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Just thinking tonight:

I was just wondering tonight about independent type learning...in which guide do the children begin to take on more of their own work independently? I really love HOD, but I am thinking about next year a little more. We are doing two guides, LHTH and Beyond this year, but the LHTH is so simple and great, the boys haven't really needed to be too independent. The one thing I will say is that I am exhausted at the end of my days!!! Teaching, reading aloud, etc, takes a lot out of me! I must say I love it though, especially when my kids listen and get excited about what they are learning!

I am wondering if any of you here have used a workbook/worktext approach to homeschooling prior to coming to HOD and what that was like. The first year I homeschooled (2 years prior) I used a worktext approach with my oldest, and it got pretty old. But I must say once a child can read and do a lot on his own, I am wondering if it is less work on the parent?

If anyone has used the worktext or computer based curriculum approach before, I would love to hear what you thought about it and why you chose to come to HOD instead. I would love to hear your thoughts about the pros and cons of this approach. And also, I would like to know what HOD guide gets them to the point of more independent learning. Thanks!

I don't know about the worktext approach, but I can give you tips on Bigger being more independent. We are doing Bigger, LHFHG, and LHTH this year.

For Bigger, I don't have her read her DITHOR book to me every day, and the days that I do have her read it's not necessarily the WHOLE section. She reads outloud to me several times a day from different things though.

Also, I will explain all the things that she CAN do independently and write them down on a list.... so her list from yesterday was...

read DITHOR book
Poetry copy work
cursive (p xyz)
math (p xyz)
Timeline (follow instructions)
Notebooking (follow instructions)
study dictation
go over AWANA verses

And before we started I explained the cursive and math (if there's a hands on with math I'll do that with her) read through the Timeline and Notebooking instructions with her, and then told her to get started. I always have all of the material she needs for independent work in a pile on her desk.

While she's doing all those things that she can independently I either catch up on emails/phone calls or I do school with one of the other two... generally LHFHG. When I get through with whatever I'm doing, she takes a break from the independent work and we do the things that I need to help her with. If she has read her DITHOR book we go over the lesson from that and I add her student workbook to her list of work.

I know many people do work towards more independence while doing Bigger, then in Preparing Independent boxes are scheduled as well as semi-independent. About 1/2 way through the year my ds was doing those mostly independent. In CTC this year there are many things that are Independent. Honestly the things I have to help him with most are math which is CLE so it is worktext based and we switch off with DITHOR and BJU Reading and he needs me to teach and help when we do the BJU Reading. I know in RTR it looks like the majority of boxes are done independently.

I love how the HOD guides are gradually guiding my dc to independence. Like Lora Beth, my dc have a fair amount that they do independently or semi-independently this year in Bigger. We didn't start out the year that way, but as the year has progressed they understand what to do and often complete it on their own. If I wasn't so selfish with my TM, I think they could probably do all of the work without me. I am not ready to turn the reins over fully yet though so we typically will go over a few things together and then I allow them to finish independently. They typically have math and grammar follow-up work to do alone. Their cursive is independent. The timeline, vocabulary, and any notebooking is done independently after I go over it. This is one of those areas that I think they could easily do on their own if I would only let them have the TM. By the end of the year, I'm going to try to be more generous and allow them to start doing some of these activities more independently.

In Preparing, there is an independent history section and the science is independent. The vocabulary, research, history project, geography, grammar, and math are semi-independent. That means you will go over the instructions with them and then allow them to complete the activity on their own. After you are into the program a while, they will become more and more independent with those semi-independent tasks. The following year in CTC, the children will begin to read their own history. Each year more and more of the boxes become independent. You can take a look at the first weeks in each guide to see how each guide becomes progressively more independent. Starting with the Preparing guide, the boxes have little marks in the corner that designate whether they are to be done independently, semi-independently, or teacher directed. The boxes with I are totally independent, the S boxes are semi-independent, and the T boxes are teacher directed. Those T boxes get fewer and fewer each year. So rest assured that your teaching time will continue to decrease after Bigger.

From what I've read it was Carrie's intention that the children would become more independent as they got older so that the teacher would be able to spend more time teaching the younger children. Also, Charlotte Mason's philosophy was that children should take over that reading and learning on their own so that they become lifelong learners. Our job as teachers is to help them learn how to learn. We teach them how to connect with the material in the early years so later on they can connect with the material on their own and become lifelong learners. HOD has a wonderful steady progression of skills that help us to teach our dc to learn on their own. I love that!

As far as I can tell the independent boxes start in Preparing. It looks to me that Bigger will be the most teacher intensive, and then after that it will get a bit easier. I have absolutely no interest in worktext learning. Even if it is easier, which I doubt. My dc are learning so much with HOD, and I'm willing to put however much time it takes into giving them the best education I can. I would say especially for your older dc that you could make some things independent in Bigger. Either by giving him the guide or writing instructions on index cards.

Just thinking out loud.... I think that Beyond so far has been the most teacher intensive for me. My DD wasn't reading well then and couldn't stay on task as much, so I had to be right there for most of the year with ALL of it. By the end of the year she was able to complete math by herself after going through it with me beforehand. And she could copy the Bible verse if I marked it in her Bible or wrote it somewhere else.

