heartofdakota.com

Hi
We used HOD a few years back and then put it aside for various reasons. As my last two are heading into high school, I am researching options. I live with chronic pain, though still seeing doctors with hope of a cure, so I am quite worn out after 13 years of homeschooling and 3 1/2 years of chronic pain. SO HOD really appeals to me!
I am looking for people that have used the geography guide to give me an honest evaluation as I have a few concerns.
I would like to know
1. length of time it took for your child to finish each day-and did you do four days or spread it out over 5 days
2. how did your kids feel about the assignments/work. Did the like it? Did they feel like they were learning? Was it interesting?
3. Does the program teach to be a critical thinker? Like looking at the source and possible slant of a book, article, etc. I want my children to have a christian worldview, and I want to be aware of judging critically and looking for bias.
4. Literary elements and such. Is there instruction in literary analysis? I assume this is using the BJU book but I just wanted to make sure.
5. Any other comments you can give me to help me in my decision making process.

I would really, really appreciate this! These are my last two children, and I don't want to short change them because of my fatigue! I have another one in her 3rd year of high school who is struggling and needs a lot of my attention yet. My oldest is graduating this year!!
Thanks so much
maddie

Maddie,

I am so sorry for the chronic pain that you are currently having. This must make schooling very challenging for you! As you wait to hear more about the World Geography Guide from others, I will share this post which contains links that will be of help to you in answering many of your questions. We used and enjoyed the World Geography Guide last year with our second oldest son. Link: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16125

This link is included in the post I linked above, but it is a huge help in visualizing the World Geography Guide and contains a wealth of information. Since it is not to be missed, I will link it here as well: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12933

I also wanted to mention that it's important to be sure that your student actually fits well into the World Geography Guide. Some students fit better in one of our previous guides (which can also be used for high school with some additions). So, I would encourage you to look at the two placement charts I've linked below to discover where your student(s) fits best. Placement is key in HOD! Be sure to pay the most attention to the first set of boxes on each placement chart, as these skills drive the rest of the guide. Link: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Link: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-yo ... school.php

Blessings,
Carrie

Maddie, praying for you. I too have spent the last 9 years in pain and fog. Through the help of a fantastic doctor here, I am pulling out of it. I would love to talk anytime (I wrote this long post a few minutes ago and it just disappeared, so I am rewriting)
We are using WG this year with our 9th grade ds and loving it. I started the year with HOD mixed with other curricula for literature and science...big mistake Once we ordered the rest of the HOD package and started up again, things went much better. Ds works one day a week, and weekends are full, so he is motivated to finish in four days. It usually takes him 6-71/2 hours to finish.
As for critical thinking, I will post a few examples. Yesterday younger ds asked older ds what fallacy was represented by the commercial on the radio, and older ds identified a couple. Following sermons and other teaching outside the home, ds will discuss what he agreed/disagreed with, what he can do, etc. Often, ds will correct (in a good way), encourage and commend his friends and teammates. He is very analytical and will point out to others how they have done well, and also what they could do for better success in a similar situation (talking video games, board games, sports)
His relationship with the Lord is constantly both encouraged and challenged as he learns about the hopelessness of other ways and the truth of God. I have used many curricula that teach about God, but none of them have assumed His lordship in every aspect of life the way HOD does. This is my biggest praise for Carrie's undertaking here I love the way she helps me to encourage my dc to live for and grow in God.

My ds who is in 9th grade and has dysgraphia and mild short term memory issues is using the WG guide this year. He has done all the guides since Preparing. He works 4 days a week and gets it done on the average of 6-6 1/2 hours. He does do the science experiments in the evenings with his dad, but even if I add the time for these the average is still the same. We use a different math and this is what actually eats up the most time. The only changes I have made other than math are that we dropped 3 of the lit books just because he struggles with remembering when he reads large amounts so I did spread the other lit books out just a little from what is scheduled. We do the optional living library, but I read it aloud. This actually adds at least 15-20 minutes to our day from what it would be if he read it to himself.

He says he does find it interesting. There are books he has liked more than others, but that would be no matter what we used. It took him around 8-9 weeks to really get into the groove. At first he struggled with A Book of Discovery due to the challenging language, but now he doesn't struggle at all and says he likes it. He has enjoyed drawing the maps and he may have been one of the very few high school students in America that knew where Vanuatu was when cyclone Pam hit there . It doesn't have him memorize every country's location like some Geography programs but he does understand a lot about the climate, geography and history of the regions he has studied.

As far as deeper thinking the answer is yes. The logic study does a very good job of this. It truly teaches to really look at arguments and see whether there is a fallacy or is the argument a sound one. The Bible curriculum also isn't just fill in the blanks, there is quite a bit of deep thought involved. Also writing 3-4 paragraph written narrations requires a different type of deep thought. He really has to sort through what he has read to put it into a meaningful narration. There are also some Socratic discussions scattered in the guide and the bookmarks that go with the World Religion studies require some deeper thought. I can see how many of these skills then will get taken to the next level in the World History guide which he does next year.

Literary elements are thoroughly covered in BJU lit. Overall I have been very pleased with this year. My ds has greatly improved his writing and his ability to go beyond just the surface of things he reads or hears. It has been challenging and isn't as "fun" as the younger guides, but since it is high school it shouldn't be. We still have had many enjoyable moments and conversations through the year.

We did WG last year, and we both loved it. It was a jump in the length of time needed per day, but honestly, any decent HS program is going to take time. For us, it 6+ hours a day. We started 6 weeks later in the year than we intended to, so we did school 5 days a week for the most part.

