HOD curriculum

[krains]

I had stated in an earlier post, that I am homeschooling my two stepkids along with their mom. She teaches them at her house 50% of the time, and I teach them at my house the other 50%. I am halfway through my first year homeschooling, and she has been doing it for 4.5 years. We are looking for a more structured program and HOD looks wonderful. It looks like it incorporated God all throughout the day and we like that. The oldest, 13 year old boy in 7th grade right now, does not enjoy writing. At all. He does not write cursive either. He learned 4 years ago, but has not retained much from it. He is also not very independent or structured, but he is a bright child. Would it be okay to start out with RTR for him? I think the structure in the guide will help him succeed, I'm not sure if he'll be challenged enough though.

For my younger stepdaughter, 8 and currently in 2nd grade, we are sure she should be placed in Bigger. Great. My daughter, just turned 7 and in 1st grade, places in Beyond for some things, an Bigger in others. I am struggling on where to place her. On one hand, it would be nice to place them together, on the other hand, it seems she could learn things from Beyond, and it is more cost effective for my particular situation. Does anyone have insight or ideas? BTW we are hoping to switch to HOD by mid-February instead of the Fall. I'm so excited about that part!

I hope you can decipher my writing and questions. Sorry for rambling.

Kellie

[Tree House Academy]

I would not place a first grader in Bigger. When my son was in 1st grade (and he is an advanced reader), we tried Beyond and even it was too much. We ended up placing him in Little Hearts and had a fabulous year. This year, at 7.5 and in 2nd grade, he is doing Beyond and learning a ton! We are having another fantastic year. Of course every child is different and as the parent, you are the only one who can make the choice that will be best for your dd.

That said, the placement chart is your absolute best bet. I want to make sure that when looking at the placement chart, you noticed the verbiage at the top that said, "Each of the rows is placed in order of importance for correct placement, so consider the first row (AGE) to be more important than the second row (READING); the second row (READING) is more important than the third row (WRITING), and so forth." If your dd places solidly in Beyond until the 5th or 6th row, then I would stick with Beyond as the choice. If she places in Bigger solidly through the first 3-4 rows, then I would place her there. It is so important, IMO, to get the correct placement in HOD. You will be the most successful with the program if you place the children properly according to the chart. Trust me! LOL We had that experience last year (placing ds10 in Bigger because I wanted to do Am. Hist even though he placed SOLIDLY in Preparing). It did not work out well. This year, I placed him properly and the difference is AMAZING. We are having a WONDERFUL year!

Best of luck! and welcome to HOD!

[beverett]

I just wanted to say that for the 13 yr old, if it were me... I would start with CTC, only because it really helps to set a foundation for him to be independant (as you said he was not very independant at this time). I would do it as is with the extensions for older kids, and personally i would think it was plenty for a 7th grader then he could move on to RTR and be ready for more independance (also doing the extensions). I am doing CTC right now with my 9th grade son, but am adding highscool level readings, and we are really enjoying it very much! Just my two cents though!!

[striving2Bprov31]

I second the thought of your 13 year old starting off with CtC, AND your 1st grader starting in a level no higher than Beyond. We are doing Bigger this year and I can't imagine a 1st grader in it. I think she would love Beyond!! Placement IS key to enjoyment of HOD! Back to your 13yo.....especially if he does not like writing, then CtCwould be the better choice. It is such an enjoyable program, and if he needs "more", then you could include the extension package.

About a year and a half ago I tried one of my children in Bigger when, in hindsight, he was way too young. I was new to homeschooling, charlotte mason, and HOD, and it was ALL TEARS for the entire 4 weeks that we tried Bigger. I have him in Bigger now that he is ready and he ADORES it.

HTH!

[8arrows]

I would revisit cursive as well, but I am a big fan of cursive. I feel it is a skill (or lack of) that will be noticed thoughout one's life. I do realize that not everyone agrees with me on this.

[krains]

Thank you all for your input. I do think we will order Beyond for our girls and start sometime this month. What would you suggest for their LA? Right now we are over halfway through First Language Lessons 1st grade. Should I just continue on with that and not follow the boxes?

