Heart of Dakota -- How's is going?

[abrightmom]

The text do seem a little hard. I am all for challenging especially since it will be 5th grade, but I am worried she will end up hating it and I do not want to kill her love of learning. My dd has comprehension problems though. I have written some posts about thinking that she may have a processing issue. She writes well and loves it and she can narrate, but truly comprehending is hard for her. Some of the questions in Preparing that are in the Read About History she cant answer. She is very literal and has trouble "seeing" the meaning behind things. Aesops fables are really hard for her to grasp unless I really explain them. So, I think for my dd it will be a bigger stretch than some. I do not think she will be able most of the Independent History on her own or the Read About ...

 

I get it now! Okay, so, what is Plan B if HOD won't work? Perhaps you will have to walk through the material with her in any scenario so you can stay with HOD and just expect to spend more time with her. I am going back to the CTC samples now :) as I can't remember what is used for independent history. I have at least one kid who will need more input from me. This kid hates history, even SOTW, because he doesnt get it. It flies right over the top of him. :001_smile:

[oneddmanybooks]

We are really enjoying Bigger Hearts (except the science)! It is not very academically challenging for dd, but she is being challenged in other ways (piano, foreign language, adjusting to her enrichment program, learning focus and concentration, etc.). I am so happy that she is willingly copying and writing much more than she was previously used to doing. She is more interested in drawing and painting now (this is probably partially due to her enrichment day, which includes art).

Re the Bible verses – in my secret stash I had a pretty box and matching cards from a post-Easter sale at Hobby Lobby. Dd loves copying her Bible verses onto these pretty cards.

I really think (fervently HOPE) that HOD will be a fantastic fit for dd for the next few years. I can’t quite describe it, but HOD makes me want to keep homeschooling as long as I possibly can! It helps me be a better person and a better mentor. It helps strengthen my relationship with dd. The main two things I wish were different about Bigger are more history reading and different science. But these are fairly easy to do on my own. Oh, I don't want to forget one of the best things - HOD helps me feel more relaxed. That's probably my dh's favorite part! :D

[MrsMe]

Do you ladies know the ideal or recommended age range for the Guerber histories? I think they're just lovely.

 

I'd also love to hear about Genesis: Finding our Roots. Do the CTC Moms have any thoughts? Is it advanced? I've read many reviews that consider it best for high school!! I can't imagine Carrie using a high school study in a 5th grade guide.

 

My dd LOVES Guerber history! In my earlier post I mentioned I thought it was hard, but that's the first book dd grabs and loves it!

 

Genesis book is not hard at all. It's a great book for mom and kids discussion without difficulty. I don't think the kids would understand it on their own, not due to words, it's just more of a deeper look/thoughts at the Bible. Not hard at all with discussion.

[Dassah]

I wanted to post about the Bible lessons in CtC. I've heard some say too much Bible and others say too little. I think it's a personal preference. Each day dd does her own Bible Reading out of the Illustrated Family Bible (she loves this!). She does Bible memory from Phillipians 2 (loves this!) and then prays a guided prayer (I love how Carrie prepares kids through mentorship by being specific with prayers, ie. "pray a prayer of adoration..."). This, coupled with History, which really does have a lot of Jewish history with Judah, Israel, Canaan in the 1500-700BC time frame (but does not leave out Egyptian, Assyrian, Philistine, & Greek, etc., history) provides a depth of Biblical history that I find fascinating. Now, in terms of character study or logic/dialectical questions, those can be found in the prophecies that the kids must decipher from verses in the Old then New Testament. That has proven difficult at times for dd. She is growing into that but it's very high-level thinking for a 10 year old. I'm thinking that those who say it's too little Bible are thinking that there is a devotional study or life application piece missing. This is an easy add-on but we haven't added anything this year (I do have Wisdom with the Millers sitting on a shelf, though).

