two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

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queenireneof3
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:44 am

two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by queenireneof3 » Thu May 02, 2013 4:52 pm

Hello...

I am in the process of figuring out our curriculum for next year, like many moms, I suppose! Next school year i will have a 5yo (K) and 7 yo (2nd). We are in our first year of homeschooling now. I am basically schooling my first grader (now 6yo) son with SimplyCharlotteMason's curriculum guide. My prek (now 4yo) daughter joins us as she wants to. I have gotten her some of her own books (Handwriting Without Tears, and Explode the Code) as she has been learning very quickly.

I love combining them for as much as possible as it make our lives more connected, coherent, and gives me time for my third son and all the other chores we have to get done during the day. I love SCM's curriculum, but my children LOVE activities and crafts and I do not have the time/capacity to connect all those dots myself. I have an HOD catalog from the convention I went to last year and have been skimming it trying to figure out if we could make Little Hearts or Beyond Little Hearts work for us.I love the idea of the activites planned out for me.

My question is, should I attempt to do Little Hearts AND Beyond simultaneously? Or could my 2nd grader be challenged enough with LHFHG adding Beyond's or L.A., math, and, reading?

My other concern about Beyond is that we have been using Truth Quest's early American history guide for young explorers this year, and it looks like we would be repeating the same/similar time period with BEYOND. Would that be too repetitive? We are using Beautiful Feet's time line and reading living books about the people on that timeline. We've honestly only made it to the Pilgrims just now (May!) after starting with Leif Erickson last fall...we linger a long time on people I guess! We haven't read the books listed in Beyond's history yet.

My first instinct is to keep my son (2nd) and daughter (K) together so that it is simple and just supplement higher reading and math for him and finish out our Beautiful Feet timeline for his history next year since he will also be listening in to Little Hearts history. But I fear that I might be keeping him too far back for his age? Will he get a good 2nd grade education with Little Hearts and advanced reading and math?


Thank you in advance!
Sara
Sara Irene
wife to Brett for 16 years already!
mommy of ds B (13yo), dd S (11yo), ds S (7yo), dd (3 yo), dd (1.5yo), and two who went to meet Jesus 3/5/2014 and 7/23/14

queenireneof3
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:44 am

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by queenireneof3 » Thu May 02, 2013 6:54 pm

I wanted to add a bit about my will be 2nd grader son. :lol:

For reading and Math I feel like we are not up to "2nd grade level" yet. In fact I am trying to figure out if I totally bombed our first year of hs or not. :( We have been working through Explode the Code this year and he is only on book 1 1/2 (short vowel sounds). We tried book two (initial blends) but I realized his short vowel sounds were still confusing him, so we hopped back to book 1 1/2. However, he much prefers sight reading over phonics instruction and can read me many Dr. Suess books, and other simple readers. So he is still in the middle/beginning of phonics instructions which is why I hesitate to put him in Beyond. Would I be wise to supplement EtC with The Reading Lesson?

For his writing, he is working on copying short Bible verses (finally) after a year of back-to-the-basics Charlotte Mason letter formation habit training. (He did ps for K and did not learn to write his letters correctly so we had to start at the beginning this year (1st) to form good habits with letter formation.) So he still does not do lots of writing yet as I am being strict on quality over quantity right now.

So with his reading and writing levels still pretty low, that is why I am wondering if he is close enough to combine with my K daughter in Little Hearts.

For math Beyond would be a better fit, we tried Right Start this year and struggled. I really did try to make it work until March of this year and now we will be switching to Math-U-See at the advice of my home school assistance teacher who highly recommends that program. My son will be working through the 1st grade book this summer to try to "catch up" his 1st grade math skills to his age. Singapore REALLY intrigues me as I grew up in Japan and know the Asians are great at math (which is why Right Start appealed to me in the first place). But I feel like I bombed with my choice of Right Start and should follow the advice the the math expert. (our HSA teacher)! Her concern is that Singapore bounces around to too many topics without mastery of them first (similar to the public schools). Any input on that from those who have tried Singapore?

So my 5yo K daughter and my 7yo 2ndgr son MIGHT be close enough to combine. That is why I am struggling with this decision. The programs are right next to each other and so I am wondering if it will be easier in the long run to keep them combined and just add extensions for my older son as he progresses. But I don't want to stifle his potential to learn and grow by keeping him in a program too young for him. They get along so well that I thought I might be fun for them to do school together.

Any advice for me, mamas?
Thank you!
Sara Irene
wife to Brett for 16 years already!
mommy of ds B (13yo), dd S (11yo), ds S (7yo), dd (3 yo), dd (1.5yo), and two who went to meet Jesus 3/5/2014 and 7/23/14

MelInKansas
Posts: 1700
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:32 pm

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by MelInKansas » Thu May 02, 2013 9:38 pm

You have a lot of different concerns/ideas here so I am going to try to keep this simple in terms of my thoughts for you and with these two programs.

