Hi, New with questions - HOD

[HeartatHome]

Hi All,

I’m new to homeschooling and this board (although, I’ve been lurking for a while J

What a blessing this forum has been as I’ve been able to glean so much information and it’s calmed my nerves a bit about this new adventure.

 

A little background:

I work from home full time (not too flexible in my work hours as I have to be on-line and available from around 8ish to 5ish for the most part) but I do have flexibility to catch-up in the evenings after kiddo’s go to sleep should I need to. I have a 4 year old who will be turning 5 in a month and also a 1 year old that’s always at my feet :-) I need something very open and go and planned out for me for these reasons so I’ve been stuck between MFW and HOD for the longest time. I think I’ve finally decided towards HOD but I do still go back and forth. (sigh)

 

After much thought and prayer I’ve decided to keep it super simple for K and just focus on Bible, reading, writing and math. I was originally going to use Little Hearts for his Glory for her K year but now leaning towards using it for 1^st grade. I keep seeing mixed reviews (ie; too babyish and at the same time the history and readings are a bit over their heads) so it’s hard to tell what will work well as every child is so different and it’s all so subjective but I figured better to beef something up if I have to vs the other way around. I have been told she’s a mature 4 year old so she’s quick and understands more than I think she should :-) but skill wise she’ll probably be your average 5 year old.

 

The HOD activities seems like they’d match her personality. She’s not one to sit and cuddle and be read to for hours. She will sit through a story maybe two and that’s it. I know that doesn’t seem to be the norm but that’s my girl..lol. She loses interest quickly and likes to MOVE so I think she’d love all the moving around and hands in motion, etc…

Also, the HOD teacher’s manual attracts me more because I feel it will be easier for me to visually break up our day should I need to do that between work. I know that’s probably more of a personality thing as some prefer the weekly grid in MFW.

 

Anyway, on to my questions:

 

If you’ve used Little Hearts for His Glory do you think it’s more of a Kindergarten or 1^st grade program? I know it really does depend on the mom and child but would still love to get some feedback. I think I just need reassurance that I’m making a wise decision by leaving it for 1^st grade ;-)

 

Also, if you happen to be reading this and you’ve used both MFW and HOD do you think HOD would be a better fit for my situation? Which one requires less prep? I know they are both minimal prep but even 5% less prep makes a big difference for me at this time.

 

Any other input is welcome! Thanks for taking the time.

[Bree]

I have only used HOD out of those 2 and I would say that HOD sounds like it would fit your needs nicely. I think Little Hearts took about 30 minutes total for us to complete and that was with math and reading. The history reading at times can be a little heavier but not that bad. I think the only stretch we had was the bible devotional they used. I have used some LHFHG for my K dd. She isn't into the motions and stuff and doesn't like to be told how to "play". She is a type A personality I guess and wants to be in control of what is going on and make it up herself. That's just her though. Love the science because most of the stuff you will have at home so it wont require you any extra trips. Truthfully, it does really depend on your dc and their attention span. I have used SL for my older ds and so my K dd this year has sat through books like Charlotte's Web at age 4, not that she remembers most of it, but she is use to longer readings. I woldn't feel bad though to wait till 1st grade to start. I used Beyond with my 2nd grader this year and it was a nice program overall. I like the daily layout also more than the weekly grid that way if I don't get to something I don't feel guilty about not doing it the next day and I am not constantly thinking about all that I need to do this week in school and wondering if it will all get done :) HTHAL.

[Sue G in PA]

Welcome to the Hive!!! From what you have told us about your time constraints and your child's personality, I think LHFHG would be perfect for her K year! It is very open and go and as the pp said, does not take a lot of time to complete. My children were also not very fond of the motions and make-believe games so we skipped most of those. Cute...but just not their cup of tea. More "down to business" kind of kids...I'll play my way, thank you very much, lol. (so much like their mother, poor kids!). I don't think the readings will be over her head at all. Honestly, I do think it is a bit "babyish" for a 1st grader (at least it was for my 1st grader when we tried it). HOD is a bit more open and go, IMHO, than MFW and I have used MFW K and 1st. The new MFW K teacher guide would probably have helped some (more organized) but the 1st edition gave me a headache! LOVE the program though. Really love it! If your daughter still needs practice recognizing letter and forming letter and such, MFW K might be a good fit. But honestly, time-wise...HOD will def. win out for you. ;)

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Used both MFW and HOD. Sounds like HOD would fit better. It is more open and go. I haven't used the year you are looking at though.

