help me decide between HOD or Sonlight!!!

[michaeljenn]

I am literally spending all my time fretting about which program to go with next year.... so much anxiety on choosing!! UGH!   

 

We used HOD Beyond and CTC this year.  It was ok... Beyond was way too easy for my 8yo and it we usually did a weeks worth of reading and work in a few days.  He hated the science, and thought the experiments were silly.  I guess I may have placed him in the wrong level.  Also, after while I completely dropped the read alouds simply because they were not scheduled for me.  

 

My 10yo used CTC and we are still not done with it.  She enjoys the notebooking pages because they are pretty, but some of the things you write in the notebook kind of seems worthless to me.   She had a very tough time comprehending the History of the Ancient World, and I ended up having to read it to her.  We would take turns reading a paragraph, and then I did my best to explain what the book was trying to say. The language is very archaic and she and I just don't care for it that much.  The read alouds were ok... nothing too exciting.  She did not care for the science at all... and she NEVER wanted to do the history projects because they seemed silly to her.  We started the year doing DITHOR also... That was confusing, and I had absolutely no notes to see if my daughter was really getting what she was reading unless I pre read the book.  We ended up dropping Dithor and reading altogether!!  UGH   Once again, since it was not scheduled for me we just did not do it.  I feel like I have completely wasted this year away.  We did not like the writing book much either.  

 

Sooooo I am wondering if Sonlight would work for us.  For one, I could combine them both in Core D history AND science and just have the 8yo(almost 9) read the regular readers and have my 10yo(almost 11) read the advanced readers... Oh.. wanted to say that my 8yo is a very strong reader.  He read tons of books this year because he wanted to. He went through the HOD readers 2 in just a few months.  I feel like I would get everything done since it is scheduled out for me. 

 

THEN.... I go and look at the HOD RTR program and feel guilty and once again feel drawn to HOD.. The books look so good, but then I realize many of them are the old language type books.  I truly love the fact that it really goes through and explains that time period, but will my 10yo even "get" it??  Then I think she will eventually get to that time period in Sonlight, but am wondering if it is explained in a good way?   I then get confused as to what to do!

 

I tend to get this warm mushy feeling when I think about all the wonderful biblical stuff in HOD, but then actually doing the program, it kind of seems forced...  I am one of those who can read a secular book and bring in biblical principle while reading it.  Does that make sense?

 

I did briefly talk to my hubby about it, and he thinks I should just go with Sonlight.   I don't know what is stopping me though...  Will it turn into too much reading?  Are the books way above my kids level?  Will they really learn?  So many thoughts going through my head.   

 

I will also have a kindergartener this fall, and I am thinking of doing Sonlight K with him.  I have HOD Little Hearts and I already know he and I are not into the cutesy little rhymes ect....

 

I also think I have spent way too much time reading different board trying to decide which direction to go.  In one thread I read how Sonlight ruined her kids and they were behind, and then in another I read how Sonlight was the greatest thing for their child and their child also received a $20,000 scholarship.  LOL!!  My hubby says it is not the program, but what the parent does with the program.  Oh... and some say Sonlight is not biblical or may be too heavy.. I DO shelter my kids to a certain point, but I want them to be able to truly understand the world we live in.  I am not sure I will get that with HOD... hmmmm  Advice? Somebody want to just come slap me??  LOL

[Mommamia]

Well, I am in a similar quandary so I wanted to give input. I have a love/ hate with HOD. I hated The guides( and did my own thing) until we came to Preparing. It is still one of my boys' fav years. We have been doing our own thing again, but I am drawn to Rev to Rev for next year. as I write, I realize I am not much help. Will write more later....

[FO4UR]

 My hubby says it is not the program, but what the parent does with the program.  

 

 

You have a wise hubby!  He is so right!

 

 

Look at curriculum as a tool.  Which tool is easier for you to use?

 

I would suggest tabling the mental discussion between HOD and SL until further reflection on what it is, exactly, YOU (and your wise hubby) are wanting to accomplish through your homeschool.  How can you know which tool to use if you aren't quite certain about what you are building?

 

 

A Biblical foundation sounds important to you, but it seems you are unclear on how you want to build that.  You know "HOD seems forced..."  I call that overly preachy.  So, you may not want a Bible Program after all, you may find it a better fit to simply read the Bible during a family time and discuss history and literature in a natural way.  I will tell you, you will NOT find a curriculum that makes those discussions and connections happen.  That is on you....and that is good news.

[tmstranger]

I'll chime in, but won't likely be much help!  I have been around and around on this.  Something about HOD makes me want to try it and love it.  Sonlight has always been in the back of my mind, but my kids don't fit in nicely to their set up. 

