New here...introducing myself!

Katie · Post by **Katie** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:34 am

Hi! I am new here, and I feel after much prayer and consideration, the Lord is leading us to use HOD!

Rather than going into a long explanation on here, I will just refer you to my blog where I just wrote a post about my struggle in figuring out which route to go with our curriculum choice! http://boastinginmyweakness.com/2008/05 ... um-dilema/

I have a son who is 5 (will be 6 this coming school year) who I plan to use Beyond Little Hearts with. I also have a 3 year old (will be 4 this coming school year), who I would like to use Little Hands to Heaven with.

If you read my blog post, you see that I was actually pretty set on using A Beka for this next year. I have a good friend who had recommended HOD to me, but I didn't think I wanted to use it. Then my sister and I went to the homeschool book fair in Arlington this past weekend, and we talked to Carrie. I was wowed! (Is that even a word?) I instantly fell in love with it! But I was still torn! After we left the booth, my sister said, "Oh my goodness Kate, I think God lead us right to that booth to talk to her! Do you think He wants us to use this curriculum?" We just both instantly loved it and were so drawn to it.

That started the conflict within me! But after really talking through this with my husband last night, we feel that this is the curriculum God wants us to use, and I am so excited about it! I look forward to ordering it, and talking with others who are using it!!

So Carrie - thank you for taking the time you took to talk to my sister and I! It was not in vain! I am so thankful you did that!

Thanks for listening to my long babble! I look forward to meeting you all too, and gaining all of the wisdom and insight I can from you!

In Christ,
Katie

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:49 am

Welcome Katie!!!

I love that name, I almost named my youngest Katie. (I have really long stories about naming my kiddos......drove everyone crazy.

)

You are going to absolutely LOVE your choice!! HOD is wonderful and I think I speak for everyone here when I say it is a God sent blessing to all of us!!!!

We will be doing Beyond next year (our year starts in July) with you and I can hardly wait. I didn't find HOD in time to do Little Hands and I really enjoy reading the reports from those doing it..... it sounds like so much fun.

Mel

Mommamo · Post by **Mommamo** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:55 am

Welcome!

I'm new here as well. We'll be starting LHFHG for my oldest for K this year. Good luck in making your decision!

Jessi · Post by **Jessi** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:04 pm

Hello Katie,

I too am new here and so excited to have come across HOD. I wish I could have gone to a curriculum fair to really see everything but I know that God has led me here so I am at peace even without seeing everything. I will be using LHTH in the fall with my 4 1/2 year old and her two friends I babysit . I am completely thrilled about this journey!

Welcome!

beandip71 · Post by **beandip71** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:08 pm

Hi Katie! Welcome to the boards. How great that you got to meet Carrie in person. I will be using Beyond in the fall with my dd who will be 6 in Oct. I look forward to getting to know you.

Gina

Laura in CO · Post by **Laura in CO** » Wed May 14, 2008 12:19 pm

I am new here too, so I wanted to say hello and welcome.
I will also be using Beyond with my dd who will be 6 in Oct. (And Bigger with my oldest two dds... and maybe LHTH with my 3yo

)
From all I've read here, I think we're all going to love HOD!
Laura

amysconfections · Post by **amysconfections** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:06 pm

Glad you found this in time to use for this year. We will be using Beyond with my 6 yr old this year. I used LHFHG last year and loved it. I love how it's written and all the great books she picked also sold me on it.

Dorla · Post by **Dorla** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:17 pm

Hi Katie!
I want to encourage you to try LHFHG for 34 weeks. You will not be dissapointed. No, it is not like "real" school but the children learn so much more than at "real" school.

Having met Carrie this past weekend was also a blessing for me. It just made this curriculum so much more precious to us. There are so many authors out there that are not the real thing. I tried to meet one of them at the convention in Arlington, but he seemed so disgusted at being there that I did not bother to introduce myself. His books now have a new 'Not so bright light" cast over them.