Beyond has a lot of copywork and really growing handwriting skills is emphasized. Spelling words (which aren't a lot of writing, but he would have to know more phonics before starting them I would think). What I would think you could do is get the LHFHG guide and Beyond guide, use History, Bible, etc from LHFHG (I think Left page of the plans) with both of your kiddos, maybe add in some of the additional reading resources from the back. As to whether to do the LHFHG storytime with both or split that up, that would depend on both of your children's attention span, ability to listen to longer stories, and narration skills (ability to tell back, clearly, orderly, with good detail what has been read to them). My 2nd born has always listened in on her older sister's storytime, she has better narration skills than her older sister.

I love the Reading Lesson. I tried ETC with my oldest and it was too repetitive and not interesting enough. Sitting down and reading through short stories/phrases together was way more interesting for us. I think ETC is thorough and effective, but my oldest just didn't want to do it. They learned a lot just from reading and going through the book.

Using Singapore 1A/1B the hands-on activities are in the Beyond teacher's guide. It would be best to buy the teacher's guide and do those activities with your older one for math.

As much as I always thought combining would be the best thing to do, and it seems like you could do it, sometimes I think that would be even more work as you try to work through how to make sure each one is getting what they need. The "open-and-teach" feature of the HOD guides works best when the child places squarely in the guide. Yes, phonics, math, LA, handwriting, you have to do for each child no matter whether you combine or not.

I hope this is helpful. Blessings on you making your decision!
Melissa
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies never come to an end"

DD12 - Rev to Rev + DITHOR 6/7/8
DD10 - CTC + DITHOR 2/3
DD7 - Bigger + ERs
DS5 - LHFHG
DD2 - ABC123
2 babies in heaven

farmfamily
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:20 pm

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by farmfamily » Thu May 02, 2013 10:13 pm

I think your kids sound like they'd combine very well in LHFHG, with beef-ups in the three Rs for your son. I think they would love doing the hands-on activities in that guide together.

My two oldest are 6 and 8 this year and they really enjoy doing the activities in Beyond together. My 8 year-old is actually quite advanced in reading, but I don't feel she is being "held back" by being combined with her sister. I have found it actually to be quite easy to beef up the three Rs for my oldest by using the next higher guide. I'd say, go for it! :D
blessed to be married 17 yrs to my hardworking farmer dh, mom to:
daughter 13 MTMM
daughter 11 Rev to Rev
son 10 CTC

Enjoyed Little Hands, LHFHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, Res to Ref, and Rev to Rev!!

queenireneof3
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:44 am

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by queenireneof3 » Fri May 03, 2013 12:10 pm

Thank you for your replies! I am leaning toward buying both Little Hands and Beyond's guide so I can work on the left side of the page of Little Hands with both and a few of the boxes from the right side of Beyond for my older son. Are the science program and activites in Little Hands and Beyond comparable? In other words, do the topics follow each other closely enough that I could add science projects from Beyond for my son if needed? Or will the Little Hands science be enough stimulation for him?

Is the poetry work in Beyond something that I could add independently from the rest of the left page of Beyond for my son? Especially if he is doing the L.A. work from Beyond.

I'm sorry to be so confusing.
Sara Irene
wife to Brett for 16 years already!
mommy of ds B (13yo), dd S (11yo), ds S (7yo), dd (3 yo), dd (1.5yo), and two who went to meet Jesus 3/5/2014 and 7/23/14

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by my3sons » Fri May 03, 2013 3:57 pm

Hi queenireneof3, and welcome to the HOD Board! :D I love your board name, BTW - too fun. :) I am excited for you to do HOD! As I was reading your sentiments about activities and hands-on things, I was definitely nodding. I soooooooo need HOD to do that for me. It's not that I don't want to do hands-on activities, nor that I don't enjoy them, it is that I don't want to PLAN them. I am paralyzed by the choosing. I think you are going to enjoy HOD so much! :D :D :D

Thanks for sharing about each of your dc. That helps so much! :) I think "Little Hearts for His Glory" is going to be a super fit for your kiddos. Finishing out your phonics with "The Reading Lesson" and with the ETC Workbooks sounds like a good plan. The one thing I will say about phonics is do it every single day without missing a day. Consistency is our friend as mamas teaching phonics. :D Dc need that steady diet of phonics every day Monday through Friday, and then it will eventually for sure... click. :D 15-20 minutes a day is probably enough, but daily is key. :) I'd not let him convince you to just read his Dr. Seuss books, though they are surely fun and good reading. :wink: Formal phonics is a must, so he might as well do it now. :wink:

