Love Heart of Dakota... but struggling with it...

[michaeljenn]

I am on unit 3 of heart of dakota, and while I love some aspects of it, I am really struggling with some of it as well.  I am doing Preparing and Bigger.  I love the history in both of them, as do my kids.  However, I am NOT crazy about the science at all.  My 10yo dd loves the science books, but hates the copywork and sketching associated with it.  Is it ok to ditch the copywork and sketching and just let her read and absorb the books??  I feel like their is a ton of copywork in HOD.  I understand that there is some benefit to it, but my kids hate it, and it is starting to take too long and feel like busy work.  I do have them do dictation 3x a week and have them copy their bible verse 2x a week, and then they write it from memory in their comp. notebooks at the end of the week.  Also, my daughter love the Draw and Write through History, but hates all the copywork with it!!  Part of me  feels like the work that they do in English is enough "copywork"... But, I feel guilty not checking off those darn boxes.  Oh, and both kids HATE crafts and projects.  They would rather just read and discuss... and many times they ask me to read more from their history readings!  Vocabulary.... I prefer to discuss outloud and talk about it.  We don't do the research, because after we read the history, we already know the answers to the research questions.  

 

Does this plan sound ok?

 

 

Do the history reading as scheduled, but ditch all the projects/crafts

 

Do Draw and Write through History, but NO COPYWORK!!

 

Thinking about ditching the bible boxes and just doing my own thing, and verses with both kids together!!

 

Do the science reading, and ditch all the copywork and sketching.  We are also going to add in Science in the Beginning for fun as well soon.

 

In bible, we just memorize the verse and discuss.. copy verse 2x a week and write from memory 1x a week.

 

In poetry, we just read the poem and discuss it, and do the activity, and then they paint a picture describing the poem on Thursday.

 

We use Rod and Staff English, and they write out one section each day. We use All About Spelling, and they write out the extra words and I usually dictate about 3-4 Sentences a day.  

 

We are starting IEW Student Intensive A with my 10yo dd next week, and have already started Bible Heroes with my 7yo ds.

 

Is this enough??  What am I missing?  I am all about streamlining the work and getting it done!  Why do I feel guilty for not following HOD to a "t".

 

We do not use DITHOR either.  I have them read a chapter or 2 a day from their current novel and they are working through CLE Reading 2 and 4.  

 

When I do the above, we get done pretty quickly. When they do HOD as written, it takes FOREVER!! Help!  

 

 

 

 

 

[KeriJ]

I am a HOD tweaker.  We don't do the projects or much of the copywork etc.  There were some years that I felt it wasn't worth the money to use HOD if I was going to tweak, and then there were some years where it was worth it to have a curriculum planned out for me.  Only you can make that decision.  At the moment, I use HOD as my "guide" which means we read many of the books and do many of the assignments, but not all.  We use it the way we want to use it.  Why not?  But for some, it is not worth the money to them to buy a curriculum and not use it as written.  For me, it's fine.  You're the teacher.  Carrie Austin just wrote a "guide". :)

 

JanOH will hopefully chime in as she is a successful HOD tweaker! :)

 

ETA:  I think your plan is truly fine!  That's basically what we do when we use HOD.

[Tenaj]

I joke that I've tweaked HOD so much that Carrie might not recognize it!  It's probably not quite that bad but I do have to do some adjusting to make it work in our family.  My biggest struggle with HOD has been guilt over tweaking it . . . I'm not sure exactly why but I guess I'm not the only one.  Make it work for you.   Every family has a different balance that they need to achieve in order to function.

 

We do very few of the hands-on projects.  Usually my kids only do the ones that actually end up in the pages for Creation to Christ and above.  Every once in a while, one will catch their eye and someone will take off, but for the most part they are optional and I'm firm in my directions that if they want to do the project it has to be the last thing they work on . . all other school work must be done first (that way my day doesn't get long and dragged out because of their distraction with a project).  

 

We don't do the Bible as written in the guides.  We use Bible Study Guide for All Ages instead, all together.  I have used the various Bible parts of the guides over the years but instead of it feeling devotional, it always ended up feeling like a box to be checked off so we dropped it.  I am toying with the idea of using the devotional Bible studies in the older guides for the boys as they hit them from now on - the studies in Resurrection to Reformation and Rev to Rev -  just because I want them to form the habit of daily devotions but I would encourage them to do it at a different time than school.  

