Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

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MamaMary
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Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by MamaMary » Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:34 pm

I always feel encouraged after we share these:

Carrie, I just love the tip you gave us last year about not lingering too long from box to box. Just do it and keep moving..., Momentum!

Though I love that you can pick up your teachers manuel and GO, I personally do better when I look a week ahead. For instance, I was caught off guard that I needed corn syrup for the clam project in Beyond. Not a big deal, but I could have been prepared had I looked ahead.

Something I've not shared before is that it helps me greatly if I look ahead and figure out what I want each boy to take away. Because we combine I have a bigger age range than what's recommended. I need to beef it up for the olders and not strive so hard for the younger. For instance, next week we will be talking about the 7 continents. I am only introducing this to my 6 year old, but I want my 8 & 12 year old to master that information. I didn't realize how much it was slowing me down trying to figure it out while immersed in the lesson. Knowing ahead of time what my expectations are and that they're different helps me to keep plugging along.

Ok, what are YOUR tips?
Mary, Mama to 4 amazing sons and wife to one incredible husband! Come check us out on the blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MamaMary/

Tiffini
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by Tiffini » Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:16 pm

I'm with you, Mary! I read over the upcoming week in the manual on Friday or over the weekend. It is not necessary for sure if I don't have time - but I love to think ahead about what we will be talking about so that I am ready for those teachable moments. In truth, I really do enjoy reading the books ahead and make myself wait until that week before to read them so I can look forward to it. It also helps my very non-artful mind to read over the art project ahead of time so I can make sure I know how to do it when the day arrives! :oops: I also pull out the copies of the memory verses and the poems that I made before the year started and have those ready. That's about it - the rest of HOD flows so easily that there isn't a whole lot to do!
Tiffini
DD (21 ) Graduated! Used HOD from 5th Grade through 12th Grade!
B/G Twins (18) Graduated! Used HOD from 3rd through 12th Grade!
DS (12) and DS (10)- Preparing Hearts
HOD Users since 2008

funkmomma71
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by funkmomma71 » Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:15 pm

I'm with you ladies, I like to look over the next week's activites so that I can get a handle on what to expect and make sure I have everything I need or substitutes. At first I would make a point of going out and buying whatever I was missing, now I just scrounge up substitutes, but I still like being prepared. Lately it has been dificult to find the time to look ahead and prepare and that week's unit was very RICH in activities and I was not prepared, we skipped most of the activities, but the following was a really busy week so we did the fun stuff from the week before, reviewed Bible verses and read more about the history covered in that unit. So it actually worked out very well. It showed me, once again, that God was in charge and knew just our family needed before I did. :D So now, if I don't get a chance to prepare ahead of time I don't sweat it.

Nancy
Nancy
Mommy and teacher to
Dd 12 and DS 8
Doing MTMM & Preparing 2016-2017

MamaMary
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by MamaMary » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:12 pm

Today, I was talking with my fellow real life HODDIE friend. She also agreed that it just goes better when you plan ahead. She's getting ready to have her baby anyday, but said going back to her blog and looking at all her HOD pictures brought a HUGE smile to her face.
Mary, Mama to 4 amazing sons and wife to one incredible husband! Come check us out on the blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MamaMary/

water2wine
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by water2wine » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:34 pm

My biggest tip is to pray before you start your day that God will show you what He has for you and help you to love your children as He does. No preparation. That just ruins the excitement for me. I like to be surprised and I like to push HOD to that limit. How unprepared can you be and still have a blessed day. :lol: I love that I can fly by the seat of my pants and yet I still land on success each day. But preparation in prayer is one that God will reward every time and that prayer is one that God will just overwhelm you with blessings on day after day. Also I would say do not be afraid to discuss things deeper than what is there and allow God's Spirit to lead you to customize it for your family. Carie has such wonderful prompts for conversations with your children about God and who He is and what He made them to be, take advantage of it. Maybe not what you are after :lol: but just what comes to mind for me. :D
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13
~Six lovies from God~4 by blessing of adoption
-MTMM (HS), Rev to Rev, CTC, DITHR
We LOVED LHFHG/Beyond/Bigger/Preparing/CTC/RTR/Rev to Rev (HS)

