Heart of Dakota Question

[kagmypts]

We are contemplating using HOD next year (either Preparing or CTC) for my (then) 4th grader. On the one hand, I love that everything is a cohesive program, but on the other hand, I want some flexibility. I plan to use R&S English and math regardless of the choice we make with respect to HOD. I would also like to add R&S Spelling, Zaner-Bloser handwriting, Writing Strands, and some logic supplements (DD loves these). I also really like the look of Noeo Science so I am on the fence about whether we would use the HOD science readers. Do any you have any advice about whether HOD would be a good fit for us? When did you find HOD to be a good fit for your family/child? Thank you!!!

 

ETA - I was reading in some threads that recommended readings for SL are not always completed. I am not sure if that is true, but does HOD finish all of the books that are started? I am completionist!!

[JaneP]

My older dd has done Preparing and almost finished CTC but we are only doing the history from the CTC manual.

 

It's fine to add things to HOD but it may make for a long day if you don't drop things from the manual.

 

We really liked the Preparing science although some others find it too light. We liked the books and just the simplicity of it. My dd liked doing small amounts of science each day. The HOD yahoo group have the science questions typed up so you can download and print them; they were great.

We dropped the science from CTC after a few months in so I can't really comment on that.

 

From memory, in Preparing, HOD skips the earlier parts of Child's History of the World but I can't remember any other books being left incomplete.

 

I would think that CTC would be too advanced for most 4th graders so maybe that is something you might want to look into more closely - visit the website to check out their placement chart and look at the scheduled books in your library and amazon to see what you think. My dd has found the CTC history books challenging to read and comprehend. HTH

[kagmypts]

My older dd has done Preparing and almost finished CTC but we are only doing the history from the CTC manual.

 

It's fine to add things to HOD but it may make for a long day if you don't drop things from the manual.

 

We really liked the Preparing science although some others find it too light. We liked the books and just the simplicity of it. My dd liked doing small amounts of science each day. The HOD yahoo group have the science questions typed up so you can download and print them; they were great.

We dropped the science from CTC after a few months in so I can't really comment on that.

 

From memory, in Preparing, HOD skips the earlier parts of Child's History of the World but I can't remember any other books being left incomplete.

 

I would think that CTC would be too advanced for most 4th graders so maybe that is something you might want to look into more closely - visit the website to check out their placement chart and look at the scheduled books in your library and amazon to see what you think. My dd has found the CTC history books challenging to read and comprehend. HTH

 

That's precisely my concern with HOD, but I do love that everything seems to be woven together very nicely. I am not sure of placement, but DD is quite advanced and a very strong reader. She is also extremely independent. I saw the notebook pages in CTC, and she would LOVE those!!! I really wish that Preparing had something like that!

 

How do you like the HOD IG/Manuals? I was looking at the Week 1 sample online, and it keeps referring to the Appendix. What kind of information is found in the Appendix? Are all of the discussion questions answered somewhere? My huge concern (for us) is that a lot of HOD will go unused, which defeats the point IMO. Also, does Preparing/CTC work on spelling anywhere? I did not see any material that would specifically work on spelling. Thank you!!

 

PS - Where can I locate the HOD Yahoo group? Does it have open membership?

[Monarch Room]

That's precisely my concern with HOD, but I do love that everything seems to be woven together very nicely. I am not sure of placement, but DD is quite advanced and a very strong reader. She is also extremely independent. I saw the notebook pages in CTC, and she would LOVE those!!! I really wish that Preparing had something like that!

 

How do you like the HOD IG/Manuals? I was looking at the Week 1 sample online, and it keeps referring to the Appendix. What kind of information is found in the Appendix? Are all of the discussion questions answered somewhere? My huge concern (for us) is that a lot of HOD will go unused, which defeats the point IMO. Also, does Preparing/CTC work on spelling anywhere? I did not see any material that would specifically work on spelling. Thank you!!

 

PS - Where can I locate the HOD Yahoo group? Does it have open membership?

 

We're doing HOD Bigger this year with my 4th grader with extensions. My oldest is a really strong reader too. He really would have done really well in Preparing, but it was his first year home. I wanted to combine him with his brother. I think CtC would have been too much for 4th grade. He probably could have handled it, but the guides after get harder and harder. We've done a lot of adding. We added in ES Physics, additional spelling, geography, and a few other things. We start at 8 and are done by 12 (or 12:30 if there is any dilly dallying) on most days. The younger has more breaks because my 4th grader has more work.

 

I haven't got my hands on a CtC manual yet, but I do own a Preparing guide. For me the science is too light on its own. We have been doing HOD science, and 2 extra days of science per week. The appendix has the extension reading schedule, dictation selections, poetry study, and SM schedules. I haven't found myself dropping anything from the HOD guide yet. If I drop anything, it's the extra stuff I threw in. Preparing looks really fun. I look forward to doing it.

 

A mom on the Yahoo group created really great science and history notebooking pages. Look for the ones that are created by Adrienne. Those are great. They don't look like the HOD ones, but they really serve the same purpose. She did a great job :)

Edited October 7, 2012 by waternclay

[kagmypts]

We're doing HOD Bigger this year with my 4th grader with extensions. My oldest is a really strong reader too. He really would have done really well in Preparing, but it was his first year home. I wanted to combine him with his brother. I think CtC would have been too much for 4th grade. He probably could have handled it, but the guides after get harder and harder. We've done a lot of adding. We added in ES Physics, additional spelling, geography, and a few other things. We start at 8 and are done by 12 (or 12:30 if there is any dilly dallying) on most days. The younger has more breaks because my 4th grader has more work.

 

I haven't got my hands on a CtC manual yet, but I do own a Preparing guide. For me the science is too light on it's own. We have been doing HOD science, and 2 extra days of science per week. The appendix has the extension readings schedule, dictation selections, poetry study, and SM schedules. I haven't found myself dropping anything from the HOD guide yet. If I drop anything, it's the extras I threw in. Preparing looks really fun. I look forward to doing it.

 

A mom on the Yahoo group created really great science and history notebooking pages. Look for the ones that are created by Adrienne. Those are great. They don't look like the HOD ones, but they really serve the same purpose. She did a great job :)

 

Thank you so much!!! I actually hope Preparing is where she ends up because it looks more interesting to me!!! I am off to check out the Yahoo group!

[JaneP]

That's precisely my concern with HOD, but I do love that everything seems to be woven together very nicely. I am not sure of placement, but DD is quite advanced and a very strong reader. She is also extremely independent. I saw the notebook pages in CTC, and she would LOVE those!!! I really wish that Preparing had something like that!

 

How do you like the HOD IG/Manuals? I was looking at the Week 1 sample online, and it keeps referring to the Appendix. What kind of information is found in the Appendix? Are all of the discussion questions answered somewhere? My huge concern (for us) is that a lot of HOD will go unused, which defeats the point IMO. Also, does Preparing/CTC work on spelling anywhere? I did not see any material that would specifically work on spelling. Thank you!!

 

PS - Where can I locate the HOD Yahoo group? Does it have open membership?

 

The notebooking pages for CTC are beautiful! But Preparing has the kids making a timeline and that was fantastic for my dd.

 

The appendix has the varying levels of the dictation passages and hints on how to do narrations. Maybe the reading schedule for the extension books too? (we didn't use those so I didn't pay that much attention).

 

HOD uses the Charlotte Mason method of teaching spelling through studied dictation. The manual explains how to do it. It is not a ruled based method - obviously you would need to use a different spelling curriculum if that didn't suit your goals.

 

I do like the manuals. They are very easy to use. I admire Carrie's ability to put so much information so neatly on a two page spread :) Now that we are in CTC I would personally like more teacher helps (like the answer to the science questions) but that could just be me.

 

The boxes do have a "key idea" that addresses the main point of the reading but the discussion questions are not answered in the manual. HOD is based on Charlotte Mason and it is expected the teacher has pre-read the books.

 

The HOD yahoo group is here. They are very practical in their advice. You will need to apply to join but that is easy (and free).

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeschoolingHODMoms/?yguid=312743129

 

Just a thought.... if your dd is advanced and you want to do Preparing you might want to consider ordering the extension reading too.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

We are using HOD's Bigger and NOEO science. We have added in Spelling Power that we do on the days there isn't any dictation. We only do NOEO on the lighter days of HOD's science or where it fits in our schedule. In my opinion if you plan it well you should be able to add in a few extra things and still finish by lunch time. If I can do it with a new baby and a toddler while teaching two I bet most people can :) I am not very organized either.

[miracleone]

We are contemplating using HOD next year (either Preparing or CTC) for my (then) 4th grader. On the one hand, I love that everything is a cohesive program, but on the other hand, I want some flexibility. I plan to use R&S English and math regardless of the choice we make with respect to HOD. I would also like to add R&S Spelling, Zaner-Bloser handwriting, Writing Strands, and some logic supplements (DD loves these). I also really like the look of Noeo Science so I am on the fence about whether we would use the HOD science readers. Do any you have any advice about whether HOD would be a good fit for us? When did you find HOD to be a good fit for your family/child? Thank you!!!