 

We don't do DITHOR either, although, dummy-me just bought a used copy (because I sold mine) and when I received it and looked at it I was reminded of how much I really don't like it!

 

I'm not convinced that all the writing is necessary as scheduled in HOD and have been musing over it lately.  My guy in Creation to Christ is doing grammar two days a week and Write with the Best two days a week.  He likes the writing days because they are easy assignments and he doesn't have to put any effort into them.  He hates the grammar days because he's forgotten the grammar from two days before and has to work at it.  I'm considering dropping all the writing programs except for what's in Rod and Staff.  Or, just doing both every day . . . or ?  Maybe time for another thread. . . 

 

Anyway, I'm rambling but my basic advice is to remember that your family is your family, HOD is a guide and there are no HOD police coming to get you.

 

 

[MamaHappy]

I used Bigger a few years ago and I really didn't like it at all.  I think I even posted a rant on here about it, lol.  I 100% agree with you about the science and coywork, I felt the exact same way.  Some of those copywork assignments were so loooong, I felt sorry for my ds.  I remember one particular science activitity where my ds had to do an incredible amount of copying and drawing.  It took him like 90 mins., it was ridiculous.  I lost my patience with it and ended up dropping Bigger altogether at about unit 20.  I just couldn't do it anymore.  I didn't even try to tweak it lol. :)

 

I also hated DITHOR and ditched it early on.

 

Anyway, I think your plan looks great!  I think it's perfectly fine to tweak/drop whatever you need to to make things work.  These elementary years of homeschooling are so fun and precious, do not waste them by getting bogged down in things that aren't working for you.  :)

[Ewe Mama]

I confess to being a HOD dropout. As we worked through things, it felt as if there was more and more busy work and fewer and fewer meaningful experiences. My eldest would put hours into projects and then, upon completion, would wonder what the point was. Not a good feeling.

 

I had been convinced that it would be the perfect fit for us and had even purchased every single level and book recommended. After tweaking and cutting things out, it was no longer HOD. I applaud families who are able to use HOD as written. It just wasn't a good fit for us.

 

I was definitely looking for more of a Charlotte Mason spin on things, so I ended up writing my own plans and finding the resources that fit our family best. It is a wonderful feeling when you have gained the confidence to walk away from the box, so to speak. I started with Sonlight, HOD, and MFW. It took about seven years, but I now know my teaching style and my children's learning styles well enough to know what will work and what won't work within a few minutes of picking up a resource. I'm a slow learner!

 

It sounds as though you have already begun discovering what works best for your and your family. Ditch the science and read and discuss lots of good books. Do some notebooking pages after discussing history. Do a few sentences of copy work two or three days a week. It shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes each time. Any longer than that and the penmanship begins to suffer. Skip the projects unless you know it is something you will all enjoy and will regret skipping.

 

I know it feels like such a waste of money when you are only following 1/3 or 1/4 of the TM. When you are ready to make your own plan, you will. Use what helps you and ignore the rest.

[Sue G in PA]

Just today I was lamenting how much writing there is in HOD. For my boys, it simply is NOT a good fit. Copywork can be a chore for some kids...like my boys...who have difficulty writing. I've been a fan of Dianne Craft (right brain teaching materials) and she even mentions how copy work can be such a laborious task for kids like this. All that to say, from here on out, I am tweaking. They will fill out their notebooks but we do history questions orally, science questions orally and limit what they have to copy. 

[Susie in MS]

Okay, now I am worried! My dd and I LOVE Preparing - even the science. Maybe not all of the projects and I certainly throw the vocab out the window. But I put it on the shelf because our days were far too long. She is 9 yo and I was hoping by the time she turns 10 that it would work out better for us. But now seeing that even 10 yos have problems with long days, I am beginning to wonder if it will ever work for us. I guess time will tell, but at least if it doesn't I will know that it is not just me. 

[acsnmama]

I feel similar about HOD and sometimes I wonder if it's just my pride that's holding me back from dropping it.

 

I like to accelerate in some subjects and I feel like worrying about all the boxes holds us back from moving along in things like math. Not because I'm confined to the guide, but because I feel like the other subjects will make our day so lengthy. I already skip some activities!

