Anyone not like HOD? Need your honest opinions....

[sandra in va]

I'm looking into HOD for my 4 younger kids (not counting the baby :)) for next year and I really like the look of their programs (esp. BHFHG and higher guides). Before I make a switch into a new program, I'd like to know if it is really as good as it looks. We really do like Sonlight and would need as close a "sure thing" as possible to make a change. Have you tried it and not liked it? What didn't you like about it? Which levels did you use?

 

(Just fyi, some of the things I like about HOD - built in narration/copywork/dictation, poetry work, activities and notebooking to go with history and science, that all the subjects are interwoven, easy to use teacher book for me, and that each level is age-appropriate.)

 

Thanks for your help!!

Edited March 18, 2010 by sandra in va

[mommyagain]

Well, not much help here, but I'll give you a bump :001_smile:! I've only used (briefly) Little Hearts and I didn't care for it. Not enough science or art, too many useless (imo) activities. That being said, I am still considering the older levels as I think they look meatier and awesome! I think Carrie has done a wonderful job but LHFHG just wasn't right for us. The science really starts to look better in Bigger Hearts.

[Donna T.]

Before I make a switch into a new program, I'd like to know if it is really as good as it looks.[/b]

 

 

 

Yes, it is as good as it looks. I love it and am pleased with everything about it, so can't give you any negatives. I have used three Sonlight cores and I know how that feels to consider leaving SL for something unknown. I finally decided to do so after alot of prayer and a strong sense that this was where God was leading our family. We still read alot of the books from SL's catalog. We fit them in as both read-alouds and readers.

 

Sorry, I can't help with the negatives. I think the most frequent negatives I hear is that the science is too light in the early guides and some think the pace of reading is too slow. Neither have been an issue for us.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Donna T.

[Tree House Academy]

The only time HOD didn't work for us was when I got the wrong guide for my son. Once I switched and got him the right guide for his age (wtihout extensions), it has been beautiful! We are going with HOD for next year for both boys and I am excited!

 

We have used parts of Beyond and Bigger and we used all of Little Hearts this year. I did not use the Science in Little Hearts, we did CLE instead. However, I will use the Science past here. I also added in other things and didn't do the Dramatic Play. We did do History, Bible, Music, Read Alouds, and Thinking Skills and have loved every minute of it.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Tree House Academy

[MrsMe]

I did not use the younger programs previous to Beyond. But we did use Beyond and love portions of it. DD didn't enjoy, nor did I the main spine. However, we came back to Bigger and are enjoying it completely. It wasn't the program in Beyond, just the CLP book that we didn't like.

 

I use CLE Reading and LA instead of HOD's choices, however, I do use HOD's dictation.

 

It is deceivingly full. We have more discussions of what we learn than any other curriculum we've tried. I think it's geared better for the age level. Bible is very applicable, whereas some kids have a hard time applying something to life as they know it.

 

Also we like that there not 3 books telling us the same info, but there several books used throughout, mostly in their entirety. The science is more unit studyish as opposed to Beyond, which had a different topic daily.

 

HOD is very child friendly and safe. No surprises in the readings as they'e been carefully chosen for age appropriateness. We LOVE Bigger and I've already bought Preparing. :party:

[Zebra]

We used LHFHG and BLHFHG (which we didn't finish).

 

It did not work for us. I wanted to like it, and was disappointed that it didn't.

 

I like the way the guide is set up, and I think the samples at their website are great. You get a real feel for the program.

 

I didn't like the science workbook at all in the earlier years, and I didn't like History for Little Pilgrims. I didn't like the devotional in LHFHG. It does have a more schoolish and churchy feel than some other programs. It really all depends on what you want. I would definitely look at some sample pages of some of the resources used in the programs to help you decide.

[hmschooling]

We've used 4 of the levels and LOVE it!! Sure, it's not perfect in every sense (like I wasn't crazy about the spine in Beyond, but the activities and lessons made it worth it!) I love everything else and I just can't wait to get to the older guides!

[Lostinabook]

I didn't like it, but it was just a bad fit issue. Looking back, I really should have known better after checking out the samples. We've used Ambleside from the beginning & I so wanted to have something all laid out for me, with extra projects already planned. I thought HOD would be perfect since its creator had used Ambleside before writing HOD.

