heartofdakota.com

We are starting our homeschooling and HOD journey in the fall with LHFHG...and I am SO exicted! The thing is, I am always thinking ahead and see so many other neat things outside of HOD. I was just wondering if a State Study or Country study is included in any of the elementary aged guides? If not, would something like that be easy to add on in some fashion? I have friends who used Galloping the Globe and Cantering the Country-type programs and it would be neat to include that kind of overview. From what I understand MFW does this (Adventures and ECC). I guess it is something we could do for fun in the summers. Just curious.

Just bumping this up for you.... I am curious too!

We've been doing a little bit of a state study this year in Bigger. We started when we read about the original colonies by writing the names of the original states on 1/2 an index card and then writing the state abbreviation on the back. We also included the optional suggestion of adding the capitol of the state on the back. As we've continued to study the expansion west, we've added in more states. I think by the time we are done, we will have included all 50 states. These cards are reviewed occasionally as part of the history/geography activity. I'm sure we'll continue to review these more even after we are done with Bigger. The great part about this activity is that we've not only reviewed the name, abbreviation, and state capitol, but we've also practiced finding it on the map. I think Carrie's newest guide Revival to Revolution includes a more detailed state study.

I'm not for sure about a world study. I see in CTC that the geography of the Holy Land is covered in A Child's Geography. Then in the next 2 guides, both have special Map Trek CDs that are used with them. So I'm sure that a lot of geography of the world is covered in these though I can't comment on how much since we haven't done these yet. I have a feeling we'll be doing more world geography and learning more about world cultures this year in Preparing, but I can't tell you to what extent yet since we start in the fall. Carrie has a wonderful way of weaving these things into the curriculum without having to make it a whole separate subject. If you do desire to have a stand alone study though that can be easily added especially in the older guides since they are 4 day a week programs leaving you a 5th day each week for further explorations or co-ops. The younger guides are done in a very reasonable amount of time so it's easy to add a little to them too if you want. I think you'll be surprised though how much is woven in when you start doing the guides!

Awesome answer already in pp! My dc know their states quite well and have a deep loyal patriotism and love for America thanks to Beyond and Bigger Hearts. There are a LOT of different mapping activities you do in these guides. We were always pulling out a US map, the globe, or history books (like "Journeys in Time") each week within these guides. I like that we had the bird's eye view of the formation of the United States, but also the global view too. The retention is so much better when dc are learning about states within the context of history. It just sticks so much more than an add-on state study could. I didn't have the privilege of learning history with living books this way. I memorized my way through the United States, to the continents and their countries, and I can tell you I promptly forgot what I memorized after the "test". It had no meaning to me. My dc LOVE history! They have a wealth of gratitude for the men and women who built America, and they know their way around the US map too.

Looking ahead to RevtoRev, dc will be doing a full-blown state study. I can tell my ds will be better prepared for that at that point, as he has the backdrop view of history he's already studied in HOD to hang "pegs" of details on in RevtoRev. "Fifty States Under God" is going to mean a lot at that point, but it would have been quite overwhelming earlier in his education. Plus, HE can do all that is asked of him to do in "Fifty States Under God" now. Before, I would have been doing it, and I bet I'd remember it, but he wouldn't. Here's a link to this book though, so you can look ahead and see what's coming...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/revival-to ... fty-states

HTH!
In Christ,
Julie

vtbowman wrote:We are starting our homeschooling and HOD journey in the fall with LHFHG...and I am SO exicted! The thing is, I am always thinking ahead and see so many other neat things outside of HOD. I was just wondering if a State Study or Country study is included in any of the elementary aged guides? If not, would something like that be easy to add on in some fashion? I have friends who used Galloping the Globe and Cantering the Country-type programs and it would be neat to include that kind of overview. From what I understand MFW does this (Adventures and ECC). I guess it is something we could do for fun in the summers. Just curious.

In Preparing, children get an overview of world history and geography and also do many activities with mapping, a great timeline(we did the accordion-fold style, and dd still looks at it for fun) and using the globe to learn about countries in the context of history-my dd learned so much in Preparing at age 10! She also learned it all in the context of God's Word and His plan for mankind-I loved it too

Thanks for the input! I am so glad the topics are worked in to the lessons. I just can't wait to get started. I am so excited about HOD!!