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I attended a workshop at the convention last weekend called "The Self-Propelled Advantage". The point of the talk was that there are huge advantages to teaching our children to become self-teaching and independent and have mastery learning. She went over many reasons this is so and talked about studies that have been done on those who scored perfect scores on the SAT. These kids had all become self-learning and had learned how to master skills. She talked about how wonderful it is to have your older kids just get up and go at their schoolwork on their own and the freedom it brings in the home, etc.

As she talked, I was so thankful and happy that my kids are doing this already - and it's because of the past 5 years with HOD! I don't have to figure out how to teach them to become self-teaching and to master skills. Each new year of HOD has gradually, progressively, and very purposefully, taught them how to become independent learners. It has been a seamless, easy process for all of us. So much so, that I didn't even realize how effectively we had progressed until sitting and listening to this talk and realizing that we already had all this lady was talking about!! How wonderful to sit in a workshop and feel good and satisfied rather than guilty and overwhelmed! Anyone been there at convention workshops??

She also said several times that "micromanagement kills motivation". Again, I am so thankful that through using HOD, I am not micromanaging my older children as they have learned progressively to become independent learners. It is so easy for us as homeschool moms to want to micromanage our kids' education. HOD has helped me to let go of that. I used to be sad at the idea of not being involved in all the subjects as they got older. The thing is, I AM involved, but in a much better way than micromanaging - it's by discussing all they are learning together - rather than teaching it to them myself. It's a beautiful thing!

Thanks for sharing that Tiffini. It is certainly a wonderful part of HOD. I type this as my oldest just brought me her science notebooking page which she worked hard on and it is only just on 8am in the morning. I look forward to the years ahead with joy in all they learn. God has blessed Carrie with an amazing gift and I thank Him so much for that.

Thank you for sharing this! It really inspired me! I have the book The Self-Propelled Advantage. We have been trying to make self-teaching work with another curriculum. I can now see that it needs to be a gradual progression- not dropping them off into the deep end and saying "swim". Your post opened my eyes to why my 15 yo and 13 yo are having so much trouble with writing . . . we've never done any formal writing instruction.

I have been looking at HOD because I love the CM, Christ-Centered focus I see in the programs. I am pretty sure I am going to have my 13 yo do CTC, but am waffling between RevtoRev and MTMM for my 15 yo, due to the area of writing. I feel like my 9 yo and 11 yo will have an advantage (no pun intended) starting writing with HOD now. I'm trying to read all the posts I can about writing with HOD.

Please keep posting about reasons to use HOD. I'm enjoying the posts!

Mary in CO

Tiffini wrote: I didn't even realize how effectively we had progressed until sitting and listening to this talk and realizing that we already had all this lady was talking about!!

I had this exact experience/feeling when talking with a group of ladies a few weeks ago talking about being so worried about their graduating seniors doing ok in college. I was shocked at how much "teaching" they were still doing in the various subjects. It really made me realize how "self-propelled" my dc truly are! (Thank you, Carrie!!! )

Absolutely! I have been using HOD for a while now and hit all of the guides but the first. It absolutely
leads them to be self driven and it is amazing where those path leads, places I never would have even
thought to go.

But even beyond this. We never know what life will bring. I would have to say that in the most
difficult times of life with HOD you are able to keep homeschooling because not only is it all done
for you, it is all done for them. They learn to take it and go. We can not control when hard times
will come or go in life. I've hit some bumps in life while using HOD and I never would have been able
to continue homeschooling and have my kids come out academically strong without
huge gaps if it were not for HOD. I hate to think about if I would have maybe even given up
homeschooling all together if it were not for HOD. It is the rock no matter what happens in life
when it comes to homeschooling.You know that HOD will always be there to take over where you can
not and plan ahead what you cannot manage. That is another huge advantage of the self teaching
and self guided way HOD leads. I can not honestly think of any other way I could have homeschooled
six kids, come what may, any other way.

Another benefit I see is something I have posted about before. The less I micro-manage and the more I let him truly do the Independent boxes Independently the less teen boy attitude I see. He really needs to feel he can accomplish things without Mom right there. This is a bit of a challenge with him due to his CP, but it makes a huge difference in his confidence when I back off and only help when he asks me to. Also if he knows that I am not right there to feed him the answer if he gets stuck he is more willing to truly think it through on his own.

What an excellent post! I have seen the same to be true with my oldest ds, Wyatt, who is doing MTMM. I am beginning to see this progression with my middle ds, Riley, who is doing CTC, as well. The Self-Propelled Advantage has been so successful for our dc thanks to HOD's purposefully planned gradual progression of taking on independence. Each guide builds upon the last and helps dc take on independence with success at the mastery level. This is the complete opposite of throwing dc in the deep end with 'all-of-a-sudden' forced independence, which is what happens when dc are expected to be independent with a skill they were never truly introduced first by a teacher-directed method and then by a semi-independent method. The key to success in HOD's guides is the careful planning Carrie puts across guides and across all subject areas for incrementally teaching skills. It is pure genius!

