HOD Users

[gratitude]

I am considering HOD Preparing for my ds8 for his 3rd grade year next fall (I have done the placement chart, and he will be 9 this summer, and Preparing looks like a great fit academically).

 

I am wanting to hear anything and everything you can tell me about HOD & Preparing. What do you like? What do you not like? How is the Bible? How is the Bible integrated with the world history? How is the history? How is it academically? If any of you have used HOD for years; what do you think about it academically & spiritually in terms of the results that you see in your kids from your curriculum (I realize a lot of factors go into our kids that extend far beyond curriculum; like up-bringing, but curriculum also has its impact).

 

Thank you!

[Sue G in PA]

On my Kindle...can type more later but Preparing was my favorite HOD year. Our first taste of HOD as well. Loved everything about it except perhaps the science. Cant wait to do it again in a couple years with my younger children. :)

[ChicoryChick]

Preparing was also one of my favorite years. We have been using HOD for 4 years and I have felt it has given me the confidence and skills I needed to help teach any curriculum. While we are not planning to use it this coming year due to some new seasons in my life, I have never regretted using it. I believe it has given my children a good biblical and academic (when I followed her recommendations) foundation, better than I ever could have done trying to put together on my own before having used it. i highly recommend it.

[extrafor6]

If you don't mind, please remind me...did you use hod last year for a while? If so, do mind my asking why you stopped with HOD this past year? Was it wrong placement? I also seriously contemplated using Preparing this year, but we have gone a different direction. Just curious :)

 

Stephanie

[Edwena]

I haven't used Preparing. We are using it this coming school year. We have however used HOD for two years now. We love it!!! When you ask my dc what their favorite part of the school day is they always answer HOD.

 

Academically, it is sound and I can see a progression with each year. Skills are being built every year.

 

Spiritually I love it. This past year they memorized atleast one Scripture a week sometimes 2-3/week. We discussed character traits and tried to instill them in our lives. Things like diligence and initiative.

 

My friend also uses HOD and we were just discussing how we love to see our children's face light up when they hear the preach quote a Bible verse they have memorized or talk about something (character) they have learned in school.

 

My children make connections all the time. Love it!!!

[gratitude]

If you don't mind, please remind me...did you use hod last year for a while? If so, do mind my asking why you stopped with HOD this past year? Was it wrong placement? I also seriously contemplated using Preparing this year, but we have gone a different direction. Just curious :)

 

Stephanie

 

I don't mind. I did try it last fall and made a few mistakes when I did it. The first was I moved all 3 of my oldest from MFW to HOD at once. I thought I had to have them all in the same curriculum; which is simply not true of course. :tongue_smilie: The second was trying to start 3 new TMs at once along with DITHFR. Too much at once to adjust to. Then the other problems I had was placement. I placed both of my two oldest too low and had to move them up. By this point we were in December. Then the phonics weren't as complete as MFW1 for my second son. So I quickly realized we needed to get back to MFW1 for first grade. Then just put all of the original mistake in reverse. I thought I needed them to be together in one curriculum. So I moved all of them back. 20/20 vision of hind sight is my oldest needed something other than Adventures. By the time we finally made it to Bigger as the right placement we only did 3 weeks before I switched him to be with siblings. The three weeks went well, which is the reason I have been thinking again of HOD and Preparing for him. Similarly MFW1 is just where my second born has needed to be this year. I think what I was trying to do was pick one or the other and take it through high school. At this point it is more one kid and one year at a time. So I am still deciding. I have an avid reader on my hands and want to pick a good fit for him. Adventures didn't work very well for him. He wanted more history, note booking, etc...etc..etc.

 

Do you mind me asking what different direction you took?

Edited June 16, 2012 by gratitude

[extrafor6]

Sure...and it's funny but I think you, Katrina and I run circles around each other in regards to curriculum. I NEED a pre-planned, boxed program because I am still developing in the area of having self discipline to plan and execute. Another thing for me, the boxed curriculums help me because they take out decision making which is something I do very poorly...I have a difficult time deciding on specifics. Which is why I've already purchased MFW ECC and 1st grade...all decisions made :) My husband is the biggest proponent of the boxed curriculum because he knows making decisions keeps me up at night and I am easily overwhelmed with having thee dc in school and a 3 yo to keep occupied and out of trouble. I like the idea and book selections of HOD but ultimately it came down to wanting to combine for content areas. I used bigger for everyone this year and while it was great in some regards, the history readings were very frustrating for one of my dds. I just plan to use the books i like from SL and HOD for book basket. Sorry this is so long winded...I read your other thread about piecing together for next year and I hope that you are having a peace now that you've made a step in the decision process. Yeah for you!:)

Stephanie

[Leimarie]

I am considering HOD Preparing for my ds8 for his 3rd grade year next fall (I have done the placement chart, and he will be 9 this summer, and Preparing looks like a great fit academically).

 

I am wanting to hear anything and everything you can tell me about HOD & Preparing. What do you like?

This past year was our first with HoD. All in all, I am very glad it was the curriculum we chose. I needed the framework that the HoD guide provided. It helped me ensure that we were covering the disciplines necessary without overloading the days. Even when we took several months off of school we were able to just pick up where we left off and they had retained what we covered in the beginning of the school year.

 

What do you not like?

I am using multiple guides because while my children are close in age their skill levels are widely spaced. I like and dislike that at the same time. It means a full day for us since their schooling is spread out, but it is also a blessing because I really am giving each child what they need (which was a big draw for bringing them home). The other thing I don't like is that some aspects of CM methodology don't get introduced until later levels. This is an easy fix though, we add in picture study and nature study as a family, which helps give us "together" time during the school day without sacrificing the attention to their skill levels. We also do not use Singapore Math, but substituting didn't really create an issue.

 

How is the Bible? How is the Bible integrated with the world history? How is the history?

We appreciated the study of the Psalms and the manner in which it progressed. It was a great exercise in developing a rhythm for personal devotion time. As for integration with world history, we were only through 6 units (our school year derailed for family reasons unrelated to academics) but those units covered a biblical view of prehistoric times. My son enjoyed the readings and the activities. We have not completed Preparing yet.

 

How is it academically?

I was initially hesitant about switching to HoD because I was afraid it wasn't rigorous enough. The guides do start slowly (we have LHfHG through Preparing) but I was surprisingly pleased to see that the gentle progression really led to retention for my children. I also realized that the short lessons each day were building on each other nicely without spending so much time that the children lost focus. They remain engaged and it just gets done. It fits our family goals well, training character as a matter of first importance and creating learners, not academics for the sake of academics. I realize that each family has different goals for home-schooling though, so this will not help every family.

 

If any of you have used HOD for years; what do you think about it academically & spiritually in terms of the results that you see in your kids from your curriculum (I realize a lot of factors go into our kids that extend far beyond curriculum; like up-bringing, but curriculum also has its impact).

 

Thank you!

This was only our first year with HoD so I can't speak to long-term results, but with the climate of our year HoD was truly a blessing. We intend to continue with HoD for as long as it helps our family in achieving our home-schooling goals.

[Tenaj]

My ds10 did Preparing this year. We made it through to Week 27 before our summer seemed to explode around us so he is just reading the rest of the books to finish it out. In fact, I think he finished CHOW yesterday so I guess I can pack them away :) I saw a great improvement in his ability to work independently. The narration was great for him as he really needed work in that area. Looking back, I will probably add in more writing for my next kidlet to do that guide, maybe WWE but maybe just another written narration per week.

 

We are looking forward to starting CTC in August.