8th grader behind in English and spelling.

[HopeAnna]

Hello,
We will be starting HOD next school year with my oldest starting as a freshman but he finally seems to have the desire to start working on some of this now versus the beginning of the year when he was confident he knew everything mom was saying he didn't know.

This is our first year homeschooling and I have honestly let spelling fall through the cracks because it has been such a constant battle. He has never been a very good speller and no matter what we do, he still does not retain any of it. He still spells how "haw" and what "wat" or "wate". From what I have read, it doesn't seem as if he will be doing dictation in World Geography and I'm pretty certain he would not be ready for that level even if he was. I've read the other threads on this and haven't seen much for someone at his age level. I will be getting Preparing in the mail soon and was wondering if that would be too low of a level to start him out with the dictation.

I have also ordered R&S level 5 to start using with him as soon as it comes in because it seems as if he missed every single Language Arts class in elementary school to get extra reading time in (he was a struggling reader) and seems to know what a noun is...beyond that he is lost. Part of the reason I haven't dealt with this until now is that he was unwilling to see that he didn't know any of this and he needed to try to do the English we were doing this year and realize he didn't know it on his own. I was willing to let him do that so he would see his need for this information. He finally came to me 2 nights ago and said he needed to learn about adverbs and adjectives and verbs and complete sentences and tense, etc. so he could actually write his stories and things correctly because he doesn't understand anything that is being asked of him.

Does this sound like a good approach?

Detoxing my boys from PS has been a much longer process than I anticipated but we have also made a lot of progress in other areas so I know that he will catch up here as well.

Thank you so much!

Hope

[Carrie]

HopeAnna,

Welcome to the HOD Board, we're glad to have you here! Just for your reference, the reason the post prior to mine was removed is found below (and in the Board Rules in the "Welcome" at the top of the Board).

This is the only "official" Heart of Dakota" board moderated by us. Since this board is sponsored by Heart of Dakota, we ask that you do not post links to other boards, or other products, or promote them. We also ask that you do not reference posts, threads, or articles from other boards or post for the purpose of discussing or promoting a product that is not scheduled within the HOD guides. This board is also not the place to post for the purpose of buying, swapping, or selling items or curriculum or to suggest that our customers shop or look elsewhere.

As far as your questions go, I agree that it would be wise to begin with the dictation passages that are within your Preparing Hearts guide. Begin with the lowest level found in the guide. Make sure you read over the instructions found prior to the first passage so that you see exactly how dictation should be done. This will make a big difference in how successful studied dictation is. I do believe that studied dictation will help your son, however plan to devote a full year to it before analyzing how well it is working. Dictation is a slow burn, but it does really work! So, take heart that if you devote time to it daily you will see results. I would do studied dictation daily with your son, rather than 3 times a week simply due to his struggles.

As far as grammar goes, I think that Level 4 or 5 would work well for him. Typically, we would place a freshman who has had little grammar experience in Level 5, but with his writing and spelling challenges it is probable that Level 4 could be better. You will be able to tell once you get the Level 5 text in hand. If needed, feel free to send it back and exchange it for Level 4. I would also encourage you to do much of his grammar lessons orally with him or on a white board with him, saving one part for him to do on paper.

The next step will be to figure out where he would fit best in HOD overall. How does he do as far as reading and math go? Can you share some titles he has read on his own this past year to give us an idea of his reading level? Has he been reading his own texts in some subject areas this past year, and if so what subjects? As far math goes, how does he do? What is he currently working on? If you get a chance to look over the first page mainly of this placement chart, where would you say he fits best overall? Link: http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Once you get a chance to share more about your son and where you think he fits on the placement chart, we can help you figure out which guide might be a good fit for him. I know we can work together to figure out a placement that will help him gain the skills he needs and help him grow in the Lord too.

Blessings,
Carrie

[HopeAnna]

Carrie,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I apologize for not reading the rules of the board before I first posted but have now done so.

I have ordered R&S level 5 for him, once it arrives I hope to see if it is where he needs to be or not.

He reads very well for his age, especially regarding his spelling level. His independent reading normally revolves around anything WWII as this is a topic that has held his attention for a very long time. This past year he has read "Flyboys" by James Bradley, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles by George E Koskimaki, Days of Infamy by Harry Turtledove, The Kingdom Series and The Knights of Arrethtrae by Chuck Black, Life, Liberty & Resilience by Steffan Tubbs, The Sign of the Beaver* by Elizabeth George Speare, Amos Fortune, Free Man* by Elizabeth Yates, Brady* by Jean Fritz, Across Five Aprils* by Irene Hunt, Bound for Oregon* by Jean Van Leeuwen, All-of-a-Kind Family* by Sydney Taylor (these have been below his grade level but have been a part of the history course we are currently using) and he has started to read Corps Commanders of the Bulge by Harold R Winton. For a boy who once hated to read he is now a voracious reader and can explain to me what he is reading. Narration will be new(ish) for him.

Currently in math we just finished up Zeta from MUS and have just started pre-algebra with Saxon.

For science he is doing the the 8th grade BJU and has been doing this independently. The only text he doesn't read on his own is history and I read that aloud to both him and my 8-year-old son.

