heartofdakota.com

Hello, I’m doing res to ref with 2, CTC with 1 and bigger with 1. The youngest is just 3 r’s. Lately it’s been feeling like we are checking boxes again and I’m the drill sergeant trying to keep them on task. Is this normal? They like to talk, goof off, get distracted all day long. How do you manage that?? Also I keep wondering if doing a group thing like MFW would be better since I’d be getting all their history and science done at once. Maybe there’s cons to that though?

I struggled with multiple guides when my kids were Res to Ref and CTC and Bigger levels. My kids loved to play, go outdoors, and interact at those ages. It was a challenge to get everything done.

You asked though about MFW versus HOD. We used both in different years. I liked both for different reasons. I also used SL some years, and I made my own plans some years. I never stayed with one author year after year, but instead used one option for each school year depending on the year. My kids did HOD different years and in very different stages; some of those years were elementary and some were in the middle guides and some were at the Higb School level. I found the various curriculums all contributed in different ways that were positive. Everything we did contributed to a strong spiritual and academic foundation for my kids.

I think the biggest difference between group learning and independent learning was that I enjoyed the relationship building that group learning brought. It was easier for me to focus on all of them at once for history and science. The downsides were that I couldn’t focus on needed individual skills, and a bigger down side for me was when topics were introduced younger than I wanted for my younger ones while it was age appropriate for my older two.

Every curriculum has pros and cons, and in my experience they all provided a benefit that pushed my kids forward.

We did two things that really did help with focus that may or may not help in your home:
1. We always started with Bible and prayer together to start our school day. Some years I also did hymns or a Christian read-aloud after Bible. This then led straight to the kitchen table. We learned early on that without the grounding of Bible first with the kids and I (dad was at work), I had chaos on my hands.

2. White board that I have used through High School. When they were younger, I erased the subjects under each name as they finished them. Starting around 7th grade, they would erase their subjects under their name as they finished them. It kept everything organized, and I didn’t realize it at the time, but it taught them motivation and work first then play second mentality. It has had huge fruit in their lives.

Keep trying to find what works in your home, and you will find the solutions. Your personality and your individual kids will have a lot to do with what works.

Blessings,

Thank you I decided to put heart of Dakota away for a while and do some group studies together for several weeks. I experience the same pros and cons that you described. I keep forgetting it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I enjoy the richness of heart of Dakota but it is a little isolating (they have to literally work in separate rooms the whole day). Switching it up when we reach this point of just checking boxes sounds like a good compromise. I do love the skills they are building in heart of Dakota and the books they read with it & how developmentally appropriate it is.