BHFHG?

[Brianna]

I've been using BLHFHG this year with my ds for his 2nd grade year and it has been very light. We probably do 2-3 days of work a day and are going quickly through it. I thought it was a good placement for him based on the placement chart and advice, but I am wondering if I should of used Bigger. My question is will Bigger fit him better. I plan on finishing up Beyond because we love the history selections, but is it just placement or is maybe HOD not for us?

[Tidbits of Learning]

This is really a tough question. Bigger is more, but it is not as much as some 3rd-4th grade programs. Each level of HOD works on skills for the whole year. It doesn't really up the skills through the year though. So you start each year with a bit more work than the year before and for the first few weeks it is a bit of an adjustment, but then the weeks repeat exactly the same through the whole year. I didn't feel that it continually stretched my children through the year. The projects in the books sometimes seem to be aimed at the lowest age level on the guide. They aren't grade levels. They are guides and the goal is to gain the skills for the next guide. Often that is learning to do 1 or 2 things differently in each subject and then practicing that skill repetitively through the entire guide.

I feel like HOD could work if you are really committed to HOD and going through all the guides at least through your 8th grade year. If you intend to try anything different before then, expect there to be gaps in your child's skills for their grade level. We did HOD for 3 years with our children. Each of them had a different struggle going into their grade levels with K12 this year.

I can only tell you my experience with HOD. I did not feel that it challenged my children enough through the whole year. We sort of just went through the motions after a while. I do like some of the book selections and still buy books from them. I love the Emerging Readers and plan to go through it with my youngest once he is past phonics. We still have DITHOR and we read through the storytime selections from the guides. I like a lot of things from HOD and we had quite a few good years overall.

So I would say it could have just been placement or it could be that it isn't for you. Have you seen the older guides? I really liked Bigger for certain aspects. I found that the range of activities being kind of easy to somewhat challenging and feeling that some things were geared for the youngest age on the guide and some for the oldest just really did not work for us. I really felt trapped the longer we did HOD with my child who had only done HOD b/c he really couldn't just jump into his right grade level with any other all in one curriculum. His skills were all over the place b/c HOD was skill based and didn't follow a typical scope and sequence for "grade" levels.

It was easier for me to see it wouldn't work for us long term once one of my kids got to an age/grade where they knew they wanted to pursue a field that needed a strong science/math background. It actually turns out that I have 2 children who are naturally advanced with science. So the curriculum change was good for them. I don't regret our years with HOD. My chidlren enjoyed them and we learned together. Our homeschool journey just changed along the way and we needed something else.

[Sew happily ever after]

I'm having the same questions of my second grade ds using beyond this year as well. We are also doing several days worth of work in one day which equals about 30 minutes of work. I've also added elemental science earth science and astronomy. I feel like the activities in betond are too young for him and he doesn't really enjoy them and I think it's because he feels like they are for younger kids. Adding elemental science has helped. We are also doing reading math etc at his level. But I don't necessarily feel like bigger woul have been better for him as I'm also doing that guide with my next two dd and I really just don't think it would be right for my science minded ds. If I had he funds I would jump ship now and start something else, but since that's not a possibility we will wait until next year. He does enjoy the history readings though so we will at least finish those. I've decided to work through beyond as quickly as he can then start something new and fresh. My plan is beautiful feet history through science alongside elemental science physics and beautiful feet geography. I think that will give him the depth he wants and needs.

[tjlcc]

I agree with the pp. Have you checked out a week of Bigger? That amount of work is what you'll get the whole way through the guide. If you have an accelerated learner, I would recommend working through Beyond at his speed and then beginning Bigger. It can definitely be used for 2nd grade if the child is ready.

[Brianna]

What exactly are the skills that HOD is always talking about. The answer is probably staring at me in the face :) I just didn't know if there was something that states what skills each guide targets. Please forgive me if this is a silly question ;)