[Guest]

I bought LHFHG for my daughter for K this year. We did about half of it, and set it aside. We had a lot of stuff going on (stressful move) and it all got to be a little much for me. (I ended up combining my kids in a somewhat unschooling manner for a few months.) Now that we are settled and in our new norm, I have felt led back to HOD. I recently picked up LHFHG for my dd again and we are all so happy. She won't finish it this year, though, and will complete it in her 1st grade year. So, we are using it for both K & 1st! Challenge wise, I think it is great for K! Due to the guides getting more difficult as they get older, I have no problem with her doing it in 1st, though, either. My daughter was doing great in it and could easily move into Beyond in the fall. But, we'll finish it before moving on. She loves the rhymes; we mostly skip the dramatic play, as I don't like most of those. My best friend did MFW with her kids and didn't like it at all. She didn't like the way they taught Phonics, and that's one reason I looked at it, but never got it. I have my own Phonics and appreciate that I can choose it with HOD. While we did most of the K recommendations for Little Hearts back in September, we are now doing the 1st grade suggestions, so it's actually very flexible! I will say that the new MFW 1st grade looks incredible, and it was a long, hard decision whether I would stay with HOD or make a switch to MFW! We are using the devotional from MFW 1st grade, though with HOD - it's the My Big Book of 5 Minute Devotions; it's animals and my daughter loves it! (We've already gone through the HOD devotion, twice, lol.) Just mentioning that because I think it's a great devotion for Kindergarten. :)

 

HTH! I think both programs would be fine for K! It's such a fun year!

[kiwik]

I don't want to be rude but I've been wanting to ask a working-from-home full time with children there for a while. How can you possibly give adequate attention to a job and children at the same time? If you are being paid to work shouldn't you be working not looking after your kids? I can see it working if you employed someone to come in a few hours while you worked but heaps of people seem to juggle both full time.

 

Maybe my children are particularly demanding but I know I couldn't do it without short hanging one or both.

[Tenaj]

With both of my youngest boys, I've ended up starting LHFHG when they were about 5.5 years old. Both times, I have questioned whether they were ready for it but have taken it slow. I usually end up doing math and phonics everyday and doing the rest at half-speed for a while. The last time through it, we puttered at about half speed for about 10 weeks, had a summer break and then started it full-time in the fall. It took him longer than a year to get through it but it worked out nicely.

[HeatherDanae]

I would definitely do HOD. The segmented boxes will give you freedom to feel that you can do each one at your lesure instead of all at once. I am currently using LHFHG for my 5.5 year old and doing it half-paced so it would take him a little less than 2 years to do it. You could also do it half-paced and see how she adjusts and understands everything. It would give you freedom to really dig into the material and have her comprehend it. Play games with the setting of what was read in history that day, etc. That way you could use it for her kindergarten year and first grade. I would highly recommend not doing the Bigger Hearts manual until she's in 3rd grade. So you could either do LHFHG half paced or eventually Beyond or Bigger half-paced. I hope that helps some!

[AngelBee]

I have worked the entire time we have homeschooled. If it is a priority, you find a way to make it work.

 

I know your intent was not to be rude, but being she is a new homeschooler...I do not believe this is the person to be asking these questions to. It will shake her confidence and make her second guess.

 

I have homeschooled for many, many years. Feel free to pm me with questions about work and homeschool.

 

 

 

I don't want to be rude but I've been wanting to ask a working-from-home full time with children there for a while. How can you possibly give adequate attention to a job and children at the same time? If you are being paid to work shouldn't you be working not looking after your kids? I can see it working if you employed someone to come in a few hours while you worked but heaps of people seem to juggle both full time.

 

Maybe my children are particularly demanding but I know I couldn't do it without short hanging one or both.

[HeartatHome]

Thanks everyone for your replies and encouragement! Thanks especially AngelBee! It's nice to know that working from home and homeschooling can be done! :-)

 

Kiwik,

I know you didn't mean to be rude and I understand what you're saying. However, everyone is in a different situation and work from home for different reasons and for seasons so sometimes we need to be careful about making a judgement. Sure in a my perfect world I wouldn't have to but I'm in a situation where I need to at the moment. BUT I'm so grateful that I can work from home and have my girls with me. The Lord is good in allowing me to keep them home with me under our current circumstances. Yes, attention can be divided so there is no denying that but at least they home and next to my side all day. I still get more time with them then I would if I put them in daycare and worked outside the home. I also work for a very flexible company so I'm able to work evenings to catch-up after my littles go to sleep. I do sometimes wonder how I'll manage but at this point we feel led to homeschool and I'll trust that the Lord will make a way. :-) My husband is home throughout various pockets of the day so that helps but I won't say it's not going to be challenging.

[kiwik]

sorry I cam at that from the wrong direction. I would love to home school as i know in a few years the public schools will not work well for my kids (far to high IQ for comfort). But like you i have to work. At the moment my job is not one i can do from home but i do a couple of hours a week book keeping in the evening. If i could find a job that i could do at home without a hundred percent concentration i would work towards it but i can't think of one.

 

I'm sure you will manage fine. Can't give any advice on HOD but the WWE1 work book is open and go.

 

Kirsty

 

Ps. AngelBee I will pm you at a more civilised hour. Thanks.

[HeartatHome]

kiwik, thanks - sorry if I misunderstood.

 

I so understand! As I mentioned, it's defintely challenging but so worth it. We keep plugging along. :-)

[kiwik]

No. It was phrased really badly. I think there was probably a moment of self-pity involved because I had such a bad week. I was running full tilt all week and always seemed to be behind and late. And my son has just started to object to school while my younger one loves his preschool but wants me to stay home with him. Blah. It is worth it though.

 

Sorry again.