 

ETA - I was reading in some threads that recommended readings for SL are not always completed. I am not sure if that is true, but does HOD finish all of the books that are started? I am completionist!!

 

This Is our first year using HOD and we are doing CtC for 5th grade. After trying different things in the past I believe we have found the right fit for my daughter. She complained about the writing she had to do at first because I made her do all the narrations and copywork in cursive but now she loves how beautiful her notebook looks. She is very artistic so the drawings, hands-on projects, notebooking fit her. I, on the other hand am not good about thinking up projects and so I really appreciate the easy to follow IG. Science is getting done everyday instead of being left on the wayside. We are in our third month and so far we are on track with our read-alouds (storytime books). I feel a sense of accomplishment each day when the boxes are checked :D

 

We are using JAG for grammar, R&S spelling, WWS, and Caesar English for vocabulary. We skipped the Genesis Finding Our Roots book. We are not using DITHOR.

 

Enjoy HOD.

[Tenaj]

My now 11 yods went through Preparing last year for fourth grade and is doing CTC this year for fifth. It's very easy to substitute and add to the HOD schedule. For my guy in CTC this year, we use CLE Math instead of Singapore and Writing Tales 2 instead of Write with the Best. I've added in R&S spelling but we also do the dictation passages. I'm tweaking the R&S English schedule to do it more often than Carrie suggests because my guy can't do grammar just two days a week without forgetting everything in between lessons. We also add in Latina Christiana every day.

 

We've enjoyed the science in both guides so have kept that just as scheduled. I have given him the choice of doing the hands-on projects or not each week. Some he has done, some he hasn't. We were finding that some of them seemed like busy-work rather than a true learning experience. He is really enjoying the painting projects that go along with the poetry in CTC which surprised me.

 

Oh, we don't use DITHOR either. He is reading the books from the DITHOR list and he'll do notebooking pages as per WTM from those books.

 

He doesn't get done by noon . . . now that we're into the routine of the year he's been getting done by 2 or 2:30 but part of that is because he needs to wait on me at certain parts of the day.

[walkermamaof4]

This is our first year with HOD. We are using Preparing. Other years we have used SL, MFW (1850-modern), VP years 1 and 2, SOTW year 1, BF Early American... We are loving our year. It took about 6 weeks for me to feel like I can appreciate all that Carrie has done in it. I love, love, love it and really think we'll be using CTC next year. I have 3 kids all using it: dd16 has special needs and it works great for her. dd12 is excelling with it. dd9 is being stretched a bit and it is good. He handles it fine, does the independent work early in the morning, and would be done first if he weren't waiting on sibs to do the T boxes with them and me. He would love to do it alone if I'd let him, but I think he gains more by our discussion. We read the T work aloud, alternating paragraphs between us. We all love Draw and Write. The poetry has stretched us all. I wish we had started HOD sooner and were more prepared for the poetry writing in Preparing.

 

We've added AAS5 with no problem. We have done 10 lessons of Getting Started with Spanish and Getting Started with Latin. We don't have time to get to them as much as we'd like, but would if we weren't waiting on one another for the T work. I bought Apologia and we haven't gotten to it. We like the science because the notebooking has been good for us and we like the books. They are light, but I think for us this is good as we learn to notebook and write out procedures and such. We've adding handwriting for ds9 as he still needs more practice and didn't know cursive. We don't use R&S English or their math and have had no troubles.

 

Love it!

[Tidbits of Learning]

I would also like to add R&S Spelling, Zaner-Bloser handwriting, Writing Strands, and some logic supplements (DD loves these). I also really like the look of Noeo Science so I am on the fence about whether we would use the HOD science readers. Do any you have any advice about whether HOD would be a good fit for us? When did you find HOD to be a good fit for your family/child?

 

We did HOD for several years. It fit a time in our lives. The list that you have compiled and what your dd loves is very different than HOD's style of learning. At one point, I had a similar list that I tried to add on to HOD. What I realized was that we were essentially running 2 curricula for one school year. There were overlapping materials and certain skills. You had to basically choose what you were going to do HOD and what you were going to tweak and use another curricula. Doing both HOD and adding in a list of that size, was impossible and left burnt out kiddos.

I also realized that my children thrive with the workbook style of learning in some cases and did not thrive with some of the CM styles or HOD methods. If you add all of that list, you would really need to drop everything else from HOD except History and Bible. That is a very expensive history and Bible curriculum for just the history and Bible in it. It gets more and more expensive the higher up you go.

