HELP - HOD Resurrection to Reformation

[khutchi]

Last year I felt like the Lord was moving me away from MFW to something that would have my daughter dig deeper into the bible. He led me to HOD but I was overwhelmed so I stuck with MFW and did Creation to Greeks.

Thankfully, our God is a God of second chances!!! I felt the same thing this year about moving away from MFW and happened upon HOD again this year so I'm going to step out in faith and dive in. (Steven Curtis Chapman fans can break out into the "I'm Diving In" song right about now! ) I've been with MFW for 4 years so I really am stepping out!

My daughter is 10 and going into 5th grade. I feel very confident and comfortable with the HOD Resurrection to Reformation but I'm a bit of a dilemma!?!

The MFW Creation to Greeks ends approximately 100 years BEFORE Christ. I would assume the Resurrection to Reformation picks up when Christ is approximately 33 years old and has been Resurrected...thus the dilemma...this scenario has me MISSING the WHOLE life of Christ & possibly Rome...ugh...I don't know what to do or how to incorporate it.

Can anyone share some information or wisdom on what you would do in this situation? THANK YOU!!!

Kim

PS. I loved MFW and am not trying to saying ANYTHING negative about...this is just what I felt for our family.

[momtofive]

Hi Kim,

Let me first say, Welcome to the HOD Boards! I, too, have come from MFW to HOD! Last year we did ECC and this year we would have done Creation to the Greeks. I actually had the whole Deluxe package sitting in my lap, but felt as though God was leading our little school elsewhere. I thought I must be crazy. But God is in control and led us to something that I believe will draw our hearts to Him. I returned the materials, but I did get a peek at them, while they were here. I think that one option for you is to just do the Creation to Christ program. I know, you've done the Creation to the Greeks last year. But I believe that HOD addresses this time period differently (and far more in depth, in my opinion) and so it wouldn't be like you were doing a repeat of last year, only an extension of what she's already begun learning! Then you would get another great view of this time period as well as the WHOLE life of Christ! Then, next year, you would be set to start Ressurrection to Reformation without a single gap!!

Of course, the decision is ultimately up to you. Just pray about it and seek God's wisdom. He has the very best in mind for you and your family!

P.S. I should add that I have just received my CTC order for this year.(I am so impressed and amazed at the depth of this program and the careful and diligent work that went into making this such a sound program!) And so this is just my opinion, of course, after looking through my own materials and previously looking through the MFW program.

My son is 10 and going into the fifth grade, too!

In Christ,
Lisa

[blessedmom]

I am also in the process of finishing Creation to the Greeks with my 4th grade dd. I am planning on starting her in CTC this year. I had the same concern you have. I know some will be review for her, but really just the History, and even that looks like it takes a little different perspective. And if I remember right, it will only be about half the year. It seems like more time is spent in Rome to the Resurrection. I'm excited about the study on the OT prophecies of Jesus. We've talked about how doing CTC will give her a chance to transition to working more on her own and working on her responsibility. I'm excited about the history notebooking too. I feel like she will be a little more directed than what we have done this year, where I feel like I have failed miserably. I was also thinking that she will be able to finish the history cycle before HS, even though it looks like Carrie may write a year of geograpy, dd already did that with ECC, so I don't feel like she will be "behind." May God direct your steps.
Nicole

[my7angels]

Hi,
I'm new here, but also came from MFW for reasons similar to yours. I want to say that I agree with the previous poster. I think you would be very happy starting with CtC. I received mine in a few days ago. Having had a chance to look it over really well, I can say that you would be approaching ancient history in a new and exciting way. Personally, I'm really glad we are starting with CtC and I've never been more excited to start our school year. I can tell from perusing the TM that there are a ton of things we have never before learned. I'm tremendoulsy excited about the way I know my students will grow spiritually just by seeing Gods' hand work through history as He works with His people and the church.

I know that the Lord will lead and guide you though as you make the best decision for your family.

Blessings,
Christina

[khutchi]

Thanks Ladies - I really didn't want to do Creation to Christ. I have her SO excited about Resurrection to Reformation. I will need to pray about it because I already have our Far Above Rubies curriculum that we will begin in 7th grade and we are EXTREMELY excited about the HOD year that will be added next year on Inventions. I am really feeling like I missed God last year when I didn't switch us then. I will repent, accept His forgiveness and move toward where he wants me to be this year...sorry but Resurrection to Reformation looks SO awesome!!!

[khutchi]

OOOPS - Thanks ladies...I am open to MORE opinions. I appreciate the CTC recommendations and will continue to pray about it - I'd still like more thoughts too though. {Carrie :}

[Heather4Him]

Hi! Just wanted to say "Welcome", too! We are also "transplants" from MFW, LOL! We switched for the same reasons you all mentioned. It was great for the time we used it, but also felt the Lord leading us in a different direction. We are starting the whole history cycle again this August with CTC, (in a leap of faith, because we missed the last manual to the present day), but our materials just came today and look WONDERFUL!!

