heartofdakota.com

Hello,

It has been awhile since I posted here, but wanted to say "thank you" to HOD for the guides we are using. CtC (my 10yo daughter) and RtR (my 12yo son). I have five kiddos, two of those are very young, (3 and 1). Homeschooling a wide variety of ages is not for the fainthearted. This spring has felt particularly challenging for some reason, I think it partially has to do with the high activity of my one year old. Anyways, most days recently I feel like our routine has flown out the window and it is discouraging to me. But despite that, the routines and foundations that I had previously set in place with my two oldest are really paying off right now. I developed a weekly to do list for my two olders that help them know exactly what to independently each day and what subjects to do with me. We have worked hard at getting a "day" done in an actual day. I can see at a glance what subjects they have missed/skipped/or need help with. I have seen their independence start to soar this year and especially so during this last leg of our school year. This past week, I felt like I have have done nothing except clean up after or tend to little ones. I have had hardly any time to sit down with the olders, yet every time I get a window of opportunity, I am amazed at the work they are accomplishing through the help of the guide and what they are learning. If I had tried to depend on my own plan i am confident they would not be learning so many neat things. I love the way it all connects, projects, reading, history... SO thank you, for all the hard work put into organizing these guides. I am seeing fruit in season where I do not have much teaching capacity!

I also want to add that we made one change to the RtR guide (after much praying) which is a perfect fit for my oldest and probably unique to him. He is gifted with an exceptional creativity. He has worked very hard at learning how to write (oral narrations are not a problem), but it is still a work in progress and can be very time consuming and tedious for him. Since there are three writing assignments a week in RtR, (Science, history, IEW), I told him he could pick either the history or science narration to do a creative project that shows his knowledge of the material instead of a written narration. (plays, art, etc...) I could see the wheels start turning in his head as he was thinking about all the possibilities. I also want him to get excited about sharing his studies in meaningful ways instead of only associating school with written narrations. Since he has such a strong gifting in the creative arts, I wanted him to start connecting his gift with his learning and develop the important task of translating the info he reads to a creative outlet. Every week he has explored something new, but last week (unit 17) he built an art studio/musuem to display Leonardo da vinci's work and accomplishments in our basement. Lighting, music, etc...It was like walking through a guided tour at a museum. He gave us a brief biography of daVinci and then explained 6 of his art works that he had displayed, as well as inventions like the catapult, airplane ideas, etc...He ended by giving us a handout of all the artwork in his studio that we could take "home". It was truly amazing. I am thankful for the wisdom God gave me to make that tweak to his guide, and so thankful for the work HOD has done to provide 35 weeks worth of amazing material to study.

Sara - thank you for sharing about the growth you have seen within your children during this past homeschool year! You have had a very busy year, and yet you have still seen fruit in it - such a blessing! You tapped into something I wish all young homeschool moms could envision coming, and that is the incredible 'harvest' of having done younger HOD guides coming to total fruition in them doing the older HOD guides. Carrie and I went through a very difficult time with our dad going through pancreatic cancer a handful of years back. We both could not get over how our children were still largely able to go forward in their older HOD guides and be very successful. It was the 'normal' part of our lives in that difficult season, and we were so thankful. Once again as our family walks through difficult times with Mike and Carrie's son, Greyson, and now with our mother as she nears 80 years old, we find God to be so faithful. I truly believe He honors our choice to homeschool our children in a Christian way by using HOD. The children are okay, thriving actually, even when we as parents are experiencing heartache. Greyson has made a new schedule to work on his WH guide through the summer, as he did not get much work done this year. He is cheerful! He is sunny! Though this is a God-given personality trait of his that shines through in the darkest of times, we are especially thankful for it as he slowly does his homeschooling as his energy levels allow each day. He feels such an accomplishment with each WH box completed! He missed the mental challenge of HOD spending so many days in a hospital bed. He too, even at 16, sees the fruit or the harvest of doing the older HOD guides after doing the younger guides first! Sara - your son sounds amazing! What a neat display he put on, and it also sounds like your other child is thriving too! We pray the Lord continues to bless your HOD journey with your children in the years to come, and that amidst this busy season you are in, He continues to reveal the 'fruit' that is the harvest of doing HOD for multiple years!

In Christ,
Julie