Brand New---Confused

[jkessler89]

I am getting ready to start homeschooling my son, who is 6. He will be 7 in February. I will be starting mid-year, after Christmas break. He is a first grader, in the public school system..
I have looked at the placement chart, and he would be the Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory.

He is an independent reader, and loves to read. My question is, what all do I need to go with the curriculum?
I looked at the economy package, and I get confused after that point. Do I need to add the basic package as well, and also the Drawn into the Heart of reading?

After spending hours and hours reading each curriculum, we have decided on the the Heart of Dakota, and just want to make sure I don't go overboard, but have enough!

Thank you!!!!

[StephanieU]

As for reading, what kinds of books is he reading? I would look closely at the lists of books for the Emerging Readers and for DITHOR. I don't think most 1st graders would be able to read DITHOR books and comprehend them. Dithor Level 2 is 3rd-4th grade books. Emerging Readers are late 1st grade through 3rd grade reading levels.
As for what to buy:
---The economy package include history and the guide. Within the guide, you have spelling, grammar, poetry, and copywork.
---The basic package includes science, bible, and math. Make sure you look at the Singapore placement test for math placement before ordering.
---Then, for storytime you need to either buy one of the deluxe packages (classic, boy, or girl) or use the library. Each book is scheduled for 4 weeks except folk tales (2 weeks).
---Lastly, you need to decide on reading. I am going to guess your son will place into the Emerging Readers. So, I would either buy the set, or piece it together some how (our library had all but three books, one of which we owned, so we just bought the one "big" book we were missing and used a substitute for the other).

[Nealewill]

I just wanted to add a little bit out the emerging readers versus Level 2 book pack. My dd is 6 (and will be 7 in February also) and she reads extremely well. She technically would place in Beyond or even Bigger except last year I did Beyond with both her and her brother together. And with Bigger, she isn't in the age range. So this year I separated them both and she moved down to Little and her brother to Bigger. What I have found is that my dd can easily read the Level 2 books but she just doesn't always have the stamina for them. For her right now, she has read all of the emerging readers and read them easily. HOD also has a section in the back of the manual with alternate titles of books for kids to read if they are done with the emerging readers and not yet ready for the Level 2 books. She has also read most of these already and she really enjoyed them. With her, she still likes larger print on a page and most of the Level 2 books have smaller print. The print isn't tiny but it is smaller than the emerging reader books. My dd will regularly read books at 3rd or 4th grade level as long as the print is large or if there are extremely engaging pictures (for example, she LOVES the DK animal encyclopedia and constantly reads about animals from it). Right now she is reading the Magical Puppy series (this is not a HOD recommended book either so I just wanted to say that up front). These are chapter books and about 100 + pages. She reads 2-3 books per week that are like this. And in Little Hearts, she is actually read in the story time books and the history books alone as well (mainly because she doesn't want to wait for me). For her, I am not going to do DITHOR for a while still. The story time box covers many of the same elements as DITHOR. And with her being so young, she will have years to still complete DITHOR. And finally, she is at an age where I want her to just have the time to enjoy reading and to continue to foster that love of books. Since she can tell me everything she read very well, I honestly don't do many other activities with her in regards to her reading. I know she understood it because she will give me an excellent oral narration and will occasionally forecast what she thinks will happen next.