zippymom
- Reviewed on Thursday, December 27, 2012
- Grades Used: K and 2nd
- Dates used: Aug 2012-present
I am using HOD Little Hearts for His Glory this school year (2012-2013) with my Kindy DD and my 2nd grade DD. We are about halfway through the program. I was hesitant to use HOD because my older DD is an advanced reader and I wasn't sure there would be enough "meat" to this curriculum. It has been a great fit for us. The parts of the program that I, as an adult, thought we would probably not do ,such as the rhymes in motion and the music, are my DDs favorite part. I forget that they are kids and do not work on a gett'er done mentality. There is just enough history, Bible, stories and science that I feel we are covering everything but not getting bogged down in the details. My Kindy DD uses McRuffy for math, All About Reading for learning to read, and Explode the Code for phonics work. My 2nd grader is using CLE for math, Rod and Staff English, explode the code, Apples and Pears spelling, Sonlight Readers 2 and she also takes a science class at co-op. I like that we have time to add in extra art, science, or nature studies as we desire. I was also hesitant about the amount of Biblical content in HOD. I didn't desire for us to be too Biblically centered in our schooling...I have since changed my mind. The content has been great and we are all more positive in our schooling as well as God focused in our family. HOD has been a good fit financially too. We will continue with HOD!
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bellawith3boys
- Reviewed on Monday, December 24, 2012
- Grades Used: pre-K, K, 1st, 2nd
- Dates used: 2009-2011
We have used Little Hands to Heaven, Little Hearts for His Glory, Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, and Bigger Hearts for His Glory. I love the curriculum. I like the way it is layed out, I like the way Carrie Austin breaks it down. Unfortunately my boys found the history, science, and bible boring. And since we use our own LA and math, there's not much else left.
Specifically, here are some of the things they didn't like. They like to make their own crafts when they find one they like in a book. They don't like to be told which ones to do. The history reading selection in Bigger was boring for my boys and they had a hard time paying attention, let alone narrating. The science was okay and I like the gentle introduction to nature. My kids needed more science. I understand why Carrie wrote such a gentle program, science can be very overwhelming as a homeschool mom, but for this family, we LOVE it. The more science, the better. So that was a real deal breaker.
I liked the pre-K program, Little Hands to Heaven. The only problem with it was the songs, I didn't quite understand all the fingerplay instructions or what tune I was supposed to be singing.
Little Hearts For His Glory was great, but we breezed through it and skipped a lot of it. Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory was my favorite because it was my kid's favorite.
One thing we loved consistently is the reading selection. We love the read alouds and we did the Beginning Readers program in first grade.
I have heard the Preparing Hearts for His Glory is really good, but we are currently using Five in a Row. The kids needed a break from HOD. We have also tried Weaver and Sonlight for short periods of time, but Five in a Row is working really well this year.
I own MFW ECC and we'll begin that once all 3 of my boys are old enough, so we can do it together. We'll be using FIAR until then. Heart of Dakota was a sweet program, but like everything else, not a perfect fit. I made it work for us, until Bigger when we dropped it a few weeks in because of the boredom (my kids, not me).
Hope this helps!
~B
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Jglobal
- Reviewed on Wednesday, June 27, 2012
- Grades Used: K-3rd
- Dates used: 2008-2012
After four years of using HOD we are both just as happy as the first day.
The best parts of it are:
It's all laid out, very little if any teacher prep time...perfect for me b/c I am not great at pulling crafts or science experiments out of thin air.
4 days instead of 5 days starting in 3rd grade
Carefully chosen books that are Christ centered (including science and history)
The history repeats for the first few years so if they don't get it the first time, it comes back around and builds on what they learned the first year
Singapore math, better than I remember learning math and at a quicker pace
Things we tweak:
We skip the devotionals and substitute with Awanas (verses, games) and Bible reading at night
This is the first year we tested and dd scored above average in almost every subject including math, which is her least favorite subject.
I am convinced that HOD keeps her ahead of the game academically and reinforces the godly character that we are trying to instill.
Thank you, Carrie Austin! Hoping that she continues to write great curriculum that will take us through our high school years.
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bostonmom
- Reviewed on Sunday, June 17, 2012
- Grades Used: 7th: Revival to Revolution
- Dates used: 2011-2012
My twins (ds, dd 12, just turned 13) have just completed Revival to Revolution, and I am SO IMPRESSED with the books they've read and all they've learned. I wish I had had this kind of education!!!
After sitting with them to review the year, they remember most of what they've read, loved the readings, and have asked to do HOD next year. I couldn't be more pleased with this program. They have beautiful notebook pages as a keepsake of their work and have clearly learned so much.
The one book they didn't enjoy was the Hebrews study. Easily changed out. Their favorites were the worldview study from Apologia (which we did together--excellent) and the inventor study. The entire science component this year was top notch and they absolutely loved it--very Charlotte Mason in style. I'm so glad I chose it over Apologia, which would have drawn their day out much longer. It was just enough, not overkill, and a solid program.
They also really liked the state study, and the history readings were engaging. Besides the Hebrews study, they never complained about a single book. There are too many read-alouds with this program, so we skipped most of them. We did a few, plus a few of the MFW read alouds instead, which were great.
This program encourages independent learning and was very easy for my kids to follow. It also allowed me more time to work with my younger children. Great, great program!!!
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