Very New to This and I have Questions Please : )

[JoyousBlessings]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the homeschooling world completely. I have made the decision to homeschool my son, who will be five in August. So, I am looking at Kindergarten. I am very excited about our decision and want it to be a wonderful journey for all of us.

I just happened to stumble across Heart of Dakota and it looks interesting to me. I have done lots of research, but have never even heard of HOD until today. I have also been looking at KONOS and Sonlight too. It is really hard to know what will be right for your child with so many choices. I do know that I want a Christian based curriculum though.

I was wondering if any of you would share your experience so far with HOD. What do you like best? Are there any aspects that you are not crazy about? Is it fairly easy to teach? Does it really teach the child everything they need to know to keep up with their schooling each year?

One opinion from someone else on another site was that they considered HOD to be awkward. It was also stated that it was not a homeschool type program, but more of a public school program in their eyes. Also, they felt it was a whole language approach to teaching the child how to read. This wasn't really a positive response and not quite what I was expecting.

So, I figured I would come to the actual site and get some opinions from people who are actually using the program. Do you find it too much like public school and not like homeschool? Also, do you find anything awkward or restricting in the program?

Are your children bored or do they find it very interesting? I know that I am looking for something that gives my son a variety of ways to learn. Some writing work, hands on, some computer time, etc.... I really want him to love learning and I think throwing in a little mix of learning may be good for him. That way, I can also see how he learns best.

Sorry to go on so long. I just have so many questions and I am anxious to hear answers. Thanks so much and I hope each of you have a wonderful day! : )))

[Mom2Monkeys]

To start off, I'd like to welcome you to the boards! You will find plenty of wonderful moms that are living and loving and learning with HOD that are eager to answer your questions! So ask away!

Now, to answer your questions... Is HOD too much like Public School? HOD is NOTHING like ps!! It can't even be compared to public school b/c of how incredibly different it is! It's fun, engaging, christ-centered, tailored to your child, flexible, did I say fun?!, complete, easy and enjoyable to teach, provides for real learning with real living books, avoids dry textbooks to teach, provides incredible hands on activities to teach math along with the workbooks from one of the best math programs out there!, and the teaching it provides is retained by the kids.

Next-- Does HOD teach reading in a Whole Language Approach? Easy to answer-- HOD doesn't teach reading! You can choose one of the PHONICS based reading programs or choose one of your own. Carrie recommends The Reading Lesson or Reading Made Easy (I'm a new Reading Made Easy convert-- there will be workbooks coming out soon to complement RME from the author who wrote it).

Is HOD awkward? Not in the slightest! It's daily plan format is easy to follow, and you can do it all at once in any order, or break it up throughout the day. You can do it half pace, 4 days per week, or 5 days per week, or whatever you want. Its labled by Units and days. For example, Unit 10 Day 1. Each Unit is 5 days. You do NOT have to do Day 1 on monday, 2 on Tuesday, etc. Many weeks we start Monday with a Day 5! It doesn't mess with the flow even a little! I love how everything seems to connect, from history to science to bible and sometimes even poetry! Also, the projects and activities are easy to do and use things you really do have around the house...if I haven't had something and had to either substitute or skip, it hasn't been a big deal!

I've used LifePacs, Horizons, My Father's World, and many more and I know people that have used KONOS and Sonlight as well as Tapastry of Grace...once I show them the HOD books, they are ready to switch! Half my homeschool moms group is ready to change to HOD! Seriously! My kids are challenged and engaged in their learning and for the first time, they are asking to do at least part of school every day! (so they don't ask for math or copywork, but not many do!) It's just so incredible!

I've always had burnout within just the first month of ANY curriculum and wished I had gone with something else...with HOD we are almost halfway through two guides and I am not getting that feeling at all! I will always use HOD and will never have to wonder if my kids are lacking academically...and HOD has given my those "forever memories" with my kids that no other curriculum has ever given me. I'm a forever HODie!

I can say that as a first time homeschooler, HOD would be a great choice...and once you're in it, I bet you wont' want to leave it!

