HOD and Standardized Tests/College

[water2wine]

I've been meaning to post this but I have just been so busy. Anyway my oldest graduated after completing 9 HOD programs. I know the question comes up is HOD college worthy. The answer is yes! My first HOD kid graduated and she got a full scholarship for tuition and books at a private Christian college. And that is for the first four years of college, completely paid in full. She has friends going to the same school and none received the kind of scholarship she did. She did score very well on the ACTs and that helped. So I asked her what she thought helped the most with the ACTs and she said that honestly it was HOD. I sort of expected she was going to say it was me making her study, hahaha! But apparently nope it was HOD and she said it really helped her with the language on the test and interpreting the questions in particular. That turns out to be a huge thing for these tests. Also she had a very rich transcript and that was because of the wide coverage HOD gives in terms of credits you can claim legitimately for their study. That turned out to be huge in terms of making her stand out.

The other question people have is will they be able to make it in college. Well I think HOD helped us there. She is in her first semester but she is scoring very high so far. She was very worried she would not be able to cut it in college having been homeschooled. She now is completely confident because she is seeing she was very well prepared. All the writing and narration in HOD and the organization she learned in how to study really helped her. And btw she keeps on coming home and telling me that she has yet to read a story for her English course that was not covered in HOD. So I'd say that is a big plus in the choosing of material within HOD.

I want to also say that she struggled with choosing a major. I think HOD and the spiritual content helped her there as well. She ended up picking something completely different than she was thinking, but I can see it is definitely a full circle God thing. She is going to get a degree in Christian counseling and specialize in the area of adoption. She was adopted herself and I think HOD helped her to have more of a mission focus along the way. She has big goals and plans to go on to the PhD level, so apparently HOD gave her a love for learning.

Ok having said all that, I am a mom of six and we have had a lot of tragedy during our homeschooling years. I would say I am really a very average and somewhat easily distracted teacher. A lot of her schooling was very independent. But isn't it great we can choose a curriculum that really teaches them how to learn and be independent, ultimately that is the goal.

Thank you Carrie, Julie and Mike for all of your help along the way. Next year I have three more graduating with HOD. It's good to know it really was enough and they really are prepared for the real world.

[snadig]

Thanks for the post! My oldest graduates this year and we are in the middle of putting her transcript together.

This was encouraging to read. My daughter is traveling this path right now. What college, what to major in? We are trying to encourage her to wait on the Lord for His direction. She feels frustrated at times with all the "be patient", "trust the Lord". She is gifted in writing and the arts so we will see where the Lord leads.

Thanks again for this post, it was very timely!
Stacey

[LynnH]

Water2wine, it is so good to see a post from you. I think about you often and wondered how you were doing. Your post is a huge encouragement. It is a testament to HOD and to you as her teacher. I agree with you that HOD really prepares them for the type of assignments they will find in college.

[Tiffini]

I'm so glad to hear this as well! Thank you for sharing! It is very encouraging now to see some of those who started HOD fairly young and are now graduating and doing very well in life. My dd started taking college classes through Lumerit and just took her first final and scored very highly on it. She was told that it would take 20 hours of study time for the final. She said she was able to take it with just an hour or so of studying because she retained it all as she learned it and took notes. She, too, was worried that she wouldn't be prepared for college level work because of being homeschooled, but has found it to be the opposite. She knows how to think, how to write, and how to learn. We were just talking about that tonight. For the first time, she is taking a class that is a secular sociology class. Because of being so grounded in knowing how to think and how to approach things from a Christian worldview, she is able to think clearly about what she is learning. I can see how so many Christian students turn away from their faith in college without that grounding because the secular textbooks really hit the postmodern, humanistic worldview very hard. We credit much of this to HOD and the method of eduation HOD employs throughout the years. (A HUGE bonus was the I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist book that she did as a senior and that Carrie is scheduling for the senior year. This helped tremendously with that grounding in the truth and knowing why Christianity is true. I highly recommend that every student read this book before taking college classes if possible.)

[Nealewill]

Such a great thread to read. I am so glad to see how HOD has prepared your dd. We love it too and love all the skills they teach in every level. I am looking forward to my kiddos using HOD all the way through High School and have full confidence it prepare them for what ever educational path they choose.

[Carrie]

Water2wine,

It was wonderful to hear an update on your kiddos and so encouraging to read about your oldest daughter's experiences - coming from an HOD background as she headed into college. As homeschool moms, we want to be sure that we are preparing our kiddos the best that we can for what lies ahead and that burden can feel heavy at times!

It helps to hear stories from moms who have finished the homeschool journey as you have with your oldest daughter. We celebrate with you in that accomplishment!! I know that you have more kiddos to go yet, and I pray the Lord will walk with you and uplift you as you travel the homeschool road.

I am so glad to "see" you again. I remember talking to you on the phone about putting your older kiddos in Bigger Hearts!! I also remember the blessing of meeting you at convention. I often wonder where the years go. Thank you for taking the time to post an update to encourage all of us!

Blessings,
Carrie