heartofdakota.com

Well, looking at the Rev to Rev online, it looks really American. Can anyone tell me if it is worth using this program if you are Australian (which, I am)? Thanks!

Hi Nicole,

As a VERY satisfied Aussie HOD user, I wanted to reply to your query and I really hope you can read it and understand the grace with which I mean it, even if my words do not do such a good job of it!

Although it would be absolutely ideal for an Australian program to be written in the spirit and excellence with which HOD has been written and put together, this is not to be and probably won't be for some time to come as Australia is many years behind in the homeschooling traditions in comparison to the US. Even if you don't use HOD, most homeschooling resources and novels our children enjoy would be US based which will probably always be the case as the population differences would dictate that the US will produce more of most things. There are some amazing local Australian authors, don't get me wrong, and we can produce quality materials which can supplement our own nation's history and culture, but the US has a very influential history in many aspects of life and I appreciate their contribution and want my children to understand not only US history, but many different cultures.

Another line of thinking I have come to appreciate is that the more I homeschool, the more I realise that the thing I most desire for my kids is to love learning and to learn how to learn. It is not as much about WHAT they are learning (as we often forget many of the small details as we grow anyway), but how they learn and enjoying it so that when they are learning independently of us, they will continue to search things out and express themselves confidently and comprehend the world around them. I have watched so many parents burn out, in body, mind and their bank accounts, by pursuing the ultimate curriculum choices which will COVER everything they think their child should know. In the mean time, all the curriculum swapping, disconnected books and resources leave their child (and parent) bewildered and stressed and missing out on the enjoyment of learning.

HOD has, in my opinion, done the best job of making learning enjoyable for my kids and building the SKILLS for learning for ALL the necessary subjects in a way that promotes understanding, Godliness and the move towards independence. And I definitely feel they are being challenged academically in the process without being pushed too hard and losing the joy of learning.

I hope that if you do choose HOD for your kids that you will see the value of what it has to offer, above and beyond the obvious lean towards the country in which it was written (which would be true of any curriculum). It is SO MUCH MORE than the academic content and I believe better put together than anything I have seen out there and very achievable for families from any country!

Looking back at my school years, I may have done 1 year in total in all my highschool/primary education looking at Australian history specifically and I think this is very achievable through quality read-a-louds with my kids off and on throughout their education. We are a very young nation with a history that is not difficult to learn about.

I am sorry for being so preachy!!!! Must have needed it today. I apologise if I went overboard in my response . I hope in there somewhere I may have answered something you wanted to know! Lol.

Blessings,

Corrie

Another line of thinking I have come to appreciate is that the more I homeschool, the more I realise that the thing I most desire for my kids is to love learning and to learn how to learn. It is not as much about WHAT they are learning (as we often forget many of the small details as we grow anyway), but how they learn and enjoying it so that when they are learning independently of us, they will continue to search things out and express themselves confidently and comprehend the world around them. I have watched so many parents burn out, in body, mind and their bank accounts, by pursuing the ultimate curriculum choices which will COVER everything they think their child should know. In the mean time, all the curriculum swapping, disconnected books and resources leave their child (and parent) bewildered and stressed and missing out on the enjoyment of learning.

HOD has, in my opinion, done the best job of making learning enjoyable for my kids and building the SKILLS for learning for ALL the necessary subjects in a way that promotes understanding, Godliness and the move towards independence. And I definitely feel they are being challenged academically in the process without being pushed too hard and losing the joy of learning.

Corrie, what a blessing your post is! It is so wonderful to see laid out the reasons for using a curriculum independent of history cycle or country. You have captured so much what home education is about in your short post. Thanks for sharing!

You have captured so much what home education is about in your short post.

Lol....not sure about a 'short post' but thanks Patty!

Thanks so much Corrie! Yes, a huge post, and a very good explanantion of what HOD means to you and your homeschooling. I agree that HOD is so much more than just 'curriculum' and definitely more than just what is learnt when. How long have you used HOD and for what years? I have used LHTH and parts of Bigger and I am definitely doing Preparing next year (and I am really looking forward to it!). I guess I was just worried at how American Rev to Rev looks (I have skipped some of the earlier HOD manuals because of the American content) and whether the material would be relevent or interesting to my kids (mind you, we are years off being ready for Rev to Rev - I just like to plan for the future!) Do you think the character qualities of the material chosen to read/learn about far outweighs the American-ness of it? Obviously we are keen to read and learn about people that are Godly heroes regardless of their nationality. Thanks for your answers! Nicole

