Crazy to switch curriculum in October???

[jackieb]

Hello families!
I am hoping to find some guidance and encouragement here about the possibility of us switching gears this month. I know it probably isn't the easiest thing to do, so I'd love to hear suggestions and experience. My children are in 6th, 9th, and 11th grades and are currently using My Father's World (MFW). Since my youngest is doing Exploration to 1850 alone, I am finding that he may benefit from a more guided and slightly independent approach. Let me say also that although I do prefer a more family type learning style, I do feel that learning to take some ownership of daily school work is something we are needing. My high school girls are doing fine with that, but feel like it's just box checking through the subjects at this point. I do understand that they need to learn how to be self-motivated learners in high school, should the Lord lead them to higher education. However, I do still desire that they learn and actually enjoy what they are learning. We are Bible-believing Chris followers, so the Bible takes priority in our home. I believe if we did make the switch to HOD, my young son would be fine. I am more concerned with my high school girls, since they have not used HOD extensively. My eldest daughter in 11th grade still needs U.S. History credit as well. Since she hasn't done HOD previously, would you suggest we look at the new U.S. History guide, or use one of the younger guides and simply beef it up for high school credit? I thought if we did that, then maybe I can join both my high school girls in that guide instead of having them in separate guides. I am brainstorming at this point, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Am I making this too difficult? Should I just wait until next school year to switch? Thanks in advance for anything you all are willing to share. God bless!

[StephanieU]

Have you looked at the placement chart for each child? There are ways to beef up the "middle school" guides for high school credit, but placement is also important.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-yo ... school.php

[mamanlait]

You aren't crazy to switch!!
I used MFW years ago, btw, and I know where you are coming from. I know the "right" answer is to see where each child places and then to place them accordingly. The not so right answer is: if you enjoy family style learning and don't necessarily need the hand-holding for science and electives that would be included in the newest HOD American History guide, use MMTM. It's a wonderful FUN awesome year that all ready includes extensions for high school beefing up. We loved MMTM and felt like it was a very strong academic program fit for high school (we read most of the extensions for fun though we did it in 8th). After MMtM, you can decide to separate or continue combined learning throughout high school. I also believe that because you haven't come up through the HOD guides, you might be frustrated if you jump in mid-High School. There is a rhythm that you must find, especially with the high school guides.

[Hope]

You aren't crazy to switch if what you are using isn't working for your school this year.

We recently switched to HOD. I, like you, was considering waiting a year before taking on the switch. I am so glad I didn't wait! My DH and I prayed about it and it was clear to us that it was God's timing for us to move forward with HOD now. The guides have been a true blessing for us so far; we started two weeks ago.

We were long time MFW users as well, alternating with some eclectic years. This past summer I had decided I wanted a curriculum, other then MFW, that we could settle into for the long haul. A curriculum that would keep us on track and provide a Christ centered focus, Biblical worldview, and academically rigorous education. The curriculum I ended up purchasing first though was a very poor fit for our family on many levels. It needed to be shipped back for multiple reasons. So after seriously considering sticking out the poor fit for the year we instead came to HOD. What a blessing this program is!

I know it has only been a couple of weeks but this is by far the best curriculum I have ever used (We are in our seventh year of homeschooling). Bible is integrated throughout the curriculum. True Bible integration throughout all of the subjects has been my heart's desire for a long time. It points back to Scripture again and again. The books so far are lovely, living, and a breath of fresh air with so much Christianity included in the selections. I have a strong academic background and have had a difficult time meeting my academic standards. So far HOD is making my kids work and providing the type of rigor and Biblical thinking that I want in their education. We have had some great discussions this month. I am very pleased.

I thought too that I would wait a year before switching. I am glad I didn't wait. My oldest is in 6th grade, and it has been a good switch for him. I did combine two so I only had to start with two guides. I knew taking on three new guides would be too much for me, and it would have been. I think this element and placement depends on mom & the kids. My oldest could have probably done RTR. The work load though of CTC, coming from MFW, is just about right and stretching him. He is also being stretched by the greater focus on writing and written narrations than he had previously. I am finding that Carrie provides excellent instruction in oral and written narrations that is very helpful to both of us. My middle two are loving Preparing. They like all of the variety that actually gets done. My year has gone from wondering how I would make it to June and June looking very far away to my being more enthused about homeschooling then I have ever been. I love what they are learning.

I pray you come to a decision that is best for your children.

In Christ,

[jackieb]

Thank you all for you responses and prayers! I have been contemplating a switch and will most likely be ordering what we need this coming week. My eldest dd is still on the fence about switching, so we might allow her to finish her year with what she is currently doing, which is working well for her.

[Nealewill]

I am glad you have weighted in as I was hesitant for whatever reason to reply initially. My kids are much younger. But I, like Hope did switch in October to HOD. It was 2 years ago. I came from MFW and we had reached ECC. I hated it and my kids were absolutely driving me crazy! No one remembered anything and family style learning wasn't going well for us at all. As you can see from my signature, my kids are pretty close in age - they are all 1.5 years apart. I had never heard of HOD but had happened upon it. When I found it, I fell in love with the books. My kids didn't necessarily like to read but I do. I ended up switching for much different reason than you but I am glad I did. It works so well for us!

