CTC and RTR

[CindyK]

This will be my first year with HOD. I am planning to do LHFHG with my 1st grader and 4 year old. I've gotten some great advice already about LHFHG. I have a 12 year old daughter that will be in 7th grade. She is what you might call advanced in her learning and very independent. However, before I knew about HOD I was planning to do a unit study with her called "Heart of Wisdom" by Robin Sampson which goes from Creation to Messiah. It looks like I would be doing alot with her...so time consuming for me but I know I would learn alot myself. My husband & I really liked the idea of Bible so integrated with History. Since I found HOD I've been looking at HOD's CTC and RTR and would like some input about these two programs. I haven't seen alot on the message boards. I also haven't mentioned these to my husband yet...I wanted to do some research first before we decide anything. If we did go with these I would probably do CTC with the extension pack for older children for 7th along with DITHOR. Then the following year for 8th do RTR with the extension pack & DITHOR. Have any of you done this? I would love to hear your input on both CTC and RTR. Thanks so much!

[inHistiming]

Hi, welcome to the boards!

I can tell you that RTR is just on pre-order status, not actually set to go out until August, so no one has actually used it yet. I think Carrie, the author, may have 'tested' at least parts of it this past year with her oldest son, so maybe she can weigh in eventually and tell you a bit about it.

As far as CTC is concerned, it covers Creation to Christ. I was doing this with my oldest (6th grade) for about 6 weeks, then decided it would be best for us to combine him in Preparing with his sister....it was not the program at all, it was our particular needs and circumstances. I enjoyed doing the geography and bible study with him. And he really enjoyed the history portion, particularly the audio book. I personally feel you would be just fine using it with a 7th grader then moving on to RTR the following year....especially if you're using the extension pack. It is full of interesting information and has plenty of 'meat' to it. My older two children will actually be using a different program over the next two years, but I will have my 3rd son in HOD and am so looking forward to his being able to go through all of the manuals. There are such great books included in all of the programs, including CTC. I'm excited about beginning Beyond with him and progressing through the manuals, and then with my other two little ones as they get older.

I hope that was somewhat helpful. Hopefully someone will be along to add to this soon. Weekends are a little slower on the board, and though Carrie is on often to respond to questions and help out, I know she's quite busy with conventions and with finishing up writing the new guide right now. However, all the others on the board are very helpful, so you should get some great tips.

[Kathleen]

Hi Cindy!

I wanted to pop in here and welcome you. I just odered CTC this week and am eagerly waiting for it to arrive in Kansas! I know that there are moms here who have used CTC with 7th graders. I'm sure some of them can tell you how it went. I know that for our family, our absolute favorite part of Heart of Dakota is the FOCUS we have on God and His Word throughout all of our school day. It's exactly what my husband and I want. And, I'm loving that it's so natural for God and His Word to be a part of everything for my kids! So, I know if that's a goal for you, HOD will be a great fit! You can't seperate the subjects from the Lord in HOD's guides. He is most definitely NOT a tack-on!

I know there's one mom here - water2wine - that has used the ideas from Heart of Wisdom with her kids (maybe even in addition to HOD) and she's also been using CTC with her 7th grader this year. She would be perfect to give you more help if she gets on here!

Kathleen

[water2wine]

Hi Cindy! Welcome to HOD. I have used the Heart of Wisdom Bible Study method and do use it with my kids while they do HOD. That is what Kathleen is talking about. I am also going to use her Wisdom Study with my oldest along side HOD. I read the HOW Teaching Method book and it completely changed my view on hsing. In fact it was huge in leading me to HOD. I was so sold on her methods and priorities but when I looked at the HOW Adam to Messiah unit study it seemed like it was going to be a bit of work to actually use it. So I began searching and actually found that HOD had what I was sold on from the HOW book only it was done for me. I actually called Carrie and asked about how to have the chronological Bible study that HOW suggests with the book with HOD and she was very helpful to show me that I could actually have both. We have been doing the HOW suggested chronological Bible now with all our HOD. I don't really consider it school as I do a habit of reading together and then searching out the Word. I know you are talking about her actual unit study but I just wanted to put that out there.

