Megan probably needed to use the Bigger Hearts for His Glory guide. I had decided to take some time off of Heart of Dakota with Megan, hoping that other things would help her be more independent in her work. Well... she was independent, but her retention and boredom rate skyrocketed. I was constantly looking for ways to spice up her lessons. I finally realized that was silly, but couldn't afford to purchase a new program. Laura had begun Heart of Dakota with Preparing Hearts, so I had never purchased the Bigger Hearts program.
The lessons have been a roller coaster in Preparing Hearts. She has done well with everything except the writing. While we have studied cursive, she still is working on writing cursive without it being on a practice sheet. The copywork in cursive is difficult for her. Bigger must have been the guide to focus on written narration, because Megan struggles with it sometimes. She either can't think of what to write or wants to write a page.
The reading is easy for her, but I finally took over the teacher-directed reading. She is able to read the words, but I noticed her comprehension was going down. So, I decided to follow the guide and do the reading aloud as directed.
We have done dictation for two weeks now, laying aside our spelling program. This has been a wonderful change! Megan doesn't like change, and was comfortable with her workbook pages. However, now that she has done dictation for a couple weeks, she loves it! It is faster and less mundane. Laura always hated dictation. We ended up going back to spelling for her, and she is a good speller. However, every child is different. I realize now that I started Laura off on too high a level of dictation because she is a good speller. Spelling is only part of dictation. Dictation is this wonderful seeing a passage of writing, studying it, and then writing it perfectly as it is dictated to you. This encompasses spelling and sentence structure and grammar and seeing the passage and words in your head.
One of the problems we have had is the time our school day has taken. Megan is easily distracted. I realized that long lessons were failing because, halfway through, she would be doodling or watching her sisters or playing with the cat. One of the worst areas for this was math.
Heart of Dakota recommends Singapore Math. Again, I tried this with Laura years ago and it was a dismal failure. She needed the extra review. I did not want to try this with Megan. However, after reading many posts on the Heart of Dakota message board about other moms whose children have ADHD and their success with Singapore, I began to reconsider. Then I read an article by a mom who was frustrated that her ADHD child was in tears every day by the spiral, lots of drill program. This mother started math over with her eight year old son, using Singapore. She began with 1A. Within two years her son was not only on track, he was advanced in testing and his whole attitude toward math had changed.
Singapore is advanced, and uses a lot of mental math. I have gone back a little and am redoing some math with Megan using Singapore. The day does go faster when we aren't spending an hour or two trying to have her get a lesson completed. I am still "seeing how it goes." I know that the Bigger Hearts guide has some amazing activities to help teach mathematical concepts taught in Singapore. I have used the ones up to the Bigger guide.
One final area that I am changing next week is Megan's grammar. As with all areas of Megan's school, she has been taking forever to complete the workbook pages. Heart of Dakota recommends Rod and Staff English, done at a gentler pace than typical grade level since it is also advanced. My plan is to try it for a few weeks, like we've done with all our changes, and see if Megan learns and retains. Heart of Dakota recommends doing a lot of the Rod and Staff lessons orally, to save the long, drawn-out copying of endless sentences. I like the idea of knowing immediately if Megan understands, instead of grading the workbook later and finding out she misunderstood a concept and needs to redo pages.
Megan isn't the only student going back to Heart of Dakota, though she is the only one doing so this semester. I hope to blog more about that decision at a later time, when more has been decided.
My prayers for my Megan in our homeschool are for whether to stick with the program we are using, or to go back and have her do the Bigger Hearts for His Glory program, maybe with extensions. To go back would give Megan the time to mature and the practice in cursive and copywork and written narrations that she has missed using different materials. However, I also know she is enjoying much of what she is learning. I am praying right now for direction and waiting until our budget allows us to purchase next year's curriculum.
Watching my sweet little daughter start to enjoy her school work, because the lessons aren't long and we have added back variety, is a breath of fresh air. For a little over a year, homeschool was not something that my heart was focused on the way I knew it should have been. Overwhelmed by changes and health issues, I needed a more self-led curriculum. It did what I needed for awhile. Now that I seem to be getting my focus back, life is getting back to what I need it to be. For that, I am thankful to my Lord.
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