My son liked the assignments, and especially enjoyed the mapping. He's a whiz at history and geography, which is all from HOD. Lit analysis was included in the BJU book, some of that is done with the teacher. I did find that it took more teacher involvement than the previous guide, but that was because there was so much meat to discuss within the books. The topics covered were so weighty that the teacher really needs to be available daily to go over what the student is learning and reading.

I do believe that critical thinking was covered, in both the logic, lit, and world religions components. Honestly, though, it felt very natural, and I don't remember what was scripted and what just bubbled up from our conversations.

I don't have the time right now to address all your questions, but I do want to share my daughter's recent comments. She has done all the guides from Bigger through currently week 32 of World Geography.

She says this guide has the most information that will stay with her her whole life. She says she has learned SO much geography, and that it has been very interesting.

sunshine wrote:Hi
We used HOD a few years back and then put it aside for various reasons. As my last two are heading into high school, I am researching options. I live with chronic pain, though still seeing doctors with hope of a cure, so I am quite worn out after 13 years of homeschooling and 3 1/2 years of chronic pain. SO HOD really appeals to me!
I am looking for people that have used the geography guide to give me an honest evaluation as I have a few concerns.
I would like to know
1. length of time it took for your child to finish each day-and did you do four days or spread it out over 5 days
2. how did your kids feel about the assignments/work. Did the like it? Did they feel like they were learning? Was it interesting?
3. Does the program teach to be a critical thinker? Like looking at the source and possible slant of a book, article, etc. I want my children to have a christian worldview, and I want to be aware of judging critically and looking for bias.
4. Literary elements and such. Is there instruction in literary analysis? I assume this is using the BJU book but I just wanted to make sure.
5. Any other comments you can give me to help me in my decision making process.

I would really, really appreciate this! These are my last two children, and I don't want to short change them because of my fatigue! I have another one in her 3rd year of high school who is struggling and needs a lot of my attention yet. My oldest is graduating this year!!
Thanks so much
maddie

Hi maddie, and welcome to the HOD Board! We used WG last year with our ds and enjoyed our year so much. We did every single part of it as planned, including the Living Library (which is not necessary for history credit, but which my ds greatly enjoyed). We did 4 days' worth of plans within 4 days. My ds wanted to start the year doing 5 days of plans in a week, so that he could get ahead at the start of the year in order to move to 4 days a week later for weekends hunting and fishing with my dh. We found the following times to be accurate...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13551

My son enjoyed the year very much, and he loved to be reading narrative living books, as opposed to dry textbooks. I actually am so endeared to this time of homeschooling my dc, especially my oldest whom I don't have as many years left to homeschool , that I try to post pics and talk about our week each week on the HOD Weekly Check-In. Here are some links to pics/posts about the WG guide that will give you a window into how much my ds and I enjoyed our year together...
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=14563
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=14543
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=14591
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=14608
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=14620

The World Religions and Cultures Study REALLY was WONDERFUL about teaching my ds to think critically, and to have empathy, compassion, and love for those coming to Christian faith when surrounded by other domineering, and sometimes dangerous life-threatening, religions. We loved that study, and the living books and notebook assignments were amazing! Of course the entire Logic elective did an excellent job of helping our ds to be a critical thinker, and he often found it to be witty as well. Driving past billboards, listening to the radio advertisements, or watching t.v. commercials became a constant dialogue, as our ds loved to point out fallacies and put his newly learned 'art of argument' on display.

Literary analysis and elements are thoroughly covered in BJU. We loved the ebb and flow between the BJU Lit Study and the Boy Set of living books. The above links contain some more insight into that and show how much our ds enjoyed both the BJU Lit readings AND the full-length Boy Set books.

As far as other comments, I can share why I feel good about HOD High School. It is worthy of the credits my ds is receiving. He is being well-prepared for his future responsibilities of being the provider for his own family someday. He will be able to go to any college of his choice with the training he has received, and he is well-prepared for any standardized testing he is required to take. However, what I REALLY love about HOD for High School is the focus on Christ and the conversations it opens up between us. The discussions we are having are the ones we need to have. There is no fluff. Getting to see my ds's 'heart' is just as important to me as getting to see the amazing things he is accomplishing through HOD with his 'mind.' We will look back on this time in high school as time well spent.

In Christ,
Julie

Hi, Maddie! We are just a few weeks away from finishing our second time through the WG Guide! I cannot say enough good things about it. Really. It is such a wonderful, rich, important education. To answer some of your questions:

I have twins currently working through it. My dd is able to finish in approx. 5-6 hours a day - she is fast! My ds can take as long as 7.5 hours - and they are doing the exact same work. So to put a time on any individual is really frustrating - it really depends on the child doing the work!

The work is extremely interesting! I cannot get over the amazing books that they are reading. My son said yesterday after doing the assigned reading in I Dared to Call Him Father that everyone should be required to read this book! The books in this year of study are particularly fascinating and life-changing in my opinion.

Critical thinking is all through this year. The Logic study is exceptional and it has helped my entire family to see the fallacies all around us and know how to address them. And it is actually fun! There was a family discussion going on this past weekend with extended family with some being for and some being against a major issue in Indiana politics right now. I was able to easily see the fallacies in the opposing arguments and so were my kids! Pretty cool.

I love the Literature study this year. It is the perfect combo of Lit Analysis with BJU, which includes really wonderful reading selections - and the whole book studies which have a more responsive nature to the assignments rather than the analytical type of response required with BJU. Perfect balance in my opinion. And the whole books are not to be missed! My kids have loved them!

This year is a lot of reading, but the days are balanced and varied. Your kids should not get bored doing this study at all. Each day is different, but yet has a familiar flow and rhythm that provides consistency as well. As others have mentioned, the World Religions study is not to be missed and will be life-changing for your student!

I hope this helps in your quest for more information!