[JoyousBlessings]

Thanks so much, Tamara, for your reply! : ))) I am soooo happy to hear all the wonderful things that HOD has brought to your family. I really had felt that the opinion of that other person was really off, but I wanted to know from people who are actually using the product.

Also, in reading more about HOD, I realized that they do not teach reading and I wondered what this person was talking about. We are already using a phonics program to learn our reading, so I am happy with that. Also, in reading, I felt too that HOD seemed like something fun and flexible. Two things I am really looking for in homeschooling my son.

The point you made about HOD being different than public school was great too because I was thinking "well, public school doesn't focus at all on a Christian based curriculum". Oh well, maybe that other person was somewhat confused.

I am just very thrilled to hear such a positive and glowing review of HOD. The more and more I look at it, the more I can't wait to try it with my son. I also like the fact that things are planned out for you too in order to make it a little easer for the parent who is teaching.

I run an in-home childcare and will have lots of little ones around. I want to be able to teach my son well and having some things mapped out for me will be wonderful. I am very creative too, so I want to have fun with that too. Thank you again for your response and have a wonderful evening!

Catrina : )

[my3sons]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the homeschooling world completely. I have made the decision to homeschool my son, who will be five in August. So, I am looking at Kindergarten. I am very excited about our decision and want it to be a wonderful journey for all of us.

I just happened to stumble across Heart of Dakota and it looks interesting to me. I have done lots of research, but have never even heard of HOD until today. I have also been looking at KONOS and Sonlight too. It is really hard to know what will be right for your child with so many choices. I do know that I want a Christian based curriculum though.

I was wondering if any of you would share your experience so far with HOD. What do you like best? Are there any aspects that you are not crazy about? Is it fairly easy to teach? Does it really teach the child everything they need to know to keep up with their schooling each year?

One opinion from someone else on another site was that they considered HOD to be awkward. It was also stated that it was not a homeschool type program, but more of a public school program in their eyes. Also, they felt it was a whole language approach to teaching the child how to read. This wasn't really a positive response and not quite what I was expecting.

So, I figured I would come to the actual site and get some opinions from people who are actually using the program. Do you find it too much like public school and not like homeschool? Also, do you find anything awkward or restricting in the program?

Are your children bored or do they find it very interesting? I know that I am looking for something that gives my son a variety of ways to learn. Some writing work, hands on, some computer time, etc.... I really want him to love learning and I think throwing in a little mix of learning may be good for him. That way, I can also see how he learns best.

Sorry to go on so long. I just have so many questions and I am anxious to hear answers. Thanks so much and I hope each of you have a wonderful day! : )))

Welcome to the HOD board, and congrats on your decision to homeschool your ds! I would say HOD is about the most natural homeschooling program ever. It is written specifically for the home, unlike other curriculums who are written to be marketed to both schools and homes. I taught public school for 7 years and find it to be absolutely nothing like that - praise the Lord! Here are a few of my favorite things about HOD:
*Christ-centered - when learning about history both world history and Bible history are meshed together naturally, Biblical learning is part of the HOD plans in a natural way - it is not just tacked on; we have great talks about this throughout the day with HOD
*Great books - HOD just has great book choices, all books I want to own
*Connections - history is connected to Bible, to poetry, to geography, timeline, vocabulary, narrating, science, etc.; Bible is connected to music and to notebooking, etc. There are so many connections that the day just flows so well.
*Balance - each day takes about the same amount of time, and each subject area takes about the same amount of time each day; also, it's balanced in sit-down time and active time
*Doable Activities - They use things I have in my house. They are short. The children can do them, so they remember the activities better. They are FUN, FUN, FUN! This is the area I think is hardest for most homeschool families - me included. Anyone can sit down and read a book to their dc, but to actually get activities, crafts, projects, and science experiments done on a daily basis - now that's where it's easy to fail. And dc need these to learn! I'm very grateful for the way these are done in HOD.
*Plans - I love the guide. It's easy to use, I don't plan ahead for teaching, and as dc grow older they can use the guide as well.
*Discussions - Our talks with HOD go the way I wanted them to go when I first imagined homeschooling. They are not forced or contrived. They are conversational - I thoroughly enjoy teaching, and my dc completely enjoy learning.
*Time Conscious - We finish in a timely fashion. We have time for the rest of life - my dc can actually have time to play, and I can have time to be a wife too!

