heartofdakota.com

I thought I'd post this just in case anyone is interested. I've ordered my Preparing Hearts Teachers Guide (just so I can read ahead myself ) and shortly I'll order the books for our new school year ( we start in January here).

So, why did I choose Heart of Dakota over Sonlight? I have a few reasons. I have used both Sonlight and HOD in the past.

Firstly, I really felt the need to focus on a more biblical education with my kids than Sonlight provided. HOD is Christ centered, which is just what I was looking for.

Also, HOD is about half the price of Sonlight for a full years complete curriculum, and the international shipping is more reasonably priced too.

HOD has a straight forward open and go teachers guide, the instructors guides for Sonlight are HUGE and some what overwhelming. HOD also includes some hands on activities, which Sonlight does not.

I hope that helps anyone who is trying to decide between Sonlight and Heart of Dakota, who may not have 'seen' either program before

Thanks for posting your thoughts on this. Before I decided to go with HOD, I also spent *a lot* of time debating between the two and I'm so glad I went with HOD! Your post just confirms to me that I made the right choice.

I'm another one who debated between Sonlight & HOD. The Bible-centered curriculum, hands-on activities and the "open & go" format of the HOD guides were also decision factors for me. The price for HOD is definitely right, too.

And I'm another that was choosing between HOD and Sonlight. I have also used both. The reason I choose HOD was exactly for the reasons listed. Thanks Carrie! We are enjoying this year with HOD!

I think this will be helpful to those in the same situation. Thanks for sharing this, and having dabbled in Sonlight myself and having sisters that did it, I agree!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks for sharing your opinion. I am one of those who is researching things for next year. We have been happy with Sonlight but I think that we are going to need a change down the road and are looking at using HOD for the coming years. Winter Promise is also on my "things to consider" list. Thanks again for sharing!

Emily

Sonlight is one of the companies to extensively looked at also, even went back to their booth twice at the convention. I loved some of their products but others not so much. The teachers manual seemed very complicated plus they told me they wouldn't recommend combining 1st and K. Afterwards DH and I sat down for a cup of coffee and I pulled out my HOD catalog and said "nothing else adds up!"

I have friends that are doing Sonlight this year....they do probably 8 hrs of school a day. I am so thankful that we chose HOD. DH lost his job and I am now working 40 hrs a week. DH has to do school 1-2 days a weeks. I write out some things for him but it is very easy for him to follow the teachers manual. We are done in 2-3 hrs which allows time for other things like our library trip today and the laundry when I am home! When our lives settle down I want to add in a little more like Spanish and music lessons.

I, too, chose HOD over Sonlight. I used Sonlight PreSchool last year, and we really enjoyed reading those books together. However, I had similar misgivings to those already stated when it came time to order for Kindergarten. I really feel like the Lord just led me to HOD. I don't know anyone else who uses it (yet!). We are loving our first year of HOD!

I really enjoyed our Sonlight years but always felt something was missing. When a friend of mine told me to make a mission statement for our homeschool, it was apparent to me what the missing link was. I wanted a strong academic education (we were still okay with SL) where my children could understand how the Bible fit into "the history". I was young enough in my journey that I really didn't know what that looked like. It wasn't until I started doing my own studying using Victor's Journey through the Bible that I saw how the history I learned in school, and was teaching them, left out God's Hand. I wasn't making clear connections. I wanted them to understand that the Nile was significant to Moses and Noah's Ark probably rested on Mt. Ararat in common day Turkey. I wanted them to know this history not in addition to secular history but as true history itself.

I went through a time of questioning homeschooling and when I realized that very few private schools, and certainly no secular public schools, provided this, I gained a lot of confidence to move forward in my homeschool journey. The difference between the two curriculum are night and day (at least of what I've used). Really, they aren't comparable at all in this area. That said, we still buy readers from SL each year in addition to a full HOD program (I've got one big reader) and occasionally I'll get some read alouds from them as well. HOD is amazing! The IG's are unbeatable...the biblical/secular historical connections are awesome!!! Thank you, Carrie!

Amy

Bigger- 8.5 y.o.
Hands- 4.5 y.o.

Thanks for giving your opinions, everyone! I really appreciate reading people's views on different curriculums and their experiences! Nicole

Hi Leanne
Just wondering what country you live in?

Love Deb

Sonlight was the very first curriculum I bought when we started homeschooling. I loved the catalog. I don't remember the names of the cores we did, PK and possibly K5??? Sonlight is always changing, so what I used back then isn't the same as what they offer today.

On our very first day of school, evolution was introduced. I wasn't familar with the Usborne books back then, but I quickly found myself editing some of the contents with a Sharpie. I was sorely disappointed. I just wish it wasn't marketed as a "Christian" curriculum, because I never really got that impression.

I have been very happy with HOD. It is truly a Christ centered!

Edited to say I really like that the HOD manuel does the "work" for me, and that the "key idea" of the lesson in given in the manuel. With Sonlight I felt like I was just reading books.

I am a previous SL user and am now looking at HOD. Thanks so much for posting this! I agree with you about the HUGE IG-how overwhelming was that!?

Also a former SL user here. I'm not bashing the curriculum at all, as we have many fond memories of books read from our SL cores. However, one benefit I'm finding from using HOD Bigger this year is that since we aren't bogged down with SO much reading, I am able to spend so much more time making sure they are getting something from the reading (oral narrations, discussion, etc.). These are things I always meant to do when we used Sonlight, but some days the reading took so long we just didn't have time. I'm finding that they didn't retain nearly as much from the readings as I had hoped, esp. my ds. I know others have had different experiences but this is just how it worked out for us.

I do still have my SL catalog handy, and I add in titles for my dd here and there to supplement (she is 11 and doing Bigger with her brother). It has worked out so well for us. I don't feel stressed about *having* to read all those books, but we do enjoy adding one in here and there when it works for us.

Sheila in OK wrote:Also a former SL user here. I'm not bashing the curriculum at all, as we have many fond memories of books read from our SL cores. However, one benefit I'm finding from using HOD Bigger this year is that since we aren't bogged down with SO much reading, I am able to spend so much more time making sure they are getting something from the reading (oral narrations, discussion, etc.). These are things I always meant to do when we used Sonlight, but some days the reading took so long we just didn't have time. I'm finding that they didn't retain nearly as much from the readings as I had hoped, esp. my ds. I know others have had different experiences but this is just how it worked out for us.

I do still have my SL catalog handy, and I add in titles for my dd here and there to supplement (she is 11 and doing Bigger with her brother). It has worked out so well for us. I don't feel stressed about *having* to read all those books, but we do enjoy adding one in here and there when it works for us.

I completely agree. The reading was too much for us and I LOVE to read. But for a 6 yo last year it was way too much. I was so burnt out by the end of the day and it just wasn't any fun. I can't wait to start HOD next year.