New here - Opinions and thoughts, please!

[2ndTimeAround]

Hi everyone! It's so good to read all the positive responses to questions and comments on this board! I've just discovered HOD and am excited and hopeful that this will work with my two sons next school year.

I'll give you just a bit of background so you will know our situation. Years ago I homeschooled our two daughters and used textbooks and traditional materials. They did very well and enjoyed the extra free time for reading, playing, and outdoor exploration. Fast forward 20 years, and we have added 2 wonderfully energetic sons to our family through older child adoption. English is not their first language. DS 9 is now considered proficient and just finished 2nd grade, having done well in all but spelling and dictation in Christian school. He's an average reader and capable, but reading is something we have to schedule for him or it doesn't get done. Little brother has only been home 6 months and is 8 years old. He has wonderful writing/copying skills, probably from learning to write beautiful Chinese characters at a young age. He is working in first grade math, studying phonics/phonograms, and starting to read simple CVC words. I read aloud daily to both boys from the Bible and assorted books, including chapter books. They listen well but also appreciate having pictures mixed into the text. Obviously, little brother isn't comprehending everything, but stays with us fairly well. He does like to doodle and draw while we read.

Now for the questions! After reading the website and forum posts, it seems that Bigger would be our best option for next year. DS 9 is eager to study American history and is on the older end of the suggested age range. How does this sound to those of you who are experienced with HOD? Will we lose little brother, or is there enough variation in the bookwork/activities to help hold his interest? (He's very artsy/craftsy, by the way.) They will do different math and language arts/grammar levels. I'd like to do everything else together. DS 8 will continue to improve in English skills over the summer and is bright but a bit wiggly. Also, would you recommend the R&S English 2 or 3 for a child who just finished second grade with a good understanding of basic grammar?

Thanks in advance for any advice you may offer. I'm certain that God is leading us to a program of study that will help instill the character training that our sons missed in their early lives. The academic part will come if we keep plugging away.

Rebekah

[psreit]

Hi Rebekah,
Welcome to HOD I can't really help with placement, but wanted to say I am also 'second time around'. We adopted a girl when she was 3 and our youngest bio was 17. Our dd will be 7 in ten days. She is English, but has some processing difficulties, so we will be starting out with Little Hearts. I had planned to use Beyond, but after evaluating dd's skills and also the material, I thought it would be better to take things a little slower. Someone else will have to give you some insight about Bigger. I am really looking forward to using HOD. I used a lot of textbooks and workbooks also when homeschooling the others. This definitely will be more exciting Enjoy

[2ndTimeAround]

Thanks, Pam! It's great to know that you're "out there" and homeschooling the second time around, also. I agree that HOD will be far more exciting than what we used years ago. My boys will certainly like the hands on activities.

Thanks for the welcome. Hope to see you often here!

Rebekah

[3sweeties]

Hi Rebekah!

Welcome to HOD! I would say that Bigger sounds perfect for your 9yo. The history and read-alouds in Bigger definitely have less pictures. Some of the books, like Journeys In Time have more pictures, but First Book in American History and Stories of Great Americans have significantly less. Little brother will definitely enjoy many of the hands-on activities in Bigger, but they are not necessarily every day. Geography and History usually has some sort of hands-on, along with Science about 1-2 times a week on average. There is a lot more writing in Bigger (notebooking, vocabulary, etc.) than Beyond, so you may want to take that into consideration also.

R&S 2 has a basic but very thorough introduction to English grammar (probably would be great for your 8 yo). The end of R&S 2 has them writing short paragraphs, to give you an idea of where it ends. If you 9 yo has a good grasp of basic grammar, I would say that R&S 3 would be great for him!

I'm sure others will have even better ideas/advice -- HTH a little bit!

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD Board! Congratulations on graduating your older dd's and also on adopting your 2 sons! Thank you for sharing about each of them here. I am wondering if you had the chance to check out the placement chart yet? That has always helped me place our sons accurately. There is a link to it here:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I can totally see why you'd like to combine your 2 sons, so I am thinking they would combine well together in either Beyond or Bigger. I think which curriculum you would choose depends on a few things. The first thing that comes to mind is reading ability. Children doing Bigger Hearts are typically reading beginning chapter books. I am wondering what books your oldest has read independently lately? Also, I am wondering how you anticipate 8 yo ds's reading progress to go (though I know it's hard to say yet)? The other thing that comes to mind is writing. There is more writing in Bigger Hearts than in Beyond. I know you shared spelling/dictation is a bit difficult for your older ds, but how is his writing of sentences, coypwork, etc.? Here are a few links that will help you compare the writing in Beyond and the writing in Bigger:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3005
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1516&p=11829

One last thing I was thinking, you'd mentioned they listen well to books with more pictures, which Bigger's selections have less of than Beyond's reading materials. You may want to consider that as you look at the reading materials for Beyond and Bigger. Since English is a second language for your dc, that may be something to weigh too, though I know they are doing so very well with this. HOD generally leans toward beefing up a program for the olders rather than tweaking down for the youngers. So, after pondering these few things, you could probably choose either Beyond or Bigger based on what prayer and your mother's intuition are leading you towards. You 100% will know best about this, but I thought I'd throw out a few things to consider that are differences between Beyond and Bigger. I also want your dc to LOVE doing HOD and being properly placed puts kiddos on that path. I'd like to hear your thoughts about these few areas when you get the chance. Hope something here helps!

In Christ,
Julie

[2ndTimeAround]

Thanks, Jessica and Julie! Your input was helpful regarding placement. I did go back and read the threads you referenced and that also helped. My older son places in Bigger according to the placement chart. He can compose sentences and put his thoughts on paper, but spelling is a challenge. He learned to memorize spelling lists in school but cannot remember them later. As far as reading, he has read books such as The Bears on Hemlock Mountain and other short chapter books. For pleasure reading he still chooses shorter books with more pictures. My feeling is that the writing required in Bigger will stretch him a little without frustrating him (hopefully!). He did a lot of writing in school before coming home and his handwriting reflects it!

Our situation is a bit different because of little brother's ongoing progress in English. So that I don't shortchange my older ds9, I'm leaning toward going with Bigger and letting little brother listen in on everything he can understand. My main goal for ds8 is for him to speak, read, and write in English and do math on his level. Anything else is icing on the cake at this point. However, I'll definitely think and pray while looking at the level just below Bigger. It's a lot to think about!

Thank you for the warm welcome and helpful information.

Rebekah

[my3sons]

Your older ds does sound ready for Bigger Hearts. Considering your goals for your 8 yo ds, you could start him off listening in on Bigger and always get Beyond if he needed it. You could also stretch Bigger out a bit, maybe doing it just 4 days a week to give younger ds time to grow into it too. I know it is a lot to think about, but you are so wise to consider it carefully before beginning. Because HOD has so many ways to fine-tune a placement, it takes a bit to figure it out. BUT, then after you've been able to fine tune it, you have a great match in all subject areas for the entire school year, which makes success happily attainable. Once you choose your placement, using HOD is a snap. I did 3 HOD guides last year and never planned ahead for each day. I just opened the guides and taught. I just want to encourage you that HOD itself is easy to teach in the day to day. Placement is the toughest thing you'll have to do with HOD - but it's nice to spend our time up front on that and then just be able to coast the rest of the year. Be sure to keep asking questions until you have a peace about it - we love to help here because we've all been helped already by being here ourselves! We like to return the favor.

In Christ,
Julie