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Hello! We are newish to HOD. I was introduced last August, when I'd already planned out my 2nd year of homeschooling. But I fell in love, and spent many months trying to find a CTC set for my 5th grader. I started LHFHG with my Kindergarten son half way through the year and we love it. Toward the end of this school year, I finally decided it was going to be too late for my daughter to start CTC (she turned 11 last Nov). So I started looking for a Res to Rev set, and found one right away for a good price. Once I got it and was planning for this next year, I kept feeling this nagging feeling that I was skipping ancient times. I always have wanted to go through history in depth, from Creation to present, and with Hearts For Him Through Time this was my chance, but we were skipping the first 4 thousand years! My daughter has been reading since she was 4, just one of those gifted kids who is an autodidact, and remembers everything she reads. It's crazy how much she retains just by reading it. Even out of a textbook, she'll remember almost everything in it! She always got straight A+'s in her private school, and was the most advanced of her classmates. So I really didn't want to put her with a curriculum that was for children younger or less advanced. Even with the extensions, it seemed like I was holding her back. BUT, I ended deciding to order CTC so we didn't skip a bunch of foundational stuff. I wanted her to experience all of HFHTT! Now with her going on 12 and in the 6th grade, I'm looking at CTC with extensions and it seems like plenty! I actually can't believe some people have their 3rd graders doing CTC!

Annnnnyyway, my question has to do with our time. I planned on having her do RTR for 6th so that she could be on World Geography by 9th grade, and World History 10th. Then she can do Running Start when she's in 11th grade, and graduate from community college with an AA at the time she'd graduate HS. I still want to do that. (I know you never know what will happen, but this is the plan as of right now) So we are basically going to be doing all of HFHTT in 3 years. Or 3.5, it's not like she has to be in WG right at the fall of 9th grade. Since this is going to be her first year in HOD and I don't know how smooth things will go, I am looking for any advice on how to keep things running at a good pace since we need to squeeze an extra third year of school in each year. She's an avid reader, and I think she'll love a literature based curriculum. BUT she hasn't been very motivated to get things done since she left school. There have been lots of tears and tooth pulling! I'd love advice from seasoned HODers Thank you!

I'll also be doing LHFHG/BLHFHG with my 1st grader, and starting LHTH with my newly 4 yr old daughter

We're doing CTC with extensions with my 12 yo 6th grader this year too. We're going to do at 5 days/week. I'm thinking that this should allow us to get through all 4 in about 3, 3.5 years. We also want to get to WG by 9th grade. I'm not wanting to push her of course, but I think she'll be fully capable of this level of work. So it might be something you could consider.

Hi! Yes! I think doing as many 5 day weeks as possible will be a big help! We do do 8 weeks of Friday School with our co-op in the fall, 10 weeks in the winter/spring. So we won't always be able to do that. But that still leaves so many weeks for us to do it

Yay! I'm so excited to touch base with someone who is in the same boat! lol, God Bless your school year!!

One other thing to consider, rather than trying to complete all 4 levels in 3 years is that you can always get to a point that you skip a guide. If you have your heart set on CTC this year, you could complete it with the extensions at a slower rate. Then next year you could do RtR with extensions at a regular pace as well. Once your dd is in 8th grade, you would just complete Rev to Rev or MTMM depending on if you feel like she should "skip" a level. And then for 9th grade, you could do the WG guide as is. Since it sounds like your dd loves to read anyway, she probably could skip a level with no problem. I would consider skipping either Rev to Rev or MtMM since both are about American History. One other thought is that you could consider just doing CTC through WG only and not doing the WH guide since you are planning to move to something else for 11th grade. With that in mind, I might further consider stacking my schedule based on the classes that will be covered in 11th and 12th grade and weighting your schedule and electives based on what you will get from those other 2 years. I am sure you have a lot to consider

HOD is a wonderful company! Their programs are very full and rich. I can honestly say that each day is full enough. I have seen a few other people who have had their kids do 5 days a week to get them through an extra level by high school. I guess since my kids are on the younger end of the age range, I can't even imagine doing that! My kids would kill me! But I can see how, as my kids get older and more along in their guides, their days go much faster and we always finish within the time frame established. For us - fun, my work schedule and planned activities are what would prevent us from trying to do school more than the 4 days worth per week. Sure - we typically spill our week over 5 days but some are half days. I like the flexibility and break in a sense. If you try and do 3 levels in 4 years, at 5 days per week, you are looking at your year lasting 37.5 weeks long each year and that is with no extra days off. And - with HOD - my kids are covering way more school than most of their friends - those both homeschooled and those sent to school . It gets to be a lot. HOD does an amazing job of making it balanced. But I would hate for your dd to get completely burnt out from all of the work.

