Praise for the WG guide

[LynnH]

I just wanted to post something that I hope is encouraging. I know there is talk about the World Geography guide not being the typical World Geography guide, in that it doesn't just have the students learn the physical geography of countries, that it covers geography more from the historical significance of the countries and how they were discovered and the men who explored them. This week we went to Washington DC and I realized how important much of what he learned is to the scientific/historical world. We saw exhibit after exhibit of things he learned this year and this was in multiple museums. In the Library of Congress there is an entire room about maps and globes and exploration. I have pictures of my son studying displays about Francis Drake and the different types of maps and how difficult it was to draw them. Also displays on Cortes, Pizarro etc. Then we went to the Air and Space Museum and there is a huge exhibit about navigation on sea, air and space. The sea exhibit talked all about trying to find longitude and a clock that would keep time at sea( although we were both disappointed that not much was said about John Harrison's timekeeper). He got to use a real sextant. There was also an exhibit on the Pirates and Blackbeard. He completely understood what went on with the Spanish pirates because of some of the living library books.
At Arlington Cemetery we saw Robert Peary's grave along with Henson's who was his servant that was with him. Our guide was very impressed that my son had even heard of Henson. My son was interested in all of these exhibits because it was "real" to him. Because of the living book approach he "knew" the people that the exhibits were talking about.

We didn't see a single exhibit that just showed the boundaries of countries. I realized that's because those boundaries will continue to change, they sure have since I was my son's age. However the fortitude of those men who discovered and explored those countries is a life lesson I hope he never forgets. He also is well aware of where greed took over in those men's lives and I hope he remembers that as well. It really gave me a different perspective on this past year as I watched him totally fascinated with the exhibits which was in stark contrast to students that were there on junior high trips and were only concerned with taking selfies in front of the exhibits.

We also saw many things that related to other HOD years. He wanted to see Amelia Earhart's plane and as he looked at it he said "wow". He was interested in Edison's notebooks and I pointed out the details of Edison's drawings and how they looked like the notebooking he does for HOD. He also wanted to go see the DaVinci painting and the Monet's in the National Art Museum. He knew so many of the artists whose works are displayed there. He also was very moved by many of the memorial's, again because Lincoln is very real to him and the World Wars have more meaning to him than just facts from a textbook. My son is not one that does great on standardized tests, but it's in places like Washington DC that I truly saw how much he has learned.

[annaz]

This is an inspiring thread, since it shows how much your son learned and that he could apply and understand it elsewhere, and what happens when Mom isn't hands off.

Awesome!

[Lynn3ggb]

Thank you so much for posting this. I come here almost daily to see if anyone has posted anything on the highschool guides to see if I can gain insight and be more prepared for the years we have ahead. My girls will be using the WG guide this upcoming year. I think no matter how much you research a curriculum, it is impossible to know how it will work for your family until you dig in and start using it. The temptation to compare is larger than life it seems. It is easy to get these dreamy, sort of romatic notions about homeschooling when reading a catalog or browsing online. The picture we form in our head can be starkly different that the actual results we experience not matter which program we decided to go with.

There is no doubt that what drew me to HOD in the beginning was the cozy look of the catalog and the story-like descriptions of each guide. It was easy to form a homeschool version of eutopia in my mind. I learned quickly, after my son began working through CTC, that the asthetic quality of the guide in no way predicted what the actual year of learning would look like in "our" home. HOD didn't produce the picture perfect year of schooling I so hoped it would, but what it did do was to make my son ENJOY learning. It improved his reading skills immensely and by the end of the year he was getting up in the morning, opening his guide and working through his day with very little help from me. It wasn't my goal to teach him to work so independantly, it just...happened. Because of this, like you, I know the value of using this method even though is looks different that the more traditional programs.

I wish there were more posts about the experiences families have had with the highschool guides since this is the season our famlily is entering. Your post has been a tremendous encouragement to me and has reminded me not to second guess myself. I am sure it will be a blessing to others as well as we pray for guidance in choosing curriculum.

[twolittlebears]

Thank you so much for sharing this! My boys are just entering 2 & 4th, and it's really hard for me to get a layout or idea of where we are going. Being a planner, I like to see the whole picture, but it's so hard with homeschooling if you're not writing your own curriculum (IMHO). Your post has given me a beautiful key to the map! I hope that you share more as the year progresses, and that other moms do too that have DC in the older guides. I'm so excited about what awesome connections your son has made, what a special time for you both....that's where I want the path I'm on with my boys to lead! It's confirmation that HOD is the right curriculum for our family. Thank you again for sharing!! Love, love it!

[LynnH]

For those new to HOD the weekly check in board is a good place to find posts and blogs of what the weeks look like in different guides. I have been blogging our weeks for several years, since at least CTC, and you can find the link to my blog in my signature. You can go back several years on the weekly check in board also and look for my3sons( Julie's posts) and she has covered all the guides at one point or another.

[Carrie]

Lynn,

Thanks so much for sharing about your trip and the connections to the World Geography Guide. What a blessing doing high school with the HOD guides has been to our family as well.

For the other board readers, here's a link to the board Lynn mentioned: viewforum.php?f=14

Blessings,
Carrie

[lmercon]

I love this! These are the things that I see with my kids as well. I have friends who use different programs and are doing more and more co-op high school courses. The constant buzz is about rigorous coursework, grades, dual-credit, college placement...blah, blah, blah. None of that sparks my interest at all! I want my children to learn and appreciate the world around them. I want depth to their understanding - wisdom. I taught ps for eight years. Tests and grades don't impress me. I saw children do well on tests and then not have a clue about the concepts just a few weeks later. I care nothing for how well my kids can cram into their short-term memories and spit back out to me. That is NOT learning. HOD creates real and meaningful learning. And when you have that, the college requirements and skill sets needed fall into place.