Anyone doing HOD and not in love with parts of it?

[Mommamia]

I would like to respectfully disagree with this. I use HOD and like HOD, and still I feel that the boards are very biased. They are paying for the boards, and it is their product/business and their right to control the boards how they see fit. But, I like the feeling that I can come here and get an honest answer about a curriculum; I appreciate people giving their honest opinions about things including boards being biased.

 

I also disagree with the idea that someone's opinion is going to ruin a curriculum for someone else.

 

:iagree:I'm glad that you said that. I'm the op and never meant for this to take such a tangent. I'm recognizing some of the women from the HOD board on this thread. I appreciate your support for the curriculum. It's a great curriculum for some..not all. As is the case with all curriculum. I want the curriculum to work for me...not me having to work for the curriculum. I'm still going to use parts of HOD, but I'm also going to use other things....that's what works for my family. I feel bad that openminded was getting so much directed at her. I appreciated her thoughts as I did everyone elses.

[Guest momto4boys]

I was directed to this particular thread by the many private messages and emails we are currently receiving about this thread on our own board. After checking the board rules for the WTM Board first, I see that I am able to respond to this thread after identifying myself as the author of the HOD curriculum.

 

The only reason for my choosing to respond to this thread is to address the comments that our HOD guides do not cover or meet the state standards. The poster who stated this as fact needs to be aware that we do actually write with an overview of state standards in hand and are required by law to test our own children to that end yearly. Our own boys are currently going into grades 1, 5, and 8 and both of our oldest sons have scored in the 98-99th percentile in all core areas each year since grade 1. While I do not place an immense amount of stock in standardized testing, it is one way to compare children and is a measuring stick of which we are all familiar.

 

I do not share my childrens' scores to say that they are gifted or out of the ordinary, but rather in response to the claims made by the poster on this thread that children using HOD will not be prepared for standardized testing.

 

While we realize that this is an open forum and each of you are entitled to your personal opinion, we have chosen to respond to this one factual misrepresentation of our curriculum. If the poster is needing clarification on the state standards or standardized testing, she is welcome to contact our company directly.

 

Blessings,

Carrie

[HollyinNNV]

I don't know if you noticed- but the original poster on this thread went and posted a history/science for seven year old thread soon after the initial responses came in to this topic.

 

It is very true that people are affected by what is written on this board- negative or positive. Anyone who has lurked or posted on this board for several years can attest to it.

 

I don't mind honest responses either.

 

That was not my point.

 

 

 

Yes, what we say does affect others. And, I appreciate all responses, positive and negative by ACTUAL users. Openminded-don't feel bad. We learn from everyone!

 

From my perspective, HOD has been fantastic for my ds. Bigger, as written, was a perfect fit for us. I tweaked a few things, but by far it was the least tweaking I've ever done. I don't see the curriculum as light-at least Bigger was very appropriate. However, I'm looking at it as someone who has an older child and I can see a broader picture, perhaps? Maybe a larger perspective. I know that I always questioned difficulty with my first child. Am I truly challenging her? Now I know lots of my worry was for nothing. So, I'm a little more relaxed.

 

I have to speak to the HOD board. I have been on several boards where generally unhappy folks have poisoned the atmosphere. And I'm not really talking about legitimate curriculum questions-but just plain unhappy messages. SL's board, before it became private, springs to mind. I can't speak to what it is like now, but it used to be pretty common for folks to stir up quite a ruckus. So, I can really understand that Carrie desires her board to be a supportive, encouraging atmosphere. I have not noticed a "big brother" atmosphere myself. But, I suppose that in Carrie's attempts to keep most people happy, she might be interpreted as stifling others. Can't please everyone, but I honestly think she tries.

 

Holly

[5ray2006]

To the OP-thanks so much for asking this question :)

 

I'm glad I took the time to read through every post. I was deciding whether or not to use HOD or MFW for my Kinder and 3rd grader. After printing all samples and going through each product extensively, I wasn't sure. I've changed my mind at least a dozen times. It just seems that I would have to tweak a few things for each curriculum. I have made up my mind now and will be purchasing my order at the end of the month. I will be using HOD Little Hearts for His Glory for my K5 son and will be using Bigger Hearts with my 3rd grader. I really like the looks of HOD and it seems that Carrie's curriculum is very flexible. I will not be using DITHOR (BJU Reading 3 instead) and I will not be using Singapore Math (CLE Math and BJU Math 3 instead ), nor R&S English (BJU English instead).

 

To OpenMinded--:grouphug:. I really understand where you're coming from. Thanks for sharing your point of view.