[kwickimom]

I get it now! Okay, so, what is Plan B if HOD won't work? Perhaps you will have to walk through the material with her in any scenario so you can stay with HOD and just expect to spend more time with her. I am going back to the CTC samples now :) as I can't remember what is used for independent history. I have at least one kid who will need more input from me. This kid hates history, even SOTW, because he doesnt get it. It flies right over the top of him. :001_smile:

 

I have no backup plan :lol: I absolutely love Preparing. I love the layout, format, books, and skills. I want a Guide between Preparing and CTC :001_smile:

 

I am going to try and do what I can to make CTC work. I am looking at dropping a box or two or somehow rearranging it to 5 days (although I really love a 4 day week so we can do field trips/library/ or activity with our HS group.) I just may have to commit to doing it, and make us stick to a 5 day week and drop a few outside activities. I really need to decide how I want 5th grade to look. Maybe if I start in slow, then we can get to full speed after awhile. I think I am going to require a little more narration from her this year to prepare. I am willing to make some of the independent work teacher intensive if I have to.

 

Independent History varies. Its starts with listening to the Diana Waring cd's and filling out a prophecy chart, comparing some of what she reads to the Bible (she wont be able to do that on her own) to doing Draw and Write Through History. So some of it is a little more difficult. My dd loves Draw and Write so thats no problem. Storytime also becomes more difficult with narrations, outline sketches, skits, questions and making connections to Proverbs.

 

Geography looks wonderful, but again is a lot more work than Preparing's. There is a lot of reading and discussion. Some people recommend to drop this before anything else.

 

Also we are to add in a a writing program and I really wanted to do WWS, but I dont think that will be possible. I may just stick to WWW and try WWS in 6th grade.

 

I am going to have my 1st grader in Beyond next year and I am sending my terror of a 3YO to morning preschool. So I will have 3 solid hours of uninterrupted teaching in the mornings. This will be a tremendous help. I may let my 1st grader do fun stuff in the mornings and focus on dd then.

[Dassah]

Along these same lines, how hard is it skill-wise to wait until Preparing to start HOD? What do you miss by not doing Beyond and Bigger? I would imagine narration and some dictation? Science skills? Notebooking?

 

Has anyone done MFW Adv. in 2nd, ECC in 3rd, and then started Preparing in 4th? How was the transition?

 

 

Kathy,

We did MFW Adv. in 2nd, started then sold ECC in 3rd within the first month, jumped into Bigger -- sped through it because I didn't enjoy the history (completed it in less than 6 months by skipping much), and started Preparing at a very slow pace for a very young 4th grader. No problems here! We loved it! Make sure your child has cursive down as that is a requirement and is ready to start written narrations. We spread Preparing out over 12 months to get some of those skills down better.

[Dassah]

Kwikimom,

I wouldn't push too hard this year with Preparing. I'd just take CtC nice and slow when you get there. Let your child enjoy Preparing and then help her get going with CtC at a slower pace. There are many days I still read the History aloud with DD or the Bible Reading when she's feeling overwhelmed. I always read the Read-Aloud --Aloud. We started CtC in June and are just now on week 12, we started half-pace and life was good when that was our routine. I'm thinking about going back to that to slow down and smell the roses. :) I think I started DD too quickly into full pace. We only HS 4 days a week even when we did a half-pace (we just keep up with Math and Readers). I often forget that I'm homeschooling my child and not just checking boxes! :D Reading your post reminded me to take a bit of my own advice and slow down and enjoy. What's the rush?! :grouphug:

[kwickimom]

Kwikimom,

I wouldn't push too hard this year with Preparing. I'd just take CtC nice and slow when you get there. Let your child enjoy Preparing and then help her get going with CtC at a slower pace. There are many days I still read the History aloud with DD or the Bible Reading when she's feeling overwhelmed. I always read the Read-Aloud --Aloud. We started CtC in June and are just now on week 12, we started half-pace and life was good when that was our routine. I'm thinking about going back to that to slow down and smell the roses. :) I think I started DD too quickly into full pace. We only HS 4 days a week even when we did a half-pace (we just keep up with Math and Readers). I often forget that I'm homeschooling my child and not just checking boxes! :D Reading your post reminded me to take a bit of my own advice and slow down and enjoy. What's the rush?! :grouphug:

 

 

Can I ask how you did half pace? What was your schedule and do you use DITHOR or add on anything else? Also- what storytime set do you use? In taking a closer look I think if I do the girls interest set it will be a little easier on dd than the History interest set I was going to do.

