Questioning Placement

[Mercy]

Ok, so I know I should place a little "lower" when I first start with HOD, since they build upon each other, but I am wondering if I should place my children differently than I originally thought.

Let me just say where we are at again...
I'm looking to start when the children will be the following ages:
3yo, 6yo & 11yo.

I would TOTALLY love to put two together if possible next year (or the year after), so please keep in mind I'm trying to accomplish that goal (if possible!)

What about putting my 6yo in beyond this year (I think she would do just fine, as she is a schoolish child - she does "school" all the time in her spare time she's working on workbooks.) To kind of give you an idea of where she is at, I have been holding her back for awhile. At 2 she knew all of her letters names & sound and I freaked out. She wasn't emotionally ready to begin reading. So, I've tried to focus on playtime instead of schooltime type things. LOL! If that makes any sense at all.... So, what I'm saying is she has been ready to be challenged & wants to be challenged, but I've been holding her back for awhile. Oh, fyi she did LHTH when she was 3 & loved it!

My 3yo is very much a boy, active & concrete in his thinking. I totally didn't expect him to be scholarly like my daughter, but he seems to have picked up some habits from her. LOL! He knows all his letters and many of their sounds. I owe a lot of it to these books I read to both of them. It is a series called "My First Steps To Reading". Each book has a character named "little a" or "little b", etc. They go along and put things that begin with their name into their box. Cute stories that apparently teach well. See, like most moms I really pushed my first child & regretted it. SO, I have spent time with the others trying to suppress them - HA! Like you can do that. ;o) I haven't done LHTH with him yet, so I'll do that this year.

So, my 11yo is doing fine. If I compared with ps kids within his grade, he is probably at grade level. He's had some trouble in his english / writing skills, as I had mentioned in another post. He forgets little things like capitalization and his spelling is not that great, so he seems a little behind. His math (I haven't placed him yet in Singapore), we finally found Horizons, which put that learning spark back in him because he was getting discouraged! But, what's funny is, we were checking out Teaching Textbooks grade 7 and he LOVED it and even understood it. So, he's not behind really. I just feel like he needs more practice with the basics I guess? (That goes for Writing & Arithmetic both) Anyway, since we are new to HOD we thought Preparing would be the way to go, but I started looking again at CTC - mostly because I've been working for awhile on making him independent & I don't want to go backward, if that makes sense? He is kind of the type that would have me sit with him all day if I could. So, I'm just nervous about him having to wait on me - especially if I'm doing 3 programs in a day...

My daughter could go either way to help join. She learns VERY quickly, but she is very much still immature in her worldview. She also is the one who struggles getting along with either brother, although she gets along much better with her older. I am planning to have her "help" teach her 3yo this next year, just because I think it would be good for bonding. I was wondering if I could have my dd do beyond this year, then come back to Little Hearts with her little brother next year?

I guess what I am asking is - will I ever be able to combine? I would much rather combine my middle & oldest, but I know they are just a little too far apart. I just think they would do better working together.

I am just trying to see the long term possibility of combining...

Thank you again for any help!!!!

Mercy

[Mercy]

Just wanted to mention a few more things...

If possible, I want to focus most of my attention on my dd (6yo) this next year. I can guarantee she will want to do more than one day in a day - she does that with ALL of the school we do! She did that with LHTH I remember. I'm not sure if I would rather have her buggin' me about doing more each day or having to slow down because it is too hard. I would rather not discourage her I guess, huh? ) I guess I just want to make sure she is challenged, you know?

Also, as far as my 11yo, he hasn't had very much american history. That was another reason why I was looking at preparing. I guess I could tell him to do things independently, but I know I will let it slip that "T" stands for teacher, then he will always have it in his mind that I am supposed to be working with him. LOL!

Oh well. I just wanted to mention those things, just so you can get a better feel of where we are at.

Thanks again!!
Mercy

[Mercy]

Hi, it's me again. LOL!

So, I'm thinking... after looking again at beyond...

I think she would do ok, but she is probably more suited to Little hearts. I think it would be best to work at a first grade level though maybe. The more I thought about it, I am going to have her "help" me teach with LHTH, so she will get extra school time doing that. That is probably a perfect fit actually.

Can anyone tell me the difference again between first & K in LHFHG?
Maybe I can buy the workbooks for her to do in her spare time - I know she will zoom through those!
She is a very independent student by nature & I think she would want to work ahead in those workbooks anyway.
So, can you explain the differences in the science books?

I really, really appreciate being able to "talk" things through & get any opinions anyone my have out there.

(as you might be able to tell, we are not schooling today. LOL!)

Mercy

[Mercy]

Ok, Ok...

I'm going full circle! LOL!

I was just thinking about how LHFHG is similar to Preparing. I like that. That might be good for 11yo and 6yo to do "together" on their own level. ;o) I think I could give assignments from the Teacher directed boxes, and follow-up with 11yo. It will just take me being "the mom" if you know what I mean...lol! Sometimes it is just easier if the curriculum tells him to do something vs it being MY decision. ;o)

I just don't know if we will be able to combine...ever...

Again, glad I have a place to think out-loud!

[cirons]

Hi Mercy,

from everything you have said about your kids, it sounds like they are all on very different levels and would benefit from being in their own skill appropriate level. For your 11 year old, wherever he places on the placement chart would be great. If it is Preparing, then you can easily make more of the boxes independent. If it is CTC, then go for it.
For your dd, it sounds like LHFHG would be a good fit, especially if you want her involved in her little brothers day as well. You can always adjust her level of math/spelling accordingly in the program to fit her perfectly.
From everything I have read on this forum, the ongoing wisdom and advice from experienced HOD users is to find where your child fits on the placement chart, and go for it. You won't look back! Enjoy.

Corrie

[my3sons]

It sounds like you are headed for a great year with HOD! You can do LHFHG with first grade options for your dd, and PHFHG or CTC for your oldest. These 2 programs would not be hard to do together. Just take your time to train your oldest to use the guide, check of the boxes as he completes them, etc., and it will go great. Once you figure out placement, there are some great schedules thread on here too.

In Christ,
Julie

[Mercy]

Thank you both so much!

Tonight my husband and I are going to talk about placement, but I am leaning more and more with my original plan...
LHTH, LHFHG & PHFHG

Although my 11yo has been working independent, his workload has been fairly small.
So, I want to make sure that it is doable for him, as he tends to be a dawdler.

Oh and I already spent some time looking at the schedules & (as best as I could without having the manuals) have put a plan in place. I needed to revamp our chore schedule, so it came at a good time. I'm sure I will redo it as we go along!!

Thank you again!!!!

[Carrie]

Mercy,

I can see that you're really pondering here, which is such a good thing to do. One thing I'll mention is that your kiddos will do best if you take each child into account on his/her own on the placement chart (all thoughts of combining or history cycle aside) to truly see where each child places skill-wise on especially the first page of the chart. The reason this is so important is that all the skills on the first page of the chart drive the readings and assignments in the guide, so accurate placement skill-wise at HOD makes a big difference!

Here's the link to the placement chart: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I can't get a feel from what you've posted here so far whether your 6 year old would fit better in LHFHG or Beyond and whether your son would fit better in Preparing or CTC, but I'm thinking that if you rule out your other considerations and look at the first page of the chart only, it will be clearer what to do. Feel free to pop back and share your thoughts.

Blessings,
Carrie