Needing further help with placement!!!

[Ahrensbunch]

Hi All! I am needing some further help with knowing exactly which series would be best for my dd. We will be homeschooling for the first time on the fall. She's 7 & going into 2nd grade. However, she really struggles with reading and math. We are planning in using other math & phonics curriculum than suggested, hoping to get her a little closer up to speed. I would like others opinions on whether they feel that Beyond would be too much for her? I know that she is already behind in reading & math, but I don't want that to affect her other learning if it can be helped.
I appreciate your input ahead I'd time & I'm grateful for your insight.

[StephanieU]

With HOD, math is not an issue at all. Reading can be though.
So, the first question I would consider is if the reading issues are things you think can be overcome this next year. HOD allows for phonics instruction in Beyond, so it isn't an issue in that guide. But, by the end of Beyond, you would want her at a second grade reading level so she could do the emerging readers with Bigger and be ready for the history reading in Preparing. Preparing is where they start reading some content material, so by that guide they need to be *done* with the emerging readers.

And by *done* I mean not having to modify the guides at all. If it turns out she has a learning disability like dyslexia, modifications may be necessary no matter what. But, if it is just that she needs more time, you don't want to Preparing too early.

[Jennymommy]

Hi I would probably use LHFHG and give her time to mature in her reading ability. I think she will enjoy Beyond so much more if she is really ready for it. The History for Little Pilgrims book in LHFHG is so much fun, and we really enjoyed the Family Time Bible as well. My youngest loved LHFHG so much, we used it two years in a row, doing the first grade options the second time around
One thing we did for more challenge the second year was to make a poster board timeline based on the timeline in History for Little Pilgrims. He loved it.
There is plenty to challenge her in LHFHG using the science and other choices that seem best to you, then when her reading takes off, she can look forward to really exciting books in Beyond, and will not be struggling through higher guides later. Blessings as you consider your options and look ahead to fun times together

[hs.mama07]

Hi! Will she need to be starting at the beginning of phonics, or does she understand some of it? If she’s in the middle of phonics and just needs more time, then you may be fine in Beyond. You’d have a whole guide to just do phonics and you could spread the guide out a bit to make it take longer.

We have done Beyond 4 days a week instead of 5, b/c of a co-op once a week. But, we still do reading, writing, and math on the 5th day. If you want to do Beyond, you could do 4 day weeks (still doing reading, writing, and math on the 5th day). This would make the guide take longer than a year and give her extra time to grow in reading before hitting Emerging Readers in Bigger, and independent reading in Preparing.

You could also start it half-speed for a few months (every-day for reading, writing, and math…every-other day for the other subjects).

Did that make sense? lol. Little Hearts is also a wonderful guide and is fine for a 7 year old, especially if she’ll be starting at the beginning of phonics.

Have you had a chance to look at the placement chart?
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

And, if you still feel stuck, give HOD a call. They are great at helping with placement!!

Whatever you choose, welcome to homeschooling and HOD!

[Ahrensbunch]

Thank you StephanieU & Jennymommy for your input! I'll definitely be taking that into consideration as we move forward in this decision.

hs.mama07:
She did phonics throughout this past year of first grade. However, our didn't really start to click until the end of the year so I'm unsure of how much of the entire year she has retained. I'm planning on starting her in Explode the Code over the summer & using some of Phonics Pathways to switch it up a bit. Does that narrow it down at all??? & yes, what you were saying makes since. We will be trying out 4 days & coop on the 5th to see how that works for us.

Thank you all so much for sharing. It's so helpful to get feedback from a number of resources. God bless you for taking your time to share!

& if there are any others, I'm still open to more feedback.

[hs.mama07]

Sounds like she's kind of right in between LHFHG and Beyond. Have you looked at the placement chart to see where she fits in the rest of the subjects? That might help you decide.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Also, if you aren't planning on starting HOD until Fall then you could wait until the end of summer to order. Focus on phonics for the summer and then see how she's doing then. Might be clearer in a few months.

If you're wanting to get started now then it may be best to use LHFHG. For kids who fall in between like that I've heard it's often better to use the lower guide (though you'd want to look at the chart first). It's easy to add things to the guides to make them more challenging, but you really don't want to take away from guides b/c then your child won't be ready for the next one.

[Ahrensbunch]

Thank you again hs.mama07! I meant to tell you that yes, I have looked at the chart & still feel like she falls between LHFHG and Beyond. It's such a toss up. I don't want to "holds her back" if it's not necessary but I don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on her either. I think what you might be best and add to the LHFHG. I have since tried to reach the contact number to ask their opinion as well, but appreciate input from those in the trenches

[Nealewill]

I also think if you are planning to do some phonics with her this summer, I would wait until you are close to finishing that up to decide. Kids can still be finishing phonics and go into Beyond and do very as well. My son wasn't reading well at all when started Beyond and now he reads great. For Beyond, the two areas I would take into most consideration is can she sit and do copywork for at least 2 minutes at a time and does she have the attention span to listen to you read to her for 15 minutes for history and 15-20 minutes for story time. Those are the two big jumps from Little Hearts to Beyond. Little hearts is learning how to write and history is approximately 10 min and story time is 10-15 minutes. Don't get me wrong, Little Hearts was wonderful. But it is a lot easier to use a guide as is rather than beefing it up. Also - did you look at the placement chart for Singapore? If she fits in the level 1 book (it is not first grade because the numbers are not grade level), then that is scheduled in Beyond as well. Spelling is scheduled in Beyond as well. To me, and I didn't follow all of the other threads but it sounds like Beyond might be a better fit. And as an encouragement, I would not hold her back in anyway at this point because of phonics. In my opinion, she doesn't sound like she is behind, she sounds like she is probably normal The emerging readers in HOD that are listed for Beyond are basically their second level of phonics instructions if that makes sense. Most kids that finish the phonics in Little Hearts are not reading independently. They still have more reading practice to go. Those emerging readers are just that. They are scheduled for the kids to read so that they can solidify beginning phonics instructions and to conquer more challenging phonograms along with learning more difficult site words. Once they get to the level 2 book packs, they are then able to read much more and are typically reading fairly well. The emerging readers were targeted for specific phonics blends and practice. I hope that makes more sense.

I guess in summary, it sounds like she is ready for Beyond - at least to me. That is probably the guide I would go with.