I need help from other HOD users...

[Donna T.]

Help Help Help!! I am going nuts... :willy_nilly:!!!

 

OK, here is the low-down:

 

This was our first year with HOD. I love it. The kids love it. It is a very good fit for our family. So, I don't need any convincing in that regard :001_smile:.

 

My oldest son is using Preparing with the Extensions. Very good fit for him. He has done super great and should move on up to Creation to Christ.

 

My youngest has been using Little Hearts but only a portion of it because he wasn't really placed properly. He should have done Beyond but we wanted to do Little Hearts instead. It's been good. I have used other things for math and language arts. No problem. He will skip Beyond and move up into Bigger Hearts. He's definately ready for it.

 

The problem is that I want to do one year of American History with my oldest son. It's not that I mind teaching two guides. I do not mind that at all. Not a problem. So, I'm not necessarily wanting to combine them but it just so happens that I do want both of them to cover American History next year. It's just worked out that way. We have had tons of World History. Too much and, frankly, I'm sick of it.

 

So... my plan was to do Bigger Hearts with my little guy and something else for my oldest. I now have just about everything that I need for Sonlight's Core 3+4, which I actually really like plus tons of other options. Way too many options... :tongue_smilie:.

 

But, I'm just not sure. I know Bigger Hearts is, perhaps, the most mom-intensive of all the HOD guides and from what I'm gathering, it takes around 4 hours a day. I wonder if I'm going to have anything left over to teach the SL to my oldest? That is not an independent program and would require alot of input from me. I love to read-aloud to my kids (and would really enjoy the discussion that the SL would require) and that's no problem but we are usually just about spent as we close in on 4 hours of school a day. 5 hours and we are done.

 

I'd love to know what any of you HOD users think... especially if you have used Bigger Hearts. I thought maybe I could combine them in Biggers but I've spent alot of time with the materials and I just don't think that would work for us. My oldest son needs a lot to ponder and digest. He loves to read and even with the Extensions, I'd have to add so much, I probably should just plan on sticking with the SL. I do like having things planned out and not just winging it.

 

Thanks for any input. I know we should probably just move my oldest into Creation to Christ but he has had so much Ancient History. I just can't get excited about it at all. The science looks pretty good but he has also had plenty, plenty of Biology. If we go the American History route, he will be completing a Chemistry study.

[ChicoryChick]

Hi Donna,

 

DISCLAIMER: I have not done this, but this is what I think I would do in your shoes.

 

I would combine them in Bigger for Bible, Poetry & Story Time and use of course his own level of Math & Language Arts. I would then read Bigger History aloud to both of them and then have your son read SOTW 3 & 4 (or the other American History books that are in the Sonlight set, I'm not very familiar with Sonlight) on his own to beef it up or you can have him do the Sonlight history reading assignments on his own instead of you reading them to him. I would also have him do written narrations based on the books that he is reading. A paragraph or two on 1 day and copy a section on another day. This is what Carrie has them do in CTC. I would not worry about lining the histories up, but you can try if you want. Since you said he loves to read I would probably include supplemental history books that are recommended in HOD or Sonlight (or both) as well. I would also combine them with science, but have him read more on the subjects as well or I would just add in a science curriculum like Elementary Apologia for him to do instead. Just some ideas.

Edited May 22, 2010 by kayinpa

[FordFamily]

This is our exact situation. I have a seventh grade daughter who I really wanted to put into he HOD cycle, but it would mean another year of reformation.

So...due to the same situation of having little time leftover, I am using TOG with her. I am still going to have her sit in while we do the reading together, I've been thinking she'll work on Geography during that time at the table.

So, I hear you. I am ready for HOD to be complete...I am going to run all of my little guys through it and then put the older kids in TOG after their first cycle.

[Lovedtodeath]

I would try to do Bigger Hearts with both children for the History portion and have your oldest read as much of Sonlight as he can independently. Don't worry about trying to read anything from Sonlight to him. Just my opinion, as I have no expertise to share on how to do any of it. ;)

[angela&4boys]

I would try to do Bigger Hearts with both children for the History portion and have your oldest read as much of Sonlight as he can independently. Don't worry about trying to read anything from Sonlight to him. Just my opinion, as I have no expertise to share on how to do any of it. ;)

 

Former HOD Bigger user here... and :iagree:with Carmen.