While CTC is a wonderful level, since you already have RtR, I might consider sticking with it. I am not sure if your dd has read many books on the old testament or not. If she has covered ancients already, you could consider looking into having her read on her own over the summer some of the books from CTC spread out over several years. She could read the different books here and there in spare time. You said she is a voracious reader. So if she loves to read, then giving her the different books at different times creates interest. For example, my oldest has never completed Bigger. We didn't start HOD until two years ago and I put her in Preparing. She has read several of the science texts and extension pack books on her own. She has learned a ton from them too. I used to do a full day co-op (which I am excited to be dropping for next year) and she had to write a couple of reports that year plus put on a few presentations. Because the time period was modern history for one of those classes. she chose to read a few books from Bigger to complete those activities. Was I sad she didn't do Bigger? Yes, at first I was. But seeing how placement and the activities within the guide are the excitement of growth in each level, I am no longer sad. Bigger would have been too easy for her. I don't think she would have liked it as much as she did Preparing. Preparing was the first year she completed and all year long she kept saying how much she loved this or that. Then this year, when she did CTC, she again would comment on how much she loved this or that. Halfway through the year I asked her which level she liked better. I figured she would say Preparing because it was easier and the books in CTC were very challenging to read. She picked CTC! I was shocked. I think she knew she was completing challenging books and she was very proud of herself (along with just enjoying it because some activities were down right fun). We have 4 weeks left to finish up of CTC next year. I already know that because we will be studying Shakespeare, RtR will be her favorite But who knows, I have feeling that once she gets to RevtoRev and MtMM, she will be saying those are her favorite While IMHO each level of HOD is fantastic, the resources stacked with the activities and the balance of the day make it even better. I guess I say all of this to encourage you that you really don't need to go back and do CTC. Can you? Obviously - you are the mama! But one last thought is that with WH, you will cover many of the same things that were covered in CTC. Differently? Absoutely. But the Bible in WH is all about old testament. If you are worried that your child didn't make enough connections now, then they will be making them then. Also - one final though - kids won't remember everything they learn anyway. Will they remember a lot of what they learned? It depends on the child. I do like going back through my kids binders (I keep all their stuff in a binder) and seeing if they can remember stuff about it. But even if your dd does complete CTC, there is no guarantee of how much she will remember from it or any other level for that matter. It is the love of learning that is being fostered here.

With your dd, if it were me, I would spend time praying about your goals. If your goals truly are to completely those 4 levels in 3 years, then you may need to make some sacrifices in other areas. I would just be prepared to do that. For me, my goals are to have my day be balanced and to be able to still do fun things during the day at least once per week. Plus, with working from home, sometimes I need to blow school off for a day or two because of some rush items. I need that flexibility in my day. This type of schedule - only doing school 4 days per week - gives me a much less stressed outlook and creates for a better happy homeschool mama.

Thank you for all the things to think about! I've already bought CTC and all the extensions, and we're ready to start in a couple weeks. I get what you are saying though. We might have to choose to not do everything in each guide, whatever seems to take a lot of time and effort but doesn't seem like it's crucial to do. Or not! I don't know yet! We haven't started so I have no idea how it's going to go with her. I actually own the first 3 sets of HFHTT. When I was introduced to HOD, a friend who decided to put her kids back in school sold (basically gave it to me for the price I paid) me all her homeschool stuff, which included LHFHG, BHFHG, and Rev to Rev! So I definitely plan to do the 3 sets of HFHTT I already own, and MTMM looks so good I don't know if I'd want to skip it!

I guess I'm at a point now that I realize my years left with her, homeschooling her, are numbered. Seems like she was just born, and now I only have a handful of years left to teach her everything I need to! And as of right now, I'd really like to do all 6 of these guides. I just don't want to look back and regret not doing one. These two years of homeschooling have not been very successful. I've done an eclectic mix of stuff. I plan a bunch of stuff, have a very rigid schedule, and am on top of things. And when we fall behind a little, it just snowballs. And then I get burned out. And we will barely do anything for months. And the cycle repeats. That is one reason I am SO excited about HOD. It's all together. I just look at the day and it's planned out for me. I don't have to make my own curriculum by piecing together this and that, so there is so much less stress and work for me! I feel like these last two years have been a letdown to her, and haven't given her a great idea of what I want our schooling to look like. So I am just excited to get started on this HOD with her where everything is organized and set up for us by Carrie. And when you think about it, if we chose not to skip a guide, we don't have to do 4 guides in 3 years. As long as we do 6 guides in 5 years we'll still be on track for her to start community college at 16! 6 guides in 5 years doesn't seem like such a big deal. We just need to not fall behind like we have in the past. And even if we do, we can get right back on track because I won't have to be burned out trying to plan a curriculum. Thank you for the things to think about, and God Bless your school year!!

