Monday, January 9, 2017

Heart of Dakota and Placement

When I first started looking into Heart of Dakota for my four younger children (back in 2015), I read many comments and reviews on the message boards about PLACEMENT. Honestly, I paid no heed to those warnings. I figured placement wasn't such a big deal; after all, I had been homeschooling for so long I thought I knew what was best for my kids. Plus, I was dead-set on combining Eli and Mercie - my then-5th and 2nd graders.

We completed 18 units in Bigger Hearts for His Glory. It wasn't working for us. Eli was too advanced for the material, even though I ordered the extension package for him. It wasn't enough for him. Mercie wasn't quite ready for the history readings and Notebooking assignments. We boxed it up, along with the Little Hearts for His Glory I was using for Silas, who was 5 at the time. He wasn't ready for Little Hearts, either. The story-time and history readings didn't hold his attention at all.

*Sigh* I really wanted Heart of Dakota to work for us. I loved the concept of it, the layout of the teacher's guide, and the wonderful books that go with it. I tried so hard to make it work, but it just didn't.

Now, Mercie is nearly through with 3rd grade and Silas is 6 and 1/2. I was thinking about pulling out Little Hearts for His Glory and starting over with it with him. When I pulled the enormously heavy plastic tub out of the storage building, Mercie dug into the box. She pulled out her binder and started flipping through all of the Notebooking pages.  She asked if she could do Bigger Hearts again, and I thought it would be a great idea. We picked up on unit 19 this morning, right where we left off last time. I could tell right away that it was going to be a great fit for her now. The history and science seem just right for her. I even dug out her Rod and Staff grammar book, and we picked up in the middle of the book. She completed her regular Math Lessons for a Living Education and continued reading "The Mouse and the Motorcycle".

Silas also enjoyed the history and story-time readings today. He continued in Math Mammoth, which he enjoys. I also grabbed "The Reading Lesson" from the box, which we had started but it was too much for him. Now, it seems perfect. He flew through the entire first chapter of the book, and we will pick up on chapter two tomorrow.

I was thinking this morning how important placement is in Heart of Dakota. It is totally skill-based and keeps progressing with each level. If your child is placed too low, it will be boring; yet, if your child is placed too high, it will be frustrating. If you are looking into Heart of Dakota for your child or children, I implore you to take the placement chart seriously. Pour over the samples of the first week, also, which will give you a good idea of what the projects and reading assignments will be like.

I am excited that we are starting Heart of Dakota again, at least with a few of mine!

7 comments:

  1. At least you're getting to use it now.

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    1. I am glad it's working now. Placement is so key in using HOD.

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  2. I had to learn this lesson the hard way too. The first year we used HOD I had a 1st grader and 4th grader in Bigger. It was actually a really good year, but I knew going forward there was no way I could expect a 2nd grader to handle the work of Preparing. That was when I decided to split them up and move the rising 2nd grader back into Beyond rather than moving him forward, and moved my oldest to CtC. They were then perfectly placed.

    While I loved them learning together I was seeing my youngest would never be able to keep up with the speed of his big brother. We still have plenty of opportunities to learn together, but now they are progressing beautifully at their own speed. I'm glad you're able to pull those beautiful books out of retirement. It's fun that your daughter chose it herself :) I hope your Silas enjoys it too!

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    1. I think it will work much better with Mercie and Silas in their own guides.

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  3. I love that Bigger is working for you now. It was working wonderfully for Eliana when we used it - it was me that it wasn't working for. Looking back at her history, vocabulary, and poetry notebook, I wish I would have stuck with what was working for me. I love that she did much more than I required of her normally - I kind of need stuff like that scheduled out for me! :)

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    1. Exactly! As Mercie looked through her notebook of poetry pages, science experiments, and history timeline, she wanted to finish! It is a beautiful, FULL notebook. I love how we can get to poetry, vocabulary, timelines, and great literature in less than two hours a day. I also need a schedule!

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  4. Yes, HOD is structured with placement and I struggled to keep multiple guides working for me. I admire those moms who can keep up with it. I deeply wish I could, but it's not my season.

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