 

My son always has his nose in a book. Not only do I have him read the extensions in Bigger, I also have to worry about juggling Storytime in LHFHG for my daughter in Kinder, plus the Storytime for Bigger, plus he reads his own interest books 1+ hrs per day.

 

I feel like our day consists of steps and doesn't flow, no matter how much the different subjects are "connected."

 

But for some reason I'm hanging in there, but I know our next break will probably be some make up for things I've wanted yo cover but just haven't done.

 

I feel in over my head some days doing 2 guides. Also, my other hang up is lugging the guides around. There are questions about the Burgess books in LHFHG...we school upstairs, but read downstairs. I don't lug the guides around, and then forget to use the questions later. It just seems like a lot, it truly does.

 

However...in later years, I feel like I'll need something written for me!

[HeartatHome]

I'm still in the lower guides so I don't have a lot of experience yet but I try to view the guides as just that a "guide". I already tweak to make it fit me and our homeschool and family dynamic and I'm sure what that looks like will vary from year to year as needs and seasons change.

 

Honestly, the guides are so worth it for me. I'm so not a planner and struggle with organization so I know I'd still get more covered using her guides even with the tweaking than without having a plan to go to. I know I will never find something I love 100% but HOD is the closest I will probably come to that so I use it as my guide and add, adjust or take away as needed for my family. I think no matter what I would use I would do the same and I think most folks do that with whatever they use but for some reason I notice people get hung up with HOD. I think it must be the layout and all those pretty boxes lol. I know I do sometimes too but then I remember my personality and there would be no way I would plan my own thing and I'd tweak whatever I had anyway so at the end of the day I really love the author's heart and how Christ centered it is and it's a great roadmap for me.

 

I think your plan looks great! :-)

[Chelli]

One thing that no one has mentioned is that Carrie recommends not using back to back guides. Is there anyway you can move your older child into Bigger using extensions? That might ease a lot of the frustration. And I always tweaked assignment when I was still using HOD. All of the Bible copywork does seem excessive though. If I remember correctly, they were just supposed to copy the verse once and then say it from memory not write it. You might double check that because that might be an area where you can cut back as well.

[AnointedHsMom]

Okay, now I am worried! My dd and I LOVE Preparing - even the science. Maybe not all of the projects and I certainly throw the vocab out the window. But I put it on the shelf because our days were far too long. She is 9 yo and I was hoping by the time she turns 10 that it would work out better for us. But now seeing that even 10 yos have problems with long days, I am beginning to wonder if it will ever work for us. I guess time will tell, but at least if it doesn't I will know that it is not just me. 

 

Susie, Prearing is my FAVORITE guide from HOD but I constantly recommend waiting until older to tackle the guides from Preparing on up.  I know some 3rd graders are doing it but I do believe that it's much better suited to 10 year old's and up.  I would recommend trying it and see how it goes.  Tweak it if you need to.  

 

I love HOD but have jumped ship this year with my 8 year old and I'm using MFW Adventures.  I had planned to do Preparing next year but we are having such a fun time with Adventures that I've already been contemplating using MFW ECC instead.  The fact that I would consider skipping Preparing has me all in knots though.  I truly love that guide so much but if he's not ready he's not ready.  If we wait until 10yo/5th grade our "path" with history is all messed up LOL.  

 

Decisions, decisions. 

[michaeljenn]

Thank you for all the replies!!!  This helped me not feel guilty for tweeking!  I plan to continue with HOD, as there are more things I like about the guide than not like.  It was just mainly all of the copywork!  We dropped most of the copywork the past few days, and it has made a huge difference.  Instead of doing copywork for science, she has to narrate to me, and I also ask her specific questions, as I read through their work before they do.  She has done fine with that!  I will probably make her write a narration on her science once a week too, since she is ready for that. I am a big IEW fan, and it gave us so much more time to focus on her IEW lesson, since we were not bogged down on copywork.  :)  Now, my son in Beyond, will continue most of the copywork because he "needs" it.  But I only require a sentence or two.  He also has to write out his lessons for R&S English, so I think he is doing plenty of writing.   

 

I agree that it is better for kiddo's to be on the older end of the guides! I already have Bigger and CTC on my shelf, and I will tweak those a bit too... but as I said, I really do love the history in the guides and that is enough for me to keep using it! 

