Hi Mary!
I've just had a discussion over lunch with my dh about this very topic, so this is fresh in my mind.
I have the
Beyond,
Bigger, and
Preparing manuals to look through here at home. I have spent many evenings reading through them. I cannot begin to say how much I've learned about how these programs work just by spending the time reading through the manuals. I love and am very excited about the programs we have to look forward to (Bigger and Preparing), and yet I also love very much the program we are still working with right now--Beyond.
I admit myself to waffling back and forth on what to do... what to do...what to do... The Lord sent me to HOD, and I know it has been proven in the change in my child from the time we began the program we're using. It's like a little light went on in his head
and his heart! It's those moments when out of the blue, he starts quoting poetry verses he remembers (from a few months ago), or a he sings a Scripture verse we've learned in the past. Or the impromptu moment we had when he popped a Burger King crown on his head and declared, "I'm King James. I want you to worship at my church--not at the Scrooby Inn!!" (Who knew a Burger King crown would be so useful?
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
)
I have found that you can put together your own program and spend hours upon hours of time gathering materials, making lessons, finding books---or you can sit back and let Carrie do the planning for you. She's got all the bases covered! No stress, no worries! You want a Bible study---it's in there. Poetry study and memorization (if you'd like)---it's in there. A Christian walk through American history---it's in there. Math activities, early grammar exercises, spelling words, art activities, geography lessons, and easy, doable science lessons/experiments---they're all in there! How's that for covering the bases? And you can't beat the price on one of Carrie's manuals. There's just so much thought and work and detail in each of the manuals.
I've told my dh once that it's like asking a friend to make up a program for us for the upcoming school year and make sure she includes everything on my list. The thing is, Carrie
is that friend! She's done all the work for me. All I have to do is gather my materials and put them in the bookcase, then we're off and running. How great is that!!
So there's my $.02. I don't think you can beat HOD, and believe me, I've looked at them all!