 

We began the year using Preparing & Beyond Little Hearts. First, I thought dd would love the history projects & Draw & Write Through History & she hated both. I still don't understand that. I didn't like the contrived questions for the books. I thought the whole program felt too school-y. I thought the books were often lightweight & that we moved too quickly through the ones that weren't. (Remember I'd been using AO--we're used to slooooooow passage through books.) I also wanted to add in a few things that I thought weren't covered thoroughly enough. I thought it would be easy to do, but doing that made our days very long. We switched back to AO & are all much happier. I did like how the science for Preparing was laid out. Dd retained quite a bit from that. I wish I could just buy the science info!

 

Anyway, I don't really think that our experience is representative at all. We're weird. :D

[GESTEP]

We used Bigger last year. It seemed we were changing alot and and eliminating quite a few other things. None of us liked the main books used for history although we enjoyed many of the extensions so now we just use book lists for our history. The activities were hit or miss for us. The science was perfect for us!

 

I wish I could just buy the science info!

 

:iagree:

 

Gina

[sandra in va]

Thank you everyone for being so honest. It is so very helpful to hear both the good and challenging things as I'm trying to figure out if the "risk of change" is worth it.

 

I'd love to hear more people's experiences - thanks for sharing!!

[lotsofpumpkins]

I agree that the science is light in the early guides. But, let me ask you, how much science do you remember from K-2nd grades? I don't remember any that I learned at that age in school. I do remember being outside a lot and also going to science camp one summer. I remember every bit of that. I think that the fun activities that go along with the science might actually give them a chance of remembering it, but even if they don't, at this age I think the most important thing is spending lots and lots of time outside exploring nature. Although my children have learned a lot from books, I think they have learned the most from watching the metamorphosis of butterflies and ladybugs, and from all the experiments we've done with various science kits. We've been learning about the different birds we see in our yard, and we are starting astronomy now too. (We are using Apologia). You don't HAVE to supplement HOD if you don't want to; we just happen to love science in this house! We are starting Bigger in a couple of months for my upcoming 2nd and 3rd graders; we'll have to see how we like the science. I've heard that it's pretty good.

[jewel7123]

Are you planning on having all your kids in their own separate program or were you wanting to combine?

[sandra in va]

If we used HOD, I was planning on having the kids in their separate programs, but I am open to combining - esp my 5th and 7th graders (in RTR probably). I appreciate how each level of HOD is so age-appropriate, so I didn't want to lose that by doing too much combining. I was thinking of Bigger or Preparing for my 3rd grader and LHFHG or Beyond for my 1st grader.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

We used LHFHG and BLHFHG (which we didn't finish).

 

It did not work for us. I wanted to like it, and was disappointed that it didn't. I didn't like the devotional in LHFHG. It does have a more schoolish and churchy feel than some other programs.

 

These are my thoughts exactly. We only made it two weeks.

[zookeeperof3]

These are my thoughts exactly. We only made it two weeks.

We only made it about 8 weeks into Beyond, it was too much reading out loud for us (2/1/2 hours a day). I felt like I was on top of my child all day....reading, reading, reading, math, English, reading...on and on. Also, the guide had me stop in the middle of a chapter and start a new book, it did not go back to the 1st book for a few weeks. That drove us nuts. My son hated the music and devotional. I didn't care for them either but we did give it a shot. When I looked ahead to to CTC guide and it has the child doing quiet time with cd's....we decided to call it quits. My son hates all music except for classical, he would never listen to it for quiet time. So, there's my gripe! HTH, Kim

[i.love.lucy]

If we used HOD, I was planning on having the kids in their separate programs, but I am open to combining - esp my 5th and 7th graders (in RTR probably). I appreciate how each level of HOD is so age-appropriate, so I didn't want to lose that by doing too much combining. I was thinking of Bigger or Preparing for my 3rd grader and LHFHG or Beyond for my 1st grader.

I did Bigger with my 3rd grader last year and thought it was perfectly on level - skill wise. This year we are in Preparing and it's again been a perfect fit.

