HOD vs MFW

Just over a year ago, I was trying to decide what to use for my oldest for history, science, and literature.  I had heard about MFW from people, and so I started researching it.  Then I stumbled on HOD.  MFW seemed expensive for what you got for my daughter's age, and so I wasn't sold on it.  And then I learned more about HOD, and decided it fit better what I was looking for.  Recently I wrote up some thoughts I had on these two curriculums, and I thought I would share that, as I know many have contemplated which company to use.

PreK – 1^st Grade

MFW doesn’t have a formal PreK program, although they do have activities and games available.  HOD has a PreK program that can be used for 2-5yos.  I would say it is best for 3-4 yos, but younger could get some things from the non-written part.  5yos most often would need some additional activities, but the Bible portion and devotional are age appropriate for even 5yos.

MFW has a K program that includes math, phonics, and science/Bible.  This program seems to be geared towards young K or even older 4 yos, based mostly on the phonics and math.  Because the lessons are all tied together, if you child is advanced in math or phonics, it can be harder to use MFW K.  Also, there is a decent amount of prep, which some families don’t have the ability to manage. HOD doesn’t have a set K program.  Some kids do LHTH and add in phonics, math, and handwriting from LHFHG (or similar resources). Some are ready for LHFHG at full or half speed.  But, most families find LHFHG better for kids close to or already 6yo. Although the 3Rs can be customized and are written mostly for K levels, the history, Bible, and storytime are geared more towards 6 yos.

MFW also has a 1^st grade curriculum that combines math and phonics, similar to the K program.  But, the phonics can move fast.  So again, this program can be frustrating for families if their kids are not at the same spot in math and phonics.  With HOD, many families do LHFHG for 1^st grade.  Often, families buy the Beyond guide and use that for reading and math, although not all kids are ready for that.  LHFHG as written is often enough for 1^st grade.

2nd – 3^rd grade

Both HOD and MFW plan US history for this age range.  In HOD, students spend two years on US history.  The first year is traditional history, while the second year is biographical.  MFW only has 1 year of US history before starting their history cycle.  Both Beyond (HOD’s 3^rd guide) and MFW Adventures use American Pioneers and Patriots, but they use it in different ways.  Beyond covers less time than Adventures, which can be both positive and negative (some families get bored of pioneers for so long while others don’t care at all).  Beyond has a little younger feel than Adventures I think, but Bigger is definitely more mature than Adventures.

3^rd/4^th-8^th Grade

This is where the two programs take totally different directions in how they are set up.  MFW starts a 5 year cycle of history, starting the geography.  Then there are four years of history. You start the cycle with your oldest with ECC, and once your younger ones have completed 1^st, they jump in where the older ones are.  There is one guide/manual for the whole family, with some extensions and simpler ideas to hit each child.  But, overall, the material is read to all children at the same time.  Some families love the learning together while others think making one spine for history meet all children in a big age range almost impossible.  HOD continues with a guide per year, starting with an overview of World History in Preparing.  Then, there are four guides the focus on shorter periods of time.  The guides are focused on a specific age range, so normally they can be used as written without any modifications at all.  The books are purposefully chosen to be age appropriate, and the skills are built in.  HOD purposefully adds independent activities starting at this level, while MFW doesn’t outside of the 3Rs. By the end of 8^th grade, most of the science and history is done independently with HOD, while most is done as a family still in MFW.

High School

MFW has had high school for a few years, and HOD is still coming out with high school guides (last one should be available for Fall 2016).  The two programs do a have a slightly different plan.  HOD starts with World Geography, then does 1 year of World History and 2 years of US History including economics and government.  MFW starts with Ancient History, then it follows the same sequence as HOD for the last three guides.  I think some of this is because MFW did geography through ECC in the earlier years.  So, having a year of geography again may not be necessary.  But, it would also depend on your state requirements.  Some states do want geography as a credit. Because of the different history plans, the Bible plans are also different. But, the credits in the end seem to be very similar.  MFW does schedule Geometry as the primary math for 9^th, while HOD has Algebra 1.  Personally, I think this is better.  Although MFW does have Algebra 1 in parentheses as an option, I don’t think that the majority of 9^th graders should be expected to be in Geometry.  Geometry should be the “Honors” option, and not the norm.  But, with both programs, customizing the math is not an issue at all.  Similarly, they have a different plan for science.  MFW has the “honors” option as the default while HOD has the “standard” plan for most states as the default.  Again, customizing is no issue, so it just depends on if you want your children to take a more standard but equally challenging math or more of an honors math that may or may not be more challenging in the end. 

