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Hello all:

I am researching HOD. Actually, I have glanced at it in the past, but turned away because HOD did not, at the time, have a guide for the upper levels. Nor did I hear that HOD would have high school. So this caused me to take a closer look. And so far I like what I am seeing.

But, I have a lot of questions.

1. My daughter will be 13 in September. 7th grade. She is an excellent reader, ancd can read an understand high school level literature.

2. We have only dabbled in history. But we do not want to go back to the beginning(Like CTC). I want to know where I should start her, so that the guide will be challenging enough for her. AND, I am not sure when the high school guides will be ready. But I do not want to start in HOD to only use it for one or two years. I want something we can use and stick with for the long haul.

3. I looked at the options that HOD offers. I am not so sure that the science offered is enough. Can you use any Science you want like Apologia General? Or is the science enough for a 7th grader(Depending on the guide)

4. When purchasing, and your child is in the older category, do you skip buying the basic package, and just purchase the exptension?

I am sure I will have plenty more questions. TIA!

The best place to start usually is the placement guide: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php Just from age and what you have shared so far, your daughter sounds like she would place in the newest guide just coming out, Revival to Revolution. That is the guide that my dc will be doing in 7th grade according to our current pace. If you start there, you should be good to go with all the guides through high school. That will put you right on track. Carrie's plans are to release one new guide each year so you would always be using the newest guide.

As far as science, you can always replace the science if you desire. The newest guide has an option to use a more advanced science if you want. HOD if very flexible and you can easily substitute if you want.

I hope that gives you a little to ponder and helps a little. As you share more, I'm sure there will be lots of ladies able to offer advice. Welcome to HOD!

Ok. I have another question. If I place her in RevtoRev for this upcoming year, she would only be in 7th. So what would we use for 8th? Is there going to be 5 new guides out? Will there be one new one in 2012?

I noticed Carrie included a different writing program instead of the IEW writing book that was included in the previous guide(RtR). I am a little dissapointed in that, as I think the IEW topical books have excellent writing instruction.

I know we will use a different Math. We may go with the Science, not sure. We may still use Apologia General.

And what about the Literature? Do you have to use DITHOR? But if you choose NOT to use that, how do you do the literary analysis on the books included in the package?

Thank you again

Yes, there will be one more elementary guide after the REV to REV. Check out this scope and sequence chart. One new guide is planned for each year.

http://www.heartofdakota.com/scope.php

WOW, this is PERFECT!! Thanks so much.

Since my daughter is going to be 13, I do not need to get the extension package, only the basic, correct??? And she can read those books on her own, is that okay to do so?

I also wonder. Carrie schedules Rod and Staff for LA. Which I think is an excellent program, but we hate diagramming. I wonder why she did not choose a program from Queens, like Language Lessons for the..........Child. It is VERY Charlotte Mason, and seems that it would go *better*(Hate to use that word) with a CM tupe curriculum. Could someone tell me the reasons behind her choice of R+S? And is the diagrammin required?

Again, as far as the lit study. If you choose not to use DITOR(Which I have seen before and not sure it is the right fit for us), what else could you use to supplement, and still line up with the books you are studying for lit analysis??

Science. If we choose to do HOD Science. Can we do the second option without the first(If we have not done the first?). I know 7th grade is all about getting prepared for high school. Learning how to do research, lab reports, and expected outcomes. Does HOD Science program provide this? Or is it more laid back?

Thank you everyone for the wonderful help and advice. I am so thrilled that Carrie is writing more guides.

Yes, the basic would be great and she can read it on her own. Concerning your grammar question read this:

viewtopic.php?p=29499#p29499

I need to go teach my littles before rest time right now, but I will pop back in later about the other questions.

Barrows,
Thanks so much. I will be looking forward to your reply.

ETA: I went back and read Carries thread on grammar. I see her point now. But, what does she think about all the diagramming? I know you are not her, but do you know how she feels about that? Because I love R+S, and all that diagramming has what kept me away from it.

And we would have to start in Grade 5. I think that is okay as long as you complete R+S 6 by 8th?

I'm not Carrie, but I can tell you why I think diagramming is a good thing. I think it helps dc learn how to sort out all the different components of grammar. For my very visual son, this has really helped him see the parts of speech clearly. We're only in R&S3 so we've just begun diagramming so I don't know how much time it actually will take in later years, but so far it has been a very small part of our studies. It's been enough so that my dc understand it and can do it, but not so much that they say, "Oh no, not more diagramming!" We're really enjoying the steady, step-by-step progress in grammar that we're getting in R&S. You are right that Carrie plans for dc to have completed R&S6 by the time they finish 8th grade. Here is a great thread where she lays it all out: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8548 So it looks like if you were to do Rev2Rev this year with R&S5, you would then do all of R&S6 next year.

As far as DITHR goes, it is totally optional. You would use it for the literature/reading component of your school, but you can use another program if you choose. All of the books that you see scheduled with Rev2Rev are for the core program not for DITHR. If you were to use DITHR, you would choose other books to read for literature study either from the DITHR book packs on the HOD website or books of your own choosing. Then you would use the DITHR guide and student book at the appropriate level to go with that for your literature study. I hope that is clear enough. I am having a difficult time trying to explain it.

