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Carrie is a genius

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 5:14 am
by Gwenny
I think most of us know that already, but I just encountered something else. :D I just bumped my struggling reader/writer up to Preparing. I thought he would panic when I would have him read independently the different things Carrie schedules to be independent. We have done the first 3.5 days of unit 1. She is brilliant how well she slowly gets them doing things. Very short short readings and instructions. The science is the most amazing. Just those 2 pages of Once Small Square: Arctic Tundra. I never would've thought to do that, I would think you need to do more and tried to push more or never would've tried to have him do it on his own at all. Having the big pictures he loves and the text is a good size. The day he was to read then orally narrate, he did so amazing. He could basically tell me everything on the pages. He is an embellisher. :) He said, "Now, this is interesting. This caterpillar lives for FIVE years before it turns into a moth. That moth probably only gets to live about a week!" The day with the science questions I was a little skeptical that he would be able to do it. He thought he was going to narrate after reading. When he finished reading he said he didn't think he'd remember anything. Then I pulled out the questions. He was nervous that it involved writing--but was pleasantly surprised that is wasn't a whole bunch and he even got to draw for one of them--his favorite thing to do. He, of course, knew every answer very well without looking at the book.

I have told people before that the guides are so good at working our children toward independence, but I was still surprised at how well Carrie does it!! I wasn't sure how my guy was going to get to be able to do things independently with the struggles he has. She uses such gentle methods, and ones that work to get them going.

How much better for his science for him to be reading just a couple of pages and "chewing" on those than for me to read him a whole bunch from some text just to "get through the material".

I love HOD! :)

Re: Carrie is a genius

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 7:16 am
by lissiejo
I totally agree! Every year as I progress through the HOD guides I am just blown away by the amazingly rich learning experience my kids are getting!

Re: Carrie is a genius

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 7:51 am
by Nealewill
Ditto - these little things are what make me absolutely love HOD. I am so glad that Carrie created this program!

Re: Carrie is a genius

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:12 am
by Gwenny
Thanks for listening to all of my posts! And for encouraging me to move him up to Preparing. He has come alive and loves it so much more. (although he would never admit to liking school!) :)

Re: Carrie is a genius

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 6:28 pm
by marybeth33
And I have to add, that it is so obvious that she is praying for God's guidance as she is writing. Sometimes the way the pieces fit together so beautifully, you couldn't do it if you tried :-) We are on week 7 in CTC. The way the introduction of Israel in the GEOGRAPHY book, blends with the Ancient World book!! I mean, why did Ann Voskamp put Israel second in her book??? I was awed today by God's hand in our curriculum!

Re: Carrie is a genius

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 6:45 pm
by MelInKansas
I'm thankful for people who are smarter than I am and so dedicated, taking the time to pull together all these resources and make them easy to use for me. I was also amazed in Preparing how gentle the build up of skills was. Written narrations were a bugaboo for us, but the way it is ramped up it really works well. The step-by-step directions on how to do it made it work. I love the idea of narration but since I was not schooled that way and am not a teacher, haven't studied these methods thoroughly like Carrie has, I would not have been able to implement those things without the guidance in HOD!

Thanks so much Carrie, Julie, and all the other hardworking folks at HOD!

Re: Carrie is a genius

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:55 pm
by raindrops
Oh! This makes me really excited to start Preparing next week with my son! I was wondering how he would adjust to the extra work, but your post is very reassuring.

Re: Carrie is a genius

Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 2:49 pm
by Carrie
Ah! You ladies KNOW that Gwenny's title for this thread just isn't so! :wink: Still, you warmed my heart today more than you know. :D I am so grateful for all you who uplift us in prayer, as without the Lord there would be no HOD and no guides. Our families pray over the guide, praying for help from the Lord for each part of the process. Julie, and Mike, and I pray over the decisions we make as the guide forms and is edited, praying for the Lord to show us what He desires and for us to be able to work for His glory. You are so right that the connections that take place in each guide often just blow me away, as only God could orchestrate such timing of when things occur in the resources we plan. Thank you all for encouraging us in what we do. :D We hope to be an encouragement to you as well! :D

Thanks so much for sharing! :D

Blessings,
Carrie

Re: Carrie is a genius

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 3:59 pm
by my3sons
So true, Gwenny! I too am so thankful for the independence that HOD has gradually taught my dc! I was worried starting RevtoRev with my 7th grader this year, and I don't know why. I didn't need to be at all! It took about 3 days to be exact for him to settle into RevtoRev, like he was sitting down with an old friend. The previous HOD guides just set him up for success. It gives me passion to work alongside my little 3rd grader doing BHFHG right now! I am so glad your ds is doing so well with PHFHG! He was just ready because of all you've done with the HOD guides previously. I think Carrie is a genius too! But then as her sister I may be biased. :wink: Still, the proof is in the pudding. She just has this planning thing down to a science, and we get to see it played out with our kiddos' happy success each and every day. Thanks for sharing!!! :D :D :D

In Christ
Julie