Exploring Homeschooling as an option for our family

[All4One]

God has placed on our hearts a desire to home school our children this next school year. We have been praying and actively searching for a good Christ centered curriculum. We currently have a 2nd grade daughter (8), Jr. Kindergarten son(6), preschool son (3) and a 1 year old son. Over Christmas a friend introduced me to you and we purchased the LHTH for our 3 year old. I love it and so does he! I then looked into your other packages and am now trying to find one for my older two children. I would like your recommendation. Using your program placement chart, our 8 year old would use BHFHG and our 6 year old LHFHG. Is it possible to do those at the same time? Right now I'm a little overwhelmed with all the choices. I want things to run smoothly our first year and yet be challenging enough for each child.

Thanks for your help,
Erica

[jenntracy]

i will say that i am doing BLHFHG with my 7.5 yr old in 1st grade, LHFHG with just turned 6yr old for Kindergarten , and we just recently began LHTH with our just turned 3yr old and then i had baby on March7th so we are on a short hiatus for now.
It is doable and the kids are happy in the program that fits them best.
Just what works for us.

Hope you find HOD can meet your needs. we love it.

Jenn D.

[striving2Bprov31]

Hello, welcome to HOD!

We love HOD! When your children are in the proper guide, it is really easy to do 2 to 3 guides at once. LHFHG is a wonderful little program that is so easy to implement no matter what other guides you are using. I just started my 5yo. in LHFHG and I just break it up and do the boxes scattered throughout our day. My two older ones are in CtC and Beyond. It really works well.

As far as your 8 year old is concerned, you may want to double-check the placement. Based off of the age, your 8 year old would still fit into Beyond Little Hearts. You may just want to talk around (here on the board or call Heart of Dakota and talk to Carrie) because there is a slight possibility that Bigger may overwhelm a child who has been in public school. The reading in HOD is advanced by public school standards. I say this because my two oldest were in public school before we began homeschooling, and I know that I had to be careful in choosing "levels" of materials when transitioning my oldest into the homeschooling world. She was and is an avid reader, but had to develop a taste for really good books like these. I hope I am not speaking out of turn here! It would be good to get some other opinions. Bigger Hearts may fit perfectly and if not, Beyond is a wonderful program, too! You will know what to do. I just thought that I would give you some food for thought, as proper placement is so important with HOD.

I know it is all so overwhelming at first, and especially during your first school year. This is our 2nd full school year of homeschooling. That first year is just a matter of hanging in there while God shows you the way. But there is so much fun ahead of you! I am excited for you. I think you will find that using HOD will relieve you of a lot of the typical 'new homeschooler' burdens! It has done that for us.

Blessings to you!

[tnahid]

If you are really leaning on combining them both, I think that you could do that with the Beyond guide. Both of your children are in age range for the guide. I have found Beyond was a perfect fit for combining my sons, if you want to go that route. This is my first year back homeschooling as well, and I have personally loved the ease of combining my sons in Beyond. My older son does higher math and LA, higher spelling plus the DITHOR 2/3 workbooks and boys interest books. He has really excelled in his skills and love for reading this year. My youngest just does the guide "as is" with the Emergent Reader books.

Just some thoughts for you in your are wanting to combine. It has worked out well for us. Mine both were in Christian school for the last 2 years. I also use LHTH with my 4 year old daughter. She really likes it too. I hope this helps you to decide. As you keep it in prayer, our Father will show you and guide you for your unique situation, temperament and family.

Blessings!

[Mom2Monkeys]

Welcome to HOD!! I've been a HODie for a few years now and love it!! You won't find a program more Christ centered than HOD, and it's so academically solid to boot!

I second what was said about considering Beyond for the 8yo unless she is used to a good amount of writing, is ready for dictation, an is accustomed to listening to "books of ages past". They are truly wonderful books, and we all love them, but they take a rather seasoned listener! Is your child accustomed to narrating? Are YOU accustomed to narrating? Beyond would help develop those skills and give you a solid intro to Charlotte mason skills utilized by HOD and set you up for great success in each guide to follow.

I do caution against combining your younger into Beyond just for the sake of combining if that child places into LHFHG. In HOD, the guides are used by multiple ages by placing the children in the guide the younger child places in, then using extensions and higher math and language arts for the older children. BHFHG and up have extensions for combining in that way.

Another idea if you feel your oldest is past Beyond, but Bigger is a little much, is to start Bigger half speed for several units to allow your hold to grow into the guide. Bigger is a very meaty guide, full of critical skills needed to move into the future guides and complete them the way they are intended. It's also the most teacher-intensive level. Still, it's very manageable!

I have 4 children as you see in my signature, and this fall we will be doing Preparing, Beyond or half speed Bigger, and most likely half speed Little Hearts, and possibly start half speed LHTH mid year with my little guy. I've done Bigger, LHFHG, and LHTH last year plus a new baby. It was doable and we had our afternoons free.