heartofdakota.com

Wow, you ladies know your stuff (HOD/CM)!

I am impressed at the fact that you have been on "both sides of the fence", where as, I am struggling with getting to the other side of mine! And yes, I think you're probably correct Tricia in saying, that I am probably truly struggling more with the "unknown", rather than the structure. Great point!

What I have to remember is, why I started researching other methods/styles of HS in the first place. And that is, my very intelligent and intuitive dd, who loves to learn, hates "school"!!!! This was the turning point for me, and thus why I feel a change is in order.

I will continue to pray, research (CM methods), and thus will then be able to make a decision which way to go with all of this, prior to Aug., when I begin our "formal" studies again.

I have another scenario, if anyone out there, isn't sick to death of me yet!

I am thinking I will keep my son cruising along with ABeka's math and language program, but have him do everything else HOD has to offer, as a way for me to slowly transition into this "new found way" of homeschooling. He has done quite well thus far with the methods we have been using. He LOVES worksheets, but I know he would love anything I gave him in terms of learning. He is an eager learner all-around.

DD, well, this is where I will have my tough decision. But whatever I decide for her, am I right in my thoughts, that I can still combine them in history, science, and what else??? I definitely know that I can combine them, but the only thing I worry about is what has been covered thus far in their ABeka program in history, and where my son picks up in HOD. Do I even have a need for concern here?

Okay, thanks so much. This has helped immensely, in so many ways.

Double hugs,
Lynn

Lynn,

I am new to HOD(will be starting in the Fall), but this is our 6th year of hsing. I just wanted to shortly address your concern that your children may miss some fundamental concept in switching curriculums, or in not repeating 4th grade with your dd. I have been there too. I often share with friends that there is no greater guilt than that of a homeschool mother - after all, if there's problems in any area there is no one else to "blame" but ourselves. We want our kids to succeed for many reasons - mostly because we love them, but also because we don't want any rolling of the eyes from the nay-sayers in our lives. We want to rest on the thought that if I do everything in this curriculum my kids will turn out ok. Unfortunately, not every child will hold to a formula, which is what you may be seeing with your daughter and which most public schools are seeing today. This can cause us to operate out of fear, rather than out of what might be best in the long run. The standards that Abeka or any other textbook curriculum applies, that the local school district applies, that the department of education recommend, etc are often pretty arbitraray and often conflict with one another. Your curriculum is to be your GUIDE as a teacher, not your master/dictator.

I don't know about you, but I was an excellent textbook student(even went to a prestigious university), but I was not taught to think critically and discern - only to spit back out the information I retained long enough for the test. One of the reasons we homeschool is that we want something different for our children - I foremost desire for them to be a disciple of Christ, but I also want them to have a love for learning, see how God has been and is at work in every subject, be able to find information when they need it, think critically about what they are taught and read and compare it to Scripture, be able to think through problems and solve them and be able to function as a member of society. Whether they remember the dates of the specific revolutionary war battles for a test, or remember what an igneous rock is or the author of a certain book is now less importantl to me. Which means that whether the child learns cursive in 2nd grade or 4th grade(gasp!:), whether they master their times tables this year or 6 months from now, whether they can identify an adverb as a 3rd grader or don't really master it until later is ok. And a weight has been lifted off me as their mother in a sense; and I lift the weight off them; and we can focus on molding their character and learning together. For us, we have been delighted to find HOD at this point, though I had switched from textbooks to literature based to unit studies before this.

Overall, I might take this point to sit down with your dh and go over your goals for your children, and make sure that your curriculum will help you to achieve them. That way, if you start to panic at some point in the year, you can go back and remind yourself what the goals are. Blessings on your journey and may God lead you in the path He has chosen:)

Blessings!

Jennifer

Lynnielou wrote:...But whatever I decide for her, am I right in my thoughts, that I can still combine them in history, science, and what else??? I definitely know that I can combine them, but the only thing I worry about is what has been covered thus far in their ABeka program in history, and where my son picks up in HOD. Do I even have a need for concern here?

Okay, thanks so much. This has helped immensely, in so many ways.

Double hugs,
Lynn

Lynn - I just want to encourage you to keep praying about this, and I want you to know I am praying for you that the Lord leads you in the direction He wants you to go. You are so wise to take time to reflect on this, rather than just moving on to the next level when you see your dc need something different. As the pp said so eloquently, taking time to visit with your dh about your goals for homeschooling, or if he views that more as your department (as my dh does ), taking time to write out the goals yourself and share those with your dh for his input at that point, is a wonderful way to choose your curriculum.

