heartofdakota.com

I have been trying to share information about HOD with homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling friends. It seems like they all wonder if it is a complete curriculum and if their children will learn everything they need to learn. I don't understand why people would think it isn't a complete program that will teach them what they need. And do they then think I must have made a bad choice and will be holding my son back or something?

How do you all promote HOD and give great, accurate information.

Let me add, that most people seem to look at the website for only about 5 seconds (okay, I'm underexagerrating here a bit) before deciding that it doesn't seem meaty enough. I tell them to check out the forums and what people have to say there. But I don't think they check out the forums.

I'd like to promote HOD...but its not working well. We will be starting LHTH soon and I will be blogging about it. So then I'll just direct people to my website to see what we are learning so they can decide if it is meaty enough. I of course think it will be, but when I try to tell people about it, it doesn't go over super well.

It's really difficult isn't it? People think that if you are not doing a bunch of busy work, then you are not really working. The CM approach is difficult for a lot of folks to understand. People think that the short lessons and gentle approach mean you're soft serving it, when really the child is having to make connections and really think about what they heard and read. Putting Christ in the center of your educational choices is even more anathema to people's point of view. The best you can do is teach your child and let the proof be in the learning. Praying that God blesses your homeschool and that you can be a shining light for others. Sometimes the best way to shine is without words, just actions.

I can understand. i was able to get the word out a little bit and give out some catalogs a couple months ago. it went better with people who who were just starting out or were starting out with young ones. they were checking out everything and when they saw something that was all laid out for them, they perked up.
I have lots of veteran homeschoolers in my area and some are so set in their ways. They were able to tell people about all the stuff they have used. (You'd think that wouldn't be good if they changed alot).
I was so happy to have a veteran tell me they were happy i shared HOD, becuase not many know of it around here.
It really helped to have a catalog that they could take with them. I don't know why people don't go to the website and order a catalog. it doesn't cost them anything. I have heard a few say they were confused onthe website. i think , like you said, they look at it for 5 secs. I don't think it is confusing if you are really researching it. I do like "paper" in my hand though so i love my catalog.
Glad i am not the only one who feels this way.
I think once it catches on here, HOD will have great credibiltiy in my area.

Oh oi should note... i visited 2 people in my area . we let our kids play and they were able to look at the guides i do own . They really enjoyed that Having the guides in their hot little hands was exciting to them.


Jenn

I love sharing HOD too. We have a curriculum share every spring. A couple of friends and I share HOD at this. We get a bunch of catalogs and pass them out. We set up tables with all our HOD books and manuals. This year we had LHTH, LHFHG, BLHFHG, BHFHG, and some of Preparing. Some people were defintely intrigued by what they saw. I personally have @ 11 friends using HOD. We all love it. The group started out with one person. The rest have joined in b/c of the evidence of a great program. I think everyone should do HOD!!! It is my recommendation whenever asked.

I would love to have more people around here doing HOD. All of us enjoying it together! That's part of why I keep sharing about it!1

Laura

Thanks, Laura, for promoting HOD! You know the old saying that a person needs to see or hear about something at least 7 times before being willing to use/buy it? I have really found that to be true. Because HOD is written by a homeschool mom homeschooling herself, HOD is not able to attend a lot of book conventions.

The entire reason HOD even came into existence is because Mike and Carrie have a primary goal to homeschool their own dc, with Carrie as the teacher, with Mike being around as much as possible, homeschooling in their own home, and with Carrie writing what they teach. Because everyone was wanting a copy of Carrie's plans for the first set of materials she was using in her home, the first book was finally published, and eventually Heart of Dakota was "born". As she continues to write for her own dc, we are the happy recipients of what she's written as HOD publishes each guide. So, rather than guides being written to promote a large business, guides are written for the purpose of homeschooling their own dc, and for the purpose of ministering to other families who want a Christ-centered homeschooling experience. HOD is still a business. Yes, it still needs funds to operate, and business decisions do have to be made. But, it was not created nor currently exists for the sole purpose of being a business.

