Is HOD paving the way for college?

[Cherylanne]

I just read in an article and would like the imput of those who've used HOD long-term or plan too. The article stated that if we plan for our kids to go to college that we need to stick with a more text book approach to educating. What are your thoughts? Will this be the plan for the high school program in HOD or will it still be heavily CM...Is Carrie writing a high school guide?

One of the reason that drew me to HOD was Carrie's background in education.

[Cherylanne]

I would like to add in reference to any CM curriculum (not just HOD)..for the college bound. I'm sure most families fully intend for our children to go to college that use the CM methology.

[countrymom]

I teach at a college, and I would say a resounding "Yes," HOD students will be prepared for college. The statistics of underprepared students entering college are astounding. These are all children coming from a textbook-based education. I know there are certainly multiple factors involved, but students simply do not possess the skills to succeed. In my program students need to be able to critically think, and they cannot do it. They have learned to memorize facts from a textbook and they cannot do anything with those facts but spit them out. If you are familiar with Bloom's taxonomy (you can google it and look at the pyramid), a large percentage of students can't get beyond the base of the pyramid. My oldest child is only in Beyond, but I have thoroughly reviewed the material, follow the week in review threads and many of the other threads and I can tell you HOD children are learning skills that will more than prepare them for college. I can say that I sought out a curriculum based on what I was experiencing in my job and purposely chose a CM type of curriculum.

[Heather4Him]

I teach at a college, and I would say a resounding "Yes," HOD students will be prepared for college. The statistics of underprepared students entering college are astounding. These are all children coming from a textbook-based education. I know there are certainly multiple factors involved, but students simply do not possess the skills to succeed. In my program students need to be able to critically think, and they cannot do it. They have learned to memorize facts from a textbook and they cannot do anything with those facts but spit them out. If you are familiar with Bloom's taxonomy (you can google it and look at the pyramid), a large percentage of students can't get beyond the base of the pyramid. My oldest child is only in Beyond, but I have thoroughly reviewed the material, follow the week in review threads and many of the other threads and I can tell you HOD children are learning skills that will more than prepare them for college. I can say that I sought out a curriculum based on what I was experiencing in my job and purposely chose a CM type of curriculum.

Thank you for this wonderful post! This is awesome to hear!!

I'm putting the final touches on my plans for 9th grade next year and starting to get a little nervous about high school. And then, after receiving a well-known textbook curriculum mailing recently, I have had some "second-guessing" moments, wondering if THAT is what we "should" be doing for high school.
BUT, I believe in my heart that God led us to HOD and that it IS the best choice for us all the way through high school (for the reasons you mentioned and more!) Thank you for reassuring me once again that we truly are on the path God has for our daughter and our family!
(I can hardly wait to order our RTR, as soon as our tax refund arrives!)

[raceNzanesmom]

I agree with countrymom. My oldest ds attended public school through 6th grade where he was considered "gifted". He could easily spit out facts. When we brought him home for 7th I thought pouring textbooks into him was the way to go. He hated 7th grade at home. By 8th, I began to realize some of my failings and started changing things. Schooling at home got better and his love of learning returned (as best as it can for a high schooler). Looking back I still have some things I would have done differently, but I'm thankful that I was at least headed into a more CM approach. He read lots of rich literature, used critical thinking skills to problem solve, etc. It has been good. Our youngest is only in 1st grade, but looking through the samples of HOD I think it lays a wonderful foundation for thinking and doing learners. Plus, and most importantly, it teaches them to love the Lord.

[LynnH]

I also can say "yes" I do believe it is. My dd came home from ps this year as a 10th grader. She had been in all advanced classes other than math and is considered gifted. She is great at memorize and spit back out, but I have been surprised how much she struggles to truly analyze something like Poetry. Honestly my ds who has only had 1 3/4 years of HOD does better than she does and he has some learning challenges. I do use all text books with her because that is what she wanted, but she is finding that compared to what she sees my ds doing she is bored and not challenged. I am trying to add a Charlotte Mason component next year to LIt and History, but I am finding it is challenging at this stage of the game to change how she has always been taught to think. Also she and I both realized that she had always been spoon fed the answers to things. She is not good with open ended questions. Which is why I appreciate that some of HOD questions have answers that aren't always obvious.

