Coming back to HOD in a year
Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 3:21 pm
Hello! I am a former user of HOD- I think in fact I was using each guide from Bigger on just as it came out 
My older kiddos are all grown and living on their own, but we still have one at home! HOD was a welcome part of our lives back then with the big kids. We have been using My Father's World since preschool for our youngest (when she was age 3) and we are just finishing up Adventures (grade 2 for her). It has been great because of the cool extras (my daughter is extremely hands-on and my brain also loves the weekly grid), but I can already see with ECC (the first guide in their "family cycle") that I'm going to have a bit of adjusting to do. While their younger kid guides are very developmentally appropriate, the older kid guides are written for a wide age range, leaning toward upper elementary. Also, going forward, MFW is going to be too teacher-intensive. My life has changed a lot (I am halfway through seminary and working part time as a pastoral intern!), so I really need for her to learn to work independently. I had wanted to start Bigger this year (that is where she would firmly place), but she is really excited about ECC's trip around the world, so to speak. So I will stay with it during this last year of seminary, but once I graduate, I am coming back here! I am pretty sure that Preparing will be the place to start once she finishes 3rd grade. I really appreciate how HOD has built in incremental independence! Both programs are wonderful in their own ways! But I know HOD will fit our needs better going forward. My one and ONLY wish is that there was a weekly grid. I discovered late in life I have ADHD and may be on the spectrum, and for some reason in the 2-page daily spread of boxes I miss things!
My older kiddos are all grown and living on their own, but we still have one at home! HOD was a welcome part of our lives back then with the big kids. We have been using My Father's World since preschool for our youngest (when she was age 3) and we are just finishing up Adventures (grade 2 for her). It has been great because of the cool extras (my daughter is extremely hands-on and my brain also loves the weekly grid), but I can already see with ECC (the first guide in their "family cycle") that I'm going to have a bit of adjusting to do. While their younger kid guides are very developmentally appropriate, the older kid guides are written for a wide age range, leaning toward upper elementary. Also, going forward, MFW is going to be too teacher-intensive. My life has changed a lot (I am halfway through seminary and working part time as a pastoral intern!), so I really need for her to learn to work independently. I had wanted to start Bigger this year (that is where she would firmly place), but she is really excited about ECC's trip around the world, so to speak. So I will stay with it during this last year of seminary, but once I graduate, I am coming back here! I am pretty sure that Preparing will be the place to start once she finishes 3rd grade. I really appreciate how HOD has built in incremental independence! Both programs are wonderful in their own ways! But I know HOD will fit our needs better going forward. My one and ONLY wish is that there was a weekly grid. I discovered late in life I have ADHD and may be on the spectrum, and for some reason in the 2-page daily spread of boxes I miss things!