I remember reading someone else's goals for homeschooling helped me think through ours. So, with that thought in mind, here are a few of our goals. One of our primary goals is to homeschool our dc in a Christian manner that not only gets to their "head", but also gets to their "hearts". This means daily time in the Bible and daily talks with our dc about the Lord are a must. Another goal we have is to have a very solid academic curriculum, so our dc may attend college and do well, if that is the path God leads us in. This means I want a curriculum that meets state standards and educates my dc academically well in all areas. Still another is for our dc have time to run, play, enjoy God's Creation in the outdoors, explore interests on their own. This means I want to be done homeschooling by lunch or early afternoons, anything longer than that doesn't fit with this goal. One more goal is for me to enjoy homeschooling our dc - to take delight in what I do, so that when my dh comes home I am quite happy, the house is mainly in order, and I can generally get supper on the table. This means I need a lively, interesting curriculum that has ME wanting to read ahead to find out what will happen next. A final goal is for homeschooling not to interfere with me being a wife to my husband, and for our relationship to continue to be one of deep love. This again means that homeschooling cannot be all that I focus on, all that I talk about, or all that I do. I have to leave room for my dh. HOD meets all of these goals for us beautifully. Anyway, maybe some of these things to ponder will help you decide what your goals are and how you can best meet them, because whatever your goals are, there is certainly a curriculum that will meet them.

I think that you could combine your 2 dc in PHFHG. Since it is a 1 year sweep of history, it is such a neat place to start HOD. You don't have to worry about what you've studied, because something will certainly be new and fresh (not to mention HOD's way of teaching in general will feel this way anyway). Since it is your dd that is really needing a change especially, I think it would be neat to have her just do PHFHG as it is written, with all of the LA and math. For your ds, you could have him do all of PHFHG, but still use Abeka for whatever LA and math things you wanted to. I think this would be interesting to do! It would give your dd the change she is so wanting, while still keeping your ds (and you) going with a portion of Abeka that you feel comfortable with. What are your thoughts about this? I'd love to hear what you think!

In Christ,
Julie

Jennifer-- First I would like to say, thank you, for your post/reply. It really spoke to my heart, that you gave such a "real" account. It touched on SO many things that have been swirling through my head, you just don't know. One of the things that I especially liked, was what you mentioned about higher learning concerns/requirements, but also their spiritual beings.
This is so, so, so important to me, that they get what they need (and more, to be honest), to have them ready if the day comes, they have to apply to college. That may not be God's will for their lives, and may be one of MY goal's for their lives....but none the less, if it happens, I want them to be amply prepared in all ways.
Secondly, along the way, while we work from day to day, I want their spiritual lives to grow, and be molded through their education. This is something that sadly, has somehow taken a backseat to their education thus far. Not intentionally so, but I have let the academics become so important, that their spiritual learning during school hours, has not been all I would like it to be. Of course they get it at church 3 times a week, and during all the other church related activities we participate in, but not always is it incorporated the way I know I could incorporate it. Not sure I relayed exactly what I wanted to here, but you hopefully understand, somewhat, of what I am trying to say here (I hope). I want to get to their hearts, as Julie said, not just their minds.
I also liked your suggestion about goal setting, and others have mentioned this as well. Julie in the very next post really drove this home for me. It really got me thinking how much I am planning, yet, not really goal setting, if that makes sense.
And finally, bringing my husband more into our goal setting and decision making. And yes, he is more apt to leave the fine decision making up to me, but another thing, he is having a hard time with "change'. This makes it extra difficult for me, who also doesn't do well with "change". I like my "comfort zone", and do not think outside the "box" well.
My dh says he supports me, with this change, but I still feel there is a little uncertainty lingering in his mind, perhaps because I still have uncertainty swirling around in mine.
Once I can make a decsion on which way to go, I can present it to him, tidied up a bit, so to speak, and he can see a more clear picture of how this all will work and fit together.