Carrie
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by Carrie » Tue Mar 03, 2009 2:17 pm

What wonderful tips! :D I'm an open the guide and go type of gal, so I'm one who doesn't look ahead. :wink:

My tip would be to schedule things that you are othewise prone to skip at a time of day that is at your prime teaching time. So, if I'm prone to skip DITHR, I'll schedule it around 10 A.M. when I'm wide awake but not yet worn out for the day. :wink: I do this for my kiddos too, making sure to schedule their "tough" subjects at an optimum time for that child. This varies from child to child depending on whether he/she is a morning person or not. :lol:

My other tip is that I do encourage my kiddos to start reading from their teacher's guides from a young age. It helps them learn to read directions, get their supplies and needed books out, and be all ready for me when I get to them! :D It also helps later when they have boxes in the plans to do independently. :wink:

Blessings,
Carrie

Kathleen
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by Kathleen » Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:27 pm

One of the tips that I got here on the board was to try to alternate "inspirational" subjects (like history, poetry, music, storytime...) with "disciplinary" subjects where there's one right answer (like math, English, vocabulary, handwriting). The advice is that this gives a better flow to the day, and while I haven't changed up our day a lot, I am keeping it in mind and am finding that it's easier for my ds to focus if he doesn't have all the disciplinary things in a row.

I'm enjoying reading the ansewrs here. (I have to say that I'm with w2w and Carrie here and am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants gal with school. And it's working beautifully!! :lol: )

:D Kathleen
Homeschooling mom to 6:
Grant - 19 Kansas State University
Allison - 15 World Geography
Garret - 13 Res2Ref
Asa - 8 Bigger
Quinn - 7 Bigger

Halle - 4 LHTH

lmercon
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by lmercon » Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:33 pm

But Carrie, if I let my ds read the teacher's guide the gig will be up. No longer will I be this fun, creative, lesson-planning genius that I'm SURE he thinks I am now! A great magician never reveals her tricks!
lol,
Laura
Wife to a great guy and mommy to:
Ds(15) - using WG and loving it!
Dd(11) - using Res.to Ref and having a blast!
Ds (3) - our joy!
Two little ones in the arms of Jesus - I can't wait to hold you in Heaven!

water2wine
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by water2wine » Wed Mar 04, 2009 1:53 am

I completely agree with Carrie. We try to get the things we often miss done first. We do our extra Bible reading this way for that very reason. Another thing is to have to have it done before lunch. We do that with Spanish. No hablas en espnaol no comida en su barriga , or however it goes. :lol: Another thing I do sometimes if I really am prone to skipping it is I write in another box into HOD on the days we do the extra thing. Then it feels like Carrie telling me to do it rather than something extra. I know it sounds silly but it is a good mind trick to just make it part of the HOD program by writing it in. :D
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13
~Six lovies from God~4 by blessing of adoption
-MTMM (HS), Rev to Rev, CTC, DITHR
We LOVED LHFHG/Beyond/Bigger/Preparing/CTC/RTR/Rev to Rev (HS)

MamaMary
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by MamaMary » Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:32 am

lmercon wrote:But Carrie, if I let my ds read the teacher's guide the gig will be up. No longer will I be this fun, creative, lesson-planning genius that I'm SURE he thinks I am now! A great magician never reveals her tricks!
lol,
Laura
ROFLOL!!!! Yes Carrie, we can no longer take the credit for being incredibly creative :lol: :wink: :lol: :lol:
Mary, Mama to 4 amazing sons and wife to one incredible husband! Come check us out on the blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MamaMary/

Vicki
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by Vicki » Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:51 am

I don't know if this counts, but something I just started the other day was to get the Beyond manual out and look at each day's lesson. I get a scrap piece of paper and write the unit # and Day #, then I write down what are the items we will cover that I want to focus on. I jot down ideas I have to explore. For example, Unit 14, Day 4, I have found a print-out of the digestive system from the Hall of Health website. It is a simple diagram, with a bit of detail at the side of the picture. We'll color that in, do the science experiment that goes along with it, and it goes in his notebook.

