New to HOD

[deb]

I will soon be starting CTC with my 13 1/2 year old son. We will start at about week 12-14 because we are changing from a different curriculum where we have been studying ancient history. My son has some learning delays, and I believe this guide will be a great fit for him. We will do it without extensions. We have never done narration or dictation or any other CM methods. Does anyone have any ideas about how to slowly build those skills at this age and when starting in the middle of a guide? I want the remainder of CTC to be a time focused on building those skills so that he will be successful with the remaining guides. I believe that the CM methods will help him overcome some of the learning difficulties that he has.

[psreit]

Welcome to HOD! It sounds like you have chosen the guide you feel will fit your ds's needs. I can't be of much help with your question on narration and dictation. My dd has dyslexia and some other learning challenges, so those are areas we are trying to build while doing Preparing. I was just thinking that if your reason for starting partway through the guide is only because of the history, I think you would be missing so much in other areas if you do that. Like the Bible, language, and science. If you feel he doesn't need all the history in the early part of the guide, could you just have him read, or you read, if need be, some other books for history, and just have him retell what was read. That would actually be a gentle way for him to start building on narration. Then you could use the rest of the guide as is from the beginning. That's just my idea, so you could enjoy working through the complete guide, just adjusting the history until you get to where you let off in the your previous curriculum and then pick up the history in the guide. The whole guide just ties together, so you would miss a big piece to the puzzle. That's just my opinion. Maybe someone else will have other thoughts.

[my3sons]

I was also going to mention that there are great 'helps' at the start of CTC for written narrations, as well as oral narrations. The guidance lessens as the students move further into the guide. I would start at the beginning as many skills are taught in a more introductory manner at the onset of the guide. The Appendix also has wonderful tips for helping dc with oral narrations and written narrations. I think you and your ds will thoroughly enjoy CTC! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie