Heart of Dakota Experiences?

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  • January 27, 2013 at 4:34 am
    Kate Mom of 1
    Participant

    My sister has ran a home daycare for years now, and she’s looking for something new to try with her kids to mix up the “preschool” part of her program.  I thought the youngest HOD program might work.  She cares for 7 or 8 kids ranging from 18 months to 5 years. (Her own boys are almost 8, 11 and 13 and aren’t there during the daycare times) Has anyone tried it? Would it be doable to impliment with a group that size and age? 

    January 27, 2013 at 1:21 pm
    nerakr
    Participant

    Other than looking at their samples, I don’t have any experience with Heart of Dakota, but I would like to make some other suggestions. But first, a question. Is she using anything for “preschool” now? If she isn’t already doing a letter of the week theme, then this might be worth considering:

    http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/letter-of-the-week

    I haven’t used it, either, but from following her blog it sounds very doable for multiple children. She’s even mentioned that some daycares are using it. At $10, it’s cheaper than HOD, but it may be more labor intensive on the front end, and it would use a lot of color ink.

    There’s also Five in a Row and Before Five in a Row. Homeschool Share has a lot of unit studies in similar format and some that can be used to supplement them.

    Jolanthe (www.homeschoolcreations.com) also had preschool packs based on various themes, including some Before Five in a Row.

    HTH,

    Karen

    January 27, 2013 at 6:18 pm
    Kate Mom of 1
    Participant

    Thank you for those ideas. She is doing a theme and letter of the week, but she (and some of the older kids) are getting tired of it and she wanted something more pre-planned to everything together and make it a little more Bible-centric.  🙂 But I do like the Letter of the Week one! 

    January 27, 2013 at 8:20 pm
    ServingwithJoy
    Participant

    I did Heart of Dakota when I had three preschoolers…we loved it for that level!

    It was pretty much open and go and had good educational content, with a letter and number activity, crafts, an action song, etc. I am not at all creative, so having something to give me ideas every day was key.

    We read a whole lot more than they recommended, but other than that I think it was a good base for little ones. I would suggest adding a game book and taking a nature walk as often as possible. Also, lots of good music in the background ;0).

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