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Hi Carrie,
Maybe this is more a curiosity than anything, but I have been reading different posts and random questions pop into my mind. If you have time, would you mind answering them. I understand if you don't have time.

1) Will your oldest ds finish all the guides that you have planned? If not, does that make you feel sad? (I ask because I am not sure my ds will be able to do them all and it makes me a bit sad.... )

2)Was your original intent for HOD to be used as a combined curriculum for multiple ages or has it just morphed that way as you have decided to continue writing more guides?

Like I said, I know you are busy, but I have noticed that you are pretty busy on the board today so I understand if you don't have time to answer. Maybe Julie would have time if you don't.

I live overseas and one of my ministries is to help our co-workers if they have questions about homeschooling or different curriculum. If they are still in the searching stage or the Lord is calling them to use something new, I am encouraging them to look at HOD. We now have 7 families using HOD. With other ministries that we are involved in over here, we find the guides so easy to implement, just as you intended.

Thanks again,
Sherry

That's really heart warming to read about. <3

Sherry,

I am just slowly getting caught up on the board one post at a time, since we returned from our last convention. So, I appreciate your patience in hearing back from me.

My oldest son will not get to use all of our guides, although he does pilot in some form much of what we write these days. He actually never gets to use our guides in their completed form and is always using some rough version of what we plan. At times this does make me sad, because his education is more roughly put together and not nearly as cohesive as my other kiddos' education. Yet, the Lord made my oldest able to withstand all of my trials and errors and has blessed him with fortitude and a cheerful spirit!

For families who will not get through all of our guides, I will say that it is alright to be content with however far you get as long as the placement and the pacing suits your child. All children are different and so there will be different paths for different children. Yet, each guide is so rich that however far you get on the HOD cycle, it will be an enriching experience.

It has always been my intent to write our guides for multiple ages. DITHR was our first guide, and you can see its multiple age range focus and its uniting qualities for family learning. With our guides that came after DITHR, we always wrote with multiple ages in mind, however we do focus on a smaller targeted age increment than many other curriculums available. So, we do lean toward combining in smaller age ranges.

With my own 4 boys each being 3 and 1/2 to 4 years apart from their next sibling in line, combining at our house was not a positive reality. So, we've found separating them to be a breath of fresh air for us that we're truly enjoying in the long haul. Our boys are together so much for every other part of our day that school-time is the only time they get individual attention from me! They crave this and so do I! We find that their learning spills over into the rest of their day and they often share their excitement and work on projects brought on through school with one another during the afternoon and evenings.

Blessings,
Carrie