[Earth Angel_79]

I was lucky enough to get a BYLHG at a used curriculum sale and really sink my teeth into it before I "started" with it. I felt that it wasn't going to work for us, but fortunately I had a friend who felt it would be perfect for them. I didn't like the science or arts approaches (I won't "bash" them, but just say that for us, they were a little less intensive than I would have liked) and since my son isn't quite as interested in that stage of history yet, we ditched it. I knew we could drop certain sections and just tweak, but I felt we would be better served with another (or none at all) curriculum. My friend however has a son who is a history buff, so this was perfect for them....I guess my point is to echo others (and remind myself in my never ending quest) that there really isn't a perfect curriculum, but if you are willing to look (or tear the internet apart in a ravenous mind-numbing manner) you might find one that is more a fit for your family.

[water2wine]

I usually just lurk on this board and look for things in the future for high school science, math etc but wanted to respond to the OP. :001_smile: First I could not agree more with what Rebecca said nor could I say it better so I will not try but I do completely agree with her. :iagree: But for the original question I just wanted to add somethings that I hope will help.

 

 

I have six kids in HOD, four have previously been in ps and two have only been hsed. HOD is a completely different method than was intuitive for me in teaching my kids. I have done textbooks and I have done more classically oriented hsing in fact WTM was the first book I ever read on hsing. So my mind really went more that way just to give you an idea of how my mind works. I used HOD initially as a supplement to another program that was not working for us. It initially seemed light to me and would be good to add and hopefully fix what was not working. This was for my youngest two and the program was LHFHG. Over time what I found was that my younger kids were learning a lot more from this "supplement" called LHFHG than they were from this in depth program. They loved it and it was bringing me peace as well. But far more important than that is I found them using and applying the Word of God to their lives and real life situations and really getting it. They were growing stronger in the Lord than all the information I was trying to get in their head with my methods, they were also getting the history, the science and one thing my other kids were not which was great retention.

 

 

So from that I called the author and tried to work a plan to get all my kids into HOD. I wanted that peace in my day HOD brought for all my kids. I have one with special needs and my oldest who is very strong in reading and math but was actually outside of the history that we really needed to cover due to her lack of it in ps which was American. Anyway the author worked out a perfect plan just for me. Helped me work it for my special needs child and my child that was advanced for the guide. So we used Bigger for my oldest four and loved that as well. They have learned way more than I thought they would. Comprehension and retention has been amazing.

 

 

So that is my experience but I wanted to say also that it is a different learning and teaching style. You can tweak the guide. You can add stuff but I do not recommend trying to take the HOD guide and use it not as it is designed to teach. You have to do the narration, you have to use the CM techniques that are meant to be used with the guide as it is written. You have to do the activities that sometimes at face value may initially seem simple. And when you do it as it is written in terms of actually how it is meant to be taught you are going to find your kids are learning and retaining more than you ever dreamed they would.:) It is important to get into the right guide for your child's abilities and to pick the LA and Math at their level as well. If you are outside of that for the sake of content as I have done with my oldest it is important to ask the author how to best work that so that all your kids can be met at their level and have their needs met.

 

 

When we initially started Bigger I did wonder about the science. I spent ten years in biotech so that is my area. I did the HOD science though because my kids begged me to and what I found is they were learning something I saw kids coming out of Stanford and into the lab were not. And that was how to observe and see what is really there. What is the science telling you? It is the most important question to know how to answer and most people do not learn that until they get into a real life lab experience where the experiments do not always work and you have to figure out why. Usually kids come out of college in science with the head knowledge. They can so the assays they memorized the facts but they do not understand the why of it all and they do not see how to look at what is this really telling you. HOD science teaches that first and I began to see how truly brilliant that is over filling their head with a bunch of stuff that they have no idea what to do with in the end. Now I know this is backwards in how most people think but I have to say I am seeing that it applies to some pretty complex thinking in my kids. We do lots of science in my house and I tell them what is the real deal of how is this used in the real world becasue that is fun for me but we never skip HOD science. I have found the simple teaching has taught very deep thinking and if my kids can get the how and the why and what are the assumptions of science before high school, even college they are way ahead of the game to me. And there is a lot of HOD that is like that. It teaches them to think differently and to apply what they learned to different systems. I find that to be a very important skill in life for them. Thankfully I have found this to be true with the Bible in HOD and the way God is weaved into everything. My kids take that and apply it to other things as well. For us that is our main goal of hsing. We are college minded definitely but first we are God minded for our kids. HOD works with my goals for teaching my children to love and live for Him too and it is effortless. I love that!

 

 

So to the OP I want to encourage you to really first make sure you have the correct level for your child. The placement chart really helps with that. Then try it using the teaching tips and giving the time to learn to narrate properly so that they do retain the information as it is meant to be taught not skipping anything and just see if they do not over time learn to retain more than you would have expected. I pray for you that you find what we have in our family, that our kids have grown in leaps and bounds with the Lord and have learned to see Him in everything while they are learning all they need to and more academically. Either way praying you find peace in your hsing.:001_smile:

 

BTW sorry for the long post just something I am passionate about and hoping something here will help you or someone.