I think you would love HOD!!! It is wonderful. As a new homeschool mom, I think you'd really appreciate the way it is laid out, and I know you'd enjoy your year!

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Catrina - you and I were typing at the same time! I was going to point out a few of those things you mentioned about that person's review, but then that little voice inside of me (a.k.a. the Holy Spirit) told me to let it go because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I'm glad you realized the discrepancies there too though! We have several moms using HOD while doing daycare. I know Jessi does, and she's doing such a great job of balancing homeschooling with that while doing LHFHG with her dd. Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you that you are not alone in that endeavor, and that it can be done well!

In Christ,
Julie

[pollo_la]

Hi, I didn't have time to read the other responses right now, but I wanted to jump in and welcome you! My oldest dd will be turning 5 in August as well and we will be using Little Hands this fall for her Kindergarten year. I have also researched a TON up until this point. When my dd was 3 and I was VERY new to this whole homeschooling thing we actually did Little Hands to Heaven for a few months. She LOVED it. I however, (being new to things and kind of wanting to try out all curriculums ) kept trying to change things around and add to the simplicity of things. As a result, I made things hard on myself and we ended up stopping HOD after just a few months. This past year (my dd is 4) we have used Sonlight p3/4. We have really enjoyed it, but nothing really seemed to "flow" together. I now have a MUCH better feel for how I like to interact with my children and I know much more what I am looking for in a curriculum. Something in the back of my mind kept telling me to go back and take another look at HOD. I am SOOOOOO glad I did!!! It's so simple that it's almost magical, and yet somehow it manages to cover EVERYTHING that you could ever want covered. I know you mentioned that you were unsure of "teaching your child to read" with this program. You can choose absolutely any program that you want to teach your child to read and it will fit in perfectly with the guides from HOD. HOD does give a couple of recommendations for reading, but you are free to choose your own program.

The one BIG thing I will say from my previous HOD experience is this. Try not to "tweak" or "add to" the guide. When I did this the first time around it really took away from what was basically "perfect" to begin with. I have learned my lesson on that one. When we use Little Hands this fall I will absolutely be following the guide this time. That's not to say that I won't still grab a few books to read aloud to my dd from other places in our free time, but as far as school goes, HOD is it for us!!

[Carrie]

JoyousBlessings,

I just wanted to pop-in and welcome you to the board! We're glad to have you here! The ladies are doing a wondeful job of answering your questions! I'll link you to a few past threads that will help answer your questions too:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1767&p=13815

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1975

Here's a link to the folder about LHFHG, where moms share their thoughts and experiences. Make sure to click on the topic titled "Please share your experiences" as there are many responses within that thread as well.:
viewforum.php?f=3

Blessings,
Carrie

[momof4]

JoyousBlessings,
Welcome to the group! I look forward to meeting you more.

Just wanted to share some of our experiences with Little Hands last year and now Little Hearts this year. When I began looking for a preschool curriculum for our then 4 year old, I too stumbled upon Heart of Dakota. I had never homeschooled before and was very nervous. None of my homeschooling friends had ever heard of it and I almost went with some other recommendations that they gave me. Something kept bringing me back to HOD and I could not let go of it. My SIL (trying to calm MY nerves) said, "Give it a try. You can't mess up preschool!" Knowing her and how serious she is about her kids' education I knew she was just trying to encourage me - not being flippant about it. Anyway, we did give it a try. Little Hands was everything we wanted for our son. He grew closer to God through the Bible Stories and devotional. He loved the activities! And was far more prepared for K than any of my first 3 kids!