[Another Lynn]

As others have suggested, there's nothing wrong with your oldest sitting in on the read alouds from Bigger HEarts. That's the beauty of living books - they are still worth hearing! You know Eggleston has another more challenging American history book: A History of the United States and Its People - I wonder if it would be useful in your situation? I've never used SL and I realize you said you don't want to wing it... but could you just turn your oldest son loose with the pile of books next year and require written narrations at appropriate intervals? The year of my pregnancy my oldest son just read and read (and listened to cds) and really it was okay.

[Allison TX]

I also agree with the previous posters. I would use Bigger with both of them. Use LA & math on level. Then add in extra history readers for the older to read by himself. Sonlight readers would be great. I would also add an additional sciece text (maybe Apologia?) for the older to do by himself. Add in some written narrations and you're good to go!:) I wouldn't stress over it too much. Bigger may appear light at first, but there is so much in there. :001_smile:

[Lovedtodeath]

Just for the record, my plan is to do two WP years after Preparing. Just looking at the guide makes me thing CTC right after Preparing would be too much Bible History.

[Donna T.]

I would then read Bigger History aloud to both of them and then have your son read SOTW 3 & 4 (or the other American History books that are in the Sonlight set, I'm not very familiar with Sonlight) on his own to beef it up or you can have him do the Sonlight history reading assignments on his own instead of you reading them to him. I would also have him do written narrations based on the books that he is reading. A paragraph or two on 1 day and copy a section on another day. This is what Carrie has them do in CTC. I would not worry about lining the histories up, but you can try if you want. Since you said he loves to read I would probably include supplemental history books that are recommended in HOD or Sonlight (or both) as well. I would also combine them with science, but have him read more on the subjects as well or I would just add in a science curriculum like Elementary Apologia for him to do instead. Just some ideas.

 

Kay, that's what I've been considering doing. He's already read the SOTW books. I have thought about using George Washington's World and Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster as his main spines (for him to read for himself) and using the Sonlight readers for additional independent reading. I think that would be a good option for him because it would include some world history but the focus would remain on American History. He has a pretty good understanding of the flow of history so I don't think it would be a problem to not have everything perfectly coordinated.

 

I just wasn't sure if that would be enough. I forgot to mention that he will be a 6th grader. He will be following Carrie's recommendations for LA just as if he were using Creation to Christ.

[Lovedtodeath]

I would also have him do written narrations based on the books that he is reading. A paragraph or two on 1 day and copy a section on another day. This is what Carrie has them do in CTC.

Good to know! I was looking in my Bigger guide for the extension assignments as someone had mentioned them, and it just says something like this. They made it sound like it was more. lol

[Euromom]

I have no experience with HOD but I am considering it for next year.

If I was you , I would combine them in bigger and have the oldest read Sonlight 3&4 . Since you already have experience with HOD , you can pick harder assignments for your older son .

Let us know what you decide !:)

[vmsurbat]

If you are really considering using G. Foster's books, you might check out Beautiful Feet's (inexpensive) guide to American and World History (Jr. high). The only books pertaining to World History are Foster's books: World of Columbus, John Smith, Geo. Wash, Abe Lincoln. The other books scheduled are mainly Bio's of American persons.

 

I used this guide (loosely) when I had younger children studying American History and wanted something more beefy for my older (6th-8th) children. The guide includes some questions, a few writing assignments, some map, vocab, etc--to be used or not, as I desired.... One thing: the guide only covers history up to the Civil War....

 

For your consideration,

[Shanaudria]

I have this same situation going at my house. SL "Sonia" placed my children into three cores: 3-4 and 1 and pk 4/5.

 

I've studied the HOD and SL catalogs over and over to see if I could combine at least the older children easily into either HOD Preparing or SL 4. My olders have already gone through much of SL 3.

 

I still can't decide!!!

[Donna T.]