As for my 13 y/o, I'm still unsure what we will do next year. Hopefully I can make it to the convention in Des Moines this summer and talk with Carrie then

Again, thank you all very much for responding to me.

In Him,
Kellie

[my3sons]

I think Beyond is an excellent choice for your first grader. We are doing Bigger Hearts now, and I too feel it is too mature for a first grader. For LA, you could just finish out FLL and then go into R & S English 2 the following year, following the plans in Bigger Hearts. You could certainly also do the grammar basic parts of speech activities once a week that are scheduled in Beyond for fun, as they are a good way to introduce basic parts of speech and beginning grammar concepts. These activities are fun, short, and do not often require the student to write.

As far as your 13 yo, I would really look over the first page of the placement chart. We have 3 sons, and the placement chart has been very accurate for placing them. Students are expected to do the things noted in the placement chart's columns. If students are placed in a program in which they are not able to already do what the placement chart describes, they will not be able to do the things independently they are asked to do in the plans. Likewise, they will not have the introductory teacher instruction for these skills that were planned in an earlier HOD guide to ensure success with the later guide.

Being familiar with Charlotte Mason style skills of oral narration, written narration, and dictation, as well as being adept at following step-by-step directions are also skills that are important to consider in placement. When first placing dc in HOD, I personally believe it is better to place them in the lower program of 2 choices, if both choices seem equal according to the placement chart. However, if a child is truly ready for a guide and meets the criteria described in the placement chart well, then that child should be ready for that guide and should start there.

Printing the first week of each guide and comparing the 2 is very helpful, as well as paying special attention to the "I" Independent, "S" semi-independent, and "T" Teacher-directed boxes. The "I" boxes are not meant to be read to the student by the parent nor overseen by the parent (other than the first few times of learning the box's routine), but rather are meant to be checked by the parent upon completion. Likewise, the "S" boxes are meant to begin with parent instruction, but be finished independently by the student. So, if looking at those boxes, a parent is thinking she would need to oversee the entire activity, the student is not ready for that level of work. Likewise, checking to see if dc can read the living books planned to be read independently is important, as well as considering their writing ability for assignments. All of this is described well in the placement chart, but I thought maybe a little more in-depth description may be helpful here. CTC and RTR are both outstanding programs, so choosing based on your ds's placement will be the best way to pick which to do! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[krains]

Thank you all for your responses and taking the time to help me understand all of this. We are going to start using Beyond in March for both of the girls and we'll finish out the school year with my son using the curriculum we already have. We are still unsure of what we are going to do in the Fall. Both "J" and I need to talk with our husbands and see if we can afford to use the full HOD curriculum for him. Another question I have is about writing. In the higher grades, are the students still required to handwrite everything, or is it okay for students who don't like to handwrite, to type their drafts and stuff on the computer? We had someone suggest that everything that involves writing we should allow our son to type out instead of write it out. Just wanted your opinions since they seem to be wonderful

Thank you,

Kellie

[my3sons]

My ds types creative writing assignments in the older HOD guides, so yes, as they mature and are more able to type that is an option.

In Christ,
Julie

[krains]

Just purchased Beyond! We will begin our journey the first week of March!

[krains]

I just wanted to say THANK YOU, HOD for the fast shipping and quick service. I placed my order on Wednesday night, and my package was here this afternoon. Great customer service, and I've been telling all of my friends bout this experience!

[my3sons]

I'll pass this on to Carrie's husband Mike and their sons, as they work hard to provide excellent customer service in these areas! Thank you for taking the time to post your appreciation. Being in the "behind-the-scenes" type part of HOD, these words of encouragement will be especially appreciated.

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Kellie,

My boys, and my hubby too, were very encouraged with your kind words on the fast shipping and good service. They work hard behind the scenes to provide excellent service for HOD! Thanks for mentioning them! We pray you will enjoy Beyond as much as we have with our own boys.

Blessings,
Carrie