 

I actually purchased Bigger and DITHOR used for my rising 3rd grader.  I looked it over and it just didn't seem like enough after what he's done this year.  But, every single person on their boards told me that Preparing would be too much.  So, after I decided that Bigger was just too easy, I resold it.  I waited on DITHOR, but eventually resold it as well.  (so far, no money lost!!)

 

What I'm leaning towards is using some of HOD's books while I make my own schedule.  I look at both Sonlight and HOD and then make a read aloud and independent reading list for each of my kids.  No, it's not scheduled out for me and will require more work on my part, but I think I'll be happier in the long run.  We will keep our history and science together, but each kid works on their own level.  I'm also trying to incorporate some of the skills and project ideas that HOD works on to build my kids into working independently. 

 

I kind of feel like this is the best thing for our family.  It sounds like you'd like it all laid out for you, though, so I don't think this would work for you.  I guess you really need to think about what you need.  If you didn't use most of HOD last year, it doesn't seem wise to continue on that path.  I think both programs look really good, so I think that the only way you could go wrong is to purchase one and just not do it. 

 

[3rugrats]

As a Sonlight user, I just wanted to pipe in that if you do go w/ SL, many use P 4/5 for K rather than the one labeled "K" by Sonlight. P 4/5 works really well for K, and there is a big jump b/t P 4/5 and Core A (K), and many find (as I did this year) that though my 4yo was fine w/ P 4/5, using Core A for his K year was too advanced. Just wanted to add that suggestion as you consider SL.

[KeriJ]

Since you sound so much like me in this situation, and your thoughts about CTC and Beyond are so similar to my own, my suggestion is that you use HOD as a book list and combine your kids and do your own thing.  

 

What I have basically done with HOD (except for this year where we used CTC almost as written for history and science) is to refer to the book lists and use those books or something similar and combine my kids.  I get a feel for how many narrations, how much copywork and how many times subjects are scheduled each week by referring to the introduction and samples on the website.  Then we just work through the books as fast or as slow as we like and fill it in with narrations, sketching, timeline, etc. We never do the history projects or DITHOR. We did this with RtR the year before last, because that is where we were as a family in the history cycle.  I was able to use books I already had that were similar to HOD choices and found others from that guide.  I refer to SCM for suggestions for books for my younger crowd if the HOD books seem to be over their head.  It works for us.  

 

To sum it up, I usually use HOD books in a SCM way....if that makes any sense.  Those notebook pages are pretty, but they are pricey as the years go on!  We may come back to HOD as written in the highschool years, but for now we just use it our own way.

[momtofive]

I've been there. . . . your post sounds so much like the internal discussion I've had at times using HOD.  I'm sitting here nodding my head in agreement to everything you wrote.  We even took a break from HOD and used a year of SL.  We loved it, but found it somewhat overwhelming in the reading amount and truly missed the biblical discussions we had in HOD.   So we went back, thinking I could just tweak it to fit us better, cutting out what didn't work. . .  and it's been the most difficult, stressful year.  :(

 

Enter. . . BiblioPlan! :)  It seems like an excellent mix of all the components we've loved from other lit-based programs.  I can use the program for all the kids, each at their level.  I also have the freedom to choose what and how much we use, to customize it to fit "our" family.  No more trying to keep pace with someone else's schedule, and definitely not having to make my own! ;)  I can also use all the great books that we have sitting on our shelves, after years of using HOD and SL.

 

Here's a recent discussion where I shared some info on BP, and even some links to reviews and helpful posts on using BP:

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/548011-biblioplan/

**my post starts at comment #2

 

Blessings :)

 

 

 

 

*Edited to fix link. :)

[tmstranger]

Since you sound so much like me in this situation, and your thoughts about CTC and Beyond are so similar to my own, my suggestion is that you use HOD as a book list and combine your kids and do your own thing.  

 

What I have basically done with HOD (except for this year where we used CTC almost as written for history and science) is to refer to the book lists and use those books or something similar and combine my kids.  I get a feel for how many narrations, how much copywork and how many times subjects are scheduled each week by referring to the introduction and samples on the website.  Then we just work through the books as fast or as slow as we like and fill it in with narrations, sketching, timeline, etc. We never do the history projects or DITHOR. We did this with RtR the year before last, because that is where we were as a family in the history cycle.  I was able to use books I already had that were similar to HOD choices and found others from that guide.  I refer to SCM for suggestions for books for my younger crowd if the HOD books seem to be over their head.  It works for us.  