Julie--
To answer your question about my thoughts of combining both dc in PHFHG....that is actually what my initial thoughts were.
Combining them is one of the goals of our "change" with things. But then I started reading how some people didn't think it was a good idea to combine, or it didn't work for them....which really started getting me looking at CTC for my dd. This takes me away from my original goal, but then it looked more of where she should be, in my opinion. But not knowing the curriculum of HOD and how it works, it does appear I could go several ways with this (flexibility is nice . But perhaps to keep things "simple", perhaps your suggestion is something I should really look more closely at. And when you say have dd do "as it is written, with all of the LA and math"--could you break this down, even more to me and explain this? Do you just mean follow it with exactly what is suggested, rather than mix it with another math, language, etc. I pretty that is what I am understanding from your statement, just want to clarify.
I will say, I am a bit unsure about the Singapore math. I am not concerned that it is a great math program, again, when I asked "around", I got the, "Yea, we used that before, but it didn't work out" statement. Now, granted, this person I asked, is someone that their opinion I highly value, yet, don't stake my life on....but they used this MANY years ago, and she conveyed to me it was just so "different". I wonder if at that time, there was no option, like there is today, of two versions??? Saxon math worked for them, and that is what I am going to have to figure out. What works for one doesn't always work for another. But of course I value opinions of others, that have been there, (like you ladies), and it helps me to sort through all the thoughts in my head.

Julie-- I will look more closely at PHFHG and all the options that come along with this (when I get my HOD catalog back from a friend that is looking at it) and I am SURE I will have questions Not that you ever once doubted that. LOL.

THANK YOU SO MUCH LADIES for speaking to my heart about this, and not just brushing me off as just another "newbie", but taking me under your wings, with genuine concern and thought, to your posts/replies.

Thank you,
Lynn

Ladies,
What a wonderful discussion! I love when "stuff like this" comes up to keep me grounded in the REALLY important stuff! Jennifer, your post definitely hits on things swirling around in my head. You put it very well and helped me to see it clearly! I love what you said regarding whether or not it's THAT important that our kiddos know an adverb in third grade or 5th grade. Sometimes we can really get hung up on those fine points and miss discipling (is that how it's spelled?) our children and working on their character. Like you, our main goals are to teach our kids to love the Lord and to teach them HOW to think and evaluate. Then they can be life-long learners vs good test-takers. And like you, I was a very good student, good at tests, etc. BUT... I feel like it was all "regurgitate for the test" and forget it next week. I want my kids to THINK!!! SO... yes, I want something different for my kids, too. And I really think, as I'm entering our 3rd year with HOD, that HOD will help us get there! I had done LHFHG, then did a year of my own thing. I think Lynn said something similar, but in that next year of "my own thing", it seemed like I put the focus more on academics than God and character development in our schooling. And while the year was just OK, it certainly lacked fun and the Lord showed me that we needed to come back to focus on Him. And thus, we came back to HOD, which has been a major blessing this year. And I'm not planning to leave HOD anytime soon, unless the Lord directs.

Also, Julie, thanks for the reminder on goals. When we think of goals, it really helps us to keep our eye on the prize, doesn't it?!

Thanks, ladies! What an encouraging place this is!

Julie,

Thank you for the reminder. My dh and I were talking about our goals for the girls before they leave the nest. Ironically, even though he's an electrical engineer, academics weren't even in the top five. We want their hearts for us and Jesus, that's it. We want to be able to talk to them about everything and truly know them. We want to guide them to seek the Lord for wisdom and peace. After all the searching I have done, when I opened my HOD guide, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I need to focus on them, their hearts, their place in the Kingdom God has given them. What precious gifts we have in them.

What a wonderful discussion this is turning out to be! Thanks to all of you sharing your hearts here. I grew up being extremely focused on academics. My mom taught, I taught ps 7 years, and then got my masters in educational leadership (admin). Anyway, it was hard for me to articulate any other goal (for school) than I wanted my dc to well academically. I gradually started to realize that if I homeschooled my dc, I could actually combine Christian, life, and academic goals all into their homeschooling day. This was exciting to me! Anyway, setting goals is exactly the opposite of confining. It is freeing because it helps me say know what to say "no" to, and what to say "yes" to, where before there were so many "maybes" as I liked a part of almost everything.

