heartofdakota.com

After having graduated nearly four students, this year I switched from eclectic homeschooler to HOD for my youngest three, who are adopted. I am just finishing Bigger Hearts, and had told my family that we were committed through high school. I am also on the board of our homeschool support group, and often recommend HOD to younger moms.

However, today I encountered a troubling lesson. The Unit 29 Day 1 lesson had us reading about granny and the hobgoblin in Pioneer Sampler, which caught me off guard. We do not wish to expose our children to favorable talk of ghosts and witches, and I am wondering if this type of conversation/lesson occurs anywhere else in the curriculum, throughout all grade levels.

Thanks for your insight!

Laura

To me, hobgoblin in this context isn't really any different from Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy. We have made it very clear to our kids at a young age that many people allow their kids to believe in these things, but they are not real. They are not to tell others they are not real, as that is each family's job. But they are no different than other characters in stories - like Larry the Cucumber or Winnie the Pooh. They aren't real but some times it is fun to tell fantasy stories.

It's been a while, but if I remember correctly, Granny was sharing about her past, giving a glimpse into her culture & traditions. We discussed it, and talked about things that are real and true in light of God's word. This is not something promoted in HOD, you have no worries. Heart of Dakota is very good about choosing materials that are Christ-centered, and God honoring. I consider myself to be pretty conservative, and I've not had any problems with the books/materials used in any of the guides from LHTH all the way up to the US1 guide so far.

I believe it is talking about their culture and what they believed. In HOD, they do bring to light what others do believe in other levels but it is always an opportunity to compare it to the Bible. For example, in Preparing, they have lesson on what Muslims believe. That is in the book a Child's History of the World. Then, in the guide, Carries compares that to what scripture says. So you talk about why we believe what we believe. I am sure that in CtC and RtR they do talk about what other people used to think. It isn't to promote witches and witch craft but it is what they thought. Everything in HOD is compared with scripture. So why they do learn about other people's traditions and things that they believed, HOD is not promoting that these things are what we believed. It is just more of a study of history. I hope that makes sense.

This is definitely not something the books in HOD promote. We didn't do that guide and I can't think of anything where there were witches etc. In fact Carrie avoids things like Greek Mythology as much as possible and there is no official study of Greek Myths. They are mentioned some in Preparing, but as others have said she then has them compare that to what scripture says. Carrie also gives lots of warnings in the guide if there is anything in the reading that some families might want to skip.

Exactly what Lynn H said. We just found these very rare occurrences as a great scriptural opportunity to discuss it, as in life these things will come up and best they come up at home with Mom.

StephanieU wrote:But they are no different than other characters in stories - like Larry the Cucumber or Winnie the Pooh. They aren't real but some times it is fun to tell fantasy stories.

This is a bit off topic but..... You guys need to check out this, http://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Story-Insp ... 0805097155 Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. Also there are these titles; The Real Winnie: A one of a Kind Bear & Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear. A soldier at the time of World War I saw a bear cub for sale at a train stop and he bought it. He eventually placed it in a zoo, where a little boy, Christopher Robin would come to play with it.! It is such a neat little story. One of the books includes actual photos of the soldier and the bear cub.
Not sure it was ok to post the link... SORRY if I did wrong there!