 

To sum it up, I usually use HOD books in a SCM way....if that makes any sense.  Those notebook pages are pretty, but they are pricey as the years go on!  We may come back to HOD as written in the highschool years, but for now we just use it our own way.

 

Yes, this is basically what I plan to do.

[MerryAtHope]

You tried HOD and neither of your kids liked it and you didn't like how the year went. To me that says that it's something about how HOD is presented to you that appeals to you, more than the product itself. I think it's worth trying Sonlight. You can always go back to HOD in another year if you hate Sonlight--you really don't have anything to lose by trying something new, but it could turn out to be a good fit, too. 

 

If Sonlight turns out to be too much reading--slow down the pace. You don't have to do a core in a year.

 

Or, drop some books. It's a buffet. You don't have to eat it all (they themselves compare it to a Thanksgiving Feast & say you don't have to do it all). 

 

We've done it both ways--a core over more than a year, dropping some books--when we did D, my oldest did the advanced readers, but dropped a couple. My youngest did the regular readers but wasn't quite ready for them--so we dropped a few and did buddy-reading for the first half of the year. 

 

Other people find they can add to SL cores and do more books, LOL! 

 

The point is...you can make it work for you--it may be just right, it may need slight tweaks--it's okay. We really enjoyed the read-alouds and readers. 

 

 

[jens2sons]

You have a wise hubby!  He is so right!

 

 

Look at curriculum as a tool.  Which tool is easier for you to use?

 

I would suggest tabling the mental discussion between HOD and SL until further reflection on what it is, exactly, YOU (and your wise hubby) are wanting to accomplish through your homeschool.  How can you know which tool to use if you aren't quite certain about what you are building?

 

 

A Biblical foundation sounds important to you, but it seems you are unclear on how you want to build that.  You know "HOD seems forced..."  I call that overly preachy.  So, you may not want a Bible Program after all, you may find it a better fit to simply read the Bible during a family time and discuss history and literature in a natural way.  I will tell you, you will NOT find a curriculum that makes those discussions and connections happen.  That is on you....and that is good news.

 

I have to agree.  Choosing which one is easier for YOU to teach/use is the best choice.  I have been struggling with which to use for some time and I finally came to the realization that although I like certain curriculum companies out there , there is that one that I keep wanting to go back to because I'm always (unknowingly) comparing others to it.  There is no perfect curriculum and (IMO) it can be a curriculum issue if you are using something that doesn't help you in your homeschooling ventures.  I personally like Sonlight a lot.  One reason is because it lays everything out for me on a schedule that is labeled as day 1-5 instead of Mon-Fri.  It may seem small and something I could easily ignore, but sometimes when you are busy and need to set aside the school for the day, you don't need "Thursday" screaming at you that you are behind.  I can also skip ahead and by looking at the schedule grid, know how far to go without messing everything else up.  SL is down to earth and very user friendly.  It is made for homeschoolers.  It is made for the teacher to use and not for the IG to use the teacher.  SL also teaches Bible, but leaves discussions open to you as the parent to talk to your kids about your own beliefs.  It is not forced.  I can't stand curriculum that uses the Bible unnecessarily to teach a concept like "count the nails in Jesus hands"... or something of the sort.  I think there are other more appropriate ways of going about it.  I am of the school that you can have a Christian education without cramming it down your kids throats with every school book you use.  However, with that said, I am using Rod & Staff :P  (The math isn't bad at all, but I haven't started using the english and have a feeling that it may be preachy.)  SL does teach good character to kids using Christian content in their choice of literature.  I love this.

 

I have been homeschooling for a long time and have lots and lots of books on the shelves calling to me to use them.  I finally have decided to stick with Sonlight and Rod & Staff math.  I am in the process of selling the other books that I don't need and I can't tell you how good it feels to look over at my shelves and see just R&S and SL!  

[michaeljenn]

Thank you for all the replies!  You have each given me a lot to think about.  I really do like something all scheduled out for me, but I am wondering if that may very well be my problem.  Meaning, I feel the need to do a curriculum as written or I feel guilty:)  I am leaning toward Sonlight... But I DO like the ideas of taking the book lists of both Sonlight and HOD  and doing my own thing.  Hmmm SO MUCH to think about:)  

[nena3927]

Thank you for all the replies!  You have each given me a lot to think about.  I really do like something all scheduled out for me, but I am wondering if that may very well be my problem.  Meaning, I feel the need to do a curriculum as written or I feel guilty:)  I am leaning toward Sonlight... But I DO like the ideas of taking the book lists of both Sonlight and HOD  and doing my own thing.  Hmmm SO MUCH to think about:)  