 

We've loved HoD. I always trust the book selections and have liked all of them tremendously. My kids do remember what we've covered in science but I haven't been too worried about having that part of our curriculum too rigorous. I LOVE the way Godly character traits are emphasized and how Carrie really fleshes out God's providential hand in History.

 

It is a lot of reading. By now my 4th grader does most of it herself, but be prepared for that. It's very CM in that way.

 

I'd say placing in the right level is key. And with that many kids, and a baby, yikes! It's a lot of work!!! I'm not sure I could bite off that much. You are talking about running 3 separate programs simultaneously and the younger 2 programs are pretty mom-intensive. Our BHFHG days last year were 4 hours and that was pretty much one on one. YMMV of course since I was pulling my dd from school and getting up to speed with homeschooling, but just be aware.

 

GL!:D

[LittleIzumi]

We used LHFHG and BLHFHG (which we didn't finish).

 

It did not work for us. I wanted to like it, and was disappointed that it didn't.

 

I like the way the guide is set up, and I think the samples at their website are great. You get a real feel for the program.

 

I didn't like the science workbook at all in the earlier years, and I didn't like History for Little Pilgrims. I didn't like the devotional in LHFHG. It does have a more schoolish and churchy feel than some other programs. It really all depends on what you want. I would definitely look at some sample pages of some of the resources used in the programs to help you decide.

 

Yep yep. A lot of the activities didn't work or were just too short--we could maybe stretch them for one minute (in LHFHG). Super basic math and science that kind of bored my girls. And I'm sure it didn't help that I'm not their denomination so I kept changing things in the History For Little Pilgrims and that bugged me :tongue_smilie:

[hmschooling]

I did Bigger with my 3rd grader last year and thought it was perfectly on level - skill wise. This year we are in Preparing and it's again been a perfect fit......

 

We've loved HoD. I always trust the book selections and have liked all of them tremendously. My kids do remember what we've covered in science but I haven't been too worried about having that part of our curriculum too rigorous. I LOVE the way Godly character traits are emphasized and how Carrie really fleshes out God's providential hand in History.

 

It is a lot of reading. By now my 4th grader does most of it herself, but be prepared for that. It's very CM in that way.

 

I'd say placing in the right level is key. And with that many kids, and a baby, yikes! It's a lot of work!!! I'm not sure I could bite off that much. You are talking about running 3 separate programs simultaneously and the younger 2 programs are pretty mom-intensive. Our BHFHG days last year were 4 hours and that was pretty much one on one. YMMV of course since I was pulling my dd from school and getting up to speed with homeschooling, but just be aware.

 

GL!:D

 

I'm doing Bigger with a 3rd grader and it never takes us more than 3 hours. I also have 3 other children, 2 using HOD, 1 is a future HODer.

I agree about being able to trust all the book choices. And the science seems light, but that's b/c it's easy to implement (IMO), but the kids are retaining so much you'd think all we did was science! Bigger is the most mom-intensive guide. I don't even like to read aloud that much (shame on me;) ) but I never find the reading aloud to be a problem with HOD. I find it very doable, even with more than one program! As you get to more mom-intensive guides with the youngers, you're getting to less mom-intensive guides with the olders. It balances well. LHFHG might take 1-1.5 hours and overlap with some of the 2-3 hours for Bigger. LHTH is taking us 20-30minutes.

 

The book readings for history jump around from book to book, but for good reason. Carrie is trying to provide a smooth flowing story of history. You can't read straight through one and then back track in history to read straight through the others. I found it to flow quite nicely, and while some find it frustrating to not get to the rest of the book before moving on to another for a bit, I loved that it left my daughter anxious to do more school to hear more. She LOVES history now. In fact, she LOVES all of HOD and doesn't fuss over school anymore.

[angela&4boys]

Our 9yo did Bigger this year, but we used it in a modified way. He read the history independently and did not do every activity. Overall it was a very good year for us. Here's a list of my pros and cons:

 

Pros:

 

• Christ-centered
  
• balanced approach ~ I really appreciate the mix of CM and traditional methods.
  
• doable ~ The activities and amount of work are realistic.
  
• stream-lined and user-friendly ~ *Love* the two-page spread of the day's assignments. You do not have to flip back and forth through multiple TG's.
  
