I for sure know I want to stay with CM methods for hs so now I'm trying to decide between these 2 for oldest dd who will be in grade 8 next year. So we are contemplating either HOS REV2Rev or SCM early modern times. SCM is for history geography and bible. HOD is all inclusive though we probably won't use the LA portion as written because we use IEW for writing and I'm not too sure of continuing R&S for English. It seems like there is jus SO much more to the history portion of HOD. although the SCM does seem to cover the same material. And SCM would be much less expensive for history! As far as HOD, it will cost me about $700 for the science, history, and Bible and composer study. Now the composer study and apologia we would add to the SCM so that would add some cost to SCM. Anyway I just can't decide between the 2. Any opinions or preferences? I like that most of the SCM resources are available as Ebooks which saves cost, but then I can't resell them. Another concern I have is that SCM seems so much "lighter" than HOD" how is it that 2 different curriculum with similar teaching methods (CM) can be so much different than each other? There is so much in the history portion of HOD which will take a bit of time to accomplish but then in SCM it will not take near as long to complete the history portion.

Thank you for the input! I guess I'm considering it expensive for two subjects but it will also include a composer study as well as Binle and worldview. That price does not include any language arts or math, which I have already purchased. I really WANT to use HOD and it works well for 2 of my dc as far as style and format. It's a pleasure to be able to have the instructions written to them instead of having to Tell them what to do or even plan. It's just so convenient! I'm hoping and praying I can find a used set of the rev to rev. It's fairly new so i don't know how many people would have them for sale used yet. I seem to always the younger HOD sets more often. I think several of their books are available for free online in kindle or ePub format so that could be an option for me also. Off to research!

For my oldest dd eighth grade year for just history and science: I will be purchasing HOD revival to revolution. I will purchase the history, science, and extension package and it will be aroudn $700! Isn't that quite pricey for just those 2 subjects? I really LOVE HOD and CM methods, but I just feel like it's sooooo much $$$! Especially when I have 4 dc to buy curriculum for! I just spent a little over $200 for math for all 4 and I have about $200 worth of stuff in my RR wishlist cart of stuff to purchase for next year. I know I can re-use the HOD for all 4, but it just seems like too much! (especially with a budget of $1000!)

teaching the classics Drawn Into the Heart of Reading two excellent choices

We have been using it for about 5 weeks and dd11yo LOVES it! She does it almost completely independently. It is engaging and interesting. The additional lessons in the back about holidays are FABULOUS and thee are so many holidays that I didn't even know about. Lol! Anyway the activities are perfect, simple, and don't require lots of random supplies. Only complaint...the holiday lessons are divided into the back of both of the hardcover books, so since we are using the first book, the holiday lessons are in the back of the second book. It would be awesome if they were in the back of the document lit reader that came with the set. Anyway minor issue and its mostly due to my inconvenience. Otherwise I have been pleasantly surprised with Notgrass and am looking to incorporate more of their items into my homeschool. Very living text as well and I feel that it fits well into the Charlotte Mason philosophy especially since my dd doesn't like to read books so much. So this is like a textbook with a Charlotte mason feel which works beautifully! I was also surprised at the size of the books. They are HUGE! And they are hardcover. Also included is the additional reader which is beautiful. I also purchased the student book. The activities are great as they really review what was read in each lesson. We don't use the tests or the other optional question book. But we are reading the lit that goes along with some of the units.

I will be using the geography and history of science programs next year. I will also be teaching the IEW writing lessons along side both of them. Seems do-able to me. I already own the geo lessons and books and maps. I did purchase the download version of the science guide so that I could preview ALL of it. I wanted to make sure we wouldn't be overwhelmed with doing both programs.

That should say for first grade...lol

Yes for Gott grade your idea of just SOTW is great. Remember thy new to focus heavily on the 3R's so heavy history might overwhelm you!

I want to add that we have used NOEO as well as ES and I prefer ES. NOEO is a great program, but I think ES is a bit simpler IMHO. The science kits that come with NOEO are really cool and I think that is a bonus for that curriculum. But it felt overwhelming to have so many parts and pieces. I like that ES uses simple projects and household items.

Simple layout--teacher page with the schedule. It's all spelled out, you jut open and go. Student pages are a separate file but you can print them and organize how you want. This semester I printed everything for week 1 and put it all together...schedule w notes, student pages, experiment forms, etc. that way we just open the binder to the week we are on and go, no extra flipping or work required. Simple to use--the work load is absolutely appropriate for the level. It has the correct balance of writing, narrating, experiments, experiment forms, and reading. There have been a few times when we accidentally found books at the library to supplement what we were reading about, but that's not really necessary. It's just easy to do. For me the experiments are easy and use supplies we already have--a huge bonus! I like that its science only, not a bunch of other stuff with it. It's not overwhelming either, just takes a minute or 2 to preview what we need for the week.

I agree with everything Monarh Room said. We are doing ES ESA this year with my second grader as well. It's simple easy and gets done. I recently bought Mr. Q physics for next yer but am still considering ES physics. I'm not sure if we will use 1 or the other or both, but I really like the layout of ES.

