Been using HOD for years, now at a loss

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momof3kids
Posts: 150
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2013 6:10 pm

Been using HOD for years, now at a loss

Post by momof3kids » Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:54 am

Hi again all!
We have enjoyed HOD now for many years. I have 4 children and my older two are progressing through each guide without any issues. So now my third... :D ..my daughter who will turn 8 in September. We are finishing up Beyond right now with her, probably in June. She is doing well, has even moved into the DITHOR level 2 books after finishing ERs. The issue is with the history read aloud. For whatever reason, (maturity, attention span, lack of interest :?: ) i'm not sure...but she is not able to narrate anything I read. I have tried doing small sections and ask her what I have read, and that helps some, occasionally, but not greatly. She seems more interested in the story time books and will listen for 30 min at a time.
I'm at a loss :? Having been through Bigger and Preparing twice now with my older 2, I know what's expected down the road and I think maybe we are getting there too fast??...The way the history progresses is one of my favorite parts of HOD and if I move forward I'm afraid she's just not going to get it.
Ive considered half speed when we move into Bigger, but I feel like she won't be challenged in other areas.
I've considered using a different approach to history next year( maybe Master Books) and still using aspects from HOD to keep her moving forward and ready for Bigger down the road ( like dictation, story time, LA)
Also, thinking down the road....if I move her into Bigger this coming August as she turns 8, that will put her into Preparing next year at the same time my little is turning 6 and hope to be starting Little Hearts ...so theres that, lol...
Thanks ladies for any input! We love HOD and I really want her to get the benefit out of each guide!
Married almost 13yr..dh and great father
5 blessings from God, 1 in heaven
9 yo ds- Preparing DITHOR
8 yo ds- Bigger
5 yo dd- Jut starting Little Hearts half speed
Baby boy born September 2014, now 2yo

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Been using HOD for years, now at a loss

Post by my3sons » Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:31 pm

momof3kids wrote:Hi again all!
We have enjoyed HOD now for many years. I have 4 children and my older two are progressing through each guide without any issues. So now my third... :D ..my daughter who will turn 8 in September. We are finishing up Beyond right now with her, probably in June. She is doing well, has even moved into the DITHOR level 2 books after finishing ERs. The issue is with the history read aloud. For whatever reason, (maturity, attention span, lack of interest :?: ) i'm not sure...but she is not able to narrate anything I read. I have tried doing small sections and ask her what I have read, and that helps some, occasionally, but not greatly. She seems more interested in the story time books and will listen for 30 min at a time.
I'm at a loss :? Having been through Bigger and Preparing twice now with my older 2, I know what's expected down the road and I think maybe we are getting there too fast??...The way the history progresses is one of my favorite parts of HOD and if I move forward I'm afraid she's just not going to get it.
Ive considered half speed when we move into Bigger, but I feel like she won't be challenged in other areas.
I've considered using a different approach to history next year( maybe Master Books) and still using aspects from HOD to keep her moving forward and ready for Bigger down the road ( like dictation, story time, LA)
Also, thinking down the road....if I move her into Bigger this coming August as she turns 8, that will put her into Preparing next year at the same time my little is turning 6 and hope to be starting Little Hearts ...so theres that, lol...
Thanks ladies for any input! We love HOD and I really want her to get the benefit out of each guide!
Hi! So glad you have been enjoying using HOD for many years now! We love to hear that! Just to clarify for other readers of this post, Carrie first introduces oral narration in LHFHG on Day 2 of the Storytime part of the plans, and as you know having done that, it is done in a very guided way on extremely short (as in 3 pages or so) readings from the Burgess books. The Burgess books have the same characters with predictable actions, still have some pictures, and have extremely short chapters. Beyond Little Hearts has 2 days of Storytime plans which focus on the skill of oral narration and genre-based books with slightly longer chapters are read aloud. On Day 2 of the Storytime part of the plans, parents model narration skills either by giving the narration themselves (like at the beginning of the guide) or by co-narrating within the planned lessons. This 'we're in this narrating business together' type focus is to help kiddos know they are going to be successful narrating because they have help. Day 5 of the Storytime plans still has the parent helping with prompts (i.e. What happened next?, What happened at the beginning/middle/end?, Tell me what you remember about ____, Find 3 items that have something to do with the reading today and tell what they have to do with the story, etc.). So, Carrie is intending for children to have parent's help the majority of the time in Beyond's oral narrations so they are sure to have a good and successful experience with oral narrations. Just as you've discovered, oral narrations work best with Storytime books because of their living books nature and easier to retell continual storyline. This is why Carrie intended for narrations to begin with just the Storytime part of the plans.

