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I considered using HOD over a year ago, but DH didn't want to H'school at the time. So, I was on the board a bit back then. We just moved from Oregon to Texas about a month and a 1/2 ago and have decided to H'school. I attempted to H'school in the past with SL, but it is completely opposite of my childrens learning style (ages 6 & . I am still trying to decide between HOD, MFW and KONOS in a box. I need something that involves hands on for my kids. Not a whole lot of sitting and reading etc. I also want something that is open and go. I am currently looking at LHFG and BHFG. Why are you using HOD? Have you tried anything else? Do you feel that HOD includes plenty of hands on learning?

I look forward to chatting with y'all.

Hi and welcome to HOD!

I'll try to answer some of your questions.

Why are you using HOD? Because it's open and go, the work gets done, and my kids love it. I really like how the guide is set up.

Like you, I tried SL. We enjoyed the books, but I felt like I was just reading to the kids. Not with HOD. My oldest three are in week 18 of Beyond. We really enjoy the daily art, geography, science and/or history activities that truly make the subjects come "alive". I have wonderful conversations with my children and I know they're learning. My husband is continually impressed.

I was a curriculum junkie before finding HOD, but not anymore. We are sticking with what works.

I hope more of ladies will chime in.

Julie

Hi and welcome!

While I'm not an expert on HOD, I do very much love this curriculum! I have used Abeka, Christian Liberty and MFW in the past. Most recently, Abeka and MFW, last year. Many people do tend to compare HOD with MFW, however I see them as very different. I am not even going to try to compare the two, because I see HOD as head and shoulders above anything else I've ever used!

It is a truly open-and-go curriculum. It does not require using any special equipment or supplies other than what would normally be found in your home. Even if you come across something that you don't have on hand, usually several other suggestions are given to substitute for that item. The projects and activities are FUN! Last year was a struggle for one of my children. So far this year (mind you, only after one week), this child has remarked on how fun school is this year, and how they like the changes that have been made! The child's attitude is really wonderful and I'm seeing great improvements also!

My children, also, thrive with hands on learning. That's something that we've changed as well. HOD includes many, many opportunities to get kids moving and doing something with their hands and their minds! With any curriculum you will have reading. But with HOD the reading is in manageable "chunks" that kids can handle. One of the Charlotte Mason philosophies is to incorporate short lessons. So, in keeping with this, HOD has short lessons in all subjects that really work well with childrens attention spans. I've noticed that my children are starting to pay better attention because they know readings won't go on forever!

I cannot say enough about this wonderful curriculum. The best part of it all is that Christ is woven into everything. Children are saturated in His Word and developing hearts for Him! That speaks volumes! The author of this program has taken great care to see that it is God honoring, and she and her sister (the editor), are very regularly on this board to help answer questions and be an encouragement to us all! I don't know of any other curriculum with such a great support system!

I hope that this can be of some help to you. Just take time to pray about it and see where the Lord leads!

Blessings as you decide!

In Christ,

Lisa

Welcome! This will be my second year using HOD. My ds came home from ps as a 5th grader. He has mild CP which makes handwriting a challenge at times. One of the things I love about HOD is that it is easy to adapt some things for him. He can easily type instead of writing etc. When he came home he had a very negative attitude about his abilities. He felt like he was a terrible writer and he didn't like to read. He had a fantastic year last year using Preparing. He was very sad to see the school year done. His favorite activities became the creative writing activities with poetry. They are done in such a way that he couldn't help but succeed. He also loved all the books he read and now likes to read. He has read every day this summer without complaint. In years past it was like pulling teeth to get him to read. As was already mentioned the biggest thing is how Christ is intertwined into everything. His biblical knowledge really grew.

You have heard so much from the pps. I just wanted to say, too, that I love how the Bible is the foundation for this entire curriculum. DD can't wait to hear the Bible lessons each day. Also, like Lynn's ds, my dd has a mild CP and struggles with handwriting. She is in 1st grade, so we are using Handwriting Without Tears until she does copywork in future HOD guides. We just started our second week of LHFHG yesterday. DD had occupational therapy yesterday. When I picked her up, her O.T. said she was just amazed. She said dd's handwriting was beautiful! The Charlotte Mason philosophy of bite-size portions is working wonderful for dd. When given too much, she gets frustrated and refuses to do her work. DD came home from Christian school for K. I am seeing a big difference in her attitude about school. There is a variety in HOD which is very important for dd. Going back to school would have meant sitting, reading, and writing most of the day. That would never work.

Another reason I love HOD is because of everything being laid out in the guide. I am so relaxed using HOD because I can just open it and do it. I don't need to write out assignments, because it's already done for me. I found HOD in February and have not turned back, even while attending our state convention where there were HUNDREDS of vendors. It is working great for us!

We love, Love, LOVE this curriculum and just began our 2nd year with HOD.

We love it because...

It's focused on God! Science, history, devotionals, music & more are from a Biblical perspective. The conversations my dc have related to what we've read during our school day never ceases to amaze me. My heart has also been encouraged numerous times by what I've been reading/teaching to my dc.

It's open & go! If you have the guide & books that go along with it, you're set. Anything else used in the guide is what you would have around your house and if not, it's easy to swap something else in! I love having my weeknights and weekends free for other things besides planning curriculum & hauling books from the library!

