HOD preparing users

[joyfulhomeschooler]

I want to use this for a 4th and 2nd grader next year. Am I crazy?

[Heart_Mom]

Well ... I would guess that, no, you're not crazy!:001_smile:

 

As far as whether or not that's the best program for your children, I'm not sure. I guess it depends to some extent on what your goals are. If you're looking to have your 2nd grader listen in on the History, Poetry, and Bible readings, that could work.

 

But if you're planning on having your 2nd grader do the program as written, I think that's likely not going to work. I think most 2nd graders wouldn't be able to do the written and independent work that's involved in Preparing.

 

I think that even Bigger (at full speed) can be a bit too much writing for some 2nd graders.

 

Bigger could be an option for you, though. Maybe your 4th grader could do it with Extensions and your 2nd grader could do it as written?

 

So, I guess my big question for you is: what are your goals for Preparing? If you choose to do Preparing next year, and plan on continuing with HOD, I think it would get more and more impossible to keep them together.

 

I hope that helps! :001_smile:

 

***Edited to add: I haven't started Preparing yet, but I own it and have looked through it extensively and will be starting it with my oldest soon!

Edited February 17, 2012 by Heart_Mom

[Edwena]

I'm doing Bigger with a 4th and 2nd grader full speed. My 2nd grader has had no trouble. I think Preparing is a big step up in the writing and independence departments and wouldn't do it with a 2nd grader. That just MHO. I'm doing the guides as written though wanting the skill building etc.

[Tenaj]

My 10 yods is doing Preparing this year and it is challenging for him. I had originally purchased CtC for him and am so glad that I changed my mind and moved him down a level. I have an 8 yods who is a bit unusually advanced and probably could have kept up with the Preparing schedule but I decided to split them up and he is doing Bigger this year. There are some personality issues between these two kids and it's just better for the older to be in a separate program.

 

It probably depends on what your goals are for the second grader but I'm guessing that most of the program would be too advanced for her unless she's a bit ahead for her age. If you just want her to listen in for the history/science that would probably work, but the independent work would probably be beyond her. The copywork would probably be too much for her so you would need to do a lot of adjusting to make it a profitable year for her.

 

Like the previous poster said, if you want to keep them together, the best option may be to do Bigger this year with extensions for the older child - I've decided to split my kids all up and I'm running three guides this year, Preparing, Bigger and Little Hearts. It's busy but doable. Preparing has lots of independent moments built into it. Bigger probably requires the most mom-attention but I've tweaked it a bit and he's been able to do most of the science and some of the history by himself (like I said, he's a bit advanced for his age though).

 

I see you're currently using MFW. HOD is really a very different approach from MFW (I used MFW for three years before switching over to HOD). HOD is more skills-based with specific goals for each program so that's why is a bit more difficult to combine those younger kids with the olders.

 

And by the way, I don't think you're crazy either :) It would be interesting to contact Heart of Dakota directly and see what they say or recommend or post this question over there. There are a lot of experienced "tweakers" of the program on their boards.

 

Best wishes as you decide for next year.

[Tidbits of Learning]

I think for those ages and grade levels that I would go with Bigger and use extensions for the 4th grader.

If you are wanting to gain the independence that the higher guides offer in HOD, you will need to place according to your 2nd grader and beef up for your 4th grader.

There is a placement chart on HOD's web stie. http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

My suggestion is to look it over and figure out where your 2nd grader places. That is going to tell you whether they could do Preparing or not. I wouldn't stress just Preparing though. I would look at the future guides and see whether you think a 3rd grader could do CTC or a 4th grader do RTR.

I wouldn't place a 2nd grader higher than Bigger.

[kwickimom]

My dd could not have done Preparing in 2nd grade. I think the program is challenging for a 3rd grader and right about on level for a 4th grader.

 

I think it could be done, but your 2nd grader would be missing a lot of the skills that are taught.

 

I think the key to HOD is placement.

[raceNzanesmom]

My second grader couldn't have done Preparing. I agree, always use the placement chart to place kids. If you want to keep them together I'd place the second grader at level and add the extensions for the fourth grader.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Preparing just looks like a more interesting program to me is all. I was thinking it would be easier to just bring down the work load for the 2nd grader. I know if I feel confident enough to bulk up bigger for the 4th grader.