• deceivingly rich ~Carrie has a gift for intertwining the Bible, character, and history. We've had wonderful discussions.
  
• affordable ~ There' soooo much jammed into this one TG. I think it's a tremendous value.
  
• book selections ~ For the most part, they're the cream of the crop.
  

Cons (very minor):

 

• book selections ~ While our ds learned a *lot*, I think the history books lack in illustrations and/or photos for the visual child. He's highly visual, but did quite well in spite of it. Also, with regard to science, he really enjoyed the One Small Square series, but he balked at A Pioneer Sampler.
  
• a few activities ~ A few of the mapping activities were unrealistic imho. The maps within the history texts were very hard to discern... almost blurry. And a *few* of the science he had already encountered and we just skipped them.
  

[Tidbits of Learning]

Since this thread is about what didn't work for HOD, I can add a few that I haven't seen posted yet.

I have 3 kids all a year apart in age plus a toddler. I tried my best to combine at least 2 into a program, but it didn't work. Here were my main issues.

I tried Little Hearts to Heaven, Little Hearts for His Glory, and Bigger Hearts for His Glory

1. Spelling/dictation/language arts in lower programs is really, really light. For the spelling, there are 2 lists. One is introduced in Beyond and then both are listed in Bigger and if your child is beyond them you are to use the dictation. These words were easy. I am talking 3 and 4 letter words. The bigger dictation was very simple. I could compare it to the dictation that we did with Adventures in Phonics kindergarten for my son.

MY advise is to get your hands on a guide and look at the appendix. There aren't samples available for the spelling and dictation.

2. Science-in the lower guides they butcher the CLP science books and it is all forced to tie in to the history/Bible. It doesn't always tie in well and you jump all over the book to read a sentence or two twice a week.

In Bigger, the science was fun but it really didn't explain the scientific process. It is very scripted as to how to do the experiment and such. They do narrate about it, but you don't go over the scientific method and such. You are more or less led through it.

3. History-The Egleston books are very dry and were not a good fit for us. We also were not fond of the CLP Child's History of America from the extension pack.

4. DITHOR-I don't even have words to describe how overwhelming this book is to just try and sit down and plan. It is very much school at home feel.

 

I agree with a previous poster that it has a more preachy and school room feel to it. It seemed light in some areas and overwhelming in others. I assume this is b/c it is meant to encompass several ages. It is harder to combine than I thought it would be with my children so close in age. The spelling and dictation though really turned me off. It was so simple.

In the younger guides, there is rhymes in motion that were very contrived. My children didn't like to do them. I did try to lead them in this. It just was a bad fit all the way around.

[Donna A.]

My dd was just not interested in most of the activities, they were too babyish and contrived. I can not stand the way the Guide is set up. Cute little boxes just do not work for me and I prefer to see a week at a time so I know where we are going. I don't mind gathering supplies but I don't want to do it daily and I don't like having to read through all of the instructions to find out what supplies I need. I would prefer a weekly list so that I could gather everything at once.

 

 

Ditto this. I'm also in the camp with those who tried, really, really tried to combine my younger two, but it just wasn't doable because while each program is flexible for a small range of ages, that range is TOO small for our needs. And my oldest is too old for HOD. I know they say you can extend a package up to her age, but she's already read the majority of books scheduled in HOD through our other curriculum. Thus, HOD is "behind" our other curriculum in that sense, so I could only use it with younger kids... but then I'd have to do separate programs for them, and I couldn't figure out a smooth way to schedule everything.

[Momma H]

I tried the first ones, I think LHFHG and it was not a go at our house. My son did not like the chanty rhymes for the letters at all. It was really hard to do because you had to look at the book to see what motion to do and try and say the song at the same time--that was hard!

The books she picks look great. I think she has a wondeful heart for the Lord. I really prefer MFW because I can change around the schedule real easy to my needs. I also like that MFW is a framework to work with but it is not scripted--HOD felt really unnatural to me with the more scripted style. The other thing that did not work for us and I am not sure how other people handle it that there are not enough years done to cover long term. I am sure she is in the process but that was something I thought about with it.