If you are really considering using G. Foster's books, you might check out Beautiful Feet's (inexpensive) guide to American and World History (Jr. high). The only books pertaining to World History are Foster's books: World of Columbus, John Smith, Geo. Wash, Abe Lincoln. The other books scheduled are mainly Bio's of American persons.

 

I used this guide (loosely) when I had younger children studying American History and wanted something more beefy for my older (6th-8th) children. The guide includes some questions, a few writing assignments, some map, vocab, etc--to be used or not, as I desired.... One thing: the guide only covers history up to the Civil War....

 

For your consideration,

 

I thought about that. But, I thought it may be too full. I looked at the sample page (wish there were more on-line) and saw that one lesson covered around 30 pages in the John Smith book. That seems like alot. I like the assignments. I believe that Carrie will eventually schedule most of those books with HOD. She seems to really like them.

[FordFamily]

I have this same situation going at my house. SL "Sonia" placed my children into three cores: 3-4 and 1 and pk 4/5.

 

I've studied the HOD and SL catalogs over and over to see if I could combine at least the older children easily into either HOD Preparing or SL 4. My olders have already gone through much of SL 3.

 

I still can't decide!!!

:confused:

That would be easy for me to decide to NOT do three cores..that sounds hard...they are close in age, it seems based on their suggestions...why not combine them? IMO

[Lovedtodeath]

:confused:

That would be easy for me to decide to NOT do three cores..that sounds hard...they are close in age, it seems based on their suggestions...why not combine them? IMO

How old are they? I would probably try to do a combo of Preparing and Little Hearts.

[Donna T.]

I want to thank all of you who have helped me out. I am surprised that no one encouraged me to move my oldest son on up into Creation to Christ!! I just love Bigger Hearts. That was the first HOD program I purchased and then I had to shelf it for this year. I'm still not really sure what we will do and here it is the end of MAY!!

 

I had a talk with my son and he thinks he would really prefer to go into CtC. He said he would feel like he is behind if he moved back a guide and he thinks he would enjoy just listening to some of the history readings with his brother and continuing (as we have been doing this already) reading books from American history/literature for his DITHOR assignments. He also wants to continue to develop his drawing skills and we think CTC will be more on his level for that. I can't believe it! A year ago, this kid wouldn't even draw a circle and now he is eager to do the nature journaling in CTC!!

 

I don't know. I guess maybe that's where he is headed. And here I have all these SL books. I've been reading them myself!! Some of them will work great for DITHOR and the others will be good for extra read-alouds with my little guy.

 

Whew! Thanks again! Ya'll are such a blessing.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Donna T.

[Lovedtodeath]

Following the HOD sequence after all. That is too good. :tongue_smilie:Thanks for updating us!

[tinkhs]

I know this is way off topic, but I am just starting out with HOD, so I am lurking. Has it been hard to incorporate DITHOR? My oldest will use this next year, and quite frankly, I'm a little nervous after looking at the samples. It looks amazing, but a little terrifying. Baby steps, right? :)

[Donna T.]

I know this is way off topic, but I am just starting out with HOD, so I am lurking. Has it been hard to incorporate DITHOR? My oldest will use this next year, and quite frankly, I'm a little nervous after looking at the samples. It looks amazing, but a little terrifying. Baby steps, right? :)

 

Well, for me, it has been difficult to be consistent with DITHOR. I like it. I think it's a very appropriate curriculum for a middle schooler. I don't think it's really necessary for a younger child. My difficulty has just been in finding the time to make it a priority. It is scheduled in the guides, so it's not like I can forget to do it!! But, the other portions of HOD have included alot of the same kinds of things that DITHOR covers. Most readings include some type of reflection - that is where Carrie uses Bloom's Taxonomy to guide you in talking to your children about the readings. We do all that plus other oral narration, written narrations, research, drawings from the books, short answers to questions from the books, copywork from the books... it just seems like DITHOR was too much on top of all that. My understanding is that DITHOR is only supposed to take 15 or 20 minutes a lesson but we had gotten up to 40 minutes or so on the lessons. I kept moving it to the last thing to do each day because of that and then it just got crowded out.

