heartofdakota.com

Hi everyone,
I am so excited about HOD! I just found out about this curriculum two weeks ago. I have a few questions but first I will introduce myself. I am a stay at home wife to an agriculture man, Mom to five sons and one daughter. Oldest son in the US Marine Corps,second oldest- working cowboy in Montana, and four children at home. I have tried several curriculums and sure thought the latest was the one we would stick with. As I have been pre reading all the books suddenly came across many questionable books and did not know what to do. My youngest two will definitely use HOD this coming year. I am so encouraged by the good book choices and the gentle nature of this program plus it putting Christ first. Here is my questions: Is Language Lessons for the very young easy to use? Does it stand alone or would I need to use Rod and Staff also. Also I am a little confused about Drawn Into the Heart of Reading. Do I need to order this also? Thanks so much

Welcome to the HOD Board! You already uncovered a shining part of HOD - its book choices are usually God-honoring and are the best of the best. I'm so glad you've found HOD, and I do think you would enjoy teaching it so much. I have used each of the HOD guides, and if you are using them in their entirety as they are written, Language Lessons for the Very Young (LLVY) is not needed - it is sold by HOD more for moms using only HOD's reading program, Drawn into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR). Otherwise, all of the skills in LLVY are included in the HOD guide plans already, with the exception of picture study. However, if you really like the look of LLVY, you could easily do it on the side - you may want to try doing the HOD guide first, and then add LLVY if you still want to after a month or so.

DITHOR is the reading portion of the HOD guides. DITHOR is for children ages 7-15 yo that are reading independently. I could tell you a ton about DITHOR as well as the core HOD guides - but before we get into that - I'd love to know which program(s) you think your children place in because then we can all help give details about that and help fine-tune it for your best fit. Could you check out the placement chart when you get a minute? The first page is the most important. It is short and accurate. If you could post a bit about what you think after looking at the chart - we'll all chime in for a chat! Here's a link to the placement chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

In Christ,
Julie

Welcome!

I wanted to pop in and say hi, too! Julie already answered your questions. And, I have to agree with you that the fact that HOD's curriculum puts Christ 1st was the magnet that drew me in. And, now after using 2 of the programs this year, I have to tell you that they are everything I imagined they'd be plus more! The books really are wonderful. Our family is making so many memories this year! I look forward to seeing what you're planning, too.

By the way, I'm married to an agriculture man, too. We have a dairy farm in Kansas.

Kathleen

Welcome to HOD, you're gonna love it.

Thank you all for the replys, it feels so welcoming! I also would love to hear more from the dairy farm in Kansas. My dh is a dairy farmer and that is what we do. Sometimes homeschooling,dairying and putting all those meals on the table is a challenge. How do you put what state one is from on the posts? I see you all have your state on but I don't know how to do that. Okay, here is what I have decided on to start with. For my First grader(this fall) I have chosen Beyond Little Hearts. For my Fifth grader I will choose Preparing Hearts For His Purpose. Now I just need to order the Main book, I have quite a few of the reader books already. I really like the looks of Language Lessons for the Very Young. Has any one here used it before?

homeschoolheart6 wrote: I see you all have your state on but I don't know how to do that.

Click on "User Control Panel", in the upper left of your screen, then edit your profile. You can put your state in under Location.

homeschoolheart6 wrote:Thank you all for the replys, it feels so welcoming! I also would love to hear more from the dairy farm in Kansas. My dh is a dairy farmer and that is what we do. Sometimes homeschooling,dairying and putting all those meals on the table is a challenge. How do you put what state one is from on the posts? I see you all have your state on but I don't know how to do that. Okay, here is what I have decided on to start with. For my First grader(this fall) I have chosen Beyond Little Hearts. For my Fifth grader I will choose Preparing Hearts For His Purpose. Now I just need to order the Main book, I have quite a few of the reader books already. I really like the looks of Language Lessons for the Very Young. Has any one here used it before?