 

and thank you for the slow down advice :) We do school late into summer and start early fall so that is totally doable. Also I really like the looks of everything in CTC and dont really want to drop anything,

[Dassah]

Our definition of half-pace is "checking" 5 boxes a day (from either side of the page) + foreign language everyday + at least 1 math lesson a day + piano practice each day + read at least one chapter of your Dithor book (we occasionally do a lesson in Dithor) + read the non-scheduled girl Read Aloud chapter each day (we read the scheduled history read aloud as one of the boxes to check). Sounds a little complicated but it worked very well for us.

 

Typically we do left side one day, right side the next but we ended up doing 5 and 5 and that worked out just as well (and gave dd some choice in the matter).

 

In terms of Dithor: I've never gotten into a good rhythm with the teacher's guide so aren't consistent with it. That's something on my to-do.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Dassah

[tjneary99]

Well for us it is a great fit. My 3rd and 4th grader are doing Bigger this year. My kids do all of the extensions, do grade 4 dictation(from egoogle Day by Day) and are moving up to R&S 4 in a month or so. I love the Bible/hymns/interwoven biblical character traits study--woven through storytime/read alouds/DITHOR pages and discussed from the history readings. Previously we did Tapestry, and I spent every moment wondering if I was doing enough and planning, planning, planning, creating materials etc..The only thing I kept from lat year was our devotions books which my kids adore and beg for and those were not part of Tapestry--just something I found that help them apply Scripture. We are ALL much happier now and learning a lot. My kids enjoy the science too--they like the experiments and they retain a ton. At this grade level, very little science is done in the public schools, because the focus is on other skills first, and so I think they are getting more from HOD science than public school(where they were until part way through last year). Some dislike the science--it is a matter of preference too. I think smaller chunks of info is MUCH better for retention over the long haul. The readings in history etc..also help with retention due to the reinforcement that goes on throughout the guide. My kids have great memories and are above grade level but they did not retain from the Abeka science book we used or other books where they are inundated with tons of useless vocabulary words etc...in a short amount of time from a textbook. Why in the world would a child in 4th grade need to know the word for the breathing tubes of a bug--for goodness sakes--what a waste of brain power(in my opinion).

 

I realized my time was previously spent cramming their brains with too much info( and a lot of useless info too), but now we are enjoying the time, settling in on different topics and discussing things more deeply. They 'get' the ways things operate, can think critically, and reason, and experience life hands-on, and much of the time is spent on cultivating their hearts and giving them a thirst for more information and God. I have also added a book basket for down time with some extra great books we have on hand or from the library...some are novels, others are picture books, short stories, or magazines...Also, I purchased HOD's booklist for other books to add to each level from Beyond on up. I find a lot of these books at the library and thrift shops. I think if someone is ready for Beyond books but one does not want to use the ones in the curriculum, that purchasing the book list is an option and worth the cost.

 

I have tried different things over this last year sticking mainly with Tapestry but adding in for other subjects. I used to teach middle and high school, and I have decided that this program is what we need on all levels. It is where the Lord led us, too. My observation is that a lot of moms(including myself) get stuck in the 'grass is greener' mentality or compare themselves to other families or overload their kids unnecessarily thinking they are doing a good thing. I have found that I need to seek the Lord and see where He leads and then be content in that and walk by faith. One cannot go wrong when He is in control. I have decided NOT to read certain forums, because for me, it leads to dissatisfaction etc...when I need to trust God and not look back, but still be seeking Him all along the way. Only He knows what my kids need at any given time.

