Little Hearts for His Glory, Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, Bigger Hearts for His Glory

by Carrie Austin, M.Ed.

Heart of Dakota Publishing

The Little Hearts series is a comprehensive, Charlotte-Mason oriented curriculum in three volumes (thus far) that might be used for children ages 5- 9 (approximately K-grade 4). Titles and grade levels covered are:

Little Hearts for His Glory - ages 5-7
Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory - ages 6-8
Bigger Hearts for His Glory - ages 7-9

Each volume is a one-year curriculum, divided into 34 units, each of which will take one week to complete.

The primary “tool” you work from is one large book that lays out daily lesson plans. It really covers everything! Subject areas and the amount of emphasis upon each varies from volume to volume.

In Little Hearts, the subjects/skills covered are history, Bible, story time, science, phonics, math, art, dramatic play, music, thinking skills, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills.

Beyond Little Hearts covers history, Bible, devotions, geography, timeline, art, science, poetry from classic poets, narration lessons, copywork, grammar lessons, spelling, daily literature study with the read-alouds, math, and music.

Bigger Hearts covers history, Biblical character trait study, history notebooking, timeline, art, geography, math activities, hymns, English (with a Rod and Staff text), cursive, spelling/dictation, vocabulary, literature study plans for read-alouds, classic poetry, science notebooking and experiments with living books, and narration lessons.

Instructions for learning activities are written out in each manual. Some of the activities for math and grammar direct you in the use of other resources. Also, read aloud assignments rely upon other books. For example, in the first volume, history readings come from the Christian Liberty Press books History for Little Pilgrims and History Stories for Children as well as a Bible storybook.[ Note: in Little Hearts, the history book readings and themes give the study a decidedly Protestant slant with focus on Luther, Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards, but, overall, children learn a great deal of Bible history and U.S. history with brief introductions to a few other people and events.]

Bible study in Little Hearts centers around Devotions for the Children’s Hour by Kenneth N. Taylor. Bible study expands in Beyond Little Hearts with the addition of Bible study questions used in conjunction with a devotional book. Bigger Hearts introduces character trait studies relating to the book of Proverbs along with the use of a devotional book.

Science experiments and activities are included in all three volumes, and you are referred to other books for additional reading at each level. CLP science books are used with the first two volumes. Six "living" science books and science notebooking assignments are used with Bigger Hearts.

Hands-on math activities are given in the manuals then assignments are made from Singapore math books at the appropriate level. Math assignments are very specific with alternative page assignments at the back of the book for the different levels of Singapore math books that you might be using. (You can substitute another math program if you prefer, yet still use the math activities in the guides.)

Likewise, specific pages (and tracks in the case of the CD) are assigned in each day’s lesson plans for the other required resources.

In every volume each daily lesson plan is divided into two parts: "Learning the Basics" and "Learning through History." Each “subject” area is presented in a box with nine or ten boxes per daily lesson plan. This makes it very easy to see what needs to be done for each area. Lessons begin with “history” each day. The "Learning through History" parts of the lesson on the left-hand page are designed like a unit study . Daily assignments for history tell you which pages to read in the history book and/or Bible storybook (or your own Bible) and the key idea upon which to focus. That key idea is also incorporated in Bible, art, thinking skills, science, or some of the other lessons for that day. "Learning the Basics" activities on the right-hand page don't necessarily relate to the theme.

Author Carrie Austin says that completing all the activities should take about 90 minutes a day for the first volume, 120 to 150 minutes per day for the second volume, and about 3 1/2 hours per day for the third. Although the assumption is that you will complete all subject areas each day, you will find that skipping a subject now and then won’t cause lasting harm, particularly in the first volume.

For the first volume, Little Hearts for His Glory, other resources that you need are Favorite Thornton Burgess Animal Stories set (6 books), Peter Rabbit and Other Favorite Tales, Do It Carefully and Finding the Answers workbooks (Rod and Staff) OR Thinking Skills: Grade 1 (McGraw-Hill), either Italic Handwriting (Book A or Book B) or A Reason for Handwriting (Book K or Book A), The World God Made OR Our Father’s World OR God’s Wonderful Works (CLP science texts), and the musical CD Hide ‘Em in Your Heart Vol. 1. Phonics is taught from Reading Made Easy, The Reading Lesson, or another phonics program of your choice. Minimal instruction is given for phonics within Litte Hearts. Instead, suggestions are made for the number of pages/lessons per day to complete in either of the two suggested resources.