It is so wonderful that there are so many options out there for us to chose from! I know lots of people on the board love HOD and I am happy for them that they found something that feels right.

Stacey

[3babiesmommy]

We have used Little Hearts and parts of Beyond and Bigger (if that tells you anything about how much I wanted it to work!!) I haven't read all of your responses, but I will echo the others who said it was just too hard to combine. I always felt like I was hitting the needs of one kid and really stretching to meet the needs of the other (and they are only 2 years apart). That said, I love the older levels (Bigger and the looks of those above it), but the younger ones were tough for us with the science being all over the place and my kiddos not much into the rhymes and a lot of the games. We are using a curriculum next year where I can combine at least the older 2, but I am still looking at HOD for years into the future when there is more independence in my older ones and we could handle seperate programs.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Coleen

[Hedgehogs4]

what is HOD? it's not in the abbreviations list.

[Donna T.]

what is HOD? it's not in the abbreviations list.

 

Heart of Dakota

 

http://www.heartofdakota.com/

[birchbark]

We are using just part of Bigger Hearts this year. I wanted to try it out to see if I wanted to go with them when we started our chronological history cycle.

 

Overall, I really like it. Great book choices, balanced, includes copywork/dictation/narration, easy-to-use guide, lit-based, Christ-honoring. There is reading, but not nearly the amount of SL.

 

The only things I don't like about it are that it is "mom-intensive" as other posters said, at least at this level. There are more activities than I want, but I just skip many of them. I also think the science looks light, but I can't speak from experience since I am not using that part of the guide.

[mystika1]

If I remember correctly the book that I used was LHFHG and sadly my daughter didn't like it. Each day it felt like we read the same bible story for each subject. For example:

Bible: Genesis

History: History for little Pilgrims-Same Genesis Story!

Science:Exploring God's World-Again the Same Genesis Story.

 

Next Day

Bible The next Chapter for Bible

History: History for Little Pilgrims-Same Bible Story!

Science: Exploring God's World-Again the same bible story!

 

That didn't go over well in my house and certainly didn't last long. Maybe this changed the further along you go but I didn't stick aroung long enough for that. :DI loved the fact that everything was arranged in the TM but really..........

 

I switched to Fiar and the Bible Suppliment and things went much better.

 

I am very glad it works well for others. I just wanted to point that out to you.

 

HTH,

 

Penny

[Donna T.]

If I remember correctly the book that I used was LHFHG and sadly my daughter didn't like it. Each day it felt like we read the same bible story for each subject.

Penny

 

The point of that is to teach the child to view the Bible as real history and not just "stories". And, it doesn't last long. It doesn't apply to every Bible story, just some of them. Mostly in Genesis since that's where both the Bible and the history book start. We are now covering the explorers, so of course, there are no more Bible stories :001_smile:. I can see how that might feel odd to some users but it didn't feel that way to me. I really enjoyed having the history books tie in with the Bible early on in the year.

[hmschooling]

The point of that is to teach the child to view the Bible as real history and not just "stories". And, it doesn't last long. It doesn't apply to every Bible story, just some of them. Mostly in Genesis since that's where both the Bible and the history book start. We are now covering the explorers, so of course, there are no more Bible stories :001_smile:. I can see how that might feel odd to some users but it didn't feel that way to me. I really enjoyed having the history books tie in with the Bible early on in the year.

:iagree:

[mystika1]

The point of that is to teach the child to view the Bible as real history and not just "stories". And, it doesn't last long. It doesn't apply to every Bible story, just some of them. Mostly in Genesis since that's where both the Bible and the history book start. We are now covering the explorers, so of course, there are no more Bible stories :001_smile:. I can see how that might feel odd to some users but it didn't feel that way to me. I really enjoyed having the history books tie in with the Bible early on in the year.

 

 

I really do understand how important it is for children to see God's hand in history. My daughter and I are currently using a curriculum with Bible combined. I think it is important. The HOD way just didn't work for us.:001_smile:I am not slamming it as I found it to be really open and go unless(as the others said)you need to combine children. The curriculum I use now is similar but I am not reading the same bible story from three different books.(science, History and of course Bible) I now read the bible story once from one source and then take off from there. My dd didn't like reading the same bible story over and over and over the same day. She would say, "Mom, didn't we just read that already?" That glazed over look told me it was not working. I guess I should have looked ahead in the TM. I had originally been torn between choosing HOD or Fiar so I decided to give Fiar a try since I could get the volumes used for cheap and the books from the library. I immediately saw a difference.