[tnahid]

Great post. Thanks for the encouragement! Mine are only in Beyond, but it is great to read about the years ahead. I also think it is great, because with HOD, they are still getting a textbook approach as well, with Math and LA. Why would it be necessary to have a textbook approach for history and science? To me, that spells B-O-R-I-N-G! I know it did when I was in school. I HATED those subjects, but teaching them with HOD is awesome! I feel like I am learning all over again the things I didn't really know in school. Yes, I am learning even in Beyond!! That is one thing I really like about homeschooling, especially with HOD, is that I can learn right along with my children. May we never stop learning!!

Please know I am not knocking those who choose a textbook approach. I have lots of friends who do, and their children are learning well also. And for some things, it may be more necessary at times. If I had to go with a more textbook approach, I would definitely have to use the workbook/worktext approach, because the basic textbooks would just be too much for me. Blessings!

[tnahid]

P.S. I taught at a community college for years as well, and I agree with CountryMom...they are not prepared by using a textbook approach. Of course, in college, we mainly used that approach, except in my literature classes, and those are the ONLY classes I remember learning anything from!!! Sad, but true.

[water2wine]

Well I really believe with all my heart that my kids will be very well prepared for college. It is our plan that our children go to college. I believe that is their call until God shows me otherwise. I have my oldest using HOD for high school now even though it is not written at that level just because I believe the way HOD teaches and encourages them to love learning is really key to a good college career later in life. Biggest number one thing to being successful in college and Life to me is having a real and intimate relationship with The Creator. After that I would say it is about learning how to learn and loving learning. Truly there is no program that is going to cover every single aspect. There will always be some holes even if they are tiny. But if they have learned how to learn they are going to do great. I think it is not so much about covering every detail as it is covering every detail of how to learn. They are going to be hit with new things right off the bat in college no matter what they take in high school if they are planning a challenging college path. So to me HOD is really paving the way for that in that it is teaching them to learn independently along the way. I feel like they are going to be up for the task. But I also feel this is our personal call for our family so I know in that God will lead us on the right path.

My oldest that is in 9th right now, we skipped her ahead a year after having her be desperately behind from ps. I know that is thanks to HOD. She plans to take the SAT's for scholarships. She is planning on something medical she is thinking optometry at this point but who knows if that will stick in years to come. I do see though that she is going to take a rigorous path. I feel like we are really preparing her well with HOD. I can customize her in the areas of science and math very easily with HOD and I like that. I like that Carrie partners with you on that as well. It is way beyond what she needs to do as a provider and I appreciate her helping us that want to use HOD all the way through and may have different goals for our children.

I think a really great thing to do is to look down the road. What in the end do you really hope your children are going to come out of hsing having under their belt. If you could make the top ten what would those be? The things you feel college preparation really requires. Pray then to ask God to show you if with HOD you can accomplish those. That is something that really helped me know we could get there with HOD.

It's a good question and I know you will get lots of great answers from the women here on the board. Hoping what I wrote helps a bit.

[water2wine]

I would like to add in reference to any CM curriculum (not just HOD)..for the college bound. I'm sure most families fully intend for our children to go to college that use the CM methology.

OOOPs Ok just seeing this part too. I think definitely CM techniques are college prep. Really for the reasons I listed that it teaches them how to learn. That is what I feel like is the hardest thing going into college. You really have to know how to learn from formats that are not ideal for you personally and how to learn on your own. Take complex concepts and make them simple, very much like CM does.

[Cherylanne]

Thanks! I think it's good when we can see/hear benefits from the experience of others.

[erin.kate]

water2wine ...

Absolutely beautifully said. Spot on. Thank you for sharing.