[michaeljenn]

Susie.... I would try again next year, and just tweak it!  Or even try again in January.  My 10dd JUST turned 10 at the end of July, so she is a young 10:)  My dd LOVES everything she had read, or I have read to her!!  It is just the copywork she was really hating.  The vocabulary and the research just was not beneficial enough "to me" to do.  She knows how to research, so I am happy with that.  She just finished reading Noah's Ark, Noah's Flood, and after she finished, she got online and started "researching" about Noah's Ark being found all on her own will.  That is what I love..... when a fire has been lit, and she does it at her own will:)  This showed me that she will run with a bunny trail with something that honestly caught her interest...  Also...I am not sure she could have handled Preparing at 9... and I know my soon to be 8yo probably couldn't and really benefit from it!

 

 

[Lab1]

Tweek it! My girls are finishing up Preparing and are in the extension range now. I think that the extension books are where its at personally! I rarely have them do the bible verse copy work. Most of the time (every time maybe?), its been so superficial that its just to incorporate the bible to seem more Christian to me. When we first started with Bigger we did it as written. My DH asked me why there was an obscure verse about birds on our kids work. It had nothing to do with anything we were studying really! All it taught my kids was to look up verses in their bible. Good skill to have, but it wasn't making them feel closer to the bible. It had the opposite effect with them thinking that they couldn't relate to the scriptures. I backed off that quickly and we don't copy the scriptures for Science. The Science was much too basic for my kids as well. I've added in Botany units and Nature Study art classes.

 

We don't do a lot of the projects now. They enjoyed the ones in Bigger, but they don't interest them now. I'll read it and select a project if I feel like it has any real value to help my kids. My kids don't want busy work and they have enough of their own craft projects to keep them happy and my kitchen table a mess!

 

Instead of the obscure copy work, I just started a simple study of Calligraphy to help their hand writing. Just 5 minutes a day. They can apply their skill how they want later on. I hope this will benefit their hand writing and break up their reading to refresh their minds. We'll see if it works. I'd rather write out a meaningful scripture that inspires me on pretty paper for my room personally! Or use them for inspirational cards for friends and family.

 

We enjoy the history and the books used. We tweek to fit our learning styles and educational goals. Don't let the boxes rule you and don't feel that you have to follow 100% to give your kids a well rounded education! My kids love Science and we have several memberships to science museums to help them discover and explore their interests. So while HOD science is way too light, they get a lot of exposure and free reading beyond that.

[coastal academy]

We use HOD and tweak it as needed. I appreciate HOD so much as I feel it takes care of all the planning for me. All the book choices and scheduling assignments are done. Then I can easily determine what is doable each week. We only do the projects if it's something that catches my children's interests and like another mom said we save it for the end of the school day. We don't use the science or the art portions as we do these in a co-op that meets twice a month (we use apologia and artistic pursuits) . We also use a different Grammar (PLL for 2-3rd and JAG for 4-5th). My daughter who is doing creation to Christ does the Bible Quiet Time but completes it before breakfast so it's not really part of her school day. My other little ones do their Bible time with Daddy while I am making breakfast and we loosely follow to guides' suggestions for each child's Bible. I do appreciate all the copy work scheduled in as I think it's good writing practice, even if they are not enjoying it:). I know HOD has recommended doing a good portion of grammar lessons orally so it won't be too much writing, but I could see where if students were doing a lot of written work for grammar than adding in a lot of other copywork could get overwhelming. With 5 children, HOD has been such a huge blessing to our family in so many ways. Definitely tweak it as needed and don't feel guilty. It is so full and rich , even if you don't follow it exactly as written. It provides such a rigorous framework for our family to use as best suits us. We are currently finishing up Creation to Christ, Bigger, and Little hearts. With the lower guides I do lots of tweaking, but have followed the guides more closely in preparing and creation to Christ. I love that my oldest can open the guide and pretty much take ownership over her school day.

[birchbark]

Yes! Your plans are fine. I was a HoD-user for a few years. At the beginning of that time I was pro-writing-across-curriculum. And HoD is WAC heaven! By the end of those years though I had changed my tune. It wore both of us out and DS hated school. We now do writing mainly just for writing class. Besides, I have learned that Busywork is not the Mother of learning. Something else is. 

 

Writing should be daily, but it does not need to be in every subject. HoD has marvelous plans but they are FULL. Tweak as needed.