As far as handwriting, he can do "A Reason for HW A" with LHFHG (or "Italic b" if you prefer). Both will help him ease into writing words and sentences with proper letter formation. He can also copy his Bible verse he is memorizing in LHFHG each week. I like your quality over quantity thought on handwriting - such a good point. :D I don't think I'd add in the science or poetry from Beyond. The science in LHFHG will be just fine - he is still in the target age range for LHFHG. :D The poetry is better used along with the Beyond history, as it matches the history in Beyond. For math, I'd definitely get the Beyond manual and do the 1A/1B plans (which are considered a year advanced anyway). I think for this summer, I'd get the Essentials K Math, either both A and B, or just B, and enjoy working through that leisurely. They are fun anyway! And they have great hands-on activities on the bottoms of the pages your ds is sure to love. :) I think I'd hold off on spelling words and do those in Beyond. Looking ahead, Beyond's plans include Spelling List 1 and Spelling List 2. Bigger Hearts' plans include Spelling List 2 and Dictation Level 2. So, he can easily do Spelling List 1 during Beyond, and Spelling List 2 in Bigger Hearts, and be right on track for spelling. :)

Well, I hope this can help, but do you have other questions? We all love to help here! I am excited for you to begin enjoying your HOD journey with your sweet children. :)

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

queenireneof3
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:44 am

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by queenireneof3 » Fri May 03, 2013 5:31 pm

Wow, Julie, Thanks! After reading your reply, I feel much more comfortable keeping my older boy in Little Hands. I was worried he might be too far behind if we did that, but I guess it is always better to teach the CHILD not, the grade I think he should be in! I was feeling pressure (from who knows where????) to keep him closer to the 2nd grade program since that is what age he will "technically" be.

And thank you MelInKansas and farmfamily for your replies. It helped me understand how the program might work for us now and in the future. I am glad to hear your 6 and 8 yo combine well with Beyond, since that is what we would be doing next year.

About the Handwriting program, we started with Handwriting without Tears way back before I sent my son to K in ps and I have kept with it for the sake of continuity. We had to go back and finish the k book this year (our first year of hs, his 1st grade year) and now we have the important parts of the HWT 1st grade book completed. HWT is unique in letter formation, so I am wondering if it will confuse him to try another program? Will he get bored with re-learning all his letters in ARFH book A? I am so glad to know, Julie, that he can start list 1 in Beyond and not be behind. That is a big relief. It means we can keep working on his writing without feeling rushed to start list 1.

I am SO excited to try HOD next year. I wish we could start now! I am looking forward to giving my children fun activites that I don't have to come up with myself. I think it will lighten things up and help us have FUN again!

I love the CM philosophy, but I think I tend to be too grown up about it. I don't always know how to apply it to the fun ages of K and 1st grade. I am thrilled to know Carrie has thought it through and come up with ideas to make CM fun for my kiddos.
Sara Irene
wife to Brett for 16 years already!
mommy of ds B (13yo), dd S (11yo), ds S (7yo), dd (3 yo), dd (1.5yo), and two who went to meet Jesus 3/5/2014 and 7/23/14

queenireneof3
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:44 am

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by queenireneof3 » Fri May 03, 2013 6:10 pm

Sorry I am so wordy... :oops:

My SUMMARY question is: if we have done HWT k and 1st grade book, what would be easier to transition to: A Reason for Handwriting A, Italic B, or list 1 from Beyond? I love the idea behind ARfH A since it is writing Scripture and my son would LOVE writing verses on pretty paper to give away, but the Italics book looks more similar to HWT formation. Will he have a hard time transitioning to A Reason for Handwriting A after learning all his letters HWT style?

Thank you!
Sara Irene
wife to Brett for 16 years already!
mommy of ds B (13yo), dd S (11yo), ds S (7yo), dd (3 yo), dd (1.5yo), and two who went to meet Jesus 3/5/2014 and 7/23/14

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by my3sons » Sat May 04, 2013 9:18 am

Good morning, queenireneof3! :) It sounds like you are on your way to a great placement for your dc - hooray! :D As far as handwriting goes, if he is doing well with HWT, I would just continue with that, moving up a level. :D Any handwriting will work with HOD, so just keeping him with what he is used to will be fine. As far as the Spelling List 1 goes, he can start that if he is ready. I'd look at the Language Arts box in Beyond Little Hearts... and see if he is ready for that, and if not, I'd wait. The spelling is something he can even start mid-year, as it is not connected to the other subjects. So, I would start the spelling list 1 when he can do all of the plans as they are written in the LA box of Beyond, but not before then. :D HTH!

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

queenireneof3
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:44 am

Re: two programs or one for k and 2nd grader?

Post by queenireneof3 » Sun May 12, 2013 2:29 pm

Thank you, Julie! I'm excited to order the guides and actually start LOOKING at them and USING them! It is encouraging to have listening ears on this forum.
Sara Irene
wife to Brett for 16 years already!
mommy of ds B (13yo), dd S (11yo), ds S (7yo), dd (3 yo), dd (1.5yo), and two who went to meet Jesus 3/5/2014 and 7/23/14

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