 

I looked again at the other levels of HOD and really got interested in it again but changed my mind. If it ain't broken......sunk into my mind.:D

 

Sincerely,

 

Penny

[ChandlerR]

I am currently using three HOD programs with my three sons, ages 5 (LHFHG), 8 (BHFHG) and 12 (CTC). I cannot say enough good things about HOD! Our days go so smoothly and my boys are learning and retaining SO much -- and I am NOT pulling my hair out (even doing three different programs!)! All three of my kids have grown so much in their walk with the Lord this year, and I attribute a lot of that to HOD. IMO, this curriculum is the perfect blend of Bible, academics, and character-training. God's Word is woven into each history story and it has made the Bible really come "alive" for my kids. My middle son in particular has spiritually grown so much this year, and I truly feel that the things he has been learning via HOD have played a huge role in that.

 

No curriuculm is "perfect," and there may be some aspects of HOD that don't work for you. However, it is written so that you can fairly easily substitute and add/subtract things as you wish. We do it pretty much "by the book" this year, but we may add a few small things next year - no big deal. One of the best things about HOD is their wonderful message board on their website. Carrie, the author, visits the board several times a week and will gladly answer any questions you may have. There are many other helpful ladies who will chime in with info, too. I love the fact that I can easily contact the author with any questions/concerns I may have, and read about the experiences of other HOD families, as well.

 

Only you can know what curriculum will work best for you and your kiddos, but I think you will be very pleased should you decide to give HOD a try. Good luck to you as you make your decision! :0)

 

~Chandler

[sandra in va]

Thank you to everyone who has shared here. You guys are the best!!! I have learned so much about HOD from your experiences. I haven't reached a final decision, but I think my next step is to get my hands on the guides and books for the levels I want to use. As some of suggested here, without seeing them in their entirety, I can't make the best decision.

 

I hope that this thread will help others researching HOD in the future! :001_smile:

[Donna T.]

I really do understand how important it is for children to see God's hand in history. My daughter and I are currently using a curriculum with Bible combined.

 

Oh, of course! I didn't mean to imply that if you don't like how HOD does it that you don't value it at all! Just explaining to the original poster because even though that does happen with Little Hearts it is not representative of the whole curriculum. We are completely done with the Bible stories now. And, I took another route to the same end with my oldest. So, there are lots of ways to go about it.

 

Blessings!

[Donna A.]

Oh, of course! I didn't mean to imply that if you don't like how HOD does it that you don't value it at all! Just explaining to the original poster because even though that does happen with Little Hearts it is not representative of the whole curriculum. We are completely done with the Bible stories now. And, I took another route to the same end with my oldest. So, there are lots of ways to go about it.

 

Blessings!

 

Actually, the same method is resurrected again in Creation to Christ (CTC). Get it? "Resurrected" in Creation to Christ.... :lol: Ha! Don't mind me. :D

[Tidbits of Learning]

The curriculum I use now is similar but I am not reading the same bible story from three different books.

 

We wound up skipping forward to the History for Little Pilgrims sections b/c of this reason. It also happened again in Bigger Hearts. You would read the history in one of the Egleston books and then the same week read the same story in the other Egleston book and if you were doing the extensions read a section in the CLP history book about the same thing.

It was a lot of repitition.

[Donna T.]

Actually, the same method is resurrected again in Creation to Christ (CTC). Get it? "Resurrected" in Creation to Christ.... :lol: Ha! Don't mind me. :D

 

:lol:

 

You must be feeling better!! I've been praying for you!

[Donna A.]

:lol:

 

You must be feeling better!! I've been praying for you!

 

Awwww, thanks! Just call me Medicine Head. :ack2:

[tjlcc]

This is our first year homeschooling and we are using LHFHG with BLHFHG Spelling for newly turned 7 yr. old ds. We are also using LHTH with some K material for newly turned 5 yr. old ds.