BUT we did take about 6 weeks in between Beyond and Bigger where we worked on her reading, math, and independence. That's where the list started... she can follow the list and either check it off or mark through it as she's finished something. Her reading vastly improved over that time (because it was a focus daily) and now she's able to read the directions in the TM, where she couldn't do that last year in Beyond.

I think it's the year between 7 and 8 though maybe.... because I can TOTALLY see DD2 doing the same thing during that year of her life... I can see the end of the Beyond manual becoming less teacher intensive for her.

I did try the textbook approach before HOD. I was very concerned with catching it all and giving that a try made sense to me. I found all the correcting to be a little draining. But then again I have six kids. The biggest draw backs I saw with using textbooks was first I did not feel I was winning their hearts for the Lord and helping them to have real relationship with Him. Next biggie was comprehension. I found they were not really retaining what they learned. And another biggie is just that they weren't really learning how to learn.

HOD is more teacher intensive in terms of actually reading to them when they are younger and they do activities that text books might not having them do. But it is more of an investment. It comes very quickly (just having taken one from Bigger to RTR) where they are very independent. The difference is they really have been taught and led to be independent. Even then I find I am putting my head in on the independent part just to make sure that the quality is there. Kids need accountability and so I make sure I provide that even in their independence. What I am finding though is my oldest who is really very independent is working hard on her own. She knows what a good job looks like now and so following and keeping track of her is a blessing now instead of drudgery. HOD just took her to a completely different place. And within that different way of learning she has also learned to apply the biblical truths she learns to her life. That is well worth the effort it took to get her to that place.

Hope that helps a bit.

Thank you so much for all of your insights and for taking the time to respond. They are very helpful to me! Blessings to you!

I did the worktext approach off and on for a bit. It brought relief to me in the fact that I knew my daughter was learning on a similar scope as the public school. At first it was nice, too, because my daughter could do most of the work independently. With a toddler around, that was a nice plus. Then I noticed that my daughter was not retaining information for the tests. She was on autopilot, filling in the blanks and answering the questions in the worktexts, but she had zero curiosity about anything. She was bored, and just had very little desire to learn. I tried beefing up the worktexts by adding different things here and there to supplement, a living book or a video, and it helped for a bit. I found Heart of Dakota through a recommendation. I tried it at first, and I didn't like it. I had little knowledge of Charlotte Mason methods. I probably should have put my daughter in an easier level to give us time to adjust to the different methods. I dropped it and went back to the workbooks... for a brief time. Then, when it still wasn't working for us, I eased back into Heart of Dakota. One subject at a time, I added things slowly and let my daughter and me both get used to the different techniques. I read about the different techniques and why they work. After a few months of this, my daughter is blossoming. I can literally see the light coming into her eyes as she does the hands-on projects and gets better and better at narration. Best of all is all the wonderful books! I have always tried to include extra reading to supplement the worktexts. Now, however, read aloud time (couch time) is the favorite part of my daughter's day. She is reading books on her own that she never would have chosen before, and she loves it! Tonight we had a medieval feast, which she helped prepare, and she sat and told the family all about what and how the people of that time period ate. We never had this kind of interest with workbooks. As for independence, I have noticed the difference between true independence and just being able to answer questions in a worktext. This is much better!

If you stay with HOD you'll start seeing a difference next year IF your goal is to move your children to independence. Bigger has lots of opportunities to train them to work on their own. You 10 yo may be ready for more of that than your 7 yo and that may be the challenge. Beyond and LHFHG require all of you for everything. I encourage you to Stick with it - those early learning years are lots of work, but oh so worth it.

Thank you all for your encouragement and insights! Blessings! No doubt I love HOD, but sometimes I waiver, maybe out of fear that they are not learning enough or something. I know in my heart that is not true though.

Tina sometimes I waiver on what was I thinking when I signed up for six kids. But then I pray and God shoes me it was really His plan. And I have been on the is it enough train more than once. I find if I pray for God to show me the truth in what He wants for my kids. Time and time again it is never about enough academics it is always about enough of Him.

Praying God will refresh your heart with peace. What you are feeling is normal. We all second guess things from time to time. This way is definitely not of the world and there is certainly a lot of difference when we get to wondering if we are hitting certain standards. In the end though kids do really well learning this way. I think really even better than the standard way. But that is just a bonus next to how much it teaches them Who God is to them and how to love Him.

My husband and I attended a Christian school using ACE School of Tomorrow through grades K - 12. Needless to say, we have chosen a different path in educating our children. HOD is so different from the workbook approach, and I do understand your feelings. However, I feel my children are learning and retaining so much more than my husband and I did. Plus, we are enjoying our school days, not just getting through it.

In regards to independence, my oldest is becoming increasingly independent while we are still in Beyond (he's a newly turned 8 yo). He is now reading well and can do his Math independently (after we do the hands-on activities), his copywork independently, and he reads his DITHOR book independently (and then reads it aloud again to me). This week, he has also started a personal Bible study he does independently. When he's finished these things, he looks at the manual and gathers all the materials/resources we'll need for the day. This may not seem like a lot, but it actually helps a lot and I'm able to do much of LHFHG with his younger brother during this time. When we begin Bigger in the fall, I hope to start out slow and work towards as much independence as possible.

I think being exhausted at the end of the day is normal when you have littles. Maybe a four-day school week would be an idea for you to try with the benefit of a three-day weekend to rest?

Thank you all! Yes, a four-day work week is mainly what we do. I really like it. Blessings!