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From Heart of Dakota to SCM?
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Next year will be our 6th year of homeschooling. For the first 4 we used Sonlight, and switched to Heart of Dakota last year. I really preferred the “heart” of HoD and found the book choices gentler and more age-appropriate for our oldest two (10 and 8). There was so much to appreciate about the curriculum. However, I really missed having them in the same history and Bible. I felt they got more out of what they were learning when we could discuss it together, and were generally more engaged. I was also tearing my hair out some days to keep up with two completely separate tracks, and felt that they were getting shorted as a result (esp. with a very busy preschooler to keep tabs on as well. He’ll be a kindergartner this next year.)
The combination of possibly very tight finances going into this next school year (due to a job loss) and the combined subjects, plus a desire to stay in the Charlotte Mason camp, has led me to look at SCM very closely recently!
I would be so grateful for feedback from any others who have made the jump from Heart of Dakota or Sonlight to SCM!
Thinking of going with the Middle Ages+ guide since DS just finished Creation to Christ and DD just finished Bigger Hearts (U.S. history). It would be going a bit backward for her but seems as close to the history progression for him as possible since he has just come through studying ancient Greece and Rome. (They both went through Hillyer’s history of the world with Sonlight Cores B&C previously.) Does this sound like a good jumping off point?
Any thoughts would be so welcome!
– Claire
My sister is looking deeply into HoD and though I love the book choices, I just can’t imagine doing 2 separate studies. I love doing everything I can all together.
We usually make our own plan, but I followed SCM one year and LOVED it. It was so simple! The books were great and it was just a great year. Go for it!!
Thanks MissusLeata! That is encouraging. For your sister’s sake, we really did like HoD; it’s a very rich curriculum content-wise. The book choices are terrific. Know it’s more Charlotte Mason inspired than purely CM, but a lot of the CM elements are there.
Your own plan sounds interesting! Maybe I will get there one of these days. It’s really good to know that you liked your SCM year, though.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>We have used the SCM history guides almost 100% as written for 6 years and have enjoyed every year. I agree, jump in and enjoy the time learning together and the SCM books are fantastic! We are revisiting Ren and Ref this year and I am really excited to reread some of the books as well as new books as each time through someone is in a new grade/level.</p>
Hi Claire!
I started our home education (formal…they always learn don’t they) with MFW, switched to HOD for Bigger and then Preparing and then played around a bit before settling with SCM for my backbone. I don’t do it exactly as written because there are other books I own or books I REALLY want the kids to read but the history/geo/Bible guide is my framework to work from. I think starting in the Middle Ages Guide is a brilliant plan. Your younger student will come around to Ancients eventually. That’s the think with the family plan. None of your children will ever start at the same place as the other children. I would use the family books and then read aloud the grades 4-6 to both children unless your can swing some extra $$ then I would have my 10 yr old read the grades 4-6 independently and grab some of the grades 1-3 books for the 8 yr old. You’ll be surprised at what the 8 yr old can grasp from the older books. SCM book choices are pure enough that I would be comfortable with my 8 yr old hearing the grade 4-6 book selections.
While I appreciated the “heart” of HOD, I didn’t like hand holding in every.single.area of our education. I wanted the kids and I to have more freedom and I wanted our home to be more CM than what HOD is. SCM has fit that bill for us.
I used HOD for 4 years. Trying to juggle multiple guides had be burnt out by the time my oldest got to Preparing and we had lost our love of learning. I started looking into SCM and decided to make the jump mid-year. The change has been the biggest blessing to our family! I love the flexibility of the SCM guides! I never realized how much the HOD guides made me feel trapped into their schedule. SCM is not like that at all. I also love that all my kids are studying the same history, geography, Bible, art, composer, poetry and read aloud literature! It makes us more connected during the school day and keeps me sane! I do still use the HOD Drawn Into the Heart of Reading book packs for assigned independent reading. I don’t do the actual program, just buy the packs of leveled books because they have all been wonderful and it is one less thing for me to research and plan. My kids simply read a couple chapters in their book each afternoon and narrate them (my oldest does written narration from his “reading” novel once a week.) Hope this helps!
Ahhhh…. (Can you hear my sigh of relief?) Thank you Amanda. That is EXACTLY what I am looking for. Hearing it from you and others is a big, big help! I do like the idea of using the book packs (or getting whatever books the library has from the packs). Will definitely keep that in mind as we get down to specifics for next year.
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