 

I have added some extra Science to our days. The LHFHG Science is very simplistic and my boys love Science so I wanted to add a bit more "meat". We've added Apologia Astronomy which we love and many library books, such as the "Let's Read & Find Out Science" books and DK Encylopedias. I don't feel it's necessary to add to the LHFHG Science though.

 

My thoughts on the rhymes: There are a few rhymes sung to the tune of very childlike songs such as "I'm a Little Teapot". My ds did not enjoy that one! We normally don't do the rhyme every day; 2-3 times per week is enough for my ds.

 

The LHFHG devotional is perfect for my oldest ds as he is doesn't require much visualization. However, I'm going to wait and use the devotional with my youngest ds when he's a bit older. I don't think he would understand much of it yet.

 

If your using LHFHG with a 5 year old, I would recommend using the Family Time Bible rather than 101 Favorite Bible Stories. We've used the latter this year, and enjoyed it immensely, but not for a young K.

 

I chose to use LHTH with my younger ds as I knew he wasn't ready for LHFHG. While he already knows his letters and their sounds, he has still really enjoyed this program. The Bible story and related activity is wonderful. He balks at the Dramatic Play and that's fine with me.

 

As to combining children, I believe the author suggests choosing the guide that suits your youngest rather than the oldest. You can than beef up the guide for the older, if needed.

 

As already suggested, I would definitely recommend getting your hands on as many guides as possible before buying.

 

Blessings,

Jess

[coffeefreak]

Ditto this. I'm also in the camp with those who tried, really, really tried to combine my younger two, but it just wasn't doable because while each program is flexible for a small range of ages, that range is TOO small for our needs. And my oldest is too old for HOD. I know they say you can extend a package up to her age, but she's already read the majority of books scheduled in HOD through our other curriculum. Thus, HOD is "behind" our other curriculum in that sense, so I could only use it with younger kids... but then I'd have to do separate programs for them, and I couldn't figure out a smooth way to schedule everything.

 

:iagree:

I was all set to buy it last year, and just couldn't do it. There was no way to combine the girls, and my oldest had already read the majority of the books for the program at her age level. She's always been a year ahead of Carrie's writings, so it has never worked for us.

 

However, I had to post and disagree with a pp on DITHOR. We use this program and LOVE it! I do absolutely NO planning. I pick the genre, pick a book for dd to read over 10 days, and literally open the TG each day to teach the lesson. DD loves it too. It's really helped us to broaden her scope of reading. this way, we're not just reading the history assignments, or classics. Unlike the main HOD programs, with DITHOR, you CAN combine your kids. I just started doing it with my youngest and it works smoothly.

 

HTH!

Dorinda

[Gratia271]

I used Little Hearts and did not care for the program at all.

[coffeefreak]

The other thing that did not work for us and I am not sure how other people handle it that there are not enough years done to cover long term. I am sure she is in the process but that was something I thought about with it.

It is so wonderful that there are so many options out there for us to chose from! I know lots of people on the board love HOD and I am happy for them that they found something that feels right.

Stacey

 

I wanted to comment on this too. If you go to the HOD forums, there are discussions about where Carrie is going with the HOD curriculum. She intends to finish the 4 year rotation she started with Creation through Christ. I just went over there and saw she has Rome to the Reformation up, and it looks fabulous :thumbup1: (see, I love the looks, but I simply cannot keep up with two programs :( ). When she finishes the next two years, from what I understand she intends to stop. Therefore, the program would only take you through Jr High. You would need to find something else for High School. If that's changed, someone please correct me, but that's what I read last summer. I don't know if that's a positive or a negative, I guess it depends on who you are and what your high school goals are.

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[MrsMe]

She has since added a Geography year after RTR. So far she's still going.:lol:

[angela&4boys]

I'm relatively certain that there is a high school geography program in the works. You can see the scope and sequence here. And here is a link to one discussion about it at the HOD forum.

 

(ETA: I see alilac beat me to it. ;-)

[Donna T.]

Yes, there will be atleast one high school level course. And, I think there will be more. There are many moms praying for such and I think it'll happen.

 

As for me, I just ordered my Creation to Christ TM today!!!