As for your kids, make sure you use the placement chart for the 6th grader and the 9th grader. With each of them, they don't need to finish all of the HOD levels to graduate high school. You can easily modify RevtoRev and MTMM to make them high school worthy. And if your child places in WG, all the better. This means you don't have to modify anything. I have found that the two areas to be concerned about in placement is volume of reading and volume of writing. Because HOD has a lot of both, if your kids can do lots of reading and writing, you can have them on the lower age range of guides. If your kids are not as strong in those areas, then putting them on lower age ranges makes it more difficult. That is the beauty of homeschooling, you adjust their school to their level but also in a way that they are still growing significantly. All this just means that kids don't necessarily need to finish each one of the high school guides to graduate. Many people use HOD and have multiple kids in one level. That guarantees them that not each child will finish each level. One other thing to note, HOD is still going to still be writing 1 more level for high school.

My biggest hesitation in post was in regards to your 11th grader. I would pray about switching from MFW. HOD is very different. Wonderful and I love it, but different. If you decided to switch that child, I would call HOD on the phone and ask what to do about placement. They may recommend using the American History guide that just came out. That would be because your child needs certain credits to graduate. Or they may recommend a different level like RevtoRev and adding in some of the High School credits instead to meet those needs. But ultimately they would be the ones that would probably need to help you with this directly.

[jackieb]

Thank you for your honesty with posting, Daneale! I totally understand you being hesitant about it. I have had some time to consider the possibility of switching and feel like I do need to switch for at least my 6th grade son. I feel like the books we are reading are quite repetitive in a way, and the TM is not set up to allow for flexibility should the child need to do some independent work certain days. We did love ECC when we did it a few years ago, then again, we were all doing it together and it was our 1st year away from public school. I cherish that year so much because of the obstacles we overcame with the Lord's guidance.

I am concerned, however, about switching my 11th grade daughter. I think my main concern is upsetting her about switching curriculum, really. I realize that the younger guides can be modified for high school credit worthiness, but don't want to add "more" on top of an already full day of school work just to make it "meatier." I hope that makes sense. Personally, I do prefer keeping us all using the same curriculum, even if in different guides. I may just give HOD a call this week for guidance on my dilemma. Thanks again!

[Mumkins]

Honestly, your 11th grader is really close to graduating. If she's doing well with MFW and enjoys it, I'd let her stay.

We switched in January, when my 9th grader was in grade 2. We went from Sonlight to Winter Promise to HOD. So glad we did!

With your younger 2, I'd just put them wherever they place on the charts. Maybe even together, but with thier own science, math and English?

[rumkimom]

I switched all my kids except the oldest (turns 17 next week and is a senior this year). She needs certain things to graduate yet so we need to focus on getting those ones done and is taking an online college course this semester (and is doing well in the class). I think it would hurt her more to switch at this point than to help her. She plans to do community college next year and then wants to go to FIT in NYC for Fine Arts after that. I am glad that she has a plan and kind of knows what she wants to do.

[Nealewill]

We did love ECC when we did it a few years ago, then again, we were all doing it together and it was our 1st year away from public school. I cherish that year so much because of the obstacles we overcame with the Lord's guidance.

There are things I did before finding HOD that I truly cherished as well. Before using MFW, I was traditional and then eclectic. I was always looking for something that was good fit and every year got better and better. I did use MFW for full year the year before and we loved it. It taught me that learning could come from living books and be fun all at the same time! I just found family learning wasn't working well for us and I was just looking for something that was more independent. That is why I think HOD is such a great fit for us. It is so interesting, builds on skills, the kids get to be more and more independent as they grow, and I love that the kids learn at their own pace. For me, it is my perfect fit. I have even stopped looking at other stuff which says a lot since I was a curriculum junkie prior to finding HOD.

Personally, I do prefer keeping us all using the same curriculum, even if in different guides.

I understand your plight. But I personally wouldn't worry about it. I have always vowed that I will do what works best for my kids. Since my kids are much younger, I don't this being an issue and fully see my kids continuing on the HOD program all the way through. But I have heard of other parents who have that one child that goes off and does something else. That is totally fine too! I would just focus on doing what is best for her. That is expensive if you have to buy two different programs. But if you can do it, I would consider it.

Praying for your decision though. I know it is tough to make the jump and even more so when I count my pennies. My husband actually made it so that I could switch 2 years ago when I did as I had already spent quite a bit of money on curriculum for that year. I was very hesitant to switch but could see that my year was going terrible. My son at that point was still struggling in so many areas and having him with my oldest that first year together was a disaster. I think God used that year to lead to me to HOD. And because I work from home, I never knew how much I would end up needing the structure that HOD gives us for our day. Many days I could not get my day done if my kids didn't have things that were written for them to do alone. Plus, my kids just love this program and it is just such a good fit for us. For me, I was glad we switched. It was worth it too me. Even the following year after switching (last year), I actually had to buy 3 levels. It was more expensive than I planned but definitely worth it. This school year was the first time I only had to buy one level! That was wonderful LOL.

[jackieb]

Thank you all, again, for your precious thoughts and suggestions! My heart is so encouraged today! I have had a very busy past 2 weeks and forgot to come back and check my post comments. I'm sure glad that I did! I know that the thing I struggle with most is having peace with my children learning at their own levels. I have always had this picture in my mind of all 3 of my homeschooling children sitting together like we did our first couple of years, learning and reading together. I know that although I may have my own plans in my mind of how I want things to work, the Lord's plans for my family are so much greater than mine.