New Here, have some questions!

[jessie410]

Hi everyone! I have 2 small children who I am very much looking forward to homeschooling. I have been researching homeschool curriculums for a while now and like many people I have seen online, I am completely torn between HOD and My Father's World! I got both catalogs in the mail today hoping that would help my decision, but nope! Anyone done both and want to compare them for me? I just want to make sure that what I get is the most thorough, in both biblically and educationally. I have heard some people say that MFW is weaker than HOD...do most people here find that to be true?

My specific confusion with HOD comes with the guides and which "grades" each one covers. I would be starting with Little Hands to Heaven. If starting from scratch/LHTH, is LHFHG usually a 1 year Kindergarten equivalent? Or is it supposed to take 2 years and also cover 1st grade? I'm wondering the same for each guide. Would BLHFHG be specifically for 1st, or would it be more like 2nd or 2nd and third? I hope these questions make sense!! I notice with BHFHG, there is an extension pack for older kids. So do you teach from the same core curriuclum for 2 years and then add in the extension pack and beef up the math/LA the second year for each guide? I'm just so confused as to how all that plays out!

Thanks everyone!

[krismoose]

Hi and welcome! There are some good comparison threads out there, but I guess I didn't bookmark them. Hopefully someone else can find them... I, too, have compared the two (and have personally read through MFW K,1st, Adventures, ECC, and HOD Little Hands through Preparing) and I definitely don't think one is weaker than the other, they are just organized a bit diferently, and sometimes emphasize different skills at different points in their scope & sequence. People sometimes have a love or hate reaction to the box layout of the days in the HOD guides. Others prefer the week-at-a-glance grid in MFW Adventures and up (MFW K and 1st aren't laid out that way). Both companies honor God first within their curriculum, so you can't go wrong in that sense. I personally find HOD to have the Biblical themes woven throughout the subjects more than MFW, in that the Biblical theme for each unit is repeated in the history, Bible and hands-on activities such as science and art. In the early years of MFW, science and Bible are definitely connected, but sometimes they're on a separate track from the rest of the program.

The age ranges on the HOD guides allow you flexibility in determining which guide would be the best fit for each child at any given time. You only go through them once, usually over a typical 9-month school year, and then move on to the next guide for the next year. We had been progressing through Beyond at a regular rate, but I've decided to slow it down in the spring to take 2 days to cover one "day" in the guide, so it will take a bit longer than a school year to complete. My son has a lot of therapy and medical appointments lately, and I need to spend some time teaching him to do some chores, so we're paring back for a few months. Extension packs in Bigger Hearts and up allow older children to use the same guide as younger siblings, but with additional reading and assignments to "exend" their learning.

I hope that helps some - Merry Christmas!

[jessie410]

Thank you, that helps quite a bit!

My husband and I have been sitting here picking apart the catalogs and things we have read on online forums and have pretty much come to the conclusion that the differences between the 2 are pretty minimal. I have read a lot of the same praises and complaints for both of them! I'm definitely going to go with HOD's pre-k so we'll just start there and see how we like it and wait and see where we feel God leading us.

Over and over I have to keep reminding myself to break out of the K-12 mindset and focus on the age/skill level to determine placing. HOD is supposed to go through 8th grade right? So I guess I just need to focus on allowing my kids to work through the materials at whatever pace they need to and I'm sure they'll finish up right around the right time to begin high school, rather than worrying about keeping them in line with a "grade". That is what I love about homeschool...breaking out of the public school mold!

Thanks again and if anyone else has any more insight, please share

[krismoose]

Glad it helped. Also, Carrie is planning on writing through high school. If you look at the Scope and Sequence chart (p. 10 of the HOD catalog, or to the right of the main HOD webpage) you can see the outline.

[3sweeties]

Just to add in on this discussion...one of the things that appealed to me was how HOD naturally guides my kids towards being independent learners, especially in Bigger and up. I LOVE that and think that it will have tremendous benefits in the future for them as they move into high school and college.

HOD also works well in being able to "fit" your child where they are at. For example, some do LHFHG for just K and are fine. Others, like me, have found that LHFHG is better for their child at half-speed and have used it for K and 1st (Mine will move into Beyond in Feb. of his first grade year).

Anyway, we LOVE HOD and I can't think of anything else that fits our family more perfectly, provides the education my DH and I want for our kids, and as a bonus I hardly have to do any planning and can focus on enjoying teaching and discipling our kids! HTH a little!!!

[LovingJesus]

Hi!

It sounds like you have already made a decision, but I thought I would still chime in a little.

Little Hands to Heaven will give you a gentle introduction to home schooling and using a TM for pre-K. I think it will be easier to have that introduction with LHTH for pre-school, than the Lauri toys. At least for me I find I do LHTH; where as the Lauri toys were to easy for me to use more for fun than as a pre-school program.

I have much more experience with MFW than with HOD. We have used the Lauri toys (some), and done MFWK, MFW1, and ADV. We just started HOD this fall.

HOD & MFW are both lovely programs. They both love Jesus and have put together thoughtful programs that center around Christ and the Bible. The scope and sequence is slightly different. HOD has more literature for purchase (which I like). MFW is very service oriented and missions oriented (which I like) (they were missionaries for 8 years in Russia as a family). HOD has many history books that I am interested in using because of the Christian/Biblical world view in them. MFW has a few books that are a bit too secular for me, but Marie handles them well in the TM. They both integrate Bible into History (which I like). I haven't used HOD enough yet to be able to compare them educationally or spiritually.

Your choice of LHTH though I think will give you a wonderful introduction to home schooling. You also already know who will lead you the best in home schooling, so I think you will do well. I loved your sentence of letting God lead you. Every home school decision that I have allowed God to lead has gone well (and yes I have made a few the other way too on this journey that did not go as well).

Blessings for home schooling & welcome!

[jessie410]

Thanks again everyone! I'm really looking forward to starting LHTH. We are turing our attic into a classroom after we get our tax return and then I'm going to get started! DS was looking through the catalog last night and saying "ooooh!" so I guess he is exicted too!

[LovingJesus]

P.S. a few days later.

I just wanted to add that it is a good idea to add cutting and some kind of fine motor skill development to LHTH. Now, I have only done about a month of the program so it may come in later. I thought I read on one review though that it does not come later.

The program has absolutely everything else, and then some, for pre-school.

Fine motor skill development:
*Cutting
*Taking a sting and tying tape on both ends for stringing cheerios or life savers or anything that has a hole in it.
*Lauri stringing toys
*Beading
*Picking up macaroni with tweezers and putting them into a jar.

The reason for fine motor skill development is handwriting. Handwriting was harder to teach to my first born, who I didn't do fine motor development with in pre-school. It was very easy to teach to my 2nd & 3rd borns, who did a lot of fine motor skill development.

The rest of LHTH is marvelous.

Enjoy!

[Heidi in AK]

I agree with LovingJesus. LHTH is a wonderful preschool program!

HOD is planning to go all the way up! By the time your sweeties get that age, you will be able to do HOD all the way through high school. Just wanted to add that!