Lynn - I just wanted to thank you for starting this post, as it is obviously speaking to so many lady's hearts. I also wanted to make mention that my recommendation for you to combine your 2 dc in PHFHG was and is largely based on your desire to combine. Personally, I prefer to teach my dc separately because their ages and abilities are quite far apart. I think you are just like all of the rest of us - on a journey in homeschooling - a journey that changes as goals become more focused. With these new thoughts in mind, I think it would be worthwhile to look at the placement chart one more time. Once just with your oldest in mind, and then a second fresh look with your next child in mind. If you could then share where they would really individually placed, we could probably give you a pretty accurate answer about whether combining or not combining would work the best, and then you could pray about it and decide what would fit your goals the best.

As far as what I meant about doing it as is, yes, I did mean doing all of it as it is planned in the manual. I don't think it would be a big deal to sub in math if you would like to, though because dd was having tears over it, it would be worth considering a change there. When I say doing it as is, I mean doing a very high percentage of it exactly as it is written, like maybe only subbing in 1 thing or none at all. I say this because it will make the transition from textbooks to HOD an easier one. Subbing in things has the potential to imbalance an otherwise balanced curriculum. Especially subbing in LA choices that do not match the CM way of doing things, that duplicate what is already covered well in the manual, or that take much longer or require much more writing can really make the day go longer. For example, if a person is subbing in a math program that takes an hour, and a grammar program that takes an hour, you've just added an hour or more to your day - since HOD's math and grammar take about 40-50 minutes for older dc.

Likewise, if you add in an extra spelling program or an extra writing program, or you choose a grammar that has a lot of writing in it (HOD recommends doing a good portion of R & S orally), you have added a lot of additional writing to the day. Carrie actually counts out the number of times (as well as considering the length) of writing each day to make sure it is balanced and not too much or too little for a child within the target age ranges. So, that is why I think doing the guide more as it is written will keep that balance in check and make it easy to teach from because all of your plans will be in one place within the HOD guide. I am not saying that all subbing in is this way! Moms may certainly sub things in that they find are working well for them, and then they can consider how to best keep the balance in their days and manage the time for these substitutions themselves. I hope that makes sense now! Those are just a few thoughts I had.

In Christ,
Julie

Now I haven't used HOD yet, but I'm thinking I'll e using it for this next year as I'm praying on it and my husand is liking the books and layout of the plans. But I did use text books from my children the first 2 1/2 years I homeschooled, and CM style this year, so I CAN say something about the CM style! I was nervous about the switch, BUT I noticed when I read from textbooks my children's eyes would often glaze over and when I asked questions they wouldn't know what I said. That was VERY frustrating. When school time was done, they were done, they had very little intrest in learning anything else. My DD still read for fun, but things like Barbie books. This year, reading living books, my children couldn't wait until the next day to read the next chapter, we often read two or three days ahead bc they "had to know what happens!" IT was SO refreshing to see them EXCITED aout history! Wanting to learn! Then when the school day was over they asked for the books so they could read them on thier own again! They even started running into the house to get the ird book to identify birds they found or eggs they found! How exciting to see them running to the window bc they finally found a morning dove! Now that we are on "summer break" they are playing school, they asked to make a list of counties they want to visit someday and they are reading a world atlas for FUN! CM teaches children to love to learn! Christ should be first, HOD does that, family second, then a love to learn about the world God created! Isn't it so much better to have your children wanting to learn in thier play time, instead of burt out? Now for standardized tests, as I said I didn't use HOD this year, but we did do CM style, and my state required standardized testing after age 7, and my DD got her scores yeasterday and she was in the top 1% of the nation in 3rd graders, she got a perfect score! Not bad! LOL! They learn and retain more when they are excited about thier work!

I am so glad not only have I been helped through this post, that others have as well. Each time I come up with another thought, concern, question, etc., I would think deep down that I shouldn't ask, and not to be burdensome to the others. But what I have found is a community of ladies so eager to please the Lord, and help others through their time, and kindness. Thank you again (I cannot say that enough)!

Julie- I will do as you suggested, and re-visit the placement chart for each of my children. I want what is best for them, but at the same time, if they are able to be taught together, overall, then that is my desire. I think I can make it work, with little to no problems at all, but I want to be sure, like you said. Once I do that in the next couple of weeks- (I have HS conference this week and a trip to NC for a medical appointment the next week for my mother--busy, busy-) then at that time, hopefully you kind ladies will guide me in a little better with finalizing my decision on placement.

Until then, hope you ladies have a great day~

~ Lynn