[Guest IIIJn4Mom]

For those who might be familiar with both, how do you think HOD's grammar stacks up to First Language Lessons, say in Bigger? We've used LHFHG with our 6 year old twins and they have loved it. I've stretched it over two years (mostly b/c they want to finish the history and the read-alouds, and I want them to finish the math), and as they have transitioned to the next level I've been "filling in" with until we finish the last unit with First Language Lessons, Dolche sight words, my own copywriting from McGuffey, etc. Those elements have been working well, but now we're about done and I'm ready to purchase Bigger. I love what I see in the Intro (their online pdf), but I'm not sure it's as aggressive as FLL (though it looks like it contains the same elements such as poetry, copyrwriting, grammar rules/usage, etc.). I'm also intrigued with Shurley Grammar 1 (used it w/our older dd), but I think it will be redundant if I use Bigger or FLL. I'll probably just purchase the jingles CD as an add-on. Anyway, any suggestions or opinions would be welcome!

 

BTW, our 11 yo dd used CTC this past year. I thought it was wonderful, she not so much. She did not like all the textbook reading she had to do, for example Apologia (she likes me to read to her and discuss as we go). She's hooked on "real" books and would much rather read a living book from the period than a textbook. She absolutely hated the Geography (I loved it). I think the biggest hits for her were History (she did like that reading) and Grammar (b/c she didn't have to write much). We use Teaching Textbooks...she likes that, too. Some of the science books she did not relate to b/c the plants or animals are not found here (e.g., the bird book is based on European birds). The devotionals did not fly, but we already had a system in place and I didn't force her to replace it. Again, there were all personal preference issues. I think/pray my younger two will probably continue to love HOD through the years.

 

Anyway, thanks for suggestions on grammar/language arts selections!

[Guest IIIJn4Mom]

I meant to say that I am looking at purchasing Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory, not Bigger. That is what I am asking for comparisons to - FLL compared to Beyond's Language Arts. My 6 yo girls move a bit slowly (at least compared to my 11 yo), and I don't think they'd be ready for Bigger yet. Thanks again.

[Donna T.]

Beyond's lesson plans include one day a week of grammar. It is an intro. to basic concepts: subjects, predicates, punctuation, etc. If your children have completed FLL (1 and 2), they will have covered the grammar in Beyond. So, you can decide if you want to move forward and place them into Rod & Staff (which is what HOD would recommend, when they are ready) or you could just stick with the grammar in Beyond and have a year of review. I guess it would depend on whether or not the lessons in FLL "stuck" with your children. Some children do retain all the info. in FLL, but some benefit from a review. We began FLL when my son was five so a review isn't a bad thing for him at all.

 

Beyond's LA covers everything you would need in a complete LA program. It includes spelling, copywork (you can adjust the length of the copywork to place your children where you want them to be), writing sentences, poetry study & memorization, and the beginning grammar for a 6 or 7 year old. My son is almost done with Little Hearts but he finished up FLL earlier this year and is now using a Queen Homeschool book. It covers practically the same things that are in Beyond. When he gets to Beyond, next year, I am going to have him in Rod & Staff 2. We have done some of the grammar in Beyond and he really likes it. You use index cards to make sentence parts and he loves matching those up to make his own sentences. Alot of moms use the LA in Bigger Hearts alongside Beyond if they want more grammar and want to begin dictation.

[Donna T.]

Some of the science books she did not relate to b/c the plants or animals are not found here (e.g., the bird book is based on European birds).

 

OK, now, that is going to bug me. We live in the Deep South and we run into that all the time with our natural history books (my son is a natural history buff). But, Europe!?! I guess I better go buy that book now to check it out. My TM just shipped today. I can't wait to see it.

 

Thanks for the info.!

[Guest IIIJn4Mom]

Just curious - where are you in the Deep South? We're in SE Alabama. You can email me privately if you like...teresa@davenportdesign.com.

 

Also, I see you use Hey, Andrew Teach Me Some Greek. I'm trying to decide between that and Classical Academic Press's Greek for my 11 yo. I've used the Bluedorn's Greek books for several years now and she can read pretty well from an interlinear Bible...we need to move on to "heavier" stuff now.

 

Thanks for sharing!