[kwickimom]

I spent some time today perusing my CTC manual and laying out a 5 day plan and I feel SO much better. I think it is totally doable. This year with Preparing my dd is doing her Science experiment and History project one day with a friend after piano. That is working and so I am going to do the same plan with CTC.

 

If I take out the History project, Science experiment and poetry painting and move those all to day 5, that frees up a lot of time. Also we will not be doing the Bible Quiet time or Bible Study because we have a program from church plus Awana that dd follows and that will be too much. I am going to use CHOLL instead of DITHOR along with something for literary devices and then pick a writing program. I added everything up with average times and I come up with 4 hours a day. I will have 3 solid morning hours everyday to work with her and so I think it will work out quite nicely if I get a schedule going with my ds in Beyond. I may find activities and things for him to do independently in the a.m. and work with him after lunch. After ds 3 comes home from preschool I will give him lunch and nap/quiet time so we can finish up school. I can make any appts in the afternoons and if we ever have to cut anything or push anything bck it will be the day scheduled with poetry painting and projects :)

[Knittinfarmgirl]

My observation is that a lot of moms(including myself) get stuck in the 'grass is greener' mentality or compare themselves to other families or overload their kids unnecessarily thinking they are doing a good thing. I have found that I need to seek the Lord and see where He leads and then be content in that and walk by faith. One cannot go wrong when He is in control. I have decided NOT to read certain forums, because for me, it leads to dissatisfaction etc...when I need to trust God and not look back, but still be seeking Him all along the way. Only He knows what my kids need at any given time.

 

:iagree: Well stated. It brings to mind something Andrew Pudewa of IEW has said that when we begin to compare our children to other children, we either end up with vanity or bitterness. Neither of which is a good thing.

 

I am also learning to avoid some discussions because I too become dissatisfied. I am this year learning to be content where we are and give my kids individually what they need. I pray that the Lord will help me achieve that.

[Knittinfarmgirl]

I have continued to miss combining my children and accepting the necessary separation to have them placed in guides with which they'll thrive. Personally I am finding it REALLY important in Bigger or Preparing on up to NOT be pushing the child for the sake of combining. This is necessitating running 3 guides and eventually 4. It also puts all of the children in separate time periods. That seems to matter right now but I'm not sure it will matter later on....

 

I completely understand how you feel about combining children. It is my idealistic vision for schooling the kids. But I've found that HOD is just so beautifully planned out with its Biblical integration and the skill progression and I know it's the best fit, even though it kills my plan of combining. I've begun to make reading non-school books aloud to them a priority and that's helping my desire for togetherness.

 

Personally I don't love the younger guides (they're fine but not awesome like Preparing is), Bigger is okay (though, to be fair, we're only on Unit 4), and I adore Preparing. I think the guides get better and better. Carrie truly amazes me. :001_smile:

 

:iagree: The guides have me very excited for our future years. I hope I can keep myself out of that "grass is greener" mentality. :)

[MorningGlory]

Please share with me your schedule! I'm going to institute someone elses if possible to see what I might be doing differently. I'm still thinking that I'm pushing too hard with time allotments.

I would love to see your schedule.

It is a simple little thing, but it has really helped my ds structure his day. It took me a while to figure out that he needed something like this (my older son does not...). This schedule is actually printed out in an attractive format and hanging by son's desk. He has a separate schedule for Fridays (nice, easy day).

 

7:00 Wake-up, breakfast, dress, brush teeth (yes, this is on his schedule...lol!), morning chores, Bible Quiet Time

 

8:30 Time with Mom: Math, English, and Reading lessons (note: math is every day, but the English, reading, and dictation stuff rotates around...if we start right at 8:30, we can fit these in this slot easily. And yes, we use DITHOR).

 

9:00 Exercise (this short time rotates through various exercises)

9:15 On his own: History (reading, associated activity, independent history assignment) and any written, independent English and/or Reading work

 

10:00 Break: This has been the best part of the schedule. He is free to do whatever he wants to do...go outside, play with Legos, even play on his Nintendo DS...this 30 minutes of freedom in the morning has completely changed his attitude about school.