I like to have these things jotted down, so that I can look at the weeks ahead to know what I might want to explore deeper, or what supplies I might need. This has truly been a help to me.

Another thing I do is to have all my Bible coloring sheets ready for in the morning to go along with the story. If I was really organized, I'd have a copy of the poem for each week already, but I'm not there yet. :oops:
Moving along at our own pace, and very happy with it!

joyfulheart
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by joyfulheart » Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:21 am

My biggest thing that we do is his hardest subjects FIRST. For him, that is Language arts, then math. IF he knows that the other subjects are coming, he has a good attitude and does his work. If we do the others first, he pouts, he stalls, he tries everything he can to get out of doing the work. It took me about 3 weeks to figure this out (yes, I'm slow, LOL) but once we did the switch, things are so smooth!

Tiffini
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by Tiffini » Wed Mar 04, 2009 2:44 pm

I love how different everyone is! :D I really like reading ahead rather than totally flying by the seat of my pants. It helps me to be a little prepared for questions that I know the readings will bring up. It also helps me when I read it the second time with the kids to actually remember what we are reading. I have a horrible memory and I hate that! Is that getting worse for everyone with age?? Or is it just me?? :oops:

I do the left side of my Bigger plans first since I keep everyone together for that portion. We start at 9:00 together with Bible. However, the kids usually start some independent work before then and usually have math and/or R&S done before 9:00. We do our read-aloud at lunch time. In fact, I don't think the kids could actually eat food at lunchtime unless there was a story being read! It is their favorite time of the day. After lunch, we split up for their individual work.

I have thought in the past that it would be fun to have them do their individual work first and then come together for the fun stuff we do together as others have mentioned. That would be more motivation for them to get through the tough stuff. But, then, they would not all be ready at the same time. As it is, I keep them together first and then they are free to work at their own pace for the rest of their work. I have a whiteboard down at their level on the wall and it has all that they need to do daily written on it with abbreviations. CH = chores, M = Math, SP = spelling, etc. They mark it off as they go and then I can keep tabs on where everyone is.

I'm thinking this will all change significantly when we do Preparing next year as they will need to be sharing the books for their independent boxes. This could involve some more scheduling on more part. Right now, I don't schedule them, but allow them to decide the order to do their subjects that are on the whiteboard - that way they have practice at ordering their own time, figuring out the best way to get it done, work on motivation issues, etc. I'm really kind of stumped on how to make that work with Preparing since they may all want the science book at the same time - if I don't schedule them, I may be dealing with issues over who gets the book first all the time!

Also, for those doing Preparing, did you pre-read the books or just read them as you go with the kids? I always read the Extension books first since I can't stand missing out on those. The older they get, the harder it will be for me not to share all the books with them and let them read on their own. I know it's necessary for their independence, but I feel left out! :(
Tiffini
DD (21 ) Graduated! Used HOD from 5th Grade through 12th Grade!
B/G Twins (18) Graduated! Used HOD from 3rd through 12th Grade!
DS (12) and DS (10)- Preparing Hearts
HOD Users since 2008

Carrie
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Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by Carrie » Thu Mar 05, 2009 3:45 pm

Laura,

That's so funny! My kiddos think the guide has all of the fun ideas. My little ones don't really even know I wrote them! :D

Blessings,
Carrie

annaz

Re: Can We Share Our HOD Tips Again?! (Big Smile)

Post by annaz » Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:12 am

Carrie wrote:Laura,

That's so funny! My kiddos think the guide has all of the fun ideas. My little ones don't really even know I wrote them! :D

Blessings,
Carrie
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh how funny!

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