AND, there is no substitute to God's Word as the source of knowledge.
Wishing you HOD...
Dorla

momof2n2 · Post by **momof2n2** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:23 pm

Welcome!
That is how God worked for me last year. Just totally walked me to it! ♥
I have been so blessed by following His direction.
Hope that you are blessed endlessly in your school this year!

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:30 pm

Katie...I just visited your blog. I realize your ds will be going into first and you've done MFW k, but I, too, want to encourage you to take a look at Little Hearts. When we finished MFW k, we went right into Little Hearts and it was very nice to have that overview of Biblical/world history before jumping into American.

Now if you've studied the placement chart, and Beyond is truly a better fit, then you should use that. Do you plan to use Singapore math? You will need to choose a phonics program to finish up phonics before you do the emerging readers, as MFW does not finish phonics until thier first grade program.

Probably more than you wanted, but we like to help each other hash things out here, and getting the right placement is always the hardest part!

Mel

MamaMary · Post by **MamaMary** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:35 pm

Dear Katie,

I so appreciated your honesty and openness on your blog. I remember those early days. The Learning Curve is not a fun thing to go through. As new homeschoolers you're not sure who "you" are as teacher or what your philosophy is.

You are very blessed to come into this wonderful calling at this time. After 11 years of homeschooling and trying many different programs in the beginning, I will tell you that there just is not another program out there like HOD. I found that in the pursuit of excellence many companies think: More is Better!

However,after trying that route, I found that more is just more. My Great Grandma had a famous saying, "The best seasoning ever, is hunger"!

When you eat too much, NOTHING tastes good. I found when I would buy these big programs, they took so much time that would get caught up trying to complete everything. We never had time to simply "enjoy" the journey.

HOD is wonderful small bites that leave you satisfied, but your ready for more the next day. It leaves room for inquisitiveness. It leaves room for park days and get togethers. (which is important too)

Katie · Post by **Katie** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:41 pm

Thank you all for all of your kind welcomes and comments!!

Melanie,
When I talked with Carrie at the fair, she said Beyond was the best fit for him. MFW K was too simple for my son this past year, and we had to skip a lot and add to it. I used a different phonics program, because he already knew what was being taught in the phonics in MFW. He is already reading simple stories, and finishing up his phonics, he is spelling, etc. The description for the Beyond fits him perfectly! Thanks so much for the advice though - I truly, TRULY appreciate it! This is a great board!!

Katie · Post by **Katie** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:44 pm

Wow Mary! That was an awesome analogy! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! It is all SO true!!!

water2wine · Post by **water2wine** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:47 pm

Welcome Katie! I love your picture on your blog. I feel that way sometimes but it is usually about laundry.

I know how you feel about feeling like maybe you will not catch everything with a CM approach. I was very much that way. In general have those kinds of feelings like what if we wake up in high school to realize they are not going to make it in the real world. And that is really nothing to do with what curriculum I use, it just comes naturally.

What I have found in using HOD is that my kids really are learning. And not only are they learning, they are remembering what they learned. It is hard to know that though until you use it. I also felt God calling me to it and finally just decided to take the plunge. Honestly after my first day I knew. Some people it may take longer of course. But I think most people end up feeling settled in pretty quickly and can see it is working.

I also wanted to say I completely agree with what you are saying you want for your kids in learning to see God in everything. Beyond the academics which really are there, what I have noticed is that my kids have become much stronger at translating what is learned about God and character to other unrelated things in life. To me that is what it is all about, being able to translate things to the real world. I think you are going to love HOD!

Welcome!

Katie · Post by **Katie** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:52 pm

Water2wine - yes! You got it! That is how I feel! So worried that we will get to high school and I will have made all of the wrong decisions and totally messed up my kids!!!! Thanks for your encouragement. All of my worries are just a result of not trusting God, and foolishly thinking it is all in my hands - and its NOT - thank the Lord!