Hi, and welcome!
I am currently using R& S 6 with my 7th grader, and I would guess that would be a good place to start your 7th grader. You could do the first half for 7th and the second half for 8th. Rod and Staff moves very fast from grades 4 through 8, and the grade 7 and 8 books are totally high school worthy. My 7th grader is doing really well with level 6. Or, yuo could do all of level 5 in grade 7 and all of level 6 in grade 8. Either way, she would be on track. Also, Carrie recommends using the Rod and Staff English in a very different way than written. What we do, based on her recommendations, is we do orally the 5 or so review questions at the bottom of each lesson in the teacher guide. I do not do the "presenting the lesson" section, but rather have my daughter read the lesson herself from the student text. Then we do the "class practice" or "oral drill" orally or on the white board, whichever makes more sense (if it's diagramming it goes on the board). Then I choose about 1/4 of the "written exercises" for her to do written in her notebook, and the rest we do orally or on the whiteboard. If she demonstrates that she has understood the lesson well after only half of the exercises, we call it a day. This all takes 30 minutes or less, and she is retaining very well! Rod and Staff also includes the application of grammar to writing, and at this level includes outlining and writing paragraphs and essays.
About science, even from down in the lower grades, the students are taught the scientific method and writing lab reports. They are simpler, of course, in the younger grades, but increase in complexity each subsequent guide. By Rev to Rev, the student will be writing lab reports, writing narrations, and making notebooking pages with science, as well as reading living books and building projects. I encourage you to look here for more info on the science in Rev to Rev http://www.heartofdakota.com/revival-to ... inventions and here for a sample of the first week of lessons http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/reviva ... e-week.pdf There is so much more than meets the eye in Heart of Dakota's progression of skills in science, but yes, it is flexible enough for you to substitute if you prefer something else.
I would encourage you to give DITHOR a try too. It has a student level 6/7/8, which would be perfect for your daughter. You would use either the Sample Book Ideas List to purchase or borrow from your local library age-appropriate books to use for each of the 9 genres covered in DITHOR, or a book package (I believe Heart of Dakota will soon offer higher-level book packages for DITHOR), or just choose your own. It is an excellent literature program but goes beyond just literature analysis. It includes Christian character study, Biblical connections, and book projects as well.

The other ladies have already done a great job with the literature and Rod and Staff. Remember you are the mom and ultimately you get to choose what is important for your family. I find diagramming helpful. If you don't, perhaps you could just diagram a few on the whiteboard. At your daughter's age you would either choose to do all of 5 or half of 6 for 7th grade and then all of 6 or the second half of 6 for 8th grade depending on your choice in 7th grade. As far as your science question goes, choice 2 is the same as choice one in Rev2Rev except that you are using the extended version of the science curriculum listed. The intermediate version is for 3 days; the advanced version (choice 2) is for 5 days. The first 3 days would be the same information whether you ordered the intermediate or the advanced. The advanced just has two extra days each week for older children. The science readers are the same in choice one or two. The lab books are different depending on your choice of intermediate or advanced.

WOW!!

Thank you, thank you!!! This is was all so helpful and I am SO glad that it seems that I hardly have to do any tweaking at all or substituting.
We will give DITHOR another go. And If it isn't a HUGE jump from R+S 5 to R+S 6, I would rather do just a half year of grammar. Does Gr 6 review some grade 5 material? I do not want her to miss out on anything. AND, my daughter has never done ANY diagramming, and the last time I presented it to her, she balked and balked over it, and HATED it.

The only thing we would not do is the Math. We use Math Mammoth instead.

I am sold on the Science. Thank you to the poster who provided me with that link. This Science is SO perfect as my husband is an electrician!!!!

I am so sorry for all the questions. But so far, I feel like I am coming out of the fog, and understanding. We are coming from a strictly textbook curriculum so this is new to me. I always loved CM style, but nothing ever caught my eye except HOD, and at the time, there was only going to be one book my daughter could do. And I was not willing to jump in for only one year.

I am so glad Carrie decided to write more books.

Could someone tell me what I should expect for time committment with HOD RevtoRev?

And does Carrie run a sale at all at a particular time of the year?

Looking forward to learning more about this program!! Thank you to all!!

It looks like the other ladies have already helped you sort out your plans and questions, but I just wanted to welcome you to the boards!

We're new to HOD this school year, and our dd turned 13yo last September. We're using CTC and DITHOR 6/7/8, and it's been a great fit! We're also using Apologia General Science, only because we had just done the science recommendations in HOD, AND because our dd LOVES Apologia and begged to keep using it.

We're planning to use RTR next year (with the extensions), and then Rev.to Rev. the following year. Glad you're here!

Heather4Him wrote:It looks like the other ladies have already helped you sort out your plans and questions, but I just wanted to welcome you to the boards!

We're new to HOD this school year, and our dd turned 13yo last September. We're using CTC and DITHOR 6/7/8, and it's been a great fit! We're also using Apologia General Science, only because we had just done the science recommendations in HOD, AND because our dd LOVES Apologia and begged to keep using it.

We're planning to use RTR next year (with the extensions), and then Rev.to Rev. the following year. Glad you're here!

Thank you so much for the welcome. I am so excited about this program. Looks as if we have daughters the same age to!!