 

We did manage to cover half of the genres this year. I assigned books for the other half but we didn't use the workbook lessons for those. One of the reasons it was alot for us is because we are using the Extension Package for Preparing. I think if we had not been doing those readings then we would have gotten alot more done with DITHOR.

 

I don't think it's absolutely necessary to do it all. If I were using a textbook curriculum and added DITHOR for our reading curriculum, that would probably be a good combo. But, with all the other books and readings that we are getting, I think it's way plenty... too full for us on some days.

 

I think it's really easy to use. I don't think it's as "open and go" as some think. I do best with the genres when I put a little time into planning the lessons... not alot, but atleast taking the time to look through a complete lesson and deciding what we will do and not do.

 

I've ended up using Susan Wise Bauer's Literary Analysis plan for some of the books I've assigned. That is working very well for us. I am not replacing DITHOR with that but instead just using DITHOR for some of the books they read.

[Donna T.]

Following the HOD sequence after all. That is too good. :tongue_smilie:Thanks for updating us!

 

I know. Well, I'm not 100% sure but it would probably make my life alot easier and he doesn't mind. I feel like I've raising this good little Greek or Hebrew citizen! He told me he thinks God may be calling him to be a preacher someday and so he will really benefit from all the Ancient History!! :D

[tinkhs]

Donna,

 

Thank you very much. My impression was completely overwhelmed at first. :) We are going to be doing Beyond in the fall with emerging readers. After emerging readers comes DITHOR, which made me want run. I am so glad you said it was for middle schoolers. I didn't want to even think about that in 2nd grade. Beyond is full of questions about what the child has read or been read to; narration, analysis, comprehension, genre descriptions. It's just amazingly full on its own, I honestly can't imagine adding something else in the primary grades.

[Tidbits of Learning]

I know this is way off topic, but I am just starting out with HOD, so I am lurking. Has it been hard to incorporate DITHOR? My oldest will use this next year, and quite frankly, I'm a little nervous after looking at the samples. It looks amazing, but a little terrifying. Baby steps, right? :)

 

I could never get started with the green DITHOR guide that has all the grade levels in it. However, I love the student book that has the emergency options in the back. It is a lot easier to do the emergency options and not have to wade through all the suggestions and things that aren't for your child's age/grade/skill level.

I don't know the age levels of your children, but I plan to buy the student book for 2/3 and 4/5 and just use the emergency options at the back of the book. I don't know whether I will try the green book again until jr. high with my oldest.

[tinkhs]

I could never get started with the green DITHOR guide that has all the grade levels in it. However, I love the student book that has the emergency options in the back. It is a lot easier to do the emergency options and not have to wade through all the suggestions and things that aren't for your child's age/grade/skill level.

I don't know the age levels of your children, but I plan to buy the student book for 2/3 and 4/5 and just use the emergency options at the back of the book. I don't know whether I will try the green book again until jr. high with my oldest.

 

Well, I think I'm putting the cart before the horse, so to speak. ;)

 

My oldest will be in 1st grade in August. She's reading well now, so she will be doing the Emerging Readers along with Beyond. When I was looking on the HOD website to see which level to put her in, I noticed after Emerging Readers was DITHOR; so I looked, bad idea. :lol: Basically, it's supposed to be used for Bigger, but if the Bigger guide is anything like Beyond with all of the critical thinking questions for each story, then I think I will just wait for DITHOR until much later. I think it would be a lot for a 2nd grader since the guide itself is already so meaty and full.

 

The emergency options in the back is probably how we will start, then. I think I'm trying to eat an elephant in one bite. I just looked ahead too far, I need to remind myself not to do that again.

[Lovedtodeath]

Well, I think I'm putting the cart before the horse, so to speak. ;)

 

My oldest will be in 1st grade in August. She's reading well now, so she will be doing the Emerging Readers along with Beyond. When I was looking on the HOD website to see which level to put her in, I noticed after Emerging Readers was DITHOR; so I looked, bad idea. :lol: Basically, it's supposed to be used for Bigger, but if the Bigger guide is anything like Beyond with all of the critical thinking questions for each story, then I think I will just wait for DITHOR until much later. I think it would be a lot for a 2nd grader since the guide itself is already so meaty and full.

