This year, I'm not going to mess around when it comes to purchasing what we need. While we have a LOT of places our tax refund needs to go, but I'm making school curriculum a priority. I cannot do another year of stressing every few weeks about if I will have enough to order needed materials. Using Ace gave me the ability to purchase a few units at a time, but it had also limited me on my choices.
I'll be going back to Heart of Dakota. I'll still use Ace for subjects here and there. I can't say anything negative about Ace. I enjoy the peace that Ace brings. School happens on a consistent basis. It's simple to plan. It's Godly. The foundation is incredible. Like I said, I plan to use it for certain subjects.
After homeschooling my step-daughter for a semester, I firmly believe she needs a curriculum that is a little less traditional. She is doing well with Ace. She is getting great grades and does well on her tests. However, she isn't retaining. She's bored with what she is learning in some of her subjects. She spent years being labeled, sent to LD classrooms, and told she isn't as smart as other kids. The reality is she just learns differently. She needs to see it and do it. The projects we did with the Christmas unit study and the Wisdom unit study were amazing for her. I watched a girl that hates school turn into a kid passionate about research.
With the extensions and the advanced options in the science, I believe I can make the level Laura will be at in HOD high school credit worthy for Jasmine. There are lots of posts on their message board on how to advance some of the programs to a high school level.
One of the reasons I didn't use Heart of Dakota this year was the cost for two kids, plus a different program for my high school student. When we first got permission from the court to homeschool her, we were using the services of a credentialed teacher. She recommended Ace, and it has done wonders for a girl that needed to have her confidence in her own abilities increased. Now that the teacher has moved away, and my step-daughter has seen that she can do well, it's time to move to a program that will challenge her, but be gentle at the same time. I need a program that uses more of her senses in the learning process, that hits a topic from more than one angle. I knew from experience that Heart of Dakota does this.
I regret not choosing Heart of Dakota for my younger two daughters this year. Money was SO tight that I just couldn't do it. But this is something I can remedy.
I'll hopefully be ordering in the next few weeks for next year and for the remainder of this one. The cost is going to be high, but worth it totally. Experience has taught me, more than once unfortunately, that I'm just not adept at putting my own stuff together. I stress too much and burn out. I like having things laid out for me, with hands-on projects already broken down and books already planned.
Laura likes Ace. She likes just doing her pages for the day and being done. I admit that Ace has built her Math and English skills immensely! Those are subjects I'm not tossing. I'm also planning to finish the Literature and Creative Writing. But I want books for science and history. I want the Charlotte Mason/unit study approach. I want the in-depth Bible time that Heart of Dakota provides.
Laura does miss Heart of Dakota's science. She misses having weekly experiments. Science is one of her favorite subjects and, when it isn't hands on, she gets bummed.
As for Meg, she is doing great with the program I've been putting together. But... It's become a workbook nightmare. My creative girl is tired of coloring. Her fine motor skills have improved immensely, but she sighs and frowns. Last year she was very active! She was doing finger plays, jumping on letters, building with blocks, and acting out Bible Stories. She begged to do school. Now, she's losing that desire. I won't kill her love of learning!
Even though I've been using a couple of Heart of Dakota's book selections, it's not the same. So... I stopped what we were doing until I get the guide in. In the meantime, we'll continued with her phonics, which she likes, and math. We'll continue to read her Bible stories. I'm going to do a butterfly unit study with her, read a lot to her, and relax.
For Megan, I just plan to do the entire year of HOD, even if it means working through the summer. For Laura, I plan to adjust some of the work so that she is ready to join Jasmine in the fall with Revival to the Revolution.
If there's any lesson in this for me, it's that I now know and am humble enough to admit that I'm not great at my own planning. I've also learned that I need to make curriculum purchasing a priority. I could always make do with only one or two children. Having three full-time students, two of which are in need key of more advanced materials, means making sure I am a good steward of my finances.
I've also learned that this is MY homeschool. I may have to answer to the courts one day, and that fear left me chained to "traditional" materials. However, I don't see the problem any longer. The more I learn about how Jasmine learns, the more know I can defend my choices if I need to.
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