We have also used CTC with our oldest which is currently finishing up 7th. She did also do the extension pack. We have really loved CTC. It's really such a great unit study and really it is as Robin Sampson recommends with having Bible intermixed in everything and having it be the focus rather than the other way around with Bible on the side. There are also lots of hands on activities and the CM ways that Robin Sampson recommends as well as that digging deeper and doing some research as well. The parent is still involved and you will learn and grow as well only thing is the material is all laid out day by day and you will not have to be putting things together so much. For us literally Robin Sampson's book was what led us to HOD because there truly are many similarities. I just feel that HOD is really so much more doable. Plus there are more than one unit study done and there is a "next place" to go.

I will be doing it again next year with my next three that will be ready for it. Also next year we are doing HOD RTR with my oldest who is technically in 8th now but I think actually we are going to let that be her first high school year. Reason being is that she will be doing Algebra next year and she is doing higher level science and reads above her grade level. Anyway I think RTR will definitely be enough for 8th grade and we will probably add a bit if we call it high school but I feel like we could use it for that credit as well. We have all the books of the program. Nobody has the manual yet. I am waiting for it to be completely done and then Carrie will recommend some extra books to go with it as well for older students. I am not sure we need those extra books but my dd will want to do them and Carrie's recommendations are always excellent.

If I can answer anything else I am really happy to tell you anything I can. We absolutely love HOD. All my kids use it and in fact we have decided to modify the guides after RTR and use them for high school level for our oldest. We just feel we get so much using HOD and want all our kids to have the biblical education that HOD provides.

[CindyK]

Thanks so much for everyones input! Water2wine, you gave me lots of helpful information and lots to think about. I'm also planning to do the reading through the BIble Chronologically with my 7th grader although I'll probably do it in two years instead of one. I was also planning to do the HOW Wisdom study with my daughter. It looks great! I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew. The HOW Teaching Method book is also what lead me to HOD for my younger children and then I started looking further and realized the CTC and RTR was similar to HOW. In my many years of homeschooling (two boys in college) I've never done unit studies before and it does look like HOD is better laid out for someone like me. I do keep going back and forth though and will be praying about which to go with. Thanks again for your input. My big concern was CTC not being enough for my 7th grader who is really advanced in her reading. You helped alot with that. It looks like she just has more advanced books along with the other ones...it that correct? Do they also have a laid out plan for the advanced student?

[water2wine]

Thanks so much for everyones input! Water2wine, you gave me lots of helpful information and lots to think about. I'm also planning to do the reading through the BIble Chronologically with my 7th grader although I'll probably do it in two years instead of one. I was also planning to do the HOW Wisdom study with my daughter. It looks great! I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew. The HOW Teaching Method book is also what lead me to HOD for my younger children and then I started looking further and realized the CTC and RTR was similar to HOW. In my many years of homeschooling (two boys in college) I've never done unit studies before and it does look like HOD is better laid out for someone like me. I do keep going back and forth though and will be praying about which to go with. Thanks again for your input. My big concern was CTC not being enough for my 7th grader who is really advanced in her reading. You helped alot with that. It looks like she just has more advanced books along with the other ones...it that correct? Do they also have a laid out plan for the advanced student?

There is an extension pack and the reading is laid out in the appendix. It is super easy. You would probably want the extension pack for older children with CTC. My dd has so enjoyed those books. Truly my dd loves it all and she begs me to let her read things on her own because she just loves it all. The reading though is all laid out for you even for the younger children. It is very well laid out. I do literally no preparation, ever except for at the beginning of the year just having the small list of things Carrie has listed as supplies. But day to day, I never look ahead to prepare, ever. Our days are always smooth. It just flows. It's all very open and go.

