HOD users: Need your advice!

[Sue G in PA]

I've posted on the HOD board and have gotten some great answers/suggestions as always. I want to post here as well b/c, well, I figure I could get some more, um, "unbiased" advice? :) Here is my dilemna: Ds9, 11 and 12 are finished Preparing. Ds9 will keep doing it half-speed and finish by end of next school year b/c of the time he has missed. Ds11 and 12 will be ready to move on. Ds12 wants to go to public high school in 2 years (2012/13 school year) where he will study the 2nd half of Amer. Hist in 9th. He hasn't had a good background in the 1st half yet! So far since we have started hsing he has had Ancients, Rome to Ref., more Ancients using MOH, Geography with MFW, Geography and some history at ps last year and now World History using Preparing. If we follow the HOD sched, the boys will do CtC and I must say I am so not excited about doing Ancients AGAIN and neither are they! I want to skip CtC and do RtR. Can I do this? Will they be missing anything crucial? Age-wise, RtR fits them. Ds11 is a very independent worker and can easily do the work. Ds12 needs more hand-holding but he can do it, too. What do you think? Do I have permission to skip CtC? :D I can then do a mini-semester over the summer in Amer. Hist to get ds12 ready for public high school.

[Nojo317]

Well placement in HOD is mostly based on academics, not age. One thing to consider before skipping CtC is where do you children place beyond age in areas of writing, independent learning, etc. You want your kids to be able to complete the assignments in RtR, not just be reading books. Another thing to consider before ditching CtC is does it use different books than MFW used to cover the Ancients?

 

If your kids will not be floundering in RtR with regards to what will be expected of them, then why not skip CtC?

[Sue G in PA]

We didn't use MFW for Ancients. They used K12 several years ago (which was basically SOTW 1 b/c SWB wrote for K12) and then MOH for Ancients. I'm sure it would be different as far as books used...but I honestly just cannot even think about doing Ancients again with ANY curriculum! LOL. I do believe that both boys could do RtR...all aspects. Ds12 is a good writer. Ds11 is as well. Ds11 is a bit more capable of independent work while ds12 needs/wants more Mom involvement, kwim? The work would not be a problem for them, I'm certain.

[jewel7123]

I'm not an HOD user at the moment, but I do understand about wanting an UNBIASED opinion, lol. I say skip CTC and do RTR if you're certain your children can handle the work load. Have at it!! :D

[Tree House Academy]

The skills build on each other, so it is never recommended to skip a guide. You will see a HUGE jump in what is expected of each child from Preparing to RTR. However, if HOD has not been your main curriculum through your school years and you just picked it up this year and found it to be possibly an ill fit, but finished it out anyway...then I don't see why you can't go on to RTR with them if you like. Be aware of the jumps in academics and understanding.

 

My older ds tried Bigger with extensions last year because I wanted to do American Hist so bad even though he didn't place well in Bigger and fit much better in Preparing. We had just done CHOW with Calvert and so doing it again was not up my alley either. I stopped Bigger with him after a few months and went with R&S Texts for the rest of last year. This year, I came back to HOD and followed the placement chart VERY closely. I placed him in CTC and we have had an AMAZING year!!!

 

I say go with your gut and do what you think is best. Ultimately, you are the parent!!!

[Sue G in PA]

Rebecca, we just started HOD this year...put ds9, ds11 and ds12 in Preparing. They all placed well there (ds12 using extentions) with the exception of ds9 who would have done better in Bigger. But I could not handle another guide. He will do Preparing over 2 years. My older boys would fit WELL into RtR if I were new to HOD and just selecting a Guide. Does that make sense? They can do all the things the placement chart says they should be able to do. I am drawn to RtR for a number of reasons and my gut does tell me this is a good choice...and dh thinks so, too. I don't "want" to skip a guide...the "perfectionist" in me is cringing. :D However, RtR would be a better fit in a variety of ways. I realize there is a jump in skills and I guess I won't know for sure if it is the best fit until we get it (or look at it at convention) and start using it. Math-wise...ds11 fits perfectly, Grammar the same, DITHOR same, dictation same (he is flying through the highest level dictation in the Preparing Guide as it is) AND, most importantly, he is very capable of independent work. Ds12 fits well, too with the only exception being the independent work. He uses a different math, so that doesn't matter much. I wish we had found HOD 5 years ago and just progressed through but hindsight is always 20/20, right? ;)

[birchbark]

First of all, I wouldn't worry too much about what your son "might" be learning two years down the road. So many things could change before then. Make the best decision for right now.

 

I skipped a guide in HoD. Last year we did Bigger Hearts, and this year we are doing CTC. (I also had already done CHOW and was itching to start the Ancients.)

 

Yes, it was a big jump. No doubt about it. But it worked out for a couple reasons: one, he was actually placed a little low in Bigger. I didn't understand the skill-based approach to HoD then and wanted him in American history. I think he would have placed better in Preparing. Secondly, I "pared down" CTC when we started it this year, then slowly brought him up to speed. When we first began, I did a lot more hand-holding with him, and frequently cut down the length of the writing and copywork. I used the lowest level in dictation. (Thankfully he had learned how to do written narrations, one of the skills taught in Preparing, in Writing Tales the previous year.) Anyway, his writing skills have really blossomed and now he is doing all the work assigned in CTC, with the exception of the Bible Study assignments, which we have dropped for the sake of time (we still do the reading). And I've also recently bumped him up a level in dictation.

 

So a jump is possible, if you and your DC are ready to work a little harder! If you think your DC fit into RTR on the placement chart, go for it! If you can get your hands on a RTR guide, it may help you feel a lot better about your decision.

[Sue G in PA]

I will see the Guide at convention in June! I'm not purchasing until then anyway so I have some time to think. Right now I do think RtR is the best fit. FWIW...CtC would have been the "best" fit for my older 2 boys this past year but b/c of budget and time I chose to put all 3 boys in Preparing. It has been a "light" year for ds11 and ds12 but certainly challenging enough.