You are right - 6 guides in 5 years definitely provides a bit more flexibility

And you are not alone in blowing off school previously. Before I found HOD, it was hard to stay motivated to get things done. It was so easy to fall behind because my plan were always written in pencil. While we did finish most stuff we started, it wasn't without much frustration and much cramming at the end of the year LOL. I find that with HOD, I never really get that year end crunch. Plus, with HOD - my kids take responsibility for themselves as they get older. It is so nice!!!!! I love that if I am working or something comes up - my kids can do about 1/2 to 3/4 of the guide alone if need be. Plus, I am much less like to fall behind in grammar or writing (which are the two areas that I would always let slip before) because it is written in stone, so to speak. I can't erase the guide LOL.

I hope you do love HOD. I have tried several things before finding HOD myself. I use only Abeka for my first year homeschooling. Then I went eclectic for year 2 and 3. For year 4 I found MFW. But in year 5, I was all set to do MFW again. Eight weeks in I was miserable. It was not for us. It was the first year that I had two kids I was schooling in the same level, at the same time. It went horrible. I ordered in catalogs from several vendors to try and modify MFW to make it more of what I was looking for. I had never really heard of HOD before then. When I got their catalog, I fell in love! I was at a point that I needed to make a choice. HOD or eclectic again. When I was originally eclectic, I had either 1 or 2 kids doing school. And I was working around 10-15 hours a week. At this point, I was schooling 3 kids and working between 20-30 hours per week. I prayed about. And I didn't exactly have money sitting around that I could use for new curriculum. After praying and talking with my husband, he told me that if I liked HOD, I could use money he was saving to build a shed and buy both Preparing and Beyond. That was very generous! But he and I both knew that I needed to do something because staying on the same path for that year was not working at all. I was so glad I switched. And so was my husband. That says a lot for my hubby! He never really makes any comments about what I chose to do for the kids for school. But he did like HOD and let me know. He was also bit surprised that I chose to do it again the following year ..... only because I switched around so much in the beginning LOL. Ultimately he was thrilled that I liked HOD. He told me after our first year that it was the best year he has seen the kids have so far. Last year was fantastic too. I did CTC, Bigger and Little Hearts. It was wonderful. He also thought it was a complete success! My kids were so excited last year at everything they studied. Being that I have tried several different styles, this fits me and my kids the best. While every day and every task in school isn't always my kids favorite, my kids never have complained. Before finding HOD, there was a lot of complaining. What brought me to HOD was the book selection but what has kept me is all of the hidden skills. The guides are packed with them and the skills introduced are completely perfect for the child that places into that guide. Educational growth wise, HOD is top notch IMHO. The skills, independence, self confidence, wonder, understanding, connections, retention, basically everything has been fantastic. My kids no longer complain when I say it is time for school. They are usually looking forward to the activities, the books, the experiments, the excitement of the day in general. Hope you come to find that you love it too. It has been an amazing blessing to my family and I am so thankful for the dedication that Carrie, Mike and Julie have put into this company and their guides.

Nealewill,
You have no idea how happy I am to read this! I am so excited and optimistic about it. But, I worry, as I think my husband does, because at the beginning of the last two years I have also been optimistic and confident that what I had planned was going to be sooooo great, lol. Lots of switching around for us, too. So I'm very happy to hear your story We also did a lot of Abeka stuff. That's one of the biggest causes of burnout for me, actually. For each subject, for each child, there's so many different quiz, test, activity, etc, books to keep track of. Then the answer key to all the quizzes, tests, text Q's, etc. Then of course the textbook itself, and the lesson plans. For one subject for the year! I like keeping Abeka readers around, because I do like most of the books they make. But I'm never using that kind of a curriculum again, you couldn't get me to do it for a million dollars LOL!

Anyways, I am so happy you found your groove with HOD. I understand how working even a small amount of hours is so hard when you add homemaking and homeschooling on top of it! The last 5 months I've worked part time at Safeway. I started because I needed to get insurance after Obamacare fined me and took a chunk out of our tax return. But ultimately, we decided it was time for me to come back home and focus on what really is a priority right now. Last week I had my last day. I absolutely applaud moms who can work and homeschool and make it work, that's amazing! That's not me! Lol! Most of the last 5 months I was only working 2 days a week, about 12 hours a week, and that was enough to throw our entire homeschool out of whack. Prayers for you to have a perfect balance!