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My almost 7 year old is in 1st grade PS. We hope to start HS this fall starting 2nd grade. I am curious how HOD compares to what a child learns at a highly academically rated PS??
I want to try HS to see if its a good fit. If we ever go back to PS, I don't want my children behind in learning.

I pulled my kids from ps this school year (last fall) and this is our first year - and my oldest is in 2nd and I went with Beyond - I think he would have been able to do Bigger without a lot of problem but I knew this program was different then what he was used to so I went with Beyond and it was a great fit - he is still learning things he did not know and mastering skills he was already introduced to - Bigger is more intense and it would have been more of a challenge for him but I wanted to keep it on the lighter side and gradually step into it since it was our first year homeschooling and I wanted him to like it - I did however use the 2nd grade math and dithor level 2 and the 2nd grade science and he is doing great and he loves it.
The school he went to was one of the top rated ps in the class for the state so it seems to be pretty accurate to me -

Hope this helps!
Elisa

Allow me.yo.preface this with IM USIMG A NEW PHONE! And it really likes to put lots of periods in my sentences. And make typos. Sorry.

My daughter went from HOD doing Beyond in 2nd and Bigger in 3rd and still workimg.on it 4th grade, with rod and.staff grammar 3, and no added writing....to a coveted public school. They had to.do placement tests and couldn't find a stopping.point in.her reading and comprehension skills which sky rocketed using the narrations.skills taught in HOD because she was already last grade level by far so they just quit testing. She was ahead in.language arts and even with no formal teaching in composition or creative writing, just good literature and oral narration skills, she blew them away with her writing skills. That includes her grammar and usage. They also were amazed at her number sense and ability to break apart numbers. She was in 4th but using Singapore 2B and had done a tad of Singapore 3a. Wed just switched to math mammoth but her skills she took with her were from Carrie's math activities. So she started mid year giving.homeschooling and.HOD a good name, and continually came home.with all sorts of teacher notes full of compliments and comments about how well she was doing. Tue teacher was so impressed she decided to.stop teaching within.the next year.to homeschooling her kids and used.our parent teacher conference time to write down.everything we were using for.school so she could.use.the same.

So HOD is far ahead of PS. They may not cover as many topics as.quickly, but its more than a checklist of skills to cover. It's a shorter list with deeper and.real learning. In the end, you find you learn far more even.if on.the outside.to others it seems you coveted less. My girl begged.to be homeschooled again. She grew.bored of.constant work and lessons and not making.progress in.actual learning when.she could spend.half the tike and.do.half the amount.of.work and.have ten times the learning. She never had anything.to.share with me.about what shed learned.in.school but.daily shares about things in HOD. And.she shares.without my asking. Its a passion that was missing.from public school.

HOD and PS are day and night. Here's a great thread you can read that will help show some of the differences...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10632&p=78391#p78391

The other day I ran into a young lady I had taught in PS 17 years ago. She's now 25 years old and married. We hugged and caught up with one another, but I walked away kind of sad. It hit me that she never even knew about my faith in the Lord. With all that education, PS left Christ out of it. I have now come to believe that this is not an education at all, but rather time spent with no real center or core to it. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and there is no wisdom separate from Him. This is our personal belief, and HOD meets this need beautifully. This is something PS could never do, as the Lord must be left out of it. HTH as you weigh your decisions for your family, and I hope you find some good answers in reading the above thread!

In Christ,
Julie

Wow Julie. I think you just put into words what I could NEVER express so clearly as you just did.

my3sons wrote:Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and there is no wisdom separate from Him. This is our personal belief, and HOD meets this need beautifully. This is something PS could never do, as the Lord must be left out of it.

Wow Julie! VERY WELL said. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE that. So much.