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TIP RECEIVED:

The other day I read a post by Carrie where she was talking with a new Hodie who was asking how you would fit more than one program in. When asked how you get it all done she said, that she doesn't linger and she works efficiently through each box and moves on. That single piece of advice has been so helpful to me. Being a "Betty" I want to linger over activities and conversations and though that sounds wonderful it can keep me from consistency. This past week I have taken Carrie's advice and I work right through the boxes. Not hurried, but it's a sense of momentum that keeps the excitement flowing. I've loved HOD anyway, but I can't believe how much this one piece of advice has helped me. It has allowed me to pick my "Little Hands" back up with Jacob. I'm excited about using Bigger and Little Hearts next year. It's such an excellent skill to aquire in any area. How often do I procrastinate doing my dishes when in reality if you just go in there and load the dishwasher it takes less than 10mins? So my favorite TIP I've been given is..., Momentum!

TIP I GIVE:

Keep It Simple! I love that I can write the date IN my manuel on the page we are working on. If there are subjects or activities that we skip I just X over them. It is my written record. I simply check the boxes as we do the activity and move on. I kept trying to keep a planner and it was taking what I loved most, what attracted me to HOD in the first place and overcomplicating it.

This is a great thread, and I'll be looking forward to reading everyone's answers! We can really pool our ideas here and help one another with our simple ideas! So, let's hear yours (no matter how great or small)!

My ABSOLUTE favorite tip is the one MamaMary shared, but here's one more:

After initially tweaking your schedule when your year begins, leave your schedule alone and just follow it daily. Even if you're not a clock-watcher, just follow the order of your schedule every day. Eventually, your kiddos will know what to do and will stop needing you SO much!

Many moms tweak their schedule so often that the kiddos never know what to expect. When I was a public school teacher, we had to turn in our schedule at the beginning of the year and were NOT allowed to change it without permission. This was VERY difficult for me (as I'm a tweaker by nature). But, what it taught me was that freedom comes when the kiddos can run the schedule themselves. They know what to do and do not need to check back with me every few minutes asking, "What should I do next?" Plus, I'm not yanking them away from playtime to do school when they least expect it.

Blessings,
Carrie

This isn't quite what you're looking for but.... my favorite tip is to use a cookbook holder for the manual. I bought an acrylic one (very inexpensive) and I love it.

I guess my biggest tip is that if you are unsure of how to make it successful just use it exactly how it is written. It really does work on it's own. And make sure you find the rhythm of the program before you add or change anything. It is deceptive how many little chunks of heaven are hidden in an HOD day. I think if you learn it first you will have better luck customizing it if that is what you want for your family.

But I think my biggest tip is to let God lead you in your teaching and to pray often what God wants to you to emphasize for your children. I have been so amazed at that prayer for my children what God has shown me about how He wants me to teach my kids.

WOW, HODies !!!

I really needed to hear some of this so thank you for taking the time to post your tips so the newbies like me can benefit !

God Bless you and yours,

All of the previous tips are GREAT!! I have definitely noticed that Dina seems to always know what we are doing next, so even though she can't my manual she is prepared in her heart and mind for our day's activities. Sometimes she eve let's me know if I have forgotten something after being distracted by some other event in the household.

My contribution is this... read through the upcoming week of lessons so that you can make sure to have everything on hand, especially for art and science. I plan out our phonics lessons for the week also, of course I'm ready to discard them if it becomes necessary.

These tips are great! Maybe I can add one too. My advice is similar to others but has a slightly different conclusion as to why it's a good idea. My advice is to do the activity that is suggested in the box even if your first thought may be that it seems a little "babyish" or too easy. Several times this thought has come to me and my first response was how to make it more challanging or age appropriate. But every time, I've gone with what Carrie suggests, and everytime has been a wonderful experience for my ds and a "I'm glad I did that," thought in me. I'll just give one example, but there are many. My ds is using Beyond. Several weeks ago, there was an art assignment to have the child paint a stone wall and a vine of roses on it. This pointed back to the house in the Pilgrim's story we read. At first, I thought that seemed a little simple and wondered what the educational benefit was to it - sorry, Carrie, for doubting you! I went ahead and had him do the assignment as written. Well, don't you know! He didn't have clue how to make a rock wall! I had just assumed he could do that. So, we took a little field trip outside to look at stone walls on houses in our development. We came back inside, and I demonstrated on the white board how to make it look like a small section of a stone wall. He was thrilled to have the technique and was excited to get painting. His finished product looked great. While it may not look like a super learning experience to someone who just glanced at the end result, it was a great way to learn an art technique that he may use many times over. I was so refreshed and glad that I just stuck with what Carrie wrote.
Laura

Mine sounds like a Nike commercial, but my advice is: JUST DO IT!!
I find that when we just plow through each box, we have SO much fun and the boys retain what they've learned. We do each box as written for the most part, and while I add/subtract/tweak/edit it's still such a strong curriculum that when we do "just" the boxes as written we STILL get such a wonderful education for our boys. And the boxes have just enough to do, and stop at just the right spot so that no one says, "there's MORE????" but they do ask to keep going! It's been such a blessing to say, "no, we've got to save some some school work for tomorrow!"

Mine is a tip...I think? Just do it....but the way that fits YOUR family...there's the beauty of HOD. I spent DAYS looking and watching the "scheduling thread" that went through....printed out people's schedule...tried to make ours have all those great ideas....and that just wasn't working...so then I sat and decided how this fits in my family....OOOHHHH AAAAAHHH...now we are at peace....my dd8 says....now you got it set up good Mom (so maybe some grammar help is needed)....but just make it work for you...don't try to do HOD how anyone else does it....Carrie lays the ground work PERFECTLY and then you just fit it into your day....aaahhhhh peace.....it's SO perfect!!

Oh, Mary,

This was a great idea! I love the tips, and they're all things that are helping me! My tip is also "stolen" from Carrie or Julie - maybe both? And it's really close to yours. It's to keep the momentum of the day going by not letting the child decide how long everything takes. So there are ___ minutes for math, then we move to history for ___ minutes. (Extra work is saved for later during the day.) We're a work in progress on this. My 8 yo doesn't always stay on task when I'm not on top of him, and even when I'm close he feels the need to talk about everything that pops into his head! A timer is helping our cause immensely!

Kathleen

My one tip -- Be flexible. Don't let the spill in the kitchen or the baby needing you when you're in the middle of something make you flustered or impatient. Take things as they come. And if you have a day where you just feel like we got nothing done - remember there IS tomorrow (Lord willing).

I am saying this to myself as much as anyone else. I have 5 dc ages 10 to 10mo, and it is easy to get frustrated because we are not starting on time or the varying ages and needs of my children make things too chaotic. I have had to learn to be flexible. Homeschooling will never be like the classroom ( for me that's a blessing and a curse). I like the order and sameness of one grade, one age group, etc. With homeschooling I've got this one doing this over here and this one doing that over there and the baby needs nursing and the preschooler needs help with something. Some of you may say, "Yeah, that's the way it is", but for me I have had to learn to accept that that is the way it is, and that we CAN still do school in all of that. So, for someone out there like me struggling with letting go and finding that balance between no schedule and complete structure, here is my ONE TIP -- Flexibility.