 

The emergency options in the back is probably how we will start, then. I think I'm trying to eat an elephant in one bite. I just looked ahead too far, I need to remind myself not to do that again.

Yes. They told me on the HOD board that DITHOR was so important... but my DD will never do all of that reading. We are getting our feet wet with this literature approach, having unschooled reading and history thus far. The Phonics Road has a literature study but it only requires one book, so we are doing that next year along with Bigger.

[tinkhs]

Yes. They told me on the HOD board that DITHOR was so important... but my DD will never do all of that reading. We are getting our feet wet with this literature approach, having unschooled reading and history thus far. The Phonics Road has a literature study but it only requires one book, so we are doing that next year along with Bigger.

 

Well, unless I'm seeing it wrong, there's a lot of reading and questions that go along with it in just the guide without DITHOR. I could always pick more from that book list, but I don't think that much analysis would be part of our "school time." I just don't see us doing that with a 2nd grader, or even 4th for that matter. Of course, mine are still very young and it boggles my mind she can read, so I need to just take it one step at a time.

 

By the way, is there a materials list for the crafts on a Unit basis anywhere? I'm not very organized, so I would love a list if it exists. I couldn't find it in the guide, but that doesn't mean it's not there, just that I overlooked it. ;)

[lovemykids]

Help Help Help!! I am going nuts... :willy_nilly:!!!

 

OK, here is the low-down:

 

This was our first year with HOD. I love it. The kids love it. It is a very good fit for our family. So, I don't need any convincing in that regard :001_smile:.

 

My oldest son is using Preparing with the Extensions. Very good fit for him. He has done super great and should move on up to Creation to Christ.

 

My youngest has been using Little Hearts but only a portion of it because he wasn't really placed properly. He should have done Beyond but we wanted to do Little Hearts instead. It's been good. I have used other things for math and language arts. No problem. He will skip Beyond and move up into Bigger Hearts. He's definately ready for it.

 

The problem is that I want to do one year of American History with my oldest son. It's not that I mind teaching two guides. I do not mind that at all. Not a problem. So, I'm not necessarily wanting to combine them but it just so happens that I do want both of them to cover American History next year. It's just worked out that way. We have had tons of World History. Too much and, frankly, I'm sick of it.

 

So... my plan was to do Bigger Hearts with my little guy and something else for my oldest. I now have just about everything that I need for Sonlight's Core 3+4, which I actually really like plus tons of other options. Way too many options... :tongue_smilie:.

 

But, I'm just not sure. I know Bigger Hearts is, perhaps, the most mom-intensive of all the HOD guides and from what I'm gathering, it takes around 4 hours a day. I wonder if I'm going to have anything left over to teach the SL to my oldest? That is not an independent program and would require alot of input from me. I love to read-aloud to my kids (and would really enjoy the discussion that the SL would require) and that's no problem but we are usually just about spent as we close in on 4 hours of school a day. 5 hours and we are done.

 

I'd love to know what any of you HOD users think... especially if you have used Bigger Hearts. I thought maybe I could combine them in Biggers but I've spent alot of time with the materials and I just don't think that would work for us. My oldest son needs a lot to ponder and digest. He loves to read and even with the Extensions, I'd have to add so much, I probably should just plan on sticking with the SL. I do like having things planned out and not just winging it.

 

Thanks for any input. I know we should probably just move my oldest into Creation to Christ but he has had so much Ancient History. I just can't get excited about it at all. The science looks pretty good but he has also had plenty, plenty of Biology. If we go the American History route, he will be completing a Chemistry study.

 

We are not finishing SL 3+4 the way it’s intended. (we started it late this year and now we are doing OM) Instead, I plan to keep it around and have my children finish reading the books on their own. I may do a read aloud here and there, if I am not reading something from AO; but for the most part, I had my children reading the read alouds in SL anyway.

