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Another question here...

We have been doing really in depth bible study working through genesis into ruth for the last few years. I loved how much time we spent in the bible. I am wondering how your daily time in God's word looks like in HOD. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the scripture memorization!! Other than that though, what does a normal day/week look like? I am looking at LHFHG and PHFHG.

Thank you again for your time,
Mercy

We are doing LHFHG for the second time around and are loving the discussions in our Bible time even at this young age of 5. We also love the fact that Carrie has the Memory verses and I am thrilled with doing the review week. My ds enjoys sharing his verses with others, over the phone, in person or by mail! Many times the scripture verses go very well with situations we encounter and we can incorporate them during family times. I am so glad to get the key idea in there that ties the scripture in with the bible or history lesson of the day.
Another aspect my ds enjoys are the gross motor activities and the songs that go with the scripture. It has not seemed to matter too much that our Bible translation is different from that of the songs...

DD is doing LHFHG. We love the Bible. That is how we primarily begin the day. I want Bible to be the most important part of dd's learning. So, we read the Bible/History portion first, then work at the memory verse and listen to the song. I usually do storytime next, I guess because we are anxious to find out what happens and also because we do reading on the couch and then, the things that require writing, we do at the table. We usually take a break after the reading before we get into the written work or the phonics. Anyway, you will not be disappointed with the Bible in HOD. I know dd will understand history better by starting with LHFHG.

We are using LHFHG and reading the daily readings out of an NIV bible instead of the Family Time Bible. We discuss them as we are going through, and there are devotional readings that often go along with the Bible story for that day. My children (6YO and 4YO) have learned a LOT from the Bible through the reading and memorization we have done (we are in unit 18). They also learned a lot last year in LHTH so I feel like this is just adding on the top of what they've already learned. Quite frequently the science, dramatic play, or craft activity will also reinforce something from the Bible lesson (for example, after reading about Thomas feeling Jesus's hands and side we did handprints and put nail holes in them and talked about Jesus's nail holes in his hands, and they really remembered that story and told it to DH later). The experiences and activities, for my kids' age, is what helps them remember it. So I have to say I LOVE the Bible we are doing in LHFHG. Can't speak for Preparing.

I think that at a casual glance it can sometimes appear that the Bible Study is not very in-depth--I'd like to hop in and say that there is much more here than it can appear at first. In fact, I was just reflecting today on how much the spiritual interest has peaked in both of my children just in the past 7 months that we've started homeschooling with HOD. I love that "Bible Time" is not a seperate class or subject; it is so integrated into all aspects of their education that it's really teaching/enforcing to them that God needs to be a part of all areas of our lives. It's such a gentle approach-giving them just enough food for thought, and not more than they can handle or understand at one time.

You know, sometimes you're really impressed with the way a program looks, but when you try it you find it just wasn't all it was cracked up to be. This is one time I was more impressed with the fruit it's producing in my kids than with a flashy program! Thank you Lord, thank you HOD!

Hi Mercy,

It's Terri from SOW!

I am thinking about how to work HOD into our school too!

Good to see you here

As far as curriculum goes, I also love how LHFHG and Beyond take a story or principle of the Bible and lace it into the history, the verse, the rhymes and poetry, science, geography, and the read alouds. I don't know about any levels higher than Beyond, but I do know as I was checking out other curricula several years back, many had great Bible lessons tacked onto their programs as an additional subject, but HOD was the best I could find as creating a foundation that would tie everything together within a little one's learning. This is the main reason why we chose HOD. So to say that Bible time looks like "this" in our family is hard to say, since we start with the Bible story first and then carry the theme throughout the day's teaching. I hope that helps somewhat!

Awk! I was found! LOL!

Hi Terri,
If you only knew the agony I am having trying to figure out where I'm supposed to go next! I know we need a change, but whether it is just a resource here and there or a big jump...I don't know! There is such a great temptation to just have it all laid out for me...not that there is anything wrong with that, but if that's not where I'm supposed to go then I might just get halfway through & ...it just won't be blessed, you know? I know you have also wavered. I'm not sure that HOD would mix well with SOW. Personally, I think I would just jump & go with HOD if I did it.

Anyway....

Thank you ALL for your replies!!!!
As I just mentioned, I am still deciding here. It is so nice to know how things have worked for each home. Making sure I am giving my children a platform to know God is so important to me. So, thank you for sharing your experiences & your honest opinions.

God bless,
Mercy

This is just our very short experience with HOD, since we have only been doing HOD since December. I am using LHTH with my 4 yr old and Preparing with my 9 yr old.

I think the Bible is just the right amount in LHTH. Using the ABC Bible Verses helps add another dimension.

In Preparing, Bible is tied into lots of areas. We often read sections for History and Storytime to tie in with what we are learning about History. Bible is tied in with Draw and Write Through History for the Independent History Study as well as in the Science Exploration. The Bible Study also is a separate time when my dc works on learning to have her own quiet time and prayer time while memorizing certain Psalms. Right now she is working on Psalm 1. Really Bible is not just one subject or time but is woven throughout everything that is studied. I love that! It is teaching our children that God is a part of everything in our world and shows them how His Word is really in it all. I also love that during our reading time there are questions in the Guide that encourage my dc to look at who the character was trusting in and then decide how things might have been different if that person or persons were trusting in God instead. It is teaching them to filter everything that they learn through what the Word says. I love that!!! I love that my dc will learn to apply her own Biblical filter and I will not have to constantly be that filter for her. As she grows she will become stronger at discerning what is good and true based on her knowledge of the Word.

Just my 2 cents.

Edie

It's been a couple of years since we did LHFHG and my memory isn't what it used to be so my details are sketchy. I do remember though that we had some really thoughtful discussions during that time. So much of the curriculum is based on the Bible that we were talking about how everything related to the Bible most of the time. LHFHG especially is based on Biblical history so it gives lots of time to discuss how God has directed history and what His ultimate plan for man is. It was a wonderful year for us and sparked a wonderful communication between my dc and me about God.

We haven't done Preparing yet, that is on schedule for this fall, but we are currently doing Bigger and loving the Bible component of the program. Like the other HOD programs that we've done, it has Bible woven throughout, but the thing that I love so much about Bigger is the character trait study. Each week we are studying a character trait based on our scripture memory verse. It has been so wonderful studying these character traits and seeing how the historical characters displayed these traits as well as how Biblical characters displayed these traits. We are also getting more Biblical character training through DITHR so this has been a great character building year for us all!

All of the HOD programs we have used so far have focused our attention towards God in more than just the Bible study portion of the program. I think you'll find there is more to it than just the Bible study box. You'll find it in the history, the science, the grammar, the poetry, the music, pretty much everything except math. If when you are doing it though, you feel you want to dig deeper, there is time for that. The HOD curriculum is compact enough to easily be done in 1/2 day, especially LHFHG which will only be about 1 1/2 hours, so you will have plenty of time to continue doing the Bible study you are currently doing if you choose.