Especially with my teenager, I can say 100% that micromanaging would not work and would damage our relationship. It is a precarious balance to homeschool teenagers. They have a God-given drive at this age to strike out and take on independence, share their opinions, be more in charge of their days, make more decisions, and show their own style. HOD has helped me balance these needs Wyatt has so amazingly well. The plans themselves take these needs into account while still firmly placing Wyatt under my authority, and the both of us under God's authority. In MTMM, for example, the boxes marked "T" teacher-directed, "S" semi-independent, and "I" independent, take into account this need to be self-propelled. In short, there are more "I" boxes than before. This has allowed Wyatt to take on more independence naturally, as the guide is his student planner as much as it is my teacher guide.

What this looks like in the day to day is he can choose to start his "I" boxes before I even get up. I am a fairly early riser, but Wyatt takes after his dad and is a REALLY early morning riser. He loves to get up early (at 6 AM) and go downstairs work on some of his MTMM "I" boxes while my dh is getting ready for work. This not only fits his preference for when to start school well, it also fits his need to have some special time alone with my dh just kind of hanging out while both are busy getting ready or working. They both love it, and as my dh travels a lot, it has given them needed time together when he is home. Wyatt then heads up to his room to do his Bible Quiet Time. He usually does a little more independent work for MTMM, and then finishes off reading just for fun whatever book he is immersed in outside of school. We start our day at 7:30 AM.

The self-propelled advantage has also let him have more say-so in the order he does his work each day. He can do his "I" boxes in any order he pleases, though I have always had him do his Bible Quiet Time in his room, as it is private, and he can do this earlier in the morning sometime to start his day off right. During my teacher-directed time, I decide the order, though I do take into account any preference he may have if he wants to share an oral narration first, have me correct something he has done right away, etc. For his semi-independent boxes, we chat over what he has to do, figure out what I need to do, and make a plan together. I love that he gets to share his opinions for our "Worthy Words" discussions. They follow the Socratic method, are based on famous speeches matching the history, and we both enjoy our discussions so much. Likewise, our Biblical Worldview discussions and readings help the two of us share our faith, thoughts, striking parts of what we've read, etc. together - while his Faith at Work Bible Quiet Time lets him personally share his thoughts in a more private way. I love to read his ACTS prayer notes in his Faith at Work workbook - these HOD has him do following his readings, and his notes there are a window into his heart and mind. I like to jot notes back to him. The MTMM notebooking, history projects, and nature journal all offer ways for him to express his individual creativity - an important need at this age.

You are so right, Tiffini! The Self-Propelled Advantage IS a huge advantage naturally built into HOD, and NOT having to micromanage our dc is an incredible blessing, especially at these older ages. Thanks for sharing your insight and wisdom here! It is appreciated so much!

In Christ,
Julie

This is very encouraging! Can't wait to start reaping some of these benifits!

I have been listening to some of this ladies talk on blogradio about Self-Propelled Advantage. Actually these past few days I have really been pondering on how we are doing with school and thinking about next year. After listening to these talks I am more sure than ever that HOD is right for us still.

I think it's time to start bumping the reason #'s to use HOD. They were some great threads from last year. Maybe they need their own thread or board!

water2wine wrote:Absolutely! I have been using HOD for a while now and hit all of the guides but the first. It absolutely
leads them to be self driven and it is amazing where those path leads, places I never would have even
thought to go.

But even beyond this. We never know what life will bring. I would have to say that in the most
difficult times of life with HOD you are able to keep homeschooling because not only is it all done
for you, it is all done for them. They learn to take it and go. We can not control when hard times
will come or go in life. I've hit some bumps in life while using HOD and I never would have been able
to continue homeschooling and have my kids come out academically strong without
huge gaps if it were not for HOD. I hate to think about if I would have maybe even given up
homeschooling all together if it were not for HOD. It is the rock no matter what happens in life
when it comes to homeschooling.You know that HOD will always be there to take over where you can
not and plan ahead what you cannot manage. That is another huge advantage of the self teaching
and self guided way HOD leads. I can not honestly think of any other way I could have homeschooled
six kids, come what may, any other way.

Loved your post…. very reassuring

Interesting, thanks for sharing this. I saw that talk at our upcoming Homeschool convention and was wondering what it was all about.

I absolutely love this aspect of HOD! My kids are light years ahead of most of the kids we know as far as this goes. Public school kids are all "give me the info I need please", other homeschool kids are pretty much the same way because the parents spend all the time teaching the information. With HOD you are teaching how to get the information from a source. Yes in the younger ages I'm reading the books to them and telling them what is to be done each day. And when they are older the guide tells them. But the information is theirs for the taking. And because of this they first of all remember it and second of all know how to learn. I cannot imagine a better way to go through college and life!

FWIW, I went to public school, but my parents would have been great homeschoolers.... especially with this curriculum! But because I had both worlds, but separately, I really struggled in college until I realized that if I applied what my parents did in studying for my classes as opposed to what I learned in school I would do much better. And I did! Freshman year I actually failed chemistry Now granted I had one of THOSE professors (graded on a curve - 5 out of 150 students made As... he told us this at the beginning, didn't care how many study sessions you went to, etc) but I still didn't know that I had to get my own information. I was waiting for it to be given to me. Because that's what I thought school was. They gave you the information they wanted you to give back to them.

My kids are going to be SO MUCH better off... even if we don't homeschool all the way through.... because of HOD. It has taught me that my kids are capable of way more than I would have expected. It has taught me that my kids deserve to be allowed to grow up. That THEY can do it. Not in a rushing them to grow up way, but in letting them naturally gain maturity and slightly challenging them in different areas.

HOD is awesome.