It's a great blend of hands-on activities & good books. My ds always saves the geography/art/science activities for last as he knows it'll be something really fun!

It's not about worksheets. There are ones for fine motor skills & math, but that's it. I love it! The guides & other books are reusable for younger kids which means very few consumables need to be purchased every year!

It's great to have the encouragement of the forum! And Carrie & Julie (author & editor)!!!!

Thank you SO much for all of your help!! God really put it on my heart to use HOD when I looked in to H'schooling about a year ago. But ya know how it is-there is SO much out there to look at.

Welcome.. i have to say i was torn btwn HOD and MFW also.
There was a great comparison on this thread viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1446
I hope i put that in right. If not i know the title of the thread was Comparing HOD and MFW. It really put everything in a nutshell for me.
HOD is the way we are going and my kids love it. My kids can move around depending on what we are doing. My son is able to listen to history while bouncing on a ball while my daughter can't seem to have anything in her hands while listening to me read.
Again, welcome the board.

jenn d.

Thanks Jenn! That was a fabulous overview. I'm wondering if the comparison still stands true after two years

Hello,

I wanted to share some of the main reasons that HOD works so well...

The guides are so very easy to use as teacher-mom. I really appreciate being able to open the guide and simply get going with the boxes. I have used other programs and felt frustrated when I had to read extended notes on different pages to figure out how the lessons played out. It was a lot of reading, shuffling papers, and just organizing things in my brain before I could even consider starting the lesson. My brain needs simple and straightforward when implementing a lesson.
Carrie's guides are so teacher-friendly and there is none of that laborious preparation on my part. I know I could easily and effectively open up to the unit we are going to begin and I could jump right in and start our day. I do however, prefer to at least look over the plan for the next day just so I am familiar with it but, really if I wanted to, I could just open-and-go!

In addition to ease and simplicity for me, HOD is a program that really speaks to children and how they learn best. It's really structured to invite the kiddo in for some meaningful and enjoyable learning time that doesn't make you feel like you are just going through the motions in order to get the subjects done.
Each box within the guides is almost like opening up a little gift and then getting to see what is inside! The history reading is engaging, interesting, and really draws the kiddo into the time period. The related hands-on activities are by far my daughter's favorite part. She loves being able to create something fun with her hands or getting up and moving around to further help reinforce the concepts being learned. This same excitement applies to all of the boxes within the guide. My daughter just really likes what we are doing and that means a lot to me.

All in all, I just feel that there is a really thoughtful balance with HOD. The lessons leave you feeling like you covered the perfect amount of school-time in a purposeful way. Not too much, not too little. As teacher-mom, I can see that we have fulfilled all of our necessary subjects for the day and I know that my daughter had a joyful time learning those subjects. And because it was joyful for her, it will stick with her, and she will look forward to the next day.

Lastly, something that I have never found with another program (and admittedly I have tried quite a few!) is the integration of God Himself, into our learning time. I have said it before...I feel like every time we begin our school day with HOD, I know that we are inviting God into our hearts and minds so that we can create a permanent spot for Him to dwell. There is something very purposeful and powerful about choosing and implementing a schooling program that places God at the center. It allows me to blur that distinction, or that line, that can result from implementing school separate or void from God. Some programs have a "tack-on" feeling when adding a bible or Godly component. I definitely don't want a tack-on feel when I am teaching my daughter, it is not heart-felt or genuine in my opinion. So, HOD perfectly weaves God into all that we are doing and that serves us perfectly!

Candice

Welcome! We used the MFW kindergarten program, then switched. We use HOD because:
1. open and go
2. multiple learning styles
3. Charlotte Mason approach
4. lots of hands on
5. it is fun and the kids love it
Just to give an example, my son, who is not yet 6 knows all of the continents. He can list them or identify them on a globe or map. It was a combination of the action rhyme in Little Hearts and the fun activity in Beyond where we made a world on the living room floor that did this. I did a few days of review, each day altering a little bit to increase the thinking. Not only does he know the continents, but he understands what a continent is. This is what HOD is all about.

Hi Marcee! You've gotten some awesome responses here already, but I'll link you to some threads too:

HOD hands-on activities:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5838

Why moms love HOD:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4403

I shared in past threads why I love HOD, but I'll just say a few things here. HOD has made homeschooling a joy in our home. It is a blessing to our family. I feel like the Christ-centered focus of the plans helps keep our entire family Christ-centered. I can be a good wife, mother, daughter, and friend with HOD as well, because I have time to be in those roles of life too rather than just in the "teacher" role. HOD balances my day beautifully. Hands-on is balanced with reading excellent living books. The amount of writing and reading in each day is balanced. Each box of plans takes about the same time each day, which means I'm never finding myself homeschooling longer than I had time for in a day. My time is balanced among my dc and their needs appropriately. I have what I need in my home for supplies. HOD has made it possible for me to implement Charlotte Mason style learning in an easy, true to CM way. My dh can see by my dc's smiling faces, faith in the Lord, work completed, and standardized test scores earned that school is going well. HTH as you consider what's best for your family.

In Christ,
Julie