Carrie does not plan for children to orally narrate in Beyond Little Hearts in any subject other than Storytime. For history, rather than narrating, children complete the left side of the guide as follow-ups to what was read instead. In Bigger Hearts, this modeling of narrating by the parent is continued in the Storytime part of the plans on Day 2, and children try their hand at narrating on Day 5 using the narration tips in the Appendix for help. Oral narration is added to one day of history and one day of the Science plans, and both are still read aloud by the parent. So, your daughter actually is doing just fine with her oral narration skills in Beyond, as it is truly intended to be guided in such a way that success is ensured! If you find she needs some assistance in Bigger Hearts within the science or history narrations, you can either use the tips from the Appendix or you can recycle some of the co-narrating helps from the Beyond Storytime part of the plans. I think it is important to remember that narrating in response to history and science is a brand new skill that is first introduced in Bigger Hearts. So, as an introductory new skill, Carrie plans for children to try to learn this skill all year long, assuming that since it is a brand new harder skill they will not be very good at it until the last portion of the guide. As the Storytime narration was a new skill the year before in Beyond, Carrie assumes they will continue to practice this skill, but they will be better at it alongside the Storytime part of the plans because it was a new skill last year in Beyond. This is exactly what you are seeing with your little dd! So, she is doing just what we'd expect when it comes to the progression of oral narration skills! It helps to keep in mind we have students transition into first using HOD at all different times, sometimes even into our upper guides, and they have little to no narration skills. They too can make great gains just by using the helps and tips Carrie's provided in the guides and make the transition successfully! So, your daughter is 'ahead' in narration no matter what, in that regard.

One thing I have found after having taught all the HOD guides to my oldest son is that it is hard for me to remember where he came from skill-wise! I sometimes look at my middle son or my youngest son and feel like they may not reach the same heights my oldest son did. But I've been proven wrong year after year! The truth is I'm picturing my oldest son where he is now, rather than where he was back when he was in a younger guide with less mature or less honed skills being expected. I think you will find your daughter does just fine with her narrating going forward because she has you to guide her through the modeling planned and through Carrie's plan to keep narrations short and simple. Just keep in mind how young she is and try not to check for future narrating skills until the time arrives - she is doing so well - already reading DITHOR books! WOW! And in Beyond! I think she will do just fine! Hope this helps, and thank you for using HOD with your family for so many years - our family considers it an honor! God bless!

In Christ,
Julie Grosz, M. Ed.
Heart of Dakota
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

momof3kids
Posts: 150
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2013 6:10 pm

Re: Been using HOD for years, now at a loss

Post by momof3kids » Wed Jun 05, 2019 11:58 am

Thanks Julie for taking the time for such an in depth response. I appreciate the support you all offer.
My main issue is she doesn't seem to what she has just read/been read to. I don't ask for a full narration, but when I ask her if she knows what the story is about....she isn't able to tell me. I'm concerned more that she is not comprehending, than I am about her narration skills...if that makes sense. This happens both with books I read to her, and when she is reading to me. I use the questions in the back of the guide to correspond with the ER, and she is not able to answer them. She has moved on to DITHOR, and reads very well...it just seems to be the lack of comprehension.
Thanks again so much for the support and feedback....sometimes its hard to know what to do going forward!
Married almost 13yr..dh and great father
5 blessings from God, 1 in heaven
9 yo ds- Preparing DITHOR
8 yo ds- Bigger
5 yo dd- Jut starting Little Hearts half speed
Baby boy born September 2014, now 2yo

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Been using HOD for years, now at a loss

Post by my3sons » Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:54 am

momof3kids wrote:Thanks Julie for taking the time for such an in depth response. I appreciate the support you all offer.
My main issue is she doesn't seem to what she has just read/been read to. I don't ask for a full narration, but when I ask her if she knows what the story is about....she isn't able to tell me. I'm concerned more that she is not comprehending, than I am about her narration skills...if that makes sense. This happens both with books I read to her, and when she is reading to me. I use the questions in the back of the guide to correspond with the ER, and she is not able to answer them. She has moved on to DITHOR, and reads very well...it just seems to be the lack of comprehension.
Thanks again so much for the support and feedback....sometimes its hard to know what to do going forward!
Ok! Thanks for explaining more! Little ones do tend to take a bit to be able to comprehend what they are reading. It is so exciting for them just to be able to learn to read the words on a page, that when we begin to add in actually truly thinking about what they are reading and trying to have them answer questions about it, they can freeze up. Have you ever read aloud a book to your children and been thinking of something else? I have! Sometimes I have even made my grocery list in my head while reading aloud. One time, I had read aloud the entire Beyond read aloud, while thinking of my grocery list. After reading, I noticed the plans asked me to model an oral narration on what I read. I couldn't remember anything! I sheepishly apologized and read it again in my head, so I could actually model a good narration. Similarly, little ones are so busy thinking of reading aloud the words properly, that they can often not be thinking at all about what they are reading. Your other kiddos may have come to this skill more easily, but that doesn't mean your little gal won't given a little time. I've includes some ERS tips from our blog below, as well as some summer reading ideas that may be helpful. Likewise, when we begin to read aloud books to our children with few or no pictures to aid in their comprehension, or we begin to read aloud books that have a higher vocabulary content or more terminology, their comprehension often lags. They have to learn to truly listen to what is being read aloud and think about it without the help of pictures. So, the skills you are seeing your daughter needs to develop are exactly the skills Carrie is planning on her working on developing next year in BHFHG. I've included a few more blog posts pertinent to this topic below...

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2018 ... eader-set/

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2019 ... r-reading/

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2018 ... that-dont/

https://www.heartofdakota.com/blog/2019 ... tte-mason/

Hope this helps! I truly think with a few helps and tips from above, your little sweetie will be ready to grow and mature into the skills in BHFHG. If you find after the summer, she is still struggling, you can always begin half-speed as long as needed. We often find children who switch to something else and come back to HOD have not necessarily progressed in CM skills, reading and listening comprehension skills, and writing skills, so it seems half-speed works well to ease into a guide, but you will know best what you'd like to do. You'll probably know more as the school year approaches! God bless!

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

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