Now, that we are in Little Hearts, his excitement, knowledge and love for the Lord continues to grow each day. He loves to learn. He is never bored and he is never boring either. We use something different for math and the reason I say that is to let you know that HOD IS very flexible. When they say you can use your own math and/or reading you can! We only use a different math because we started it last year and it my husband said if it's not broke don't fix it so we are continuing on with it. So be confident that is very flexible to meet YOUR family's needs.

We use Reading Made Easy. Teaching reading was my biggest phobia last year and I almost put ds in school until he learned to read, but I didn't and I'm so glad. We are at about Lesson 80 and he can almost read Level 1 books. We bought the easy reader Bible for Beyond and he can read most of that. I've gotten fliers in the mail for Kindergartens around us and some have listed what they learn for reading in K and ds is over and above that and we haven't completed the year, yet. I don't have a teaching degree and I don't understand all the different philosophies (whole word vs whatever), but I do know he is learning to read and it transfers over to other books and he sounds out words he has never seen before.

Most of the time when I've read poor reviews about HOD, it has come down to placement. That is why almost everytime someone asks a question on this board someone will ask, "Have you looked at the Placement Chart?" It seems to make a big impact on how much people enjoy and suceed with this program. So if you haven't looked at it already, check out the placement chart!

Finally, I think that the only thing that I'm not crazy about in this program is that Carrie is not planning on continuing all the way through High School!

Hope that Helps alittle.
Laurie

[MamaMary]

Welcome Catrina! Homeschooling is the BEST thing we have EVER done in our life. I left a nursing career 11 years ago to homeschool my son and here we are still going STRONG! I have used all three programs you are looking at and would love to give you feedback on them. First of all, you will never hear me say that one program is better than another. I have programs that have been absolute FLOPS for me, in my home, but have been HITS in another's. You will have to find what works best for your children. I happen to be our counties homeschool support group leader and LOVE talking to new moms. One of the first pieces of advice I was given and now pass on to others is to find a program that meshes with YOUR teaching style, rather than trying to find one that meets your childs learning style. If you are comfortable teaching than you can take that program and make it fit whatever your child needs.

The very first program I ever bought was KONOS. I have friends who used this for K-8th and their children have completed their homeschool program and are thriving in college. It was not a good fit for me because as much as I love the projects, book suggestions, character qualities, I just could not motivate myself enough to be consistent. I have found simplicity ='s Consistency and for me KONOS had too much prep for me to be consistent. Again that was not true for my friends who used and loved this. If you run a daycare, my question would simply be the time invest, prep involved?

Sonlight is one of my best friends favorite programs. She has used it for 10 years and is graduating her oldest daughter this year who is in an honors program. Her daughter is an auditory learner and she LOVES reading aloud. I used it for one year and it worked well. However, we only did the history read a louds and I missed doing hands on projects with my children.

HOD has been a GREAT fit. We are loving our journey. It's small bites well scheduled. I needed a program that did not require me to be in control of figuring out the schedule. We use a different math and LA and I love that it's flexible enough that you can use the whole thing or just history, bible, science. We have had intense discussions about the Lord and the world around us. Oh yeah and we're having FUN! I think a picture is worth a 1000 words!













I hope this helps!
Mary

[JoyousBlessings]

WOW! So many responses in such a short time! I am impressed. : )))

Thank you to everyone for the great input. I am very excited that I did just come across HOD today. I have been telling my husband about it and my mom because I really am thrilled about it and how it is set up. It sounds like something that will be great for my son.

I plan on looking at the site more and becoming more familiar with everything. Thanks again for all your responses. This is just great! I am not just excited about my son learning, but I am hoping I will learn a thing or two also.

Everyone have a great evening!