 

Plus we did MFW Adventures and already covered what is covered in Bigger.

 

It may help if someone could tell me what is covered in each unit of bigger. Maybe it would still interest my kiddos.

 

Also if someone could exlain in detail how you would bulk it up.

 

I put a call in to HOD and am waiting to hear back.

[Heart_Mom]

Preparing just looks like a more interesting program to me is all. I was thinking it would be easier to just bring down the work load for the 2nd grader. I know if I feel confident enough to bulk up bigger for the 4th grader.

 

Plus we did MFW Adventures and already covered what is covered in Bigger.

 

It may help if someone could tell me what is covered in each unit of bigger. Maybe it would still interest my kiddos.

 

Also if someone could exlain in detail how you would bulk it up.

 

I put a call in to HOD and am waiting to hear back.

 

Ya know ... I think Preparing may be a more interesting program than Bigger, but HOD is just set up differently than other unit studies.

 

Each HOD guide is SO linked to a certain skill level, that it would be hard to get a lot out of the guide if you water it down for your younger. Sometimes I wish it were different, because it means that when a child's writing skills are lower than their reading/comprehension skills, that it sometimes not the perfect scenario. Extensions can help with that, though. (Actually my dream curriculum is a very conservative version of Sonlight, but that just doesn't exist! -- sorry, that's a little off topic!:D)

 

I guess I just want you to know that you've really got to approach placement in HOD in a different way.

 

I can tell you that Bigger focusses more on the people in American history, so that it feels different (at least to me) than other studies of American history.

 

I've found HOD to be very helpful when I've called, so I'm imagining that they'll call back soon and give you some good advice!:001_smile:

[twoxcell]

My ds is doing Bigger right now, and we are finishing unit 24 today. Bigger is a great program, and I think it has a bit of a different feel from Beyond or Adventures. Bigger focuses on 1 or more famous person in US history each week. The History text used are plenty advanced for a 4th grader. You could add in the extensions if your 4th grader wants to read extra materials. Other than that you would just need to use an appropriate Math, Grammar, and spelling/dictation for your 4th grader. The Notebooking can be done as advanced as you choose. I don't have preparing yet, but I can't imagine most 2nd graders being able to keep up with it.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Can you tell me what people are covered? It doesn't cover the states at all then? That was mostly what adventures was. It may work then. Would it be better to combine them in Bigger or to do two guides? I notice some of you are doing three guides. Is this really doable with keeping up the house and taking care of the littles? Can you get it all done?

 

When you say ramp up the Notebooking, and dictation. How would I do this? The fourth grader will be using Horizons 4th grade math, Rod and Staff english 4, and Spelling power. So on top of these I would need to ramp up what's in the guide for bigger? Can you give me an example of a lesson written how is in bigger and how you would bulk it up?

Edited February 17, 2012 by joyfulhomeschooler

[Tidbits of Learning]

Preparing just looks like a more interesting program to me is all. I was thinking it would be easier to just bring down the work load for the 2nd grader. I know if I feel confident enough to bulk up bigger for the 4th grader.

 

Plus we did MFW Adventures and already covered what is covered in Bigger.

 

It may help if someone could tell me what is covered in each unit of bigger. Maybe it would still interest my kiddos.

 

Also if someone could exlain in detail how you would bulk it up.

 

I put a call in to HOD and am waiting to hear back.

 

HOD isn't really written according to the history cycle in the younger years. It isn't as easy to combine in the younger years b/c it is very skill based in every subject. Preparing would not be preparing if you bring it down to the younger child. To combine with HOD, you place for your younger child and use extensions. Bigger has extensions already for 4th and 5th graders. You would just need the extension books.

I don't know from what perspective MFW Beyond is on American History. I know it uses many of the same books that HOD Beyond. The American History in Bigger is biographical. You study great people in American History one by one in chronological order.

You may not even need the extensions for your 4th grader. I would download the week sample for Bigger and the week sample for Preparing and compare the 2. For Bigger the history book is public domain so you could download the 1st week and look up the history book and actually see how it reads.