If you go to the CTC and higher guides and put in just the economy package with the history and Bible elements, you can see that it is several hundred dollars. The history in HOD has a lot of projects and cross-curricular skills that may replicate some of the skills in the curricula on your list. This will make a lot of extra work on same skills for your child and it may cause burnout.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if that list is working for your child, then no I don't think that HOD would be a good fit overall. It would be a completely opposite learning style than the list you have. It would also be a very expensive curriculum for just Bible and History.

[kagmypts]

We did HOD for several years. It fit a time in our lives. The list that you have compiled and what your dd loves is very different than HOD's style of learning. At one point, I had a similar list that I tried to add on to HOD. What I realized was that we were essentially running 2 curricula for one school year. There were overlapping materials and certain skills. You had to basically choose what you were going to do HOD and what you were going to tweak and use another curricula. Doing both HOD and adding in a list of that size, was impossible and left burnt out kiddos.

I also realized that my children thrive with the workbook style of learning in some cases and did not thrive with some of the CM styles or HOD methods. If you add all of that list, you would really need to drop everything else from HOD except History and Bible. That is a very expensive history and Bible curriculum for just the history and Bible in it. It gets more and more expensive the higher up you go.

If you go to the CTC and higher guides and put in just the economy package with the history and Bible elements, you can see that it is several hundred dollars. The history in HOD has a lot of projects and cross-curricular skills that may replicate some of the skills in the curricula on your list. This will make a lot of extra work on same skills for your child and it may cause burnout.

I guess what I am trying to say is that if that list is working for your child, then no I don't think that HOD would be a good fit overall. It would be a completely opposite learning style than the list you have. It would also be a very expensive curriculum for just Bible and History.

 

Thank you so much for your advice. I was wondering if once I add in all the extras if HOD really duplicates what I have in mind, and it sounds like you think that it will. I was also wondering if I was buying a very expensive history program (I just had this conversation with my DH last night). This is very insightful, and I really appreciate your advice!

 

I really wish that I could get my hands on a HOD TM to see if anything included in the basic package could replace any of the above items. I like the approach of the items I listed in my OP, but DD is such an avid reader! I think that she would do well in either scenario, but I would like her curriculum to be a little more cohesive than the mish mash that I pulled together on my own (hence, looking at HOD in the first place). However, a program like HOD seems to lose a lot of value if I use a ton of flexibility (i.e. only use the history/read alouds).

Thank you again!

Edited October 9, 2012 by kagmypts

[Momof2littles]

Thank you so much for your advice. I was wondering if once I add in all the extras if HOD really duplicates what I have in mind, and it sounds like you think that it will. I was also wondering if I was buying a very expensive history program (I just had this conversation with my DH last night). This is very insightful, and I really appreciate your advice!

 

I really wish that I could get my hands on a HOD TM to see if anything included in the basic package could replace any of the above items. I like the approach of the items I listed in my OP, but DD is such an avid reader! I think that she would do well in either scenario, but I would like her curriculum to be a little more cohesive than the mish mash that I pulled together on my own (hence, looking at HOD in the first place). However, a program like HOD seems to lose a lot of value if I use a ton of flexibility (i.e. only use the history/read alouds).

Thank you again!

 

 

HOD didn't work for us bc my dd was too advanced for the math and below in history. As she gets older, I can see her not completely fitting into one guide...I might need to use two guides for many years and to me that kind of defeats the purpose of open and go. The solution that HOD gives for most problems, is to buy the next or lower guide.

 

I also am not fond of the key idea statements. Instead of allowing my kids to form their own ideas and opinions, the author is telling me exactly what they should learn and exactly what I should teach. That is a lot like public school (I'm a currently certified teacher) and definitely not the direction I want to go for my homeschool.

 

HOD is a great program and well thought out, but it just did not fit our family.

[Lab1]

I also am not fond of the key idea statements. Instead of allowing my kids to form their own ideas and opinions, the author is telling me exactly what they should learn and exactly what I should teach. That is a lot like public school (I'm a currently certified teacher) and definitely not the direction I want to go for my homeschool.

 

HOD is a great program and well thought out, but it just did not fit our family.

 

The key idea statements are there for a help. You don't need to read them to your children! I find them nice to keep my focus, but rarely read them to my kids! They do fine by themselves, I'm always pulled in different directions and its nice to have a quick refocus statement.

 

We are using Preparing this yr for 4th and 5th. We are using the free notebook pages for science and history. My girls books are beautiful! The science is a little light, but it gets done daily! My girls read science books for fun reading, so I don't stress it. Now that we have a routine established, I'm adding in the extension reading for my kids. My 4th grader is an advanced reader where my 5th grader is average. I think they will enjoy the readings. They are broken into manageable chunks.