[lmercon]

Hi and Welcome,
I hope no one is offended by the following, but I just can't help it - I don't know what that poster was smoking! HOD is not anything like that. I haven't read all of the other posts, but I'm certain what was said because I know how great HOD is to use with my dc. I will NEVER look at another program again. HOD has a been blessed by God. It is easy to teach, much-loved by the kids, and very God-honoring. I was a ps teacher for eight years, and I can tell you it is NOTHING like a traditional classroom. I could go on and on, but I won't. Please, seriously consider this program. I think you will be very happy with it.
Laura

[my3sons]

...I haven't read all of the other posts, but I'm certain what was said because I know how great HOD is to use with my dc. I will NEVER look at another program again. HOD has a been blessed by God. It is easy to teach, much-loved by the kids, and very God-honoring. I was a ps teacher for eight years, and I can tell you it is NOTHING like a traditional classroom. I could go on and on, but I won't. Please, seriously consider this program. I think you will be very happy with it.
Laura

Thanks for your encouraging words about HOD!
In Christ,
Julie

[moedertje]

A great welcome also from me.
I think it is a blessing from God for those who happen to "stumble" across HOD. I did that, now realizing that it was the leading of the Holy Spirit. I have been tremendously blessed knowing that Carrie and Julie take there time to pray about the curriculum to use, they do incredible research and are very gifted in answering any question you might have about education.
This program has Christ centered education and that is what life is about. Christ first and than the rest.
It is amazing to see how the children realize that all the school they do is to honor and uplift the Lord. History as beginning with Him, Science the amazement of His creation, reading to be able to read His Word, reading comprehension as to be able to comprehend His written word.
Blessed I am and I look at other programs and curriculum, only to get back to HOD and say, I know Carrie and Julie research and they know what they are doing on the education level with the experience they have, why reinvent the wheel.
Now I do tweak some things only because I like to keep the work and have the kids look at it. So I try not to use food items so I can store stuff. I don't want to have ants feasting on stuff
I get blessed as we are moving through the guides and learning much myself!
Enjoy and make it yours! It's flexible to use your own phonics, but go and just read other threads and you soon will be filled with joy and excitement even more as you read how much the moms and kids are blessed who use HOD.
May the Lord guide you as you start this new venture and help you teach your children even while you run daycare.......

[happyhomeschooling]

Joyousblessing,
I know there have been so many responses but just have to chime in too.
I as of last Februrary was also a brand new homeschool mom. When DH and I decided homeschooling was
going to be the way to educate DD, I got on the computer and researched so long and so hard I felt as though
my head would fall off. So many curriculums and styles. I researched for weeks, going back and forth
between several different curriculums. After searching and searching I had decided we definatly wanted to
go with a more "liturature" style of learning useing living books. So that narrowed the search a little.

By "chance" (Ok the Lord definalty led me) I stumbled across HOD. I knew that my search was over, I just knew it.
I actually get very emotional thinking about how wonderful this curriculum is, it is more then well "curriculum". I Cannot
even think of a word that describes how I feel about it. Its more like a journey, a comforting, learning, exciting, fun, refreshing, happy, stimulating, journey, on this road that we are all traveling wanting the best for our children. Our family has become enriched beyond our wildest dreams with this program. I really could write forever about the abundant blessing HOD has been. But I will graciously stop there. I have been doing the program for only a year now, unlike some that have responded, I am still somewhat of a newbie here, but the impact has been so huge for us. I hope that you will find the same
fufillment here too, not to mention the women here are so great!
Blessing to you and your family and Happy-Homeschooling, with HOD

[funkmomma71]

I don't want to beat a dead horse but whoever posted the review you read was off her rocker or was confusing HOD with some other homeschool curriculum.

The Lord lead my family to HOD and we have been blessed by it. I couldn't recommend it high enough! We love every aspect of, it is VERY easy to and this comes froma momwho at this point has to a full-time job outside the home. HOD makes it easy to balance HS and work or whatever situation you find yourself in. I pray you will try it, I believe you will love it as much as everyone here does.

We use LHFHG level K, with RME (which is an awesome reading program!!), StartWrite for handwriting and Singapore Math. My daughter thanks me many times a week for doing homeschool and think it is the curriculum that makes that possible.

Best wishes and God Bless,
Nancy