Appendices in the first volume include a list of optional literature supplements for each of the 34 units and a “Rhymes in Motion” section with rhyming songs that incorporate large muscle movements.

Math activities are included in lesson plans with specific assignments made from Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics 2A & 2B (with alternate plans for Primary Mathematics 1A and 1B for more advanced students.

For the second volume, Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, the level of difficulty and time required for each subject increases. Required history resources used are three CLP titles: American Pioneers and Patriots, Stories of the Pilgrims, and Boys and Girls of Colonial Days. As you might surmise, the theme is early American history.

Instead of the "Rhymes in Motion" appendix found in the first volume, there are "Poetry and Rhymes" appendices in both this and the Bigger Hearts volume, one poem for each unit.

Other suggested resources linked to the second volume are Morning Bells by Frances Ridley Havergal (devotional activities), God's Wonderful Works (science from CLP), Primary Mathematics (Singapore Math), and Hide 'Em in Your Heart Vol. II (music).

The second volume offers reading plan options depending upon whether a child is a beginning, emerging, or independent reader. For beginners, either Reading Made Easy or The Reading Lesson (by Levin and Langton) is recommended. For emerging readers, there is a substantial appendix with a very detailed, annotated list of books that gradually increase in difficulty plus a schedule suggesting exactly which pages to read on which days. For independent readers, you are directed to use Drawn into the Heart of Reading.

Spelling lists (two for each unit) are found at the back of the book along with an annotated bibliography of storytime read-aloud books that correlate with each unit. Copywork and beginning grammar are also included within language arts coverage.

Bigger Hearts for His Glory again advances in difficulty/skill level and time required for lessons. While each day's lesson is still presented on two pages, there are now ten boxes per day with a smaller font size used to fit more information.

The study of American history continues up through the 1970s using more of a biographical approach. Required books are A First Book in American History and Stories of Great Americans, both by Edward Eggleston, The Story of the Wright Borthers and Their Sister by Lois Mills (CLP), and Journeys in Time: A New Atlas of American History by Leacock and Buckley (Houghton Mifflin).

A number of science resources--living books--are required for this volume: One Small Square: Seashore, Science in Colonial America, John Audobon: Young Naturalist, One Small Square: Woods, A Pioneer Sampler, and Thomas A. Edison: Young Inventor.

An appendix includes an optional schedule for expanding history and science study for student in 5th and 6th grades so you can keep more family member working on similar topics. (Additional required resources are listed in the book.)

You will need to choose your own cursive handwriting program-- recommended options are listed at the front of the book.

As with Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, there is a detailed schedule of reading for emerging readers that gradually increases in difficulty. For independent readers you are directed to use Drawn into the Heart of Reading: Level 2/3.

Other resources referenced but not absolutely essential for this volume are Little Pillows by Frances Ridley Havergal (devotionals), Preparing to Build: English 2 (Rod and Staff Publishers), Primary Mathematics (alternate schedules for different levels are provided), and Hymns for a Kid's Heart: Volume One (music).

Dictation passages, spelling lists, and suggested read-aloud titles are also found in the appendices. The read-alouds are much more than supplemental "bedtime" stories. These are carefully correlated with the rest of the program to cover different genres of literature and to teach story elements, character traits, and narration.

I like the way Carrie Austin has combined elements of unit study, living books, and textbooks in a format that makes it very easy for the parent/teacher to know exactly what to do each day. Art and math lessons might take a little preparation time, but other than that, lesson prep time is very minimal. The variety of learning methods should appeal to children of various learning styles. And you still have the freedom to use your own phonics program—a big issue for some parents since phonics is one of the most important subjects in the early years.

You can purchase the main lesson plan book by itself as well as all of the recommended resources directly from Heart of Dakota Publishing. Or you might want to purchase one of the packages: Economy, Basic, Extension, and Deluxe packages (Extension package only for Bigger Hearts). The Economy Package includes all of the required items except those for which you need to choose from among selected options. The Basic Package consists of those additional items that are recommended and scheduled into the lesson plans but which are not absolutely essential. The Deluxe Package consists of the storytime books recommended for each volume. The Extension Package adds the history and science books for older students using the third volume. See the webite for details on all the package options.