Best wishes with whatever you decide.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Well, unless I'm seeing it wrong, there's a lot of reading and questions that go along with it in just the guide without DITHOR. I could always pick more from that book list, but I don't think that much analysis would be part of our "school time." I just don't see us doing that with a 2nd grader, or even 4th for that matter. Of course, mine are still very young and it boggles my mind she can read, so I need to just take it one step at a time.

 

By the way, is there a materials list for the crafts on a Unit basis anywhere? I'm not very organized, so I would love a list if it exists. I couldn't find it in the guide, but that doesn't mean it's not there, just that I overlooked it. ;)

 

If you are looking for a materials list by guide broken up by units, there is a yahoo group called HomeschoolingHODMoms that has lists by guide under their files section.

[Donna T.]

I think it would be a lot for a 2nd grader since the guide itself is already so meaty and full.

 

 

My 2nd grader is almost done with the Emerging Readers. I did cover a couple of the genres with him towards the end of this year because he got very interested in them when he heard his brother talking about them. He didn't do any of the workbook. We just went to the library and got alot of different picture books from those genres.

 

By the time you get to Bigger Hearts, if you stick with HOD, you may find that you have gotten comfortable with the way the program is set up and you want to add DITHOR. You can ease in to it. That's what I did this past fall. So, we are behind now :glare: but that's because HOD is fuller than I expected it to be.

 

Have you listened to Susan's recording on Literary Analysis? There is no rush at all for you to do that but you may find it interesting. You can download it here: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/what-is-literary-analysis-mp3.html Of course DITHOR isn't exactly "literary analysis". It's a reading program and analysis is a part of that but not at the 2/3 level. At that level, it's just introducing some terminology and doing some things to encourage a love of reading. If using the program doesn't encourage a love of reading, then you don't need to do it, in my opinion.

 

For us, DITHOR is a logic-stage (grade 5 and up) kind of thing.

[lovemykids]

I want to thank all of you who have helped me out. I am surprised that no one encouraged me to move my oldest son on up into Creation to Christ!! I just love Bigger Hearts. That was the first HOD program I purchased and then I had to shelf it for this year. I'm still not really sure what we will do and here it is the end of MAY!!

 

I had a talk with my son and he thinks he would really prefer to go into CtC. He said he would feel like he is behind if he moved back a guide and he thinks he would enjoy just listening to some of the history readings with his brother and continuing (as we have been doing this already) reading books from American history/literature for his DITHOR assignments. He also wants to continue to develop his drawing skills and we think CTC will be more on his level for that. I can't believe it! A year ago, this kid wouldn't even draw a circle and now he is eager to do the nature journaling in CTC!!

 

I don't know. I guess maybe that's where he is headed. And here I have all these SL books. I've been reading them myself!! Some of them will work great for DITHOR and the others will be good for extra read-alouds with my little guy.

 

Whew! Thanks again! Ya'll are such a blessing.

 

I missed this! I see that you have already decided. :lol:

 

;) Have fun!

[Another Lynn]

I want to thank all of you who have helped me out. I am surprised that no one encouraged me to move my oldest son on up into Creation to Christ!! I just love Bigger Hearts. That was the first HOD program I purchased and then I had to shelf it for this year. I'm still not really sure what we will do and here it is the end of MAY!!

 

I had a talk with my son and he thinks he would really prefer to go into CtC. He said he would feel like he is behind if he moved back a guide and he thinks he would enjoy just listening to some of the history readings with his brother and continuing (as we have been doing this already) reading books from American history/literature for his DITHOR assignments. He also wants to continue to develop his drawing skills and we think CTC will be more on his level for that. I can't believe it! A year ago, this kid wouldn't even draw a circle and now he is eager to do the nature journaling in CTC!!

 

I don't know. I guess maybe that's where he is headed. And here I have all these SL books. I've been reading them myself!! Some of them will work great for DITHOR and the others will be good for extra read-alouds with my little guy.

 

Whew! Thanks again! Ya'll are such a blessing.

 

Donna - I think sticking with CTC and adding American History books on the side for DITHOR is a great idea. He may even enjoy Ancient history more by having some reading in a different time period - it may feel more fresh by having two history time periods going. Btw, I almost asked you if you had considered skipping him up to the new Middle Ages guide (given that he's already had so much ancient history).

