heartofdakota.com

I am hoping to begin homeschooling in the fall. I have one child who is completing third grade this year. I have researched many curriculums and I like what I've read about HOD. Can anyone offer pros and cons of HOD for someone in my situation? Thanks in advance!

Things I love:
Ability to customize the math and language arts
Increased independence in the guides
Skill based
Open and go
Amazing book choices
Bible interwoven in the history and science
Complete program (minus PE)

Possible negatives:
Hard to combine kids not close in skill
Need to work out of multiple guides in rare situations
Rigid -box format can lead to box checking instead of focusing on learning

My oldest will finish her fourth guide next week, and CtC is in the bookshelf waiting for us Katey in May!

How can I be sure HOD meets my state's requirements for testing?

What suits your state require? Most statuses tests are math and language arts only. In the early years (before Bigger Definitely, and possibly through Preparing depending on the child), writing is behind public school standards because kids really aren't ready to do what schools require. Schools require it simply because they have to - twenty plus kids in a room with one teacher makes doing everything orally impossible! But by CtC, HOD catches up and then passes public school standards. Math is not an issue - first Singapore is on track or ahead. And the same can be said for almost any other homeschool math curriculum! Reading you customize to your child, but there is no reason for a child following Hod's recommendations to be behind. Most will actually be ahead, as the books Carrie has picked are amazing at sparking a love of reading.

Very helpful information StephanieU. Thanks so much!

I'm new here too - just started LHFHG for my 5 year old. So I can't add a lot but I would add to the pro list the incredible community of ladies here to support, encourage, and answer questions. In addition, the wonderful lady who wrote all the curriculum (Carrie) is very active; her sister (Julie) is also active. Carrie has answered so many questions about her philosophy & why she has done things the way she has. Check out the stickies. There's a wealth of information here!

Good luck in your journey, whatever you decide. I've found the curriculum I want to stick with in HOD. I feel blessed to have found it in the beginning of this journey!

I can share what we enjoy about HOD and why we have stayed with it. The greatest thing for me has been that I did not grow up in church but discovered God later(and continue discovering more about Him) and HOD has taught me as well as guided me through teaching my children about Him. I was behind and they would have been so much more without HOD. Also, how Carrie ties and points out how history is really His-story continues to strengthen our faith daily. To learn and SEE how God has always been there is so encouraging. I have come to learn and understand so much more about history than I ever remember being taught in school. At the same time church is so much more vibrant knowing the world history that goes with it shows our dc how God is with us outside the church building. Then there are the edible history projects, science projects and math...yum, we are enjoying homemade caramel corn this weekend. Thank you Carrie. These have been fun things that I would have wanted to do but may not have been otherwise motivated to fit in to our day. The ability to see our whole week or just one day at a time has helped cut down on stress. As the dc have grown, Carrie is slowly weaning me and moving them toward more independence. We still have flexibility with our days and our weeks sometimes to combine and move on and sometimes to slow down. Our days are scheduled but still flexible. Hod is still customizable to dc's learning abilities and sometimes I discover they have learned a concept that I did not realize they were learning. It was taught so naturally and gently. Resources that I liked and would have brought into our learning earlier, Carrie brings in at just the right time. I have learned that Carrie is helping me guide my children not just presenting subject material to them day in and day out. We have noticed too that our daily learning has matched up with character issues and personal issues we were dealing with at the time. Just another amazing step in the journey! I encourage you in your homeschool journey. Finding HOD was a Hallelujah! moment for me and continues to be.

Our state allows evaluations or standardized testing. We had an evaluation at the 4th grade level and it was suggested that we could skip ahead a grade or two, that we were ahead of public school. Otherwise we just used the standardized tests and have never had anything come up that was not covered in our learning. I hope this helps.

Faroutback your testimony is very encouraging! That seems to be my biggest fear in embarking on this journey...being sure that I cover what needs to be covered. Thanks for sharing your experience!

I like StephanieU's list of Pro's and Con's. I have been using HOD for 8 years now and feel it is complete, academically challenging, interesting, engaging, and Christ centered. The last is the main reason I love it so much. I agree with faroutback's statement that things are introduced at an appropriate time - when children are learning to discern and you can have great discussions with them about hard issues.

To the subject of testing, I would say don't worry about it. Unless your child is currently struggling in an area that they will be tested on, and if they are I assume one of your goals is to work on those areas and get help (in which case your child will fare a LOT better with your one-on-one attention then they would in a school environment), HOD will provide good enough academics to help your child excel on the standardized tests. And even better then that, one of the things I think HOD does an excellent job of is teaching children to THINK critically about what they learn and encounter. That is worth so much to me. But again, I don't think you need to worry about the standardized tests.