 

Besides adding Latin to our day, I don't tweek the daily schedule. We found the studied dictation to work so much better then any spelling program we used. We are enjoying it and its a good fit for our family. I would try it like written before tweaking it to see if those needs are met first. That is what I did last yr and I found that I didn't need to add like I thought I would like to. My girls grew so much and begged for the next level.

[daybreaking]

We are contemplating using HOD next year (either Preparing or CTC) for my (then) 4th grader. On the one hand, I love that everything is a cohesive program, but on the other hand, I want some flexibility. I plan to use R&S English and math regardless of the choice we make with respect to HOD. I would also like to add R&S Spelling, Zaner-Bloser handwriting, Writing Strands, and some logic supplements (DD loves these). I also really like the look of Noeo Science so I am on the fence about whether we would use the HOD science readers. Do any you have any advice about whether HOD would be a good fit for us? When did you find HOD to be a good fit for your family/child? Thank you!!!

 

ETA - I was reading in some threads that recommended readings for SL are not always completed. I am not sure if that is true, but does HOD finish all of the books that are started? I am completionist!!

 

I've used HOD, along with several of the items you've listed, for several years now. (We're currently using R&S Spelling 4, R&S Math 5, R&S English 4 & Zaner-Bloser 4, while also finishing up Bigger Hearts with Extensions, which we started last year.) Our day is longer than typical HOD families, but the mixture has been a great combination for us. I have found the blend of HOD dictation and R&S Spelling to be the perfect fit for us. R&S spellling only takes my ds about 15 minutes a day, so that doesn't add too much time and the dictation has been a great help. We substitute Zaner-Bloser for the recommended handwriting programs and R&S Math for Singapore. R&S English is already scheduled, so that's not extra. We do our own science (R&S and Apologia), but I didn't want my ds to miss the books used by HOD for science, as I think they're fantastic, so I have my ds do the readings on his own, and then I have him share with me what he learned, plus I have him do the once a week science notebooking. We don't really do the experiments. (I liked the idea of them, along with the lab sheets, but, unfortunately, I had too many times that they didn't work for us. Since the R&S Science experiments always work, we just stick with them and I figure he'll get lab sheets via Apologia.) The other curriculum you mentioned, Writing Strands, is the only one I think would be difficult to mesh with HOD, since Carrie weaves a lot of writing and writing instruction throughout the curriculum.

 

I love the integration of the items on the left side of the HOD manual. To me it's worth the cost of the manual to have it all laid out for me. I love having wonderful, living books to read and I love how Carrie is very careful with what she introduces to children and when. I never have to worry about any of her book selections, plus they are all top-notch. I enjoy how the Bible study relates to the readings and how there are weekly memory verses that coincide with the readings and character traits being studied. I also am pleased with the way poetry study and hymn study (in Bigger) are included, as I never seemed to get to them on my own. :)

[Abbeygurl4]

Thank you so much for your advice. I was wondering if once I add in all the extras if HOD really duplicates what I have in mind, and it sounds like you think that it will. I was also wondering if I was buying a very expensive history program (I just had this conversation with my DH last night). This is very insightful, and I really appreciate your advice!

 

I really wish that I could get my hands on a HOD TM to see if anything included in the basic package could replace any of the above items. I like the approach of the items I listed in my OP, but DD is such an avid reader! I think that she would do well in either scenario, but I would like her curriculum to be a little more cohesive than the mish mash that I pulled together on my own (hence, looking at HOD in the first place). However, a program like HOD seems to lose a lot of value if I use a ton of flexibility (i.e. only use the history/read alouds).

Thank you again!

 

You can order the TM, look through it and send it back if you don't want it. You'd just be out shipping costs.

[Momof2littles]

The key idea statements are there for a help. You don't need to read them to your children! I find them nice to keep my focus, but rarely read them to my kids! They do fine by themselves, I'm always pulled in different directions and its nice to have a quick refocus statement.

 

 

I agree and didnt read them to my dd, but I feel like they limit my thinking! That's obviously what Carrie had in mind as the key for all the boxes for the day (at least in the lower levels I have) and of you deviate from that specific key idea then everything is "messed" up for the day.

 

It's a great idea and well planned and thoughtful curriculum but it's not for us pretty much bc it limits our thinking. I was originally drawn to it because of her reformed theology and strong biblical centered ness, but after using the curriculum i don't want such a "bossy" curriculum. That's just my opinion. :)

 

I'm a certified teacher and I know Carrie was also. Her curriculum is very academic, although gentle, and very thorough and rigorous! I love the idea, but in my homeschool I don't want or need a bossy curriculum. I just wanted to clarify my previous statement.