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I used Bigger, Preparing, and a few weeks of CtG with my oldest. At the time he was at the upper level of the age group for CtG, but for some reason he really struggled with the work load. Add to it that it was my first year to run two guides and that both of my younger kids were learning to read (one really struggling) and we bowed out of HOD.

I switched to MFW and was very pleased for a while. However, this year we would have gone into their Exploration to 1850 guide and I could tell that most of the books were over my younger kids heads and that my oldest was fully capable and needs to be reading most of his history on his own. We had started to have these same issues in the guide before, but it was really going to be a problem for us in the guide we were moving into. I love the idea of learning as a family, but with the younger two doing their extension pack for younger learners and having oldest do most of the reading himself, I don't see the point anymore.

So, this year I purchased TruthQuest. I thought we would have a basic guideline and book choices for each level. I will say that I have been very convicted to stay involved in the history study and I even have certain books that the Lord laid on my heart for ds to study this year. I truly wanted this year to be about what we want to study and the books we want to read , but I am finding that I am struggling with planning and motivation to get it done. Plus, I feel like I am failing in my expectations for my oldest. I have never hsed past 5th in the past with my step-dd, so although I have been doing this for twelve years, I am not sure what to expect for skills. I miss a pre-planned, scheduled curriculum.

I have talked with ds about coming back to HOD and he refuses. I was discussing the differences in his and my expectations for him on another forum and another mom said something that made me realize what I think is the problem with HOD. All of the boxes overwhelm him. All of the switching gears from one thing to another. I think he would do better with fewer boxes per day, but longer assignments in each. I brought out the first week sample of Ref.-Rev. this evening and didn't mention anything to him except that I really love the books and HOD is still on my radar. He pointed to the boxes and said, "But Mom, I would have to do three different history assignments and then a little of this and a little of that." I know that if he just got over the separateness of the boxes and got to work, it wouldn't take that long. But, I think the separateness is what makes him feel like he has so much to do and he gets overwhelmed and bogged down with switching gears every few minutes.

I know this is part of why many people like HOD. The short lessons in many areas so lots of things get covered. But, I think my ds would do better with fewer things per day, but to go deeper in each. I guess we could skip through the week and select all of the boxes that have a particular book and read them on one day, then all of the science on one day, all inventor study on another, etc., but that would have to be mapped on a planner to make sure he got to it all and then we have another long list of assignments.

Anyone else have this problem? How did you work around it?

One quick thought that came to my mind as I read this...

I guess I see the HOD guides as having 2 parts. The left page is the "history" part...and it's called Learning Through History. The right page is the basics. So, there are really 2 parts to every day. So, when I see the left page, I don't see that we're doing history 3 times. I see that we're doing history 1 time and that there are different skills that are required and taught along the way. It would be kind of like giving my child a chore. Their chore might be "clean the bathroom". Now, to do that, they'll need to clean the toilet, wipe down the shower, wipe down the sink, clean the toothpaste off the mirror, and mop the floor. Maybe you could give an analogy like that to your son to help him see how his school work is set up? Just like the chore of cleaning the bathroom isn't done until all it's parts are...his history learning has parts, too. We always lump the history page together in the day to help the kids see that it works together.

that's a great analogy Kathleen! I love it! I often find that it IS in the way we approach it with our children that helps them see things the way they say them.

At first I was thinking...why not just do 2-3 pages at a time in a few boxes to go deeper in those areas like he's wanting, then the next day do 2-3 pages of the other boxes, however, one of the great things about HOD is how everything ties together so beautifully so I'd be afraid that he'd miss out on the synergy Carrie works into the details by doing the day as planned.

Perhaps if he struggles with the transitions you could do a half paced schedule actually until he is more comfortable with it. Then the "workload" will seem more manageable and he'll realize he can handle it.

Idk how it it is set up were still in bigger but a suggestion would be to write his assignments for him allowing you to combine all the history aspects together. For example read pgs do notebooking and whatever else pertains to history that day. I know he wouldn't see the key idea for the lesson but maybe that's something you could discuss with him after he finished all history assignments. Like I said I never used that book but that's how I set up my older ds workbox.