I would love to hear where your 2nd grader places according to the placement chart without thinking about what history you have already covered.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Can you tell me what people are covered? It doesn't cover the states at all then? That was mostly what adventures was. It may work then. Would it be better to combine them in Bigger or to do two guides? I notice some of you are doing three guides. Is this really doable with keeping up the house and taking care of the littles? Can you get it all done?

 

When you say ramp up the Notebooking, and dictation. How would I do this? The fourth grader will be using Horizons 4th grade math, Rod and Staff english 4, and Spelling power. So on top of these I would need to ramp up what's in the guide for bigger? Can you give me an example of a lesson written how is in bigger and how you would bulk it up?

 

It does not cover the states in depth in Bigger. Whether to combine or not would solely depend on where your 2nd grader places according to the placement chart. Does your 2nd grader place in Beyond or Bigger.

We do 3 guides. I have 3 kids that are all a year apart in age. I can only combine 2 of them although their ages would fall within an age range of 1 guide, but their skills are all at different points. I really enjoy the freedom that the increasing independence in HOD guides provides as you go up. It gives me as a teacher more time to work with my youngers. My 2 oldest are combined in CTC and I am about to add on the extensions for my 6th grader.

You can use R&S English at whatever level your child is at alongside HOD. It is also written to use whatever math you prefer. As for spelling, HOD uses dictation and you may want to take a look at it or continue Spelling Power. You would just ignore the math and language arts boxes in Bigger.

From the description of the language arts and math skills of your 4th grader though, combining would probably mean Preparing for the 4th grader and Beyond for the 2nd grader. Again I would do the placement chart for each kid individually and then let us know where each child places. It would help us offer you better suggestions.

[mom2samlibby]

Here is what is covered in Bigger. We are in Week 27 of it. I would recommended Bigger over Preparing with a 2nd and 4th grader.

 

http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-intro-2007-07-11.pdf

[joyfulhomeschooler]

It does not cover the states in depth in Bigger. Whether to combine or not would solely depend on where your 2nd grader places according to the placement chart. Does your 2nd grader place in Beyond or Bigger.

We do 3 guides. I have 3 kids that are all a year apart in age. I can only combine 2 of them although their ages would fall within an age range of 1 guide, but their skills are all at different points. I really enjoy the freedom that the increasing independence in HOD guides provides as you go up. It gives me as a teacher more time to work with my youngers. My 2 oldest are combined in CTC and I am about to add on the extensions for my 6th grader.

You can use R&S English at whatever level your child is at alongside HOD. It is also written to use whatever math you prefer. As for spelling, HOD uses dictation and you may want to take a look at it or continue Spelling Power. You would just ignore the math and language arts boxes in Bigger.

From the description of the language arts and math skills of your 4th grader though, combining would probably mean Preparing for the 4th grader and Beyond for the 2nd grader. Again I would do the placement chart for each kid individually and then let us know where each child places. It would help us offer you better suggestions.

 

After taking a close look at the placement chart. My 4th grader would fit perfectly into preparing and the 2nd grader into Bigger with the exception of being done with phonics. I really feel phonics needs to continue into 3rd grade. She can read independantly though but still needs some to cover some of the harder phonics concepts. Her printing and sentence structure skills are advanced though. She loves to write. I wouldn't mind combining them in bigger except I don't want to hold the 4th grader back. He is more than ready for preparing. I just don't know with a 1yr old and a baby on the way if two guides would be doable.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Here is what is covered in Bigger. We are in Week 27 of it. I would recommended Bigger over Preparing with a 2nd and 4th grader.

 

http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-intro-2007-07-11.pdf

 

 

 

Thanks! It does look like something they would both enjoy and it would be a good refresher of the things we already learned in Adventures.