In the beginning there ear assignments about the Archbishop of Canterbury and speaks about the pope but doesn't get into heavy religion. You know you can order the book from IEW and preview the whole thing. If you don't agree with it or think it has too much cc you can return it for 100% money back. As far as the younger ones using it...there are alternate assignments for level user. The assignments are challenging for level A. In fact I'm teaching a class using medieval lessons to level B students. There are two level A students in the class. It is challenging for them but they have had a year or two of IEW under their belt. So a new student to IEW might need lots of hand holding!

I prefer HOD. Especially the older guides because most of it is written TO the child. Really simple to implement. Not overwhelming. The LA is good or you can use your own thing. This is our first year w HOD--3 programs-- beyond, bigger (switching to preparing Monday!), and resurrection to reformation. I really really really like how the older guides are written to the student (I've already said that though.lol) I tried 3 WP programs--AS1, CAW, and QAW--never finished any of them. Although thy seem very rich and the lit chosen is wonderful. They felt very choppy. Many activities were just like do p. x in book y or z. Make sense? It was like you had to have this certain book to do these certain activities even if you only used it partially. Then some activities weren't Ben age appropriate or I had to complete most of them for the kids to even be successful. That said the projects in HOD aren't over the top fabulous, but thy are simple. There have been a few items we didn't have so we would just not do the project. Not a big deal. I do think the guides for older students are written so much better. They are more consistent and a lot less random. This year beyond has been so random--activities very loosely tie into the history. Bigger is ok but the science still feels random. Looking at preparing I think that is the year that things are really well written and doesn't seem so random. Plus it moves to more independent work and really solidified skills necessary for older elementary students.

HOD bigger hearts.

I think it depends on how you want your student to complete it. If you are willing to work with and help a younger student as much as they need then it should be fine. I don't think any of the activities are overly hard, a younger student might just require extra guidance with them. The readin portions are lengthy but interesting enough where if they were read out loud neither the reader nor the student would get bored.

What about evolution/creation? Is that addressed? Or is it general? Old earth/young earth?

If you are not intending to use future guides from HOD or If you aren't so concerned about your Children developing the narration skills required in preparing then I think you could use it just as a reading list and bible study. Instead of doing anything independent you would just read it to them and perhaps do things orally or adjust the assignment so the younger ones can do it too.

If you really like those 2 books you could use ten and just read them out loud to your kids. Read a chapter or 2 each week. When you get to an interesting topic stop and get some library books about it. Search online for an interesting project to do. As in a lap book or play a game.

Bought my copy of physics the other day. Glad I saved and bought now for next year.

We previously used IEW with the ancient history based lessons. My dd is not following the HOD lesson plans because I am teaching the medieval lessons to a group of children in my home, so we follow MY schedule. I told her that she didn't have to follow the HOD directions for the medieval writing lessons, but that she did have to follow mine! Lol! Anyway, you could just work straight through the book covering 1 lesson or part per week. The ending lessons are pretty challenging so you could make those optional. So far the lessons in IEW an the HOD history lessons have somewhat lined up. Usually the IEW lessons have served as a review from the previous 1 or 2 weeks of history lessons. In reality that has been great because its sooooo much easier to write about a topic when you actually have a knowledge base to draw from.

I have. While not ideal or recommended it was ok for us, but I was comfortable with the methods. That said I did end up borrowing the TWSS because after seeking how AWESOME the product is and the FABULOUS writing results, I wanted to become a certified teacher so I could teach my own classes.

My 7th grader is using t. She does it mostly independently. Love that its written to her. She reads directions and does the assignments. It's lovely really. I also added project passport Middle Ages by homeschool in the woods to extend the history and give her hands-on projects and creative expression. He does the optional Shakespeare study but not the notebook pages--those consist of coloring a scene and copying a quote from the play. I do feel that the science is light--maybe light isn't the right word. But when compared to the amount of history work we do, science is so much less. And many of the experiments she hasn't really done because we have already done them or its just so simple that she can visualize it and understand the results. KWIM? We are half way through the guide. I wanted her to study this time period though so with the additions I added, I do feel like its sufficient. She does the extension readers and works at her grade level for all other subjects--DITHOR, math, grammar, IEW writing, dictation etc. if you are really concerned about the science you can easily require the optional science text from AIG--in fact you could require all three books in that series--it would beef up the science a lot. Especially if you did the experiments from those books in addition to the HOD ones.

In light of the sale this week at mr. Q.... I had already planned to use ES physics next yr but then I just had to go look at the mr. Q website and well... Now I'm seriously considering using that! I should seriously purchase it this week if I'm gonna though, right? How do these 2 compare? Can they be used together? Does ES ever go on sale? I really like using real books and other than the PDF student and teacher guides in ES we do get to use real books. The lessons are quick and easy, so are the experiments and extra projects. I DON'T KNOW what Tj expect with Mr. Q's course. It seems more textbook like and if have to read it on the computer screen or iPod. That could be a big negative. There's just something about holding a real book that really appeals to me and my children.

Call an ask they usually give them to me over the phone whenever I have asked

Have you considered exploration education? It looks pretty awesome and is available in different levels. My 8th grade dd will use this for physical science at the advanced level.