[Geo]

We just started Beyond this week. Let me add my dd is 5.5 and even at this age I am still supplementing with REAL Science Odyssey and Right Start math B. I felt very strongly that the math and science were lacking.

 

One thing we did this week for the first week was as I was reading she was pretending to sail the ship that was being talked about. It was fun to see her act out the storm story and then later hear her shout out "land ho". /QUOTE]

 

 

 

Singapore certainly doesn't shoot out of the gate the way Right Start does...but that changes the following year, with both Right Start and Singapore. Singapore really starts to develop the mental math strategies in 2A/2B and Right Start just starts to work with subtraction in Level C. It all evens out in the end, just a different approach to the sequence.

We switched from Right Start C to Singapore 2B (mid-year), as 2B was working at a more advanced level than RS/C by that point. We have continued on with Singapore and my

10yodd will be using 5A shortly. About the time of the switch, I tried the old Early Bird Math with my (then) 5yo...yuck. I don't see any similarities with the rest of the Singapore books...we ditched them. However, I don't think I have ever heard of anybody calling Singapore "too easy", unless their child was particularly talented/gifted in math.

 

Science Odyssey-I think it rocks! My 5th grader will be doing the Chemistry l in addition to the science in Bigger. SO can be done only 2 days a week, perfect for her HOD science notebooking days.

 

Acting out the history is fabulous, she'll surely grow to be a history lover!

 

 

Geo

Edited August 8, 2009 by Geo

[Geo]

I tagged this earlier because we just started HOD, and I am having some issues with it. For us, I think the issues stem from me trying to combine when I shouldn't have and me really not liking the CLP history books used in Beyond. I am still not sure what I am going to do about that, since the money is spent and I can't go back and order two other levels to fix it.

 

People who fully embrace CM are going to be a lot happier than people who come to HOD without that. I really don't know if CM and public school expectations and standardized testing really mesh well in the early years, and if that was something I had to worry about, I don't think I would have chosen HOD (or like Tree House said, would even be homeschooling).

 

HOD is not the only CM curricula out there accused of being too light! I think it boils down to figuring out what YOUR methodology is, what YOUR goals are, and who YOU have to please.

 

I also think people who don't combine are happier than people who do combine, in general. Yes, there is a range of ages for each guide, but it is hard to fit two kids in one of those, because, IMO, the ranges are more narrow than those of MFW, WP, Sonlight, etc. And if you really listen on the HOD board, they are not really that keen on combining and usually recommend to split into two guides. Julie and Carrie don't combine. Does that mean that YOU can't? Of course not, but it does say something about how the guides are designed by the people in on that decision.

 

I think a lot of us are looking for something that doesn't exist, in a lot of ways. We want someone to do the planning for us, but then we get upset because it isn't how we would have planned it. We want to combine kids for ease of use or for monetary reasons, but then we get frustrated because the guide doesn't really fit either child very well and we have to tweak two kids instead of one. We like the look of CM and the ideas behind it, but we worry that our kids aren't keeping up with their PS counterparts or that other kids are getting ahead of them. I think many of us choose a curricula based on who we want to be or who we want our kids to be instead of based on who we really are. Or maybe that is just me!

 

No curricula is perfect. No child is perfect, nor are any mothers. It is just the way it is. HOD is a good curricula, but it is not for everyone. Nothing is. Too much and not enough are relative terms, and you have to decide that for yourself.

 

HOD does a good job of doing the planning for people who want help in planning. HOD is very Christ-centered and ties in all of the bible and history together to help make connections that we might otherwise miss. HOD includes activities for the kinesthetic learner and other fun things that some of us miss if they aren't planned out for us. HOD plans out for you the copywork, narration and dictation. These are all good things, and if this is what you are looking for, HOD may be a good fit.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I particularly agree about sharing the Charlotte Mason (CM) philosophy behind HOD. Visiting this board and others, I am seeing a pattern of dissatisfaction with HOD by users who have little or no background with CM's teachings. I think if more people understood why Carrie approaches certain subjects the way she does (like science), then at least they would know better beforehand whether HOD was a good fit for their family. I for one, have tried to piece together a CM education for my (6) kids for over 20 years, and personally, I am so relieved to find it all done for me in the HOD manuals. I particularly love the gentle spirit coming from the ladies who have used HOD for a period of time, and I am hoping for similar fruit as well.

 

Geo

Edited August 8, 2009 by Geo

[Tidbits of Learning]

To OpenMinded--:grouphug:. I really understand where you're coming from. Thanks for sharing your point of view.

Thank you. All of my posts are just that my point of view. They aren't written in stone. I'm not claiming any facts. I am not claiming anything but my own feelings and point of view on my situation. It has gotten seriously misconstrued the more I try to clarify my original post as just my opinion on my situation. So I am writing it in black and white explicitly. All of my posts are about my individual situation and my personal opinions.