As for your situation, Carrie will probably be able to direct you as to what to do--but I was thinking you could get some other resources and books, etc. on the Life of Christ and do those this summer or alongside your RTR program when you start. You don't have to study Christ's life as "school", but rather just delve into it using the Bible and any other resources the Lord may lead you to. Then, if you repeat the history cycle again in later years, you will cover this time period in more depth for high school. HTH!

[my3sons]

Hi there, and welcome to the HOD Board! We did CTC last year and loved it, and we are doing RTR this year and excited about that too. The "problem" is all of the guides are so good. If you were to take the time period out of the placement, where do you think your 10 yo would place? The placement chart is super helpful when placing dc in HOD! I know Carrie will be on here soon and will most definitely chime in, but I also know she'll first ask you to tell a bit about your dd with the placement chart in mind - just the first page of it mainly:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I am looking forward to getting to know you here, and I think you'll find HOD an incredible blessing in your home! It has been in ours. I'll check back here and respond again then!

In Christ,
Julie

[khutchi]

She lines up with RTR - I plan to do the DITHOR too level 5/6. She reads 200 pg Nancy Drew books like they're going out of style so reading is NOT a problem at all. I'm hoping Carrie can tell me what she thinks too. Thanks

[khutchi]

I also wanted to post that my dd is a "Smart kid who hates to write" most likely due to the fact that she is right hand but left eye dominant. (See http://www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner/ ... riting.asp) We will be starting the school year off doing the figure 8 exercise that Diane Craft suggests for 15 minutes a day for 3 months. Do whichever year of HOD that we go with...our focus will NOT be on writing for the first 1/2 of the year as Diane Craft suggests to stay AWAY from writing exercises until the brain gets re-aligned with the figure 8 exercise.

[Carrie]

Kim,

The ladies are doing a great job of talking through your options with you! Aren't they wonderful!?! The Lord has blessed this board with each of them!

From reading through the threads and looking over what you've shared, I'd be inclined to lean in the CTC direction with your daughter whose 10 for a few reasons. One major reason is the amount of writing required to complete the RTR program. In all honesty, your little honey will lose out on much of the richness of RTR if she won't be doing any of the written work that is scheduled within the program for the first half of the year. It also sounds like she will be doing some therapy, and so it is possible that will be more a major focus for her year too?

Another reason I'm thinking of CTC, or even Preparing Hearts, is that it can be tough to do the level of independent work scheduled within our guides at the level of CTC on up if the child is new to HOD and also has some issues in writing. There will be quite a bit of training required in some of the skills already and to buck the writing required daily will be tough.

If I've misread what you're sharing about the writing, feel free to clarify as it will cause me to shift my thinking.

Blessings,
Carrie

[khutchi]

Thanks Carrie - in lue of writing at the end of this year when I discovered what our problem was (dysgraphia) I had Heather TYPE all of her reports and things on the computer in Word...she did a GREAT job and became very creative with much of her paragraphing. She actually hand writes very well - would it make a difference with the program to have her "type" her handwriting assignments should we decide to still do RTR?

Carrie - can you give me any tips on HOW to incorporate the life of Christ and Rome if we do RTR?

Thanks ladies for ALL of your input...you all rock!

[deltagal]

Hi Kim,

I'm just thinking about you and your dd....so much enthusiasm and excitement for what lies ahead. How wonderful! One of the greatest strengths of HOD is the tremendous amount of time and care given to cementing those basic skills. Carrie has crafted a plan in each guide that is hard to communicate through the web pages that truly hones in on those academic skills - the history plan is just a vehicle. Although it sounds as if you are quite excited about RTR, I think in the long run there would be greater grain through CTC. Mainly because you could literally pick up the guide and go. You might have to adjust a great deal to make RTR work for your dd. The CTC plan I think could help her assimilate well into HOD, because I anticipate that RTR at its fullest will be quite rigorous. And as a previous poster said, HOD's CTC is very different from MFW's - you might be surpised by just how fresh it will all feel and be! Just some thoughts. I wish you God's best in your decision making.

[khutchi]

I LOVE the "Girl option" of devotion choices for RTR - why isn't there a "Girl option" of devotions for CTC?

[deltagal]

I LOVE the "Girl option" of devotion choices for RTR - why isn't there a "Girl option" of devotions for CTC?

Hi Kim,

In RTR the boy/girl devotions are only 2 times a week and are based on a puberty study that is gender specific. Hope that helps!