That sounds like a great plan! We live in the country and have fields (sometimes with cattle grazing in them) all around us too - but we are not dairy farmers. My best friend when I was growing up lived on a dairy farm though, and my dad had livestock as well for a portion of my childhood. It is hard work! I remember my mom, my sisters, and I having trouble feeding all of the men (we had some hired help off and on during very busy seasons). We used to just finish cleaning up one meal only to begin making the next sometimes. Busy - but very rewarding - work. It is important work!!! Where would our nation be without farmers and what they produce! Anyway, just had to take a trip down memory lane for a bit. I think you will find HOD makes homeschooling very balanced, manageable, and time-conscious - not to mention fun! There is little to no prep. - so hopefully you'll have more time for all of the other things life throws your way. I haven't used LLVY - so I can't help there. You may want to check out the manuals first and see if you still think that's necessary, especially since it may double up skills unnecessarily and add more work time to your day. However, if you love it and your heart is leading you to add it - HOD allows enough extra time for that to be added easily.

In Christ,
Julie

Hey, fellow dairy farmer!

We are blessed to be working with my husband's parents, so it spreads the work around more. (However milking more cows to support 2 families REALLY drags out the milking time in the winter!!) I haven't ever milked much. My husband's youngest brother and sister were still living at home (and homeschooled) until this year...and they live on-site at the dairy. We're only a mile north, and are so glad to be close. I would have to have someone to watch the kids if I were in the barn, so I stay with them. I did tell Mike (my husband) that I'd be willing to get back in there this summer though. The kids are old enough that they could safely be around the milk room and not get into too much trouble.

Our start time in the morning with school can really vary at times with when Dad comes home from chores or milking. That is difficult in our house because there is no way to get to a place where they can't see or hear him when he comes in. So, Grant starts with things he can do himself before breakfast, and then when Dad comes home, we all do breakfast and then follow our routine. It's really working well for us now.

We've gone to having left-overs or sandwiches most days for lunch so I can make the most of our morning school time. I know my husband would probably prefer to have a bigger meal then, but he doesn't complain as long as there's food on the table. And, at some point I may be able to go back to cooking more at noon. I've also done some cooking ahead and having meals in the freezer to pull out an put in the oven. This has saved me a bunch of time, and it's something I'm going to keep doing.

For a busy mom...HOD is truly wonderful! I love the fact that I can open the guide and go. I don't have any prep-work to do, and can spend the time teaching and discussing things with my kids. It's very manageable, and it has the content that I so desire to cover, too. I know that you can fit it in between milkings and meals!!
Now...clean floors are another story here. Any ideas when your kitchen doubles as your mud room??? Some days I wish I lived in a soddy just so I felt a little better about all the dirt on my floors!

Kathleen

homeschoolheart6,

I just wanted to pop-in and welcome you to the boards. The ladies have done a great job of helping you and welcoming you already. If you haven't gotten a chance to order a catalog, you may wish to do that. It is a wonderful way to get another look at HOD. Here's a link to the catalog request form:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/catalog.php

Blessings,
Carrie

Welcome to the boards! You will love HOD!

Welcome!! I am the4Rs on HSR. So glad to see you here!!!! I hope you'll love HOD as much as we do!

Welcome to HOD...you'll love it!

Oh, and we don't have a dairy farm (or any kind of farm for that matter) but we live right near a sheep farm...does that count?

Welcome to HOD! :0)

I just had to comment again about this lovely site. All the warm welcomes have really cemented my decision about HOD! You are all so caring. I love all the comments about farming. Yes,the sheep farm counts! My daughter has four pet sheep.
I see in the catalog there are plans for upper grade levels. I sure hope that this will go all the way through 12th grade. I am going through all my books and getting rid of lots of them. I was this crazy homeschool lady who jumped on the bandwagon of a curriculum I thought we would use through the rest of schooling.I have books for almost every level! I am now cringing at all the books I bought and all the questionable books I had on my shelves. I was so trusting and now when I flip through some of these books and see the profanity,crude language and ect.Thankfully I had not had my children read them yet.What a waste of time that would be. Yes,there are alot of good ones too but.....the bad has outweighed the good and I am saying goodbye to the other program. Books that had reviews in the catalog and did not even say they had profanity in them too. I am even more thankful to have found HOD. It seems so much exactly how I want my younger children to learn. I so wish there was something for my 15 yo to use this fall.

homeschoolheart6 wrote: I so wish there was something for my 15 yo to use this fall.

Hi,

Here is a link talking about high school that might give you some ideas! HTH

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