Preparing for College with HOD

[kamad]

Hi,

How does HOD prepare students for college? I know there is a massive amount of work to be completed in the high school guides, but there is so much more to college prep than a lot of seat work. So thinking along the lines of moving outside of the box, inserting creativity, individualized thought, management of time, less specifics but more generalized syllabus, etc., how does HOD high school take a student from simply doing what is told (ex. following the script in the boxes), to being able to take a syllabus and knowing how to complete the work without being held firmly by the hand?

Thank you for helping me to figure this out.

[LynnH]

As far as the deeper thinking the high school guides do lots of that. From the Logic class to the activity in the WH guide where they listen to arguments and have to choose a side and then defend it and other activities where they have to think out of the box as they would in college there is plenty of opportunity to do such thinking.

As far as learning to work away from specific deadlines and time management I can tell you what I have seen. My ds has used HOD since Preparing and he is now in the WG guide. From early on he learned to manage his day by looking at what was on the schedule and figuring out what order to do his subjects based on how much writing they had. He has dysgraphia so he has to watch how much writing he does at a time. He has done this for so many years that now it comes very naturally for him and I have no doubt that when he goes to college he will look at what work he needs to get done and do similar things. He also has some outside activities that can interfere with the school day. In the WG guide there are often 2 science lessons a day scheduled. He will look to see how he can rearrange things so that he only has 1 science lesson on the days he knows he has to be out of the house. It might mean doing more lessons on another day, but he figures out what will work best. My rule is that all the lessons have to get done by the end of the week and I let him go from there. I didn't ever suggest that he do this, he has just done it and I think the reason why is because HOD has trained him to pay attention to deadlines and that getting work done is non-negotiable.

My dd is is a sophomore in college. She told me the 2 things I needed to make sure he knew how to do were to follow specific instructions and to meet deadlines. She said she sees that as being the biggest issue homeschoolers have in college. HOD is designed to do just that. He has learned to follow very detailed instruction and he knows what needs to get done each week. Since he has seen the way that bigger chapters get broken up and what good work flow looks like for so long he just naturally does it now. He even does it with projects outside of the school day. He will break up projects into to steps that remind me of the HOD plans. I truly have no doubt that he will be able to take a syllabus and look at what has to get done by when and he will break it up in the way he has seen modeled over and over in the guides.

[mamanlait]

Awesome question, kamad! We are excited (and scared) about homeschooling through high school and have lots of questions as well.

I'll tag on and ask if there are long-term projects assigned. I'd love to see that in the future high school guides, if not.
It might be nice to have a history paper or literature paper due and have cheerleading boxes along the way. For example: "are you working on finishing your rough draft today?"

Lynn H, like you, I am pleased with HOD's step by step instructions through all of the guides and see my oldest with the great skill of following directions. I can hand her the WG guide and she is independent to complete it as written and she does it well. I think this is a great point to ponder as HOD is completing the remainder of the high school guides and perhaps make a request known. So...I have a wish of one (or two) long-term assignments with only an occasional reminder box to keep the child on task. I would worry less about placing dc in college with only a syllabus for each class if they'd been taught how to do some scheduling themselves during the upper high school levels. Not too much, though. I love how HOD is written and painstakingly scheduled!

I wouldn't be surprised if this was all ready in the plans for the next guide as HOD typically amazes me with their ingenuity and forward thinking; but, we'll have to see!

[LynnH]

Actually there are 2 long term projects in the WG guide. The first is the world map and she instructs them to choose which option they are going to do and then make their own supply list and then after that she does tell them they have 5 days to complete it so they should plan to draw a 1/3 each day and then use the final 2 days to color or paint. So it is backing off specific instructions, but still teaching them how to split up a project like that. After that comes the 7 Wonders of the World project and this looks similar to what my dd gets in college. The dc are given 3 options to pick from and they are instructed to use a project planning form to to describe their project and then make their own materials list and then to make their own action plan to list what action they will take each working day to complete the project. On the following days they are just told to go to their action plan and see what they assigned for themselves to do that day and to do it. They are told they may have to work in evenings or weekends in order to complete it on time. Each day she just then reminds them to keep following the action plan they designed. This is exactly what my dd does in college when she has a project. She has an app that she plugs in how much she wants to get done each day and she checks it off as she does it so then she knows she is on target to get it done in time.

[mamanlait]

Lynn,
Really?? That is great news! I'm going to go pull out my WG guide and take a look at that now!!!!! It's so important to have a place to ask questions and get informed answers.
Thank you!

Edited:
Following up: I found what you were talking about, Lynn (the projects are toward the end of the guide for others looking) and it was exactly what I was wishing for. I wonder if WH has similar "boxes" or even longer-term projects or papers. Thank you for easing this homeschooling-mother's concerns tonight.