 

Hope both your boys have a fantastic year!

[Another Lynn]

Well, unless I'm seeing it wrong, there's a lot of reading and questions that go along with it in just the guide without DITHOR. I could always pick more from that book list, but I don't think that much analysis would be part of our "school time." I just don't see us doing that with a 2nd grader, or even 4th for that matter. Of course, mine are still very young and it boggles my mind she can read, so I need to just take it one step at a time.

 

By the way, is there a materials list for the crafts on a Unit basis anywhere? I'm not very organized, so I would love a list if it exists. I couldn't find it in the guide, but that doesn't mean it's not there, just that I overlooked it. ;)

 

If I'm remembering right all the questions for storytime are in the Beyond guide, but I think those are preparing your child for the same types of questions/activities that you will do later with DITHOR. In other words, I don't think you would do both together, but I could be remember that incorrectly.

 

ETA: I have used Beyond but not Bigger. I have DITHOR, but never used it. So take my thoughts with a big grain of salt :)

Edited May 23, 2010 by Another Lynn

[Sheila in OK]

Sounds great Donna!! I'm so glad that you figured it out. Let us know how it all works out--I think CtC looks awesome!!

 

 

I want to thank all of you who have helped me out. I am surprised that no one encouraged me to move my oldest son on up into Creation to Christ!! I just love Bigger Hearts. That was the first HOD program I purchased and then I had to shelf it for this year. I'm still not really sure what we will do and here it is the end of MAY!!

 

I had a talk with my son and he thinks he would really prefer to go into CtC. He said he would feel like he is behind if he moved back a guide and he thinks he would enjoy just listening to some of the history readings with his brother and continuing (as we have been doing this already) reading books from American history/literature for his DITHOR assignments. He also wants to continue to develop his drawing skills and we think CTC will be more on his level for that. I can't believe it! A year ago, this kid wouldn't even draw a circle and now he is eager to do the nature journaling in CTC!!

 

I don't know. I guess maybe that's where he is headed. And here I have all these SL books. I've been reading them myself!! Some of them will work great for DITHOR and the others will be good for extra read-alouds with my little guy.

 

Whew! Thanks again! Ya'll are such a blessing.

[Rebecca]

Donna- I only read page one of all these replies- but I wanted to say (and I hope I am not repeating anyone) that I did not find Bigger to be that teacher intensive. Honestly- Preparing is WAY MORE in my opinion. It is the "transitory" guide toward moving the children toward independence. It involves a lot of mom "coaching", sharing of the guide and sharing resources, etc.

I know you used Preparing last year and loved it. We used Bigger.

I do not think you should be concerned about the workload/intensity of Bigger.

Like I wrote- Preparing is MUCH more and if you handled it fine- I can't imagine Bigger being any sort of problem.

 

I will go back and read the rest of the responses- I think I just saw that you made your decision...

but I have wanted to "speak" into Bigger being the more mom intense program.

Even when I looked at some of the other moms' schedules on HOD forum- I found Preparing to be more consuming.

 

I hope this makes sense!

I pray you have a great year!

Rebecca

[Rebecca]

Just wanted to say that I think the plan to move ahead to CTC is a great one!

 

That is actually my "back-up" plan with my family- move my oldest son into CTC separating him from his two younger brothers.

 

Anyway-

I think you will have another great year!:D

Rebecca

 

son(2000), son(2001), son(2002), daughter(2004), son(2006), son(2008)

[birchbark]

I've ended up using Susan Wise Bauer's Literary Analysis plan for some of the books I've assigned.

 

Is this in the WTM?

 

Also, Carrie mentions that Beyond and Bigger Hearts have some "mini-DITHOR" built into their guides and seems to indicate that only in Preparing on up it is assumed you are using DITHOR. We used Bigger Hearts storytime this year (without DITHOR) and I was happy with the amount of lit analysis for my 9yo DS.

[Lovedtodeath]

Is this in the WTM?