Hi Nicole,

I began using HOD in Oct 2010 doing Beyond with my ds7 and Preparing with my dd9. Beyond is American history and we are loving it! I don't think my kids think about which country as such they belong to and what they should and should not study more as such...we have lived overseas and travelled extensively so although we love Australia and it is home, I am fine with my kids studying anyone worth studying because as I said, it is about learning to learn. I have been so wrapped with how my kids have come so far in their skills development just because of the consistency of the program and how it connects the history, geography, bible, science, story times etc. I wouldn't leave out a thing! I have noticed in one of the upcoming years (maybe it is Rev to Rev) there is a state study of the US and I can see this is optional in the packages so we will opt not to do that and instead replace it with some Australian geography, but other than that, I think the skills which are built by the cohesiveness of the program far outweigh the fact that there is an obvious lean towards American characters. So much thought has been put into the quality of the materials involved and how our children will comprehend and learn skills from them that I would not want to try and match it with my own findings (without a lot of hard work!) Picking out bits and pieces from this curriculum would also throw out the fine balance between writing, narrating, reading, hands-on activities etc that has been so deliberately set out and works so well with the appropriate age/skills levels of the kids.

I hope this has answered your questions.....of course, these are just my thoughts. I pray God would lead you to the right thing for your family.

Blessings,

Corrie

Nicole since Rev to Rev is brand new, in fact the guide isn't even out yet I am not sure how much other history their is other than American. If Carrie happens to get on then she could tell you, but she is very busy writing that guide right now. I think doing an Australian Geography study in the place of the optional state study is a great idea. You do study the signers of the declaration of independence, but I would think that there would be plenty to talk about as far as their character and the tough decisions they had to make.

Yes, they are all really good suggestions. I could do Rev to Rev as it is for the character and educational quality of it, and substitute the 'really' Amercian parts with Australian parts. That could work. Thanks!

Nicole,

The ladies have done an amazing job of answering your questions! I am blessed daily by the knowledge, wisdom, and insight available through this board. God has raised up some extraordinary ladies to help and encourage those on the HOD path.

The ladies are so right that HOD is much more than a focus on history. As I am immersed in the writing of Revival to Revolution though, I will share that it is a guide with much depth in the history arena as well. It goes far beyond American history and pulls in what is happening all over the world at the same time. It includes focused stories on countries all over the world and on many continents. In this way, the history going on in America can be seen in the world-wise arena. There is definitely a heavier focus on American history, but it is definitely offset with a look at world history too. The content that is within Rev2Rev will be good to have no matter where you live.

Just to give you an idea, the primary source documents alone in Rev2Rev include a speech from Pontiac, a letter from Bach, 4 different letters of Voltaire's (one to Catherine the Great of Russia, one to Frederick of Prussia, one about meeting Benjamin Franklin, and one on being let out of the Bastille), a letter from George Washington about General Braddock's defeat, two letters from Marie Antoinette (one at the time she married the dauphin and one at the time of her execution), an excerpt from Olaudah Equiano's book, an excerpt from William Wilberforce's speech in the House of Commons on the Abolition of Slavery, an excerpt of a letter from Lafayette written at Valley Forge, a letter describing Washington's farewell to his officers, Benjamin Franklin's call for prayer in the Continental Congress, 2 letters by Thomas Jefferson (one to Jenner on the smallpox vaccine and one dealing with the state of the world's rulers at the time of Napoleon), Napoleon's Farewell Speech to his Old Guard, and a letter by a missionary from Persia working with Fidelia Fiske. Anyway, this is just half of the primary source documents, but through this list, you can get an idea of the depth of the history being studied in this particular guide.

There are also poems, paintings, sketches, audios, mapping, quotes, and notebooking that draw together the threads of the study with a big picture perspective.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thankyou so much Carrie! You're right - the ladies on this board are awesome! Not just for their knowledge and helpfullness, but also their Godliness.

And THANKYOU for taking the time to post the outline of Rev to Rev for me - I can definitely see now that it will be a useful program for us. I guess I get worried because so many homeschooling programs out there are American history focused, completely! But I am so glad that you have taken the time to give it more of a world view. And it is true that American history plays a large part of world history and it is relevent for Australians too when taken from the slant that you are writing it. God has definitely blessed you Carrie - thankyou for blessing us in turn! Nicole