I love that way you put that Kathleen! That is a very good way to look at it!

I was also thinking the same things as titus2 and tiffanieh. That you could do half speed to start off, then when he is flowing you could up to full speed. Maybe then he would not be so overwhelmed by the number off boxes and at the same time and be able to connect the dots so to speak.. seeing that they all are tied together in some way just teaching different skills? AND/OR you could type the schedule up yourself to look like less when really it would be the same work just not in boxes (maybe only do this for a few weeks so that he would just get the idea that it really is not all that much switching gears?). Another thought I had was to let him color or check off the boxes in the guide as he does them to allow him to SEE the progress he is making in the day? Then maybe he would feel some accomplishment and not be stressing about the # of boxes left on the page. What do you think about some of these ideas? I really do think that he would probably be even more overwhelmed and not benefit as much from the flow of the guide if you were to have him do all the science in one day etc... but that is just my opinion and you certainly will know what is best for your son in particular. My sons are all very different and I try to keep that in mind myself !

Another thought to add to the others mentioned would be to have all of his books for the left page in one tote and then all the books to do the right side page in another tote or shelf? depending on how you organize school...

I hope I don't offend you, but why is the decision for his curriculum up to him? It should be up to you and where God, in His Wisdom, leads you, as his teacher.

mrsrandolph wrote:I hope I don't offend you, but why is the decision for his curriculum up to him? It should be up to you and where God, in His Wisdom, leads you, as his teacher.

I am not offended by your answer, but I do respectfully disagree. I homeschool for many different reasons, and those have adapted over the years. Primarily, it is because God told me to, and I want the best chance at disciplining my dc. One of the many other reasons is to be able to taylor-fit the education my dc receive to their needs, strengths, and weaknesses. With my younger kids, I make the decisions but do take into consideration their learning styles and likes/dislikes. With my teen, I allow more of his opinion...it's his education and I want him to take more responsibility with it. Yes, if I feel the Lord is specifically leading me to use something, we will. This year, it was American history that I felt led to cover. Particularly, I am to make sure that my dc understand that our country WAS founded on Godly principles. I am to stay involved in their studies via discussion and heart-felt guidance.

This ds needs a streamlined presentation. Honestly, all of the boxes on the HOD schedule pages make me feel like there are a billion things to do. I realize some of them only take a few minutes and relate to other areas, but just the presentation overwhelms this guy.

We printed out many samples from many curricula over the last few weeks. We have used many things in the past that he was familiar with: HOD, MFW, SL, and more. Combining the kids was no longer working around here for a few reasons. This guy also has a desire to be fairly independent with content subjects. After looking at many things, I selected curricula that presented subjects in a way that I approve of. Then, I allowed ds to pick from those. This ensures that history and science are presented with Godly foundations while allowing ds the freedom to choose a curricula that appeals to his learning style. I have already found that he often picks something that is actually more rigorous than I would have, yet, I get less complaining.

This year, he selected Notgrass' America the Beautiful which we both love. I was planning to cover Am. history over two years and still want lots of literature, so we are adding in books from BF, SL, HOD and more, then spreading it out over two years. A few of the books will be selections that I insist on, but otherwise I will pile up and let him select which appeal to him. He reads ONE history book per day and ONE piece of literature per day. He doesn't like reading bits of many books each day, so this works better for us. For science, he chose Apologia General Science even though I gave him the choice of several less rigorous things this year. Bible this year includes things that I hand-picked for HIM and his place in HIS spiritual journey.

I guess after all of these years of using a boxed curriculum, all of which are beautiful, well put together, rich, and rewarding, it is time for us to branch out and follow our needs for each individual subject. HOD is lovely, but this year my oldest needs his own Bible that applies to his spiritual journey, each dc has their own interests for literature, history, and science. Yes, I guide those decisions based on where the Lord is leading us, but at this point that is towards educations that are individualized. At some later point, we may need a pre-planned curriculum, and HOD will definitely be back on the radar if so.