 

Also, Carrie mentions that Beyond and Bigger Hearts have some "mini-DITHOR" built into their guides and seems to indicate that only in Preparing on up it is assumed you are using DITHOR. We used Bigger Hearts storytime this year (without DITHOR) and I was happy with the amount of lit analysis for my 9yo DS.

Thanks for mentioning that!

[Donna T.]

Btw, I almost asked you if you had considered skipping him up to the new Middle Ages guide (given that he's already had so much ancient history).

 

Hope both your boys have a fantastic year!

 

I have thought about that. Actually, that is his favorite time-period and he would enjoy going into more depth in that area. He also loves astronomy. So, that probably would work pretty well. Another advantage to that is that it would get him closer to the next guide, so closer to some American History.

 

I'm sure he would be ready for the work level. And, then there is the focus on outlining that it would provide... that would be great. I've been adding that in lately.

 

Hmmm, that's sounding pretty good.

 

One thing about CtC that I think would be great for him is the anatomy/history of medicine unit. I don't want him to skip that completely. He LOVES Biology but has never gotten into anatomy. He thinks it's "gross" :rolleyes:. And, I know the program is going to go into alot more depth than he has had in the past so maybe covering the Ancients won't be a chore.

 

Thank you so much for your feedback!

[Donna T.]

Is this in the WTM?

 

Also, Carrie mentions that Beyond and Bigger Hearts have some "mini-DITHOR" built into their guides and seems to indicate that only in Preparing on up it is assumed you are using DITHOR. We used Bigger Hearts storytime this year (without DITHOR) and I was happy with the amount of lit analysis for my 9yo DS.

 

Yes, it is. Susan has recorded a lecture that you can download from the Peace Hill Press site. It is very helpful.

 

Did your 9 year old use Beyond before doing Bigger Hearts? I'm asking because if I go ahead with the CtC for my oldest then I may not skip Beyond with my youngest. He'll be a 3rd grade. He just turned 8. He places into Bigger Hearts but if I'm not combining them, I may not skip Beyond. He could use the time to develop his oral narrating. That's the only area he may be a little weak in if he heads into Bigger Hearts and I know Beyond really works on that.

[tinkhs]

If you are looking for a materials list by guide broken up by units, there is a yahoo group called HomeschoolingHODMoms that has lists by guide under their files section.

 

I will look there. I just joined that yahoo group yesterday. Thank you.

[tinkhs]

Again, Donna, thank you. Wonderful advice. I do think I will be more comfortable with the program in general after a year. Fifth grade sounds much more doable. :)

 

My 2nd grader is almost done with the Emerging Readers. I did cover a couple of the genres with him towards the end of this year because he got very interested in them when he heard his brother talking about them. He didn't do any of the workbook. We just went to the library and got alot of different picture books from those genres.

 

By the time you get to Bigger Hearts, if you stick with HOD, you may find that you have gotten comfortable with the way the program is set up and you want to add DITHOR. You can ease in to it. That's what I did this past fall. So, we are behind now :glare: but that's because HOD is fuller than I expected it to be.

 

Have you listened to Susan's recording on Literary Analysis? There is no rush at all for you to do that but you may find it interesting. You can download it here: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/what-is-literary-analysis-mp3.html Of course DITHOR isn't exactly "literary analysis". It's a reading program and analysis is a part of that but not at the 2/3 level. At that level, it's just introducing some terminology and doing some things to encourage a love of reading. If using the program doesn't encourage a love of reading, then you don't need to do it, in my opinion.

 

For us, DITHOR is a logic-stage (grade 5 and up) kind of thing.

[birchbark]

Did your 9 year old use Beyond before doing Bigger Hearts? I'm asking because if I go ahead with the CtC for my oldest then I may not skip Beyond with my youngest. He'll be a 3rd grade. He just turned 8. He places into Bigger Hearts but if I'm not combining them, I may not skip Beyond. He could use the time to develop his oral narrating. That's the only area he may be a little weak in if he heads into Bigger Hearts and I know Beyond really works on that.

 

Alas, no, I only learned about HoD last year. :) But Bigger Hearts works a lot on narrating also.