[razorbackmama]

Actually there are 2 long term projects in the WG guide. The first is the world map and she instructs them to choose which option they are going to do and then make their own supply list and then after that she does tell them they have 5 days to complete it so they should plan to draw a 1/3 each day and then use the final 2 days to color or paint. So it is backing off specific instructions, but still teaching them how to split up a project like that. After that comes the 7 Wonders of the World project and this looks similar to what my dd gets in college. The dc are given 3 options to pick from and they are instructed to use a project planning form to to describe their project and then make their own materials list and then to make their own action plan to list what action they will take each working day to complete the project. On the following days they are just told to go to their action plan and see what they assigned for themselves to do that day and to do it. They are told they may have to work in evenings or weekends in order to complete it on time. Each day she just then reminds them to keep following the action plan they designed. This is exactly what my dd does in college when she has a project. She has an app that she plugs in how much she wants to get done each day and she checks it off as she does it so then she knows she is on target to get it done in time.

This sounds fantastic! Thanks!

[LynnH]

There is a research paper in WG also and I think also in the WH guide with EIW. It is his last paper of the year and he started it this week and he is just finishing week 27 so he will have many weeks to complete it. At this point it is walking him through step by step how exactly to do every step of a research paper.

[annaz]

I agree this is so good to know.
I so wish that there was a Scope & Sequence or list of sorts outside of or included in the placement chart, because these types of skills are what Mom's stress about and I really, really think it needs to be listed somewhere or have a more inclusive S&S. I think it would give the mom's using HOD a LOT of peace.

[Nealewill]

HOD does list some of this stuff in their Table of Contents document. The last item in the Literature guide a research paper. But I do understand that you are looking for specific information and you didn't easily see it.

One thing I would like to mention is that I teach accounting and finance classes at an undergraduate and graduate level. Most of grad students are fine but my undergrads can't follow directions! Following directions (to me) is one of the most important skills HOD transfers to kids. As for all of the other academic goals, HOD is wonderful as you have mentioned. They have included so many things I would have never thought of to include at the lower levels that I know Carrie is more than preparing kids for college at the higher levels. But seriously - HOD does a fantastic job of teaching kids to also think. That is one huge reason I started HOD when I did. I want my kids to actually think! I hate the thought of them filling in answer like a robot in everything they do. That just isn't going to work for me. And thankfully, HOD does a lot more than this.

So if you are worried about your kids not being ready for college, if you use HOD they will be. Honestly, college will probably seem easy once they finish this program.

[LynnH]

If you read through the grading guidelines in the Introduction/table of contents document it gives all the details for the projects and even what percent of the the grade they count towards.

[countrymom]

I teach at a community college and I echo the pp sentiment. What I wouldn't give to have a few HOD graduates come through my program .

[Gwenny]

I think the guides BEFORE Carrie's high school guides are better education than I received!

[mamanlait]

I think the guides BEFORE Carrie's high school guides are better education than I received!

I've thought this for years!

Annaz, I agree with you

I so wish that there was a Scope & Sequence or list of sorts outside of or included in the placement chart, because these types of skills are what Mom's stress about

The biggest concern I hear about HOD High School is that there is too much hand-holding and not enough independent thinking/self-scheduling to prepare for college. OBVIOUSLY, I disagree with this or I wouldn't be using HOD The OP is bringing those concerns to the surface and I think if they were addressed in some way by a listed skill-summary, it would be very convincing! I know there is a short one in the placement guide but I think you are asking for an index like: Units 1-5 (focusing on high order thinking via World Religions), Units 5-10 (focus is persuasive debate via EIW) -- is that what you mean? I know that would be time consuming to produce but I can see how that would be a convincing tool. Many homeschool moms are free thinkers by nature and have been bucking the proverbial system for years and don't want to "take peoples word for it"

To the OP: I can tell you from just 4 weeks into WG that the World Religions Notebooking pages take on a new flavor in terms of higher level thinking. I haven't seen a Venn Diagram yet but dd drew a pie graph about different religions this week and is being asked some thoughtful questions. The Logic book is clearly scheduled for higher level thinking. I wanted to accentuate that tool and so we dialogue through the book and have great fun, actually.

I'd love for someone who has used more of WG or even WH to pipe in and respond to this:

inserting creativity, individualized thought,

[Nealewill]

If you read through the grading guidelines in the Introduction/table of contents document it gives all the details for the projects and even what percent of the the grade they count towards.

Yes!!!! I do love that too I just saw the research paper listed. But you definitely gave more info on telling how kids need to learn how to manage their time for the different weekly projects. That is really exciting to see that those skills will be built into the high school levels.

[annaz]

I'll have to go check that grading list!