I share all of this with you because it may help you understand why others have not heard about HOD as much as they've heard about other curriculums. So, you can see how important it is that you continue to share your love of HOD with others (yes, even up to 7 or more times ), and not be swayed by the fact that a lot of unsettling questions may be coming your way. I've found that giving out catalogs is an excellent way to tell others about HOD (which I'll give you a link for at the bottom of this), but the very best way to let others know about HOD is to let them see the results of using it.

I am homeschooling very happily with HOD. My dc are enjoying their education and have a real passion for learning. They test high on standardized testing (which I usually never share unless specifically asked about it, as this is a nice benefit but not the purpose of us homeschooling). Our sons see Christ at the center of their learning, not on the outskirts or not as Someone only talked about at church. They love their free time and know what to do with it. They are content to play with siblings as friends. They love their school time, but they also love finishing it and having free time. These are all just some of the visible positive results of us homeschooling using HOD.

We have friends that have their dc in ps, and there is always a lot of comparing on their end. They were pretty sure we were nuts to homeschool. Then one day, my 3 yo ds read the word "cat" on their farm machinery's steering wheel and sang his ABC's while he rode in the tractor. That began a ritual of the homeschool grilling. "What is Wyatt studying in history? How much geography does he have? Does he still misspell things in his writing? What spelling level, reading level, math level are your kids doing? What books is Wyatt reading this year?" I try never to bring up these things because it is very obvious from what they are saying that our dc are learning much more than their dc, but their dc are in the gifted programs at ps. I usually just let Wyatt answer their questions because if I answer them a whole bunch of other questions arise. Last time they were at our house and she asked what he's reading, I just told him to go grab a handful of books from his room that he'd been reading lately to share with them. Some were easy and some were way hard. She showed each book to her dd and asked her if she'd read them. For the easy ones, she turned up her nose and said she'd read them last year. When it got to the harder books, her dd's eyes got big and she shook her head 'no'. Her mom got out a pen and jotted down the title and the author - poor gal, she's probably trying to read her way through that as I type. When she asked what AR level my ds was, and why I would have him reading those easier books along with the harder books, I just wanted to not answer. It's very hard to explain CM, living books, HOD, etc. in a nutshell. I just said we try to pick a range of wonderful books and let him read what he wants. I went on to say that their dd's were doing so well in school, and what were they doing in the gifted program this year? You must be very happy with that...". Anyway, I totally understand what you are saying here, but 7 times... 7 times 7 if need be... Just remember, HOD is a strong Christ-centered curriculum - it's biggest adversary is Satan, so don't be surprised when you try to promote it to others that you may come up against some opposition. Just pray for HOD as often as you can. Just keep showing the happy, content results you're getting with HOD. Don't be tempted to commiserate about the woes of schooling when you're truly happy with how it's going in your own home. Know in your heart you are doing great with homeschooling, and it will be such an example to others. Time will be on your side.

Here's a link to ordering catalogs, under "See What's New" on the right, just click on "order a catalog" and specify the number you'd be able to hand out in the "notes" section of the form:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/

Thanks for having such a heart to tell others about HOD, and may the Lord bless your endeavors!!!
In Christ,
Julie

I think having catalogs on hand really isa great way to spread the word about HOD. I wish I would have thought to take some catalogs to my hs convention with me today, but it didn't occur to me that I'd have the opportunity to spread the word about it there. I was at the Rod and Staff booth, looking through the upper level English books, when a mom came by, and was telling the Rod and Staffers that she had just pulled her son out of school, was beginning hsing, and didn't know where to start. Right then I thought, I wish I had an HOD catalog I could just give her! I did tell her about HOD, but a catalog would have been more effective. I also talked to another new mom just beginning hsing that I met at the convention that I mentioned HOD to, but again I wished I had the catalog. I plan to keep some on hand now. Heck, I have a half dozen of them around my house right now (mostly dog-eared and waterlogged from being taken in the bathtub with me though )

I think that with HOD, the quality of the curriculum easily sells itself, and more and more of those searching for a Christ-centered quality curriculum will find it and be led to it, especially as those of us who use it spread the word. I don't know if it's appropriate to mention another forum on here, but I read the HSR forums regularly, as well as other forums here and there, which I'm sure some of you may do also, and I am seeing HOD come up quite a bit these days. I think word is getting around along with its stellar reputation. That was one thing that solidified it for me as I was researching, is I read glowing review after review on independent review sites.