[michaeljenn]

Thanks for all the replies!!!  Unfortunately, after really looking at our days with trying to do HOD Beyond and Preparing, and then I have a 5yo to start schooling, we have decided to drop HOD.  It is a tough thing for me, but we really, really want to go back to learning together.  I was tweaking HOD to death, and it just made sense to do my own thing!  Sooo, we are using Mystery of History 1, and Science in the Beginning.  Today was the first day of our new plan, and it was SO. MUCH. BETTER!!  We completed out Math, English, Spelling, IEW, and Reading by 11, took a break and did History and Science from 12-1:30.... Funny thing... I DO make them do notebooking for history, but they made it their own, and put what they wanted to, instead of being told exactly how to do it.  No writing or anything for science today:)  We are just enjoying reading and doing the experiments.  Oh, and we are moving our read alouds to bedtime:)  And I GET TO PICK THEM OUT!! I am still using many of the suggestions HOD has, as they have great books. I will continue to use them as a resource!

 

I applaud those who can pull off HOD!!  It was so tough for us to "do" it.  The work was not hard, but we were just getting it done, to get it done, instead of really learning and enjoying everything.  I guess I have FINALLY figured out that I am a piece together my own thing kind of gal.  Oh the FREEEEEEEDOM!!!  

[MamaHappy]

Thanks for all the replies!!!  Unfortunately, after really looking at our days with trying to do HOD Beyond and Preparing, and then I have a 5yo to start schooling, we have decided to drop HOD.  It is a tough thing for me, but we really, really want to go back to learning together.  I was tweaking HOD to death, and it just made sense to do my own thing!  Sooo, we are using Mystery of History 1, and Science in the Beginning.  Today was the first day of our new plan, and it was SO. MUCH. BETTER!!  We completed out Math, English, Spelling, IEW, and Reading by 11, took a break and did History and Science from 12-1:30.... Funny thing... I DO make them do notebooking for history, but they made it their own, and put what they wanted to, instead of being told exactly how to do it.  No writing or anything for science today:)  We are just enjoying reading and doing the experiments.  Oh, and we are moving our read alouds to bedtime:)  And I GET TO PICK THEM OUT!! I am still using many of the suggestions HOD has, as they have great books. I will continue to use them as a resource!

 

I applaud those who can pull off HOD!!  It was so tough for us to "do" it.  The work was not hard, but we were just getting it done, to get it done, instead of really learning and enjoying everything.  I guess I have FINALLY figured out that I am a piece together my own thing kind of gal.  Oh the FREEEEEEEDOM!!!  

 

I am so happy for you, really. :)  I remember our first day of school after we dropped HOD... it was like a breath of fresh of air.  I felt completely liberated and free, lol.  Like you, that was when I finally figured out that I just need to do my own thing.  If you are like me, you will have no regrets and not look back. :)

[gratitude]

So Happy for you too!!!! We are finally doing our own thing this year & I love it. I am definitely not looking back. Life without a HOD, MFW, or SL schedule is wonderful. Like you we still note book, narrate, read books aloud, dictate, etc. We can focus though on learning together, rather than me reading a schedule & spending time finding the right page or supplies. Very Happy for you!

[Tenaj]

I'm so glad you've found the system that will work for your family.  

[acsnmama]

I'm still struggling with this decision! I just don't know! I know it could be great, but I'm nervous to ditch it, I couldn't wait to get to Bigger, and here I am, wondering if I want to continue!

[Tenaj]

I'm still struggling with this decision! I just don't know! I know it could be great, but I'm nervous to ditch it, I couldn't wait to get to Bigger, and here I am, wondering if I want to continue!

 

You can laugh with me about the same thing.  I decided, firmly, last March that I was not going to use the younger guides with my youngers coming up and quit doing Little Hands for His Glory with my then 5 yods.  Then I started it again  in May because we didn't seem to be getting anything else done, and then when we broke for the summer decided again not to do the rest and purchased other materials for our new school year.  Started school in August and yep, you guessed it, within two weeks we are back doing Little Hearts.  After using it, nothing else seems to fit in our family, but there are parts I don't like.  So, I'm tweaking again.  Adding a regular science program to it, taking things away but keeping the base of the Bible reading, rhymes, and reading.   Now I'm going to try to start doubling it up so I can start my youngest dd on it next fall but get him moved on to Beyond well before that.  