 

10:30 On his own: Math work. This has also been an important part of the schedule...so simple, but has worked so well. Math is my ds's least favorite subject...he used to DRAG it out forever. Now he has a defined 30 minutes to sit down and do it...after his brain has had that nice break! This works beautifully! Now every once and a while he will not finish the work in this time slot, so the remainder gets bumped till the end of the day. But this doesn't happen too often. We use CLE for math.

 

11:00 Time with Mom: "Couchtime"...Storytime and Geography/Genesis (alternate days), then History Project and Poetry/Painting. The painting part is only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays...this has been one of our favorite parts of CTC! I would not recommend cutting it or bumping it to Friday. Also...Carrie doesn't schedule history project on Thursday because that gives the student more time for the written narration that day. I am not required to be "right there" throughout this whole hour...I usually go start lunch while ds is finishing.

 

12:00 Lunch...again another complete break for ds.

 

1:00 Latin and Science. This time period usually requires some oversight from me...but not more than about 20 minutes or so.

 

2:00 Finished with school! My ds reads his assigned reading anytime in the afternoon or night (books for DITHOR and a book club he is in + other outside reading...this son enjoys reading).

 

As you can see from this schedule, my direct instruction time with this son is well under 2 hours during the day. This schedule is freeing for ME, too. I am not nagging nearly as much. I work my instruction time with older son around this son's schedule...it is that important. Also, I spend the remainder of my day chasing and cleaning up after our 2 year old Tasmanian Devil daughter.

 

Friday's schedule is much lighter:

7:00 wakeup, morning routine, Bible (I sometimes let son sleep later on Fridays)

8:30 Time with Mom: math lesson, vocabulary program (MCT)

9:00 Exercise

9:15 Latin and logic

10:00 Break (still important to get this in before he tackles math work)

10:30 Math work

11:00 Finished with school!

 

How easy is that? :)

 

I hope that this will encourage others to stick with HOD through CTC and the higher programs. I am continually amazed at what my son is learning and how he is progressing. HOD is a perfect fit for this particular child! (Note: I will say here that HOD would not have been as nice a fit for my older son...highly gifted, math/science guru. This is one of the many, many benefits of homeschooling...we can pick what FITS for the individual students the Lord has given us).

Jetta

[jer2911mom]

Kathy,

We did MFW Adv. in 2nd, started then sold ECC in 3rd within the first month, jumped into Bigger -- sped through it because I didn't enjoy the history (completed it in less than 6 months by skipping much), and started Preparing at a very slow pace for a very young 4th grader. No problems here! We loved it! Make sure your child has cursive down as that is a requirement and is ready to start written narrations. We spread Preparing out over 12 months to get some of those skills down better.

 

Thanks! This info. is helpful!!

 

Kathy

[momma2boys]

We are trudging through....

[Jonibee]

WOW. Just wow. I am thrilled with all the responses -- just ask how's it going and there are 7 pages.

 

I'm working with child #6 -- grade 3. We started this year with Sonlight 2 -- he's been reading about triple speed -- he always says, sorry Mom, I just read ahead again. He'll be done by Christmas. With SL, we haven't hit American History yet, so I'm going to start in January with HOD Bigger, rather than wait until September for Preparing.

 

As a side note, what is driving me nuts about Sonlight is the lack of DOING anything with the reading. Well, except for me checking a box, hehe.

 

So as I'm looking at Christmas shopping, I'm just sticking that HOD purchase in there . . . :D

[MamaHappy]

We are trudging through....

Would you care to elaborate? :-)

[Tidbits of Learning]

I am very interested in learning what CHOLL is??? I keep hearing it referenced to use instead of DITHOR.

[kwickimom]

I am very interested in learning what CHOLL is??? I keep hearing it referenced to use instead of DITHOR.

 

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