Overall Differences

HOD has a daily grid plan while MFW has a weekly grid.  MFW does have directions for most days, but you have to refer to the weekly grid and then find the correct page for the day.  There are pros and cons to both methods.  MFW allows you to copy the weekly grid for each student, and in many ways it makes customization easier.  But, having everything laid out for each day in boxes is often less planning work for moms.  It is more open and go, which is nice.  But, if your child doesn’t fit perfectly within the guide for the 3Rs, you are forced to use the appendix or add sticky notes to “correct” those boxes.  Luckily, in many guides, there are “instructions” for more than one level in each box. This is mostly an issue with math in the early years and sometimes science in the high school years.

HOD tends to also have more reference instructions in the appendix of the guide than MFW does.  This is a benefit if you are entering a program later on.  For example, MFW starts narration and notebooking in Adventures. So, many of the teacher tips are in that guide.  They are also in the later guides, but not in an easy to find spot.  HOD includes instructions for narration in the appendix of many guides, making it easier to find those instructions.  But, if you have done MFW from the beginning (or HOD), then those pieces of information aren’t as important.

HOD also includes specific storytime/read-aloud/living library plans in the guide.  There are normally activities to go along with these.  MFW uses a book basket instead.  There isn’t often much follow-up with the book basket.  This is just a matter of which method you prefer.

Combining with HOD is possible, but not recommend for kids more than 1-2 grade levels apart.  If students are close to the same skill levels, then you place the younger child and beef up if necessary for the older.  But, the extensions for the older child only extend the age range a few years.  The extensions are more than just reading books, as there are instructions for narration as well as science.  But, it is mostly just reading more books at a higher level.  Of course you would always use the appropriate level for math and grammar/writing with both HOD and MFW.

Conclusion 

Overall, I think it comes down to two things when choosing HOD vs MFW in the long run.  First, do you want to learn together as a family for 2^nd-8^th grade?  Second, do you like a daily grid that is more scripted or a weekly grid that is more generic?  I have a feeling the total parent time for both programs will be similar unless you have a very large family with kids close in age.  This is because HOD is so open and go and includes so much independence training early on.  But the way your time is spent will be very different, and that is a personal decision as well.

Beyond Unit 1

We took 9 days to complete Unit 1, which ended up being just over 2 weeks with needing to take a few days off. Here was our normal days:
A Day - Church verse copy work, history reading, rotating box (science, art, or geography), poetry reading/activity, and grammar
B Day - Bible, poetry copy work, spelling, storytime
We did math and reading daily, splitting the math for the day in half. (Although we use Horizons and not Singapore for math.)
On the last day, we did all of Day 5, but we did no grammar (since we are using Rod and Staff 2 and did that 4 days already).
Here are some of our completed work for the week:

Science notebook:

The yellow animal is for Unit 2 (on the other side of the paper)

History notebooking page:

Poetry with painting:

Art (shield to go with Psalm 18:1):

Setting Up Beyond

We just started Heart of Dakota's Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory with our oldest.  We did Little Hearts for His Glory last year, and we have found a huge love for HOD!
I found with LHFHG that there was almost no set up.  I printed off the memory verses, and that was it.  I tried to set up a binder last year, and it just wasn't maintained.  There wasn't enough daily work outside of our workbooks to warrant a binder system.  But, Beyond is different.  If you use Beyond as written, you will have spelling and copywork four days a week and grammar on the fifth day.  So, there is something to file basically every day.  Plus, there are ways to add small amounts of paperwork for history and science.  So, I decided to set up two binders for my daughter this year.
The first binder is for Language Arts.  First, I printed off the poems for the year.  I found these in the Facebook group for Beyond.  This way my daughter doesn't have to find the right poem in the back of the guide, and it is easier for her to use for copywork. I am also typing up the Emerging Reader questions from the Appendix, and printing them as half sheets.  I placed all of these things in sheet protectors.  I added a divider with a pocket to the binder to the current week's work, and then extra sheet protectors in the back for completed work. In the front pocket, I placed some blank sheets of copy paper, enough for a few weeks at least.

The second binder is for history, memory verses, and science.  First, I printed off the history notebooking pages from the Beyond Facebook group.  These definitely aren't necessary, but I thought they would be fun.  I plan on doing most of the writing for my daughter, and we will fill them on on Day 5 of each unit.  I also printed off the memory verses in KJV.  Although we often open the Bible to find these, having them printed off is great for quick reference on Days 2-5 when we practice the verse for the week. All of these I placed in sheet protectors in the binder.  In the front pocket, I placed a composition book for science.  I found science notebooking pages in the FB group as well, but I decided that a composition book would work just as well and be cheaper in the long run.  We will draw a picture at the top and then journal below for each science lesson. In the back pocket, I placed the timeline.  I found the printout in the FB group as well, and printed it on cardstock.  I could have had my daughter make one on Unit 1 Day 4 (as instructed in the guide), but I think the drawing lines, etc would have been hard for her.

All in all, this probably took me less than an hour to put together.  The most time consuming parts were organizing the printed papers and stuffing them in the sheet protectors.  Our printer often sends the printed papers to the floor, so they don't stay in the right order most of the time.