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Hello,

Can anyone tell me how much time or work goes into preparing for a daily lesson in HOD. Does HOD come with everything needed, will I need to make copies etc...CTC and BHFHG is what I think we will be using for my 10 and 7 yr old. Also, want to know generally speaking, how many hours a day will school take? I guess I'm asking how long generally to just tackle the curriculum period. As you may notice I'm new to this, and have all these thoughts, ?'s etc... I'm trying to tackle a lot at once. Very excited, but a little overwhelmed! Thanks to all! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Stacey - a rambling KS mom

momof4girls wrote:Hello,

Can anyone tell me how much time or work goes into preparing for a daily lesson in HOD. Does HOD come with everything needed, will I need to make copies etc...CTC and BHFHG is what I think we will be using for my 10 and 7 yr old. Also, want to know generally speaking, how many hours a day will school take? I guess I'm asking how long generally to just tackle the curriculum period. As you may notice I'm new to this, and have all these thoughts, ?'s etc... I'm trying to tackle a lot at once. Very excited, but a little overwhelmed! Thanks to all! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Stacey - a rambling KS mom

Virtually all of your prep time will be BEFORE you start teaching the guide, and once you start teaching there is virtually zero prep time needed. You can start preparing by reading the "Introduction" to Bigger Hearts and gathering those needed things. Next, have an art cabinet stocked with general art supplies (white and colored paper, glue, scissors, crayons, ruler, washable paint, etc.). Then, I think it helps to make a tentative schedule for things, paying more attention to the order things are done in then the times. This establishes a consistent rhythm to the day, and stops dc from continually wondering what's next. Here is a link to some great schedules:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&p=16049
You may want to begin half-speed, doing the left side of the plans one day, and the right side of the plans the next day for a week or two - then jump in full-speed. This is just a great way to ease into it and get it down pat! Once you've done these things, my day to day planning and prep boils down to one simple thing... moving the sticky note to the next page. So, I guess my daily prep time might be about... hmmmmm... 5 seconds.

Bigger Hearts took us about 3 to 3 1/2 hours to complete, with it taking a bit longer when we first started it. I would train your dc to get comfortable looking at the guide for their independent things, as this will be a time saver. I would also post a general schedule of the order of things so they can be proactive about getting the proper books out, etc. Other than that, that's IT! Super easy on us moms, hmmm? I'm very excited for you to start BHFHG. We loved learning about so many great American heroes biographically in Bigger Hearts. In fact, 2 years later, my older ds (now getting ready to do CTC), is still requesting to read books about Americans we read about in Bigger Hearts! Anyway, it's inspiring - enjoy!

In Christ,
Julie

Stacey,

Hi from a fellow Kansan! Julie gave you some great advice for getting started. Reading the intros to the guides is a great place to start and won't take long either...like 30 min maybe. My day-to-day prep is the same as Julie's -

my3sons wrote: ...my day to day planning and prep boils down to one simple thing... moving the sticky note to the next page. So, I guess my daily prep time might be about... hmmmmm... 5 seconds.

Seriously! HOD guides are really that easy to use! I love this because I can spend my time teaching my kids and being a wife and mom. (I actually do like planning and could do my own lesson plans....but I LOVE HOD, and at this point in my life paying Carrie to do it all for me is wonderful. And, I know she's done it better than I would have, with God's help of course.)

I haven't checked how much time is reccommended for CTC, but I'm guessing that if you add just a little onto that you'll have your allotted time daily. CTC has a lot of independent work, and you child doing Bigger will do parts of the day without you, too - like math, English, handwriting, etc., so they'll overlap for you. I would expect it to take a few weeks to get into a "groove" with you schedule so that it flows smoothly. You could even go at half speed for a while so you and your kids can figure out what needs to be done daily. That really took the pressure off me when we started last year.

You'll have a great year! Bigger was wonderful, and I'm sure that CTC is even more so.
Kathleen

Hi Stacey!

There are some wonderful ladies on this board and they also chime in with some great advice!

(I sent you a pm in response--did you get it? I haven't done anything like that so I was just wondering if I did it 'right'!)

Have a day full of blessings!
Jess

CTC takes about 4 to 4 1/2 hours a day to do. Sorry I missed that you asked about that!

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. Kathleen- I hope your summer is full of happy times! I always love to hear from you - I bet your dc are growing, growing, growing. Enjoy the summer off!

momof4girls,

This past thread may help with time allotments for CTC:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3765

Blessings,
Carrie