[michaeljenn]

Heart of Dakota is a wonderful program!!  If it fits your family, then keep moving forward with it!  I wish it met ours, and there are many things I will take from it! I love most of the books in their guides and will use them, but, I prefer to read through the whole book at one time!  We will continue to do poetry, but I prefer to pick it out:)  It is almost like Heart of Dakota trained me and launched me out to do my own thing.  I do think some copywork is good, but I want to choose what we are doing.  I want to choose the bible verses that we memorize.  

 

However, we have honestly had such good days with Mystery of History so far!!  We read the lesson, did some notebooking work, and they started their own timeline, and wrote a quick summary by their timeline piece.  We are now using the Vos Children's Bible and absolutely LOVE just reading it in order!!  After our history, we read several other books pertaining to the time period, and it was so relaxed and they were enjoying it!!  

 

We also are finishing Life in the Great Ice Age, and will finish Grandpa's box too.  After Grandpa's Box, we will start Tirzah.. I will still read many of the books from the Preparing Guide:)  They honestly have the best book list.  It just works better if I don't have all those boxes staring at me, telling me what I need to do! LOL

[acsnmama]

Oh, I do really enjoy HOD, but the way it is set up, it's not working as well as I had envisioned as written. I already skip things now.

 

For LHFHG, I actually don't like the rhymes, science book, or dramatic play. I don't follow the math schedule, though we do use Singapore. I do like the Bible readings, R&S workbook, History and the Burgess books. While I like the Bible verses, I've been considering combining their Bible time, instead of juggling two different verses, and two different songs. This makes me wonder if I should just ditch the guide and science book, but continue reading the books I do like at our own pace.

 

With Bigger, I like the History, though I'm curious as to why it jumps around. I don't mean between different books, but why does it jump around in one book? Why not read it in the order it's written? I like the notebooking, but I'm not fond of the science experiments, they don't explain the why behind the result. I don't care for the vocabulary, I think it would make a bigger difference if I had my son use words he wants to know from his reading time. However, he has remembered a few of the Bigger vocabulary words, so he is retaining some of them. We're not following the math schedule, R&S English schedule, and we've dropped dictation, and use our own spelling. We use our own Cursive. Basically, we're using the left side of Bigger.

 

I am finding that these are things I can do on my own. It's just branching out to do so that I'm not sure about, especially being 10 weeks into schooling and a baby coming in about 6 weeks! This might not be the best time for me to reevaluate my year.

 

I know of many who have said the same about HOD, it paved their way in doing things on their own. I do love their book options, so really, if I was to ditch it, I'd be ditching the guides.

[KeriJ]

Oh, I do really enjoy HOD, but the way it is set up, it's not working as well as I had envisioned as written. I already skip things now.

 

For LHFHG, I actually don't like the rhymes, science book, or dramatic play. I don't follow the math schedule, though we do use Singapore. I do like the Bible readings, R&S workbook, History and the Burgess books. While I like the Bible verses, I've been considering combining their Bible time, instead of juggling two different verses, and two different songs. This makes me wonder if I should just ditch the guide and science book, but continue reading the books I do like at our own pace.

 

With Bigger, I like the History, though I'm curious as to why it jumps around. I don't mean between different books, but why does it jump around in one book? Why not read it in the order it's written? I like the notebooking, but I'm not fond of the science experiments, they don't explain the why behind the result. I don't care for the vocabulary, I think it would make a bigger difference if I had my son use words he wants to know from his reading time. However, he has remembered a few of the Bigger vocabulary words, so he is retaining some of them. We're not following the math schedule, R&S English schedule, and we've dropped dictation, and use our own spelling. We use our own Cursive. Basically, we're using the left side of Bigger.

 

I am finding that these are things I can do on my own. It's just branching out to do so that I'm not sure about, especially being 10 weeks into schooling and a baby coming in about 6 weeks! This might not be the best time for me to reevaluate my year.

 

I know of many who have said the same about HOD, it paved their way in doing things on their own. I do love their book options, so really, if I was to ditch it, I'd be ditching the guides.

and ultimately, this is what I did.  I refer to HOD.  I own a few levels, and I use them as a "guide" to make my own plans.  I love the book options.  HOD is where I check first for book ideas.