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As Wyatt and I were putting away his CTC Student Notebook and binder portfolio from last school year, we took up trip down "HOD Memory Lane" together and had a blast! He had so much fun looking back at his earlier HOD portfolios of past guides he has done, and seeing how far he's come with so many things. We decided to snap a bunch of pictures as we went, thinking it would be fun for all of you to join us on our trip down memory lane. It was not only inspiring (and funny ) to Wyatt, it was also a good reminder to me of what to expect from my younger ones "living further back on HOD's memory lane" , as I tend to forget the progression of skills and the repeated practice of those skills that have resulted in my oldest ds being able to do what he can do today. I am going to make a bunch of separate posts here for separate celebrations we found from our blast from the past. I hope that others of you might enjoy sharing your "before" and "after" pictures or stories of progress your dc have made with HOD here too, as an encouragement for other HOD users, as well as a celebration for the progress your own dc have made! This may take me awhile, so I'll just add as I go and have time. Please feel free to do the same!

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. All of these pictures are from my one son (Wyatt's) work over the years. His brother's work would show growth in different areas, some starting points further ahead than his brother's, and some not. But rather than comparing my sons to one another, I think it's neat to compare a single child's growth over the span of time, and celebrate that, as God gifted them differently!

Progression of the Mechanics of Writing:
LHTH:

LHFHG:

Beyond:

Bigger Hearts:

PHFHG:

CTC:

Sounds like a great idea, Julie! I can hardly wait to see your photos of your HOD years!!

Progression of Art Skills (cutting, coloring, drawing, etc.):
LHTH:


LHFHG:

Beyond:

Bigger Hearts:

PHFHG:

CTC:



In Christ,
Julie

Progression of Vocabulary Work (this one really had us laughing - check out Wyatt's first vocabulary card):
Bigger Hearts (he started with 1 card):

PHFHG (he worked up to 3 cards):


CTC (done within Science - pictures not necessary anymore):


In Christ,
Julie

That is so awesome, Julie. I can't wait until we can go back and can look through Scotty's years with HOD. We started at Little Hearts, so we will have lots of memories! Thank you for sharing these!

Progression of Timelines:
Beyond:

Bigger Hearts:

PHFHG:

CTC (runs across top of Student Notebook - CTC will combine with subsequent 3 guides to make one long running timeline from Creation to Present day - oooooh, it's giving me chills!) :


In Christ,
Julie

Progression of Painting:
LHTH:

LHFHG:

Beyond:

PHFHG:

CTC:



In Christ,
Julie

Drawn into the Heart of Reading progression (of Student Notebooks and Projects):



In Christ,
Julie

I LOVE this Julie! What a great idea! I have to say that Wyatt's "J.D." is incredible. Grant's just finishing reading Tales from Dust River Gulch & More Tales... I recognized him right away! Good job Wyatt!

It is fun to look back and see the progress over the years - and so good for us, too, as it happens slowly and when we're part of the day-to-day we don't always realize the fruit of our labor & our kids'. I was just thinking today of how good Garret is getting with scissors. When he went through LHTH the 1st time at 2 1/2, there was a huge difference in the way he could cut compared to today - at 4 1/2.

Enjoy your trip down memory lane!
Kathleen

Thanks, ladies! This has been so fun! Kathleen - I'll have to tell Wyatt you recognized his JD; he worked hard on that, he'll be glad to know someone else could recognize him too. Here's the progression of writing creatively:
Beyond (writing with alliteration):

Bigger Hearts (sharing about Andrew Jackson):

PHFHG (using RLS Poetry as a model - starts with using most of RLS's lines with student adding a few lines on own, then works up to them writing entire poems on own):


CTC (models creative writing after timeless classic excerpts from Write with the Best):


Writing also progresses in R & S English (using several sources to fuse information and create a report):


In Christ,
Julie

Oh, Julie how cool it is to see the progression of Wyatts school. You have both worked hard and it makes me very excited to keep on going. With time it all gets better. Writing, drawing, painting and of course the things that are not documented, such as all the great discussions we get to have with the kiddo's during school time! What a blessing and what a great idea.

It did give me an idea It would be great to have a place on the board for each manual to put in craft and science project pictures for each unit.This will help those of us who are very visual to see a finished project and it will show how many ways there are to do the same project This for the perfectionists, who think there is only 1 way . When we do our HOD co-op it is great to see the individuality of the kiddo's come out doing the science and art projects.

Thank you and have a blessed year ahead!

That is so neat to see!! I'm sure that make him feel so proud (and you as Mama!)

Julie,

I love this idea! Thanks so much for taking the time to show Wyatt's progress in his various subject areas! He has grown so much both academically and spiritually. What a joy to behold!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks for sharing!!! Loved it!!!