 

This! I just wanted to say that I am in the same boat with HOD and feel exactly as you mentioned above. I feel guilty if I don't do everything EXACTLY as written and I mean everything. I'm a box checker and that is just my perfectionist personality I guess. What I'm finding is that what drove me to HOD (everything being scheduled out for me) is now what I'm disliking as there is not much freedom to deviate from the plans without the gulit. Anyways, you not alone! Good luck on your search! I'll be watching this post :)

[michaeljenn]

Glad to know I am not alone!! LOL  I think the real problem here is that I feel like I must follow someone else's plans because mine would not be good enough! sigh....  I need to just get over my fear and read what I want to read and do what I want to do! 

[MerryAtHope]

 But I DO like the ideas of taking the book lists of both Sonlight and HOD  and doing my own thing.  Hmmm SO MUCH to think about:)  

 

This is what I ended up doing, only not with HOD--I used Sonlight's literature and some of their history as my base, using all the books that appealed to me, and then added in a few books from here & there that sounded good to me, and paired it all with my preferred history spines. Sonlight, in addition to having a daily schedule, has a 1-page annual schedule that lists the books in order of introduction by week--and after following mainly that for a couple of years, I just started making my own annual schedule and going eclectic. 

[Rebecca in KY]

We are using Sonlight this year and LOVE it for all of the reasons you have listed. I've looked extensively at HOD and realize it won't be a good fit. I love SL because--

 

1. It's all planned out for me. Over the course of this year, I have learned to make the IG my own. So...we do all of the poetry reading on 2 days per week. We do all timeline figures on Fridays as a review. We read as much as we want of the read-alouds, and when we get finished ahead of schedule, I pick something from another curric book list, read an old favorite of DS's, read a sequel, or just enjoy the time off. The IG is my guide--it has an overarching progression, a scope and sequence, that I do not want to create myself. But--once I got comfortable with the program, I felt able to tweak as needed.

2. It is not all inclusive. When DS was younger, we went with all inclusive because I wanted it all scheduled for me. But the guilt you're talking about kept rearing its ugly head. What if DS needs an extra day on that math lesson? What if we take a day off to do a fun field trip? What if we get sick? The Mon-Fri guide with everything scheduled out created a ton of stress. I wanted to get EVERYTHING done every week so I could stay all together on that beautiful grid! SL has given me freedom. I find that it's very easy to keep up with the history/Bible/poetry/read alouds. We do our own thing for the rest of our subjects.

3. A biblical worldview is weaved throughout. Bible and scripture memory is built in. But beyond that, each year of SL interweaves missionary stories, moral tales, and just plain good books that teach good lessons. But here's what I really love about it: it's NOT preachy! The books are there, the stories are there, but it doesn't feel in your face. We can read the stories and then do what we want with them. Discuss? Sure. Move on? Absolutely. Whatever works. But there is no contrived stuff like counting nails in Jesus' hands. :)

4. SL does not teach only one side of an issue. While looking through HOD, I noticed that the history especially seems one-sided. SL, though, approaches history from a multi-faceted approach. You'll read about both sides of a conflict. You won't feel preached at that X interpretation is the only right interpretation.

5. It's not crafty. DS does not want school to take any longer than necessary. Crafts and projects are NOT what he wants to do with his time. He loves listening to me read, but crafts? When he could be playing with his army men? No way!

 

I love Merry's advice. Do what you can. Drop books without guilt. Add books as needed. Use the IG as a guide, not a taskmaster.

 

And BTW--I buy the IG from SL or used off of Ebay if I can. Then I make a list of every book, plus author name, and print it off. This takes a while but makes the process so much easier!! I buy all the books used. Places like Thriftbooks.com and Betterworldbooks.com are cheap, don't charge shipping, and sometimes even have sales on top of their great prices. I out together Cores B and C for less than $300 total! It's a great deal and I can break even or possibly make money when I sell them.

 

Wow, this got long. I hope it helps in your decision-making!

[tmstranger]

 

And BTW--I buy the IG from SL or used off of Ebay if I can. Then I make a list of every book, plus author name, and print it off. This takes a while but makes the process so much easier!! I buy all the books used. Places like Thriftbooks.com and Betterworldbooks.com are cheap, don't charge shipping, and sometimes even have sales on top of their great prices. I out together Cores B and C for less than $300 total! It's a great deal and I can break even or possibly make money when I sell them.

 

Wow, this got long. I hope it helps in your decision-making!

 

Love this idea...I don't know why it never occurred to me that this could be done!  LOL!  Thanks.