I also do a 2 year plan with the reading of the Bible chronologically. I think even a three year plan is plenty as far as Bible reading so just sort of begin have a plan but be OK with a slower plan and you will be fine. I mean when you think about there is at least four years allowed for the typical history cycle and in truth there is so much more to know in the Bible. So just enjoy it and do it regularly, you will reap the fruits of your labor in your children. I don't worry about it becasue in truth HOD is complete and this is really very much extra. As far as "school Bible" goes there is plenty in HOD. But it's been great to read through the Bible chronologically alongside HOD. It is amazing how easy and often it ties into HOD for us. Carrie just does such a great job tying it all together. For my younger children I use the Egermeier's Study Bible that Carrie has in the appendix of LHFHG. That is a wonderful story Bible and it is not scheduled in any of the HOD programs so you will not be ruining anything for the future.

Let me know if I missed anything.

[Shawneinfl]

Cindy,
I think your plan sounds good. CtC and RtR look great for advanced learners like your dd. If you look at the extensions booklist, they are many of the same books used in other 7th and 8th grade curricula.
I am in a similar sitution to Water2wine - I ordered CtC for my almost 5th grade son but he's not quite ready for that level of independence, so I've just ordered Preparing which looks better for him. I need him to be able to do the "Independent" boxes without too much hand holding from mom since I have four children to juggle at home.

[CindyK]

Thanks everyone! After discussing this all with my husband we have decided to do CTC this year and RTR next year with my 7th grader! I'm really excited to be doing this! Is there a list of materials we should be getting together for CTC. I did see a thread about the paints...anything else? Also, I would be interested in how everyone does their timelines. My daughter has a timeline book we got last year from Sonlight that is practically empty. I had also thought about ordering Historical Timeline Figures on CD. Not sure this is this would work with CTC or if it will even be necessary to use the Sonlight timeline book we have. Any suggestions?

[Kathleen]

Yay, Cindy! I'm so glad that you and your husband have made the decision about school for next year. And, I'm sure you'll be pleased with HOD as the Lord is truly at the center of it all. He will bless your decision to put Him first!

Here's a thread that explains how HOD does timelines... viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5887 I haven't done CTC yet, but I know that all you'll need are the student notebook pages that are in the economy package. Those are used for their other history notebooking as well as the timeline that will continue on with the next 3 guides. I wouldn't get figures to cut out as those won't be necessary.

As far as materials to gather... I would read through the Introductions to the guides you're using. Here's a link to CTC... http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/CTC-Introduction.pdf
Here's the link to LHFHG... http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/little ... -intro.pdf

For CTC, I think that the only specific supplies you'll need will be those for the watercolor painting to go with the poetry. Other than that, you'll need a Common Place book. This can be a bound composition book. I let Grant pick out a special one at Staples last year. We'll keep adding to it with CTC this year. You'll need either one bigger 3-ring binder or a couple smaller ones. We do one for science (notebooking and lab sheets) and one for history. If you do one big one, having some tabs to divide the subjects will be helpful. For the science pages you may want clear sheet protectors to slip the work into. That's what we've used the last couple of years with Bigger and Preparing. We've also used some cheap notebooks for English, Dictation, Creative Writing, and Math.

For LHFHG, some basic art supplies will be needed. Crayons and markers, pencils, glue (both the liquid & stick kind), washable paints, construction paper, white copy paper. For the other activities there are usually a few suggestions and they use things you have around the house. I don't look ahead and we have never had to skip anything because I didn't have something that would work - maybe postpone a day, rarely. You'll use stuffed animals to act things out sometimes. For help memorizing the Bible verse you'll use a ball to bounce pass every unit. Masking tape is occasionally used. If you wanted to look ahead a week or 2 when you're going to the store, I'm sure it would be easy to see if you have what you'll need or not. Two things I remember where we actually had to have the right supplies were making the "peanut butter clay" when we studied the Israelites worshipping the golden calf they made and then making our own bread when we studied Jesus miraculously feeding the 5000+.

Happy ordering and gathering!
Kathleen