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I will admit, I am a recovering "academic snob." :wink: At first glance, I thought HOD looked too simple. We are doing Preparing and LHFHG this year, though, and I really see the wisdom and the progression of learning. What seems like a simple "fill in the blank" assignment in LHFHG, grows into writ...

I have been a part of a co-op much like the one you're describing for 2 years. The first year was wonderful. The 2nd, not so much, and we won't be going back next year. But that's just my situation. My co-op was infant-12th grade and about 100 families. Pros: Someone else doing science experiments, ...

We jumped in with HOD using Preparing for 3rd grade with my oldest dd. We hadn't done any of the previous guides. I will say, that it was a challenge for a good portion of the first semester. She had to grow up a lot in terms of doing independent work and staying on task. We took it slow, though, an...

I have done this with my 4-5yo ds as I taught my 6-7yo ds. It has worked pretty well, but my older has definitely gotten a lot more out of it then my younger. The way I handle it is, since my 5yo would not yet be in ps kindy, I don't "require" school of him. So, if I can tell that he's going to be a...

Just from my experience with Preparing, I think it would take a great deal more time with you having to do so much of the reading. My dd is an avid reader, and the assignments fit her skill level well. I guess if you really cut down the speed, it would help. But if it were me, I'd probably slow down...

You know, one thing that has really helped me (and I have to remind myself of this over and over) is this: Not only did God give my particular children to ME for a reason, but He also gave ME to my particular children as their parent for a reason. So, while I believe God has equipped me with what I ...

You've brought up a lot of issues, and I can't speak to all of them. However, I also struggle with bi-polar disorder, and well, it's a constant struggle. I will say, though, that I have found HOD to be the easiest to use of all curriculums I've tried. Here's why: When I was on the manic side, I woul...

OK, first let me say that I realize that with homeschoolers, grade levels can be flexible. However, I want to also make sure that I'm on track and don't end up in high school with not enough time to get through the higher level math that we want to get through. So, my question is, my dd9 is in 3rd g...

One more thing that HOD provides that I have not found elsewhere, not with MFW and not with other "complete" curricula that we have used, is explicit instruction. I am frustrated with curricula that give the children assignments but 1) are not very specific about what to do and 2) have not taught t...

I am doing LHFHG and Preparing. My boys in LHFHG always want to do the Preparing projects. I just let them. I mean, if I've got the paint out for one, I might as well let them all use it! My daughter in Preparing always has to take a break to come and listen to the Thornton Burgess books and do the ...

I have my own "minimal school" that I've decided we have to get done no matter what. We even took it on vacation because we were having a lot of drive time, and we'd taken several days off school getting ready for the trip. For us, it's 1 page math, 1 small reader (for the younger), 1 passage of dic...

I haven't done R&S English 2, but we are in level 3 and I do use the TM. It gives oral review questions every day that keep topics that we studied a while back fresh. I think it's been very valuable. In terms of the lesson, we don't need the TM much, but I love that oral review. I also like having t...

We have added Cheerful Cursive to PHFHG, and I just wrote in 2 pages a day in our guide for dd to check off. The book is very self explanatory, and dd has been able to do it on her own. I have BHFHG, and it is scheduled for 1 page a day with no further instruction. We're just doubling up to get thro...

Oops, after checking the website, I noticed that they've changed the name to "puzzibits." So here's the correct website: http://www.puzzibits.com/

For my wiggy, low-focusing ds, I give him hexabits to mess around with while I read (www.hexabits.com). That seems to really help. I will say, though, to just remember that the purpose of a curriculum is to grow in skills, not to be perfect at them right away (I forget this often!!). So give it time...