingerplays and rhymes and works on large motor skills with those.

After finding out more about where your dd is at right now, I wouldn't worry about making the big combining decision this year since your dd is not really school-age yet. I'd probably do "Little Hands..." with her when you get to it, taking my time to go through it, and let her ride along for any parts of your son's program that she would enjoy.

After taking the math placement test, if your son is ready for Singapore 1A and he fits best in "Beyond..." according to the HOD placement chart I would probably start there. We've found the chart to be quite accurate in placing kiddos as long as the areas of reading, writing, and math are right on track with "Beyond....". Pay close attention to the area of writing in the placement chart, as he must be able to copy lines of poetry without too much trouble and not balk at copywork. After "Beyond...", "Bigger..." requires quite a bit more writing, so if that's an issue it's better to step back to "Little Hearts...." now.

If you really think your son is borderline between the "Little Hearts.." and "Beyond...", I would go with "Little Hearts..." to give him a chance to grow into some of the skills in "Beyond...".

I would love to tell you outright what to do, but I'm still not sure of your sons skill level in math and writing, which also makes a difference in placement. So, I'm trying to lead you through the thought process that will help you make an informed decision.

Let me know if you have other questions, and I'll be glad to help!

Blessings,
Carrie

After discussing with my dh, he thinks our son is math and LA ready for beyond but history and Bible ready for little hearts. My guess is if we did this combo I would need to get the package for little and the manual for beyond to get the LA and the math? Is that correct?

Thanks for the link for the math placement I will take a look at it.

Sarah

Sarah,

Yes! That would work great. I'm so glad that you and your husband had a chance to talk and sort through the placement.

You would be all set with that set-up.

I want to assure you that the hardest part is placing your child in the correct program. The actual teaching is the easy part!

Blessings,
Carrie

If I purchase the Beyond manual, will I get the LA as well as the math schedule? Then how would that effect the following yr when we are doing the history from Beyond and math 2a and 2b as well as whatever LA?

Sarah

I am going to be using the Beyond LA with the Emerging reader. I actually decided that just a few days ago all these questions got me looking at it. It's on my shelf waiting so why not use it. Honestly it is like much else of Carries stuff, very simple! I feel like I could easily do it again with another spelling list and just kind of flip the pages the same way but instead of looking at that list go one higher. In fact I am thinking about having them all do the spelling part.

Other than that actually we use mostly our own LA, love to steal Carries stuff though. I just do what applies and skip what doesn't and flip open my R&S. You can honestly use whatever you want for LA and still have a great program.

I'm sure Carrie could tell you specifically what to do but just wanted to ease your mind. The math is really less of a big deal. We use R&S on that too and I look at what Carrie has a s a little extra exercise, if it applies to our level we do it. If not I just skip. Or sometimes I mark it to steal later for my other kids.

Sarah,

If you use "Beyond..." for language arts and math, you will have the spelling lists, once a week grammar lessons, the Emerging Reader schedule in the Appendix and all of the hands on math lessons and schedule to go with your Singapore 1A/1B in "Beyond...". These would all come from the right side of the pages in "Beyond...".

Then, you would teach the left side of the page (which is the history portion) from "Little Hearts... You could also use the storytime from Little Hearts.... If you wanted to do the Handwriting practice from Little Hearts... you'd have that in there as well.

If that seems too complicated to you, you could always just do "Beyond..." as written and forego "Little Hearts...", as the history portion is very storylike in both "Little Hearts... " and "Beyond...", and so it isn't that big of a jump. The main areas of concern when placing a kiddo in our programs are reading, writing, and math.

Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Carrie