[twoxcell]

I'm not sure that you really need to beef up the notebooking, more like require more of your 4th grader than your 2nd grader. Not sure if that makes sense. You can always make your 4th grader do more intricate drawings or copy longer passages. Also you can have him do it in cursive if you do cursive. The states are not really a focus of Bigger. There is geography that involves maps of the states and in one unit we made some state flash cards. As far as combining I think that really is up to your preference. I personally don't think I'd want to run Bigger and Preparing at the same time, because of the teacher involvement but it is doable. If you want to separate them you could do Beyond(although this might be repetitive for you after Adventures) and Preparing. Right now I'm doing Bigger, Beyond, and Little Hands. My oldest will finish Bigger in May and start Preparing in July. My second just started Beyond in Oct. and is doing it 4 days a week right now. She will finish it next fall and I think I will do some other things with her the rest of the school year and start Bigger when she is almost 8(her b-day is Oct. 31st so technically she is in K right now, but doing 1st grade work). You can see the Introduction and the first week for all of the guides on the HOD website. That should tell you what people are covered in Bigger. With the Dictation in Bigger they only have the first level which would be too easy for your 4th grader. You could just continue with what you are using for spelling, or find Dictation Day by Day online. One other option is to buy the Preparing guide and use the dictation from it. Hopefully this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me. I will try to answer.:001_smile:

[joyfulhomeschooler]

I'm not sure that you really need to beef up the notebooking, more like require more of your 4th grader than your 2nd grader. Not sure if that makes sense. You can always make your 4th grader do more intricate drawings or copy longer passages. Also you can have him do it in cursive if you do cursive. The states are not really a focus of Bigger. There is geography that involves maps of the states and in one unit we made some state flash cards. As far as combining I think that really is up to your preference. I personally don't think I'd want to run Bigger and Preparing at the same time, because of the teacher involvement but it is doable. If you want to separate them you could do Beyond(although this might be repetitive for you after Adventures) and Preparing. Right now I'm doing Bigger, Beyond, and Little Hands. My oldest will finish Bigger in May and start Preparing in July. My second just started Beyond in Oct. and is doing it 4 days a week right now. She will finish it next fall and I think I will do some other things with her the rest of the school year and start Bigger when she is almost 8(her b-day is Oct. 31st so technically she is in K right now, but doing 1st grade work). You can see the Introduction and the first week for all of the guides on the HOD website. That should tell you what people are covered in Bigger. With the Dictation in Bigger they only have the first level which would be too easy for your 4th grader. You could just continue with what you are using for spelling, or find Dictation Day by Day online. One other option is to buy the Preparing guide and use the dictation from it. Hopefully this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me. I will try to answer.:001_smile:

 

 

So the dictation is strictly for spelling? Our spelling program doesn't have dictation and I don't want to switch, he is doing really well with it. I do want him to be doing some dictation though. Is the dictation not tied in with the other studies?

[twoxcell]

So the dictation is strictly for spelling? Our spelling program doesn't have dictation and I don't want to switch, he is doing really well with it. I do want him to be doing some dictation though. Is the dictation not tied in with the other studies?

 

The dictation that is used in the appendix is to take the place of Spelling.;) If you have a spelling program that is working for you then you do not need to do it unless you want to. I have not seen any other dictation in the guides I have done. You could dictate from the history passages if you wanted but it is not in the guide.

[extrafor6]

These are just my thoughts after using Bigger this year with a 2nd and 3rd grader because I really wanted to keep them together.

1. I should have listened to users on these and the HOD boards and used Beyond instead, as a spine, and beefed up when needed!

2. The books in Bigger would be plenty challenging for a 4th grader. My dd7 has a diffcult time understanding some of the material (like the Eggleston book of US History)

3. I use extensions with my dd9, but some are more age/reading level appropriate than others. The ones that are too difficult or less interesting, I use as a read aloud.

4. I think you might be able to tweak and use Preparing with a 2nd and 4th, but I consistently hear that the older guides get progressively more difficult and that is where you have difficulty with the younger child.

5. HOD is a different type of curriculum than say MFW (which I have not used) and SL (which I used 3 cores of) in that skills are integrated into all of the work. It's made for a student at a certain level not necessarily for the time period.

 

I'm sure all of that is as clear as mud :) We've liked our year with HOD but I definitely won't use Preparing next year with a 1st, 3rd, and 4th grader. Mainly because I like doing history, science, Bible, etc. with everyone together and HOD isn't designed for this. I will consider using Preparing in a couple of years unless we come across something that we love and better suits our needs.

