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Ok, I know that I can't do a day by day report of our using HOD, but I just have to share about our day today!!!! ( Now I see why you all do the week in review! It is exciting to share the success stories!!)
We had another great day! Sam said at least three times "This is so fun!" (never before heard during school time by this kid!) He and his sister were arguing about taking turns doing the boat/currents science lesson and I about fell over when he said "No Gracie, this is MY school!!" WOW!!! During history he BEGGED me to go on. Oh how great it was to say no, we'll continue tomorrow. (Charlotte Mason was a genius. Short lessons leave them hungry for more!) He was proud of his copywork and I felt so good knowing that I now have a plan and that we are actually carrying it out!! My husband was home today and he said he now sees why I am a HODie. He was teasing me before and now says he is a HODie too! He is so happy that we are happy. Said it was worth every penny.
The only trouble Sam had was during spelling, but that is because of his difficulties. The method helped him not to feel so bad when he made mistakes though. He liked checking it himself and instead of being wrong, just being able to immediately correct it and move on.
I just wanted to share my excitement, thankfulness, and joy with you all!! I know you can relate!
My daughter's Singapore math should be here soon and when it comes we will begin LHFHG with her so she can have her own cool things to do!!!
Carrie, thanks again. Your work has made this family much happier and relaxed!
In Christ ,
Kelly

That is so great! Wow how exciting to have your kids excited about doing school!! I am planning on starting my two kids with beyond here in a few days. I hope my first days go as well as yours. Question for you? If you are starting now are you planning on working with beyond until next spring or will you be done by then? I was thinking of doing it three days a week starting now and going until next spring. I may push it up to four days. Just woundering what your plans are and how long has it taken you to do it so far?

Sheila (yayadaisy) Mom to five great kids!!!!

How cool mama!! Now I am beginning to wonder if I should go ALL textbooks for Hannah Grace, get her to hate schooling, and THEN switch her to HOD so she will REALLY appreciate it!! JK!! I am sooooo glad that this CM type of study is available for my last lil one!! Not only will it be fun, but it will be something this oldER (ain't claiming old age YET! ) mom can handle! Thanks for the super testimony! Look forward to your post on the Weekly Check In!

Kelly,

That is so awesome, congratulations on finding a perfect fit!

Candice

Kelly,

I am SO happy for your family! That is what we pray the reaction will be with our little one's school isn't it!

We're so glad that HOD is a fit for you and your little one!

Blessings,
Carrie

Yeah fellow HODie! I am so excited for you! How wonderful that your kids are loving it. It's so nice to have them wanting to do school. And that Beyond is sounding awful fun!

Sheila,
I haven't really thought out all of your questions.(when we will finish,etc.) I am so NOT a planner and that is why I need the organization of a curriculum like HOD. I just "go with the flow" which is not always good! So, I am using beyond as written for now, doing both sides of the book. I imagine that we will slow it down over summer, maybe doing one side a day, because we school year round. So, I don't know when we will finish. When we do I will just get "Bigger" if he is ready for it.
We have only used BEYOND for three days so far but it has been taking about 2-2 1/2 hrs I think.(Haven't really kept track. we take a lot of breaks.) I also started my daughter with LHFHG today!! It is 11:50 here and she only has 1pg of Math left and my son just has spelling and copywork left to finish. I like to save a few things for later in the day. It seems to work best and help with attitudes around here. They could definately be done for the day if I would have had them finish everything earlier. We started our school day at 8 am. Hope that helps.
Kelly
p.s I did try to think ahead about the math and want to be doing 2a by fall, but am not sure if that will work. The main thing is going at his pace.

Kelly-
Thanks for your answers. I am homeschooling for the first time this year. My oldest went to school for two years first. So everything is so new to me. I need to stop thinking "grade levels" and remember he will go at his own pace. He will excell in somethings and others may take more time. That is why we choose to homeschool so we could go at his pace. He has a LD so some things are easy for him and others are very hard. Even though he would be in 3rd grade next fall I still got beyond for him. When you look at the placement charts thats where he fits in perfectly. So I guess I am asking a lot of question because I am unsure if this is right for him. But each day that passes I feel like God has put it upon my heart to homeschool all of my children! I am glad your days have been going so well. I can't wait to start beyond soon. I do LIKE to have everything organized (which is not always so good) so I have a few things left to do and we will be starting next week I think

Sheila

Sheila,

I just wanted to encourage you that if the Lord has laid it on your heart to homeschool, He will equip you to carry it out! If "Beyond.." looks like a good fit on the placement chart than you are right in starting there!

We'll be looking forward to hearing how it goes for you too!

Blessings,
Carrie

Kelly - Hip! Hip! Hooray! What a great start - nothing is better than children loving school and asking for more! You can go ahead and give us a play by play each day this week if you want to - I'm loving hearing about it!

Sheila - I so agree with what Carrie said, and I think you'd do a fantastic job of homeschooling. You have a heart full of love for your dc, and that makes for the best teacher they could ever have already! We can all remember teachers who didn't maybe enjoy us as well as others did, and it makes a huge difference in what can be learned. Your ds is blessed to have you for his mother.

In Christ,
Julie

Sheila,
My son is supposed to be going into third grade next fall as well, but we held him back in our reporting because of state testing reasons. I am convinced he would be labeled LD if he was tested. He seems to have auditory processing issues and dysgraphia. Anyway, Beyond is a perfect fit for him. He sounds a lot like your son (doing so well in some things with other things being INCREDIBLY hard for them) so I want to encourage you. Today didn't go as well, not because of HOD, but because these kids have to try so much harder and are so sensitive about their difficulties. I have to set aside comparing him to other kids (which is hard sometimes) and just go at his pace- even if it is a snail's pace sometimes! But in other things he soars!! Somebody put up a link to www.diannecraft.com a while ago and it really helped me- maybe it will you too.
I know that my son would be "lost" in public school. I think homeschooling is the best place for kids with difficulties like this. Us Moms might not know whatwe are doing most of the time, but we care enough to do our best, research, and find the help we need! And God will equip us for the job He has called us to!
I can't wait to hear about your successful first days!!
In Christ,
Kelly

Oh Kelly..., Praise the Lord! What a WONDERFUL WONDERFUL testimony! My heart just smiled as I read your excited and contagious words of affirmation! HOD has given my home everything I've always wanted and in ten years had never found PERFECTLY! (I found many wonderful things over the years that I loved, just not all from one publisher)

I praise the Lord for gently leading us over here!

I can't WAIT to read your Week In Review!!! Did you take pics?