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I have not been on the boards much just because my life is very busy and had a lot of changes. We still use and will continue to use HOD all the way through high school for all six of my kids. But I wanted to encourage the ones that are hsing special needs kids. Just evaluated my high school plans with my dd that has cerebral palsy and is ADHD. I projected where she will be from where we have been and where we are headed. She has been using HOD now for I think 6 years maybe it is 5. We customized LA and math for her. I have been able to work around her learning issues completely and customize it for her with HOD. It has absolutely been the best program for her and in all honesty I never could have predicted that because being a literature/CM based program there is a lot of language and she has damage to the language center of her brain. However what that means is "normal" pathways are not there and HOD has definitely helped us to develop alternate pathways to get to the same learning. And I can honestly say HOD is optimal for special needs kids.

Aside from that I want to encourage anyone that has been told it can't be done. I pulled my dd out of ps at the end of 2nd grade. It was a protest to what they were doing in not following her IEP and I had no intention of hsing her but she just showed me she could learn better at home and it became clear if she was going to have a "normal" life hsing was her best chance. I have held her back 1 year since then and she is entering 9th grade. From neurologists, MRI and a whole team of special ed people; I was told she would be lucky to read at the 4th grade level, might not be able to multiply or divide, and would not be able to do grammar so do not even bother. Today because she is extremely stubborn and God is extremely good, she is at early middle school math for an average child and I can see we will get to pre-algebra and some personal finance, she does understand grammar and can even diagram, and she has learned a whole mess of other stuff from HOD I can not even list that nobody would have thought she would. Her IQ is many points below what is considered normal and from that alone all of this is impossible for her.

I am in no way the picture of excellence in my hsing but HOD has covered my behind on getting it all done well so that we could try 5 different math programs if we needed to and I am sure we at least hit that many for her. I had the time to throw out what they told me and let her show me what she was capable of no matter what they said. And we could pray and see where God lead on things then actually move in that direction with no worries we would have holes in our learning. HOD/CM ways are the best for above average and kids that struggle with their learning. I have both ends of the spectrum and both excel with HOD. Beyond that I have a little sampling of the population because of six kids only 2 are genetically related. All do well with HOD.

I just want to encourage you, it is great to get information on where they will struggle but never listen to limits on what they can do. They do not know the determination of your child and they have no idea the power of God to equip our children beyond what the world says is possible. And never think that just because they are trained they can do it better. Use the skills that are useful from the sources God brings but always know that God called you to your child and therefore He has equipped you. You are absolutely their best teacher.

I've said it a bazillion times but it is still true, never could be hsing six kids without HOD. It is the best of the best!

I'm in total agreement with you! HOD has been phenomenal for my severely dyslexic ds! Who would have thought that a literature-heavy program would be just what the dyslexic ordered? Thanks for the encouragement.
Laura

Water2wine it is so good to hear from you! I was just thinking about you earlier this week and wondering if you were still using HOD with your daughter. I totally agree with you. HOD is fantastic for my ds who has the dysgraphia, hand tremors, as well as some short term memory issues and just average reading comprehension. Isn't it amazing when an MRI says one thing and God proves that He is the one really in control of our dc's ability and not a MRI or any doctor. My ds just had his first MRI and according the the MRI he should be unable to walk and in a wheelchair. Before the neurologist told us the results I showed him a video of my ds doing a back flip and also a front flip off a high bar. The neurologist was almost speechless. He said he couldn't reconcile what he saw on that video with what he saw on the MRI. He also was very surprised by what the neuropsychological eval showed because he thought he would have more cognitive issues. If I had asked I am sure he wouldn't have thought a literature based curriculum was best for him, but he has done well and continues to make progress every year.

I admit to getting very concerned about if he will continue to progress in ability and especially if he will be able to handle the high school guides. Your testimony just reminds me that I need to just trust God and keep on doing what we know works for him and is what he loves and that is HOD.

It is so WONDERFUL to hear from you water2wine - how I have MISSED you!!!! I knew you had so much on your plate though, and I was just hopeful we'd get to catch up and hear from you sometime when time allowed. This is such an encouragement to read! I am currently at a convention, and I cannot tell you how many moms I have talked to that are in the need of hope and encouragement that HOD will be excellent for their precious dc who have special needs. I say it too, but it does not mean nearly as much as it does coming from you lovely ladies. I certainly have several sons born very premature, with speech delays, helmets to wear, etc., and HOD has been an incredible blessing to all of my dear sons!!! Please do continue to share your stories of inspiration and hope here, as I would love to share this thread with other moms with dc with special needs needing encouragement and direction. In fact, I will be sharing this today at the convention as a resource to searching mamas to come here and read and be encouraged!!! Thank you! If you have an HOD story to encourage other mamas of dc with special needs, please do share it here - it is a blessing to uphold one another like this in our homeschool journeys!!!

In Christ,
Julie

This is an encouragement to me. I can honestly say that my son is not as extreme as yours but went to speech therapy and language therapy for about 3 years. He also ends up in occupational therapy off and on and sees a therapist now off an on for anxiety. This was my first year using HOD and we are NEVER switching! When we started the year, my son practically struggled in everything. He couldn't read well and he hated it. He would never remember anything that was read to him. He wouldn't write and you couldn't read it. He didn't want to write! Well, we have practically finished Beyond now and all I can say is my son has made a 180. Because the books are SO good, my son wants to read! He will read 2-3 of the early readers as week or he might even read one of the Level 2 books in a week or so. But he is picking these books up on his own and reading them in his free time. I never thought this would happen. He is now able to complete all of the activities in Beyond where he writes or draws something. He actually takes his time and does a good job. I never thought this would happen. Because of the games we play and using note cards to tag things or put things in order, he now emulates this and makes up his own games with his sister. He is constantly writing things down. He also will write me some pretty sweet notes! And he will even write the grocery list for me.....and I can read it! And because he now likes to write things down, he is improving his spelling. His language has also significantly improved. I think because he loves the books we read, especially during story time, he is all ears and he is just gaining vocab left and right. He is now understanding more words and he has even integrated some of them into his spoken vocabulary. And while my son is still young, when compared with his peers, he was much behind. I always figured he would just be that way. Well, he is catching up! He now loves what he is learning and he wants to work hard because he enjoys it. Working hard isn't painful anymore. It is fun and exciting because there are so many elements to the program. For me as the mom, I love that my day is SO balanced and that it is so doable. Everyone completes their guide in the time allotted and they growing in knowledge significantly. Even my kids love the program. They have thanked me over and over for the switch. As a testimony, your program works great for my son who has some delays. It works great for my oldest who is places middle of the road academically. And my youngest is gifted and this is a perfect fit for her too! So thank you HOD for such a wonderful program!