All the best to you!

Stephanie

[Heart_Mom]

5. HOD is a different type of curriculum than say MFW (which I have not used) and SL (which I used 3 cores of) in that skills are integrated into all of the work. It's made for a student at a certain level not necessarily for the time period.

 

I'm sure all of that is as clear as mud :)

 

 

Stephanie, I think your post was very clear ... especially the part I quoted above. I always find it a little hard to explain exactly how HOD works, and I really like your description!:001_smile:

 

I also am using Bigger with a 4th & 2nd grader this year, but I think their skills and comprehension are just too varied for this to work well. My 4th grader will finish Bigger soon, and after doing Bigger 1/2 speed for a while with my 2nd grader, we're taking a break from it to do something that will work better for her. I'm planning on returning to Bigger in about a year and do the 2nd half of it with her for the end of her 3rd grade year.

[Edwena]

Like I said we are doing Bigger with a 4th grader (who is 9) and a 2nd grader (who is 7). When I talked to Carrie, she said my 4th grader didn't technically need the extension books because of where his b-day fell. She even suggested I not require them. I did buy them, and I just use them as read alouds. I require no work afterwards. We just enjoy them. We've really like them and I think they add a lot.

 

Not sure when your 4th graders' b-day is so that could factor in whether you would "need" the extensions or not.

 

Here's a thread that compares the writing in Bigger and Preparing.

[Homeschooling6]

Here is what is covered in Bigger. We are in Week 27 of it. I would recommended Bigger over Preparing with a 2nd and 4th grader.

 

http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-intro-2007-07-11.pdf

 

This is what I'm doing. This year I'm using Beyond with my 7.5yr. 1st grader and 9.1yr. 3rd grader, so next year they will use Bigger, 2nd and 4th grade.

 

With a new little one due and a toddler combining your dc in Bigger might be less stressful than running two guides. With the extensions you would have your 4th grader orally narrate to you, write a one paragraph summary, draw a picture with captions. You would choose a different one a few times a week.

There is a schedule written in the apendix that you can copy.

4 days a week they read about history and the 5th day about science.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

This is what I'm doing. This year I'm using Beyond with my 7.5yr. 1st grader and 9.1yr. 3rd grader, so next year they will use Bigger, 2nd and 4th grade.

 

With a new little one due and a toddler combining your dc in Bigger might be less stressful than running two guides. With the extensions you would have your 4th grader orally narrate to you, write a one paragraph summary, draw a picture with captions. You would choose a different one a few times a week.

There is a schedule written in the apendix that you can copy.

4 days a week they read about history and the 5th day about science.

 

This was very helpful thank you. I already bought preparing today (used) :) So now I think I will get bigger and we will be set for two years :)

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Instead of starting a new thread about HOD (again!) I thought I would try and ask here. Since I already bought preparing it's going to be tight trying to get bigger. I searched our library and found mostly all of the books used in bigger are there. If I bought just the economy package and used the guide to get the books from the library would that be doable?

[Chelli]

Instead of starting a new thread about HOD (again!) I thought I would try and ask here. Since I already bought preparing it's going to be tight trying to get bigger. I searched our library and found mostly all of the books used in bigger are there. If I bought just the economy package and used the guide to get the books from the library would that be doable?

 

That's what I'm doing with Bigger. I bought the Eggleston books, but the science books and the other history books were all at my library. They give homeschoolers a "teacher card" so I can check them out for 6 weeks at a time.

 

It hasn't been an issue and is MUCH cheaper :001_smile:

[extrafor6]

I also think both of the Eggleston books are public domain. I think, but check google books.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

That's what I'm doing with Bigger. I bought the Eggleston books, but the science books and the other history books were all at my library. They give homeschoolers a "teacher card" so I can check them out for 6 weeks at a time.

 

It hasn't been an issue and is MUCH cheaper :001_smile:

 

TEACHER CARD!!!! I have never heard of that. I am calling my library now to find out about it! Thanks :D

[Heart_Mom]

TEACHER CARD!!!! I have never heard of that. I am calling my library now to find out about it! Thanks :D

 

Good idea!!!:D