heartofdakota.com

I don't think anyone is asking Carrie to rewrite guides, but a simple listing of chapters would be nice so that those who CHOOSE to use e-readers can. By not including the chapter numbers or titles does indeed seem as if the user it tied to the EXACT edition of a book sold by HOD.

I do agree that customer service is wonderful. I also understand that they need to sell the books as a package to support their business.

However there are many many families who wish to use HOD but who can't afford the price tag so they have no other choice than to use free or inexpensive e-books. In that case HOD is inaccessible to them. I think by listing only page numbers in the guide definitely is a disadvantage for families who have more than 1 child in the same guide or who use e-readers whether for personal choice or for learning styles, etc.

In many cases though HOD does actually list chapter numbers. So it's not that thy HAVE to list page numbers, they can list chapter numbers, but in some instances they actually choose not to. In some guides there are page numbers and in some places there are chapters and even titles listed.

Maadrose wrote:I don't think anyone is asking Carrie to rewrite guides, but a simple listing of chapters would be nice so that those who CHOOSE to use e-readers can. By not including the chapter numbers or titles does indeed seem as if the user it tied to the EXACT edition of a book sold by HOD.

I do agree that customer service is wonderful. I also understand that they need to sell the books as a package to support their business.

However there are many many families who wish to use HOD but who can't afford the price tag so they have no other choice than to use free or inexpensive e-books. In that case HOD is inaccessible to them. I think by listing only page numbers in the guide definitely is a disadvantage for families who have more than 1 child in the same guide or who use e-readers whether for personal choice or for learning styles, etc.

In many cases though HOD does actually list chapter numbers. So it's not that thy HAVE to list page numbers, they can list chapter numbers, but in some instances they actually choose not to. In some guides there are page numbers and in some places there are chapters and even titles listed.

I could see where this would work if a whole chapter were assigned, but I know, from currently doing Bigger Hearts, that often only a few pages from a chapter are assigned and often a chapter is broken apart, with different sections read on separate weeks. For instance, the other day the reading assignment was something like "Read p. 127 to the top of p. 130." I'm not sure I understand how Carrie would convert that to chapters in an e-reader.

Ladies,

I missed much of the dialogue in this thread up until now, so I'll just weigh in with a few more details of why we do what we do in the guides.

For starters, I am so glad that the tone is this thread has changed to be more gracious. As a quick refresher, I'll just post a portion of our board rules below:
Our prayer for this board is that its content may glorify our Father in heaven and may also encourage other families on their Heart of Dakota homeschool journey. This is not a general board, as its purpose is to help families successfully use Heart of Dakota within their own homes. With that in mind, we will be monitoring the board for helpful content as well as for a positive, encouraging tone. Posts that we feel do not reflect the philosophy of Heart of Dakota Publishing or do not pertain to our purpose may be removed.

Next, I'll share that while we do at times list chapter titles, for books where we read read parts of chapters we instead went to page numbers. Sometimes, we've had to go to page numbers for space reasons too. So, while it is not an exact science, we do work to make the guides as clear as possible, with clarity being our main focus when deciding whether to list chapters or page numbers.

As far as making HOD more accessible to families, we work to sell our books in a variety of discounted packages (while still allowing multiple substitutions within each package). This allows families to know which resources we consider most important (by which package the books are in) and which items we consider to be more secondary (which is helpful when deciding which items to do without if needed). It also helps save on shipping costs if families can get their books in a one-stop-shopping type of situation, which is what we try to provide.

We do realize that the era of e-readers is coming more each day. However, it is fast-changing industry right now and one in which there are many variations of readers available (each with their own unique quirks and available books). If our guides absolutely could not be used by families right now as they are currently written, we would definitely pause what we were doing to make changes. However, since that is not the case right now, all of energies instead must currently go toward writing a new guide each year.

I must admit that heading into the writing of the high school level guides is a daunting task, and one that we are not undertaking lightly. Right now, I have a stack of books next to my bed (all of which are hundreds of pages long and 3 of which are 600 pages each) that I am working through to choose the literature that we will schedule for the upcoming guide's literature credit (and this is the narrowed down stack)! Not to mention these are classic books and not always the easiest reading!

So, at this stage in my life, I must do what I am able and trust the Lord to show us what is most important each day. I am grateful for each one of you who chooses to take this journey with us. You are each undertaking Kingdom work for your families, and I know the Lord will encourage you as He encourages me! I'm just so glad that we have one another to share our lives with through this board!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you Carrie for your work and dedication.

Hi,
I have a high schooler with special needs. We use audiobooks whenever possible instead of the traditional books. It would help tremendously to have some kind of indicator as to what is in a chapter or an ending or beginning paragraph so we know where to begin and end for each days assignment. I realize that often a whole chapter is not assigned for the days work, but since the pages in ebookreaders that go along with audios ( such as those in Audible ) do not match up with those in the paper or hardback books it is always a guessing game. I hate to do too much or too little as I know the lessons were set up in the guidebook to go together for each day. This is a terrific way to establish the information more firmly in the students minds.

Does anyone have any hints that would help me in this situation? It has been an additional source of stress as well as expending time I don't have. We are currently using US History I. Thank you for your help.