Looking at the placement chart given.......He's at the level of of Missions to Modern Marvels except in literature, writing and grammar. That being said....I also think he is capable of doing the World Geography except for literature (just because we have never done it and he was exposed to it in PS), writing and grammar...we are working on those areas now and he has already expressed a desire to work on it through the summer so he feels caught up. As far as his writing...he can write....it just takes a LOT of effort on both of our parts to edit it to something I feel is acceptable but the general framework is there and isn't too far off the mark until he has to add in certain things required in the program we used this year such as -ly words and strong verbs. I think once the mechanics of grammar have been worked out, he'll quickly adapt in the area of writing as well.

I know he will not be overly thrilled having to do ANOTHER round of American History has this would make it 3 years in a row for him. And he will be 15 in April. He was held back in PS in first grade is a year behind his peers.

Thank you so much for your time!

Hope

[Nealewill]

Hope,

Carrie wasn't talking to you about your post being removed. Someone else had replied before Carrie and she deleted that reply because the replier didn't follow the policy of the board . That is what she is talking about.

[HopeAnna]

I had responded to that post though so both of those posts were removed....and I should have read the welcoming post first anyways.

[Carrie]

Hope,

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner! We are traveling right now, so I haven't had a chance to get to the board until now.

Thanks so much for taking time to share more information about your son! It really helps to get a fuller picture of where he is at skill-wise. From what you've shared, I think I would be inclined to place him in either Revival to Revolution or Missions to Modern Marvels. This is because placement in HOD is very skill-based, and correct placement makes a huge difference in how successful a child is in his/her guide.

Writing, grammar, literature, and spelling are a big part of HOD. This is because these skills are wound within all of the subject areas. Since our guides lean heavily in the Charlotte Mason direction in many areas, it helps so much if your child is comfortable with some of these skills gradually before working into the higher level of version of the skills later. We do want to place your son appropriately in writing, grammar, literature, and spelling to make sure that he gains the needed skills he is ready for in these areas.

So, with this in mind, I would encourage you to take a good look at Revival to Revolution and Missions to Modern Marvels to see which would be the best fit in the areas of writing, grammar, literature, and spelling. I would lean toward having your son do Revival to Revolution with Rod and Staff English 5 (as scheduled in Rev2Rev) and Drawn into the Heart of Reading Level 6/7/8 Student Book along with the Level 7/8 Book Pack (and the dictation passages we talked about earlier) along with the Wonderful World of Creative Writing as scheduled in Revival to Revolution as a 9th grader. Your son would also do the Exploration Education Physical Science Advanced Version (which is high school level Physical Science). He would do the inventor study as well. Both are scheduled in Rev2Rev. I think this would be a good fit.

If he did Rev2Rev as a freshman, he would need to add something for government (as he wouldn't get to that in our final two high school guides if he did Rev2Rev as a freshman and MTMM as a sophomore). We used A Noble Experiment for government with our oldest son by Zeezok Publishing. Your son could do this on your his free 5th day each week to earn 1/2 credit it government. If you did decide to go this route, then there is a thread I can link you to that will share with you how to count credit for Rev2Rev for high school. Your son would use Rev2Rev as is, except for adding government (possibly adding foreign language study and beefing up the Bible). Suggestions are given in the Rev2Rev for high school thread, if you do decide to go this route.

The reason I would lean in this direction is that I think it would fit your son's skill level well and still push him in many areas. The grammar will be daily and significant, while the writing will be more than he is used to as we write across the curriculum all throughout the school day. He would do copywork daily as well in a variety of subjects and do written narrations. The literature study through DITHR sounds like it will be a new set of skills too, which would be good. We want to solidify those important skills before jumping up into guides that assume these skills are in place.

The following year he could do MTMM with all of English 6 (as scheduled in MTMM), WWTB II for high school level composition (as scheduled in MTMM), and Drawn into the Heart with either some high school level classics of your own choosing or with a DITHR Book Pack instead. He would also continue with studied dictation. This Bible in MTMM is credit-worthy, and you would add Economics (and possibly Foreign Language). There is a thread that explains how to do this as well for high school, should you decide to go that route. This guide includes Chemistry, which would need some supplementing. However, we give suggestions for how to do this in the thread on using MTMM for high school.

Then, as a junior, he would do the World Geography Guide as written, and as a senior he would do the World History Guide as written.

This overall plan would give him the needed American history, government, economics, geography, and world history credits for high school. It would also give him Physical Science, Chemistry, Integrated Physics and Chemistry, and Biology credits with lab for science. It would give him a credit each year in English. Math would need to be at his level each year to earn a credit each year there. That takes care of your core credits of history, science, English, and Math. Bible would earn a full credit two years (from the World Geography and World History Guides) and a 1/2 credit in MTMM. He'd also earn 1/2 credit in logic, 1/2 credit in World Religion & Cultures, 1/2 credit in health, and 1 full credit in Fine Arts by doing the World Geography and World History Guide. He would gain 1/2 credit in foreign language in the World Geography and 1/2 credit in foreign language in the World History Guide too. I share this so you can gain a picture that it would be possible to follow this plan for high school and still have your son earn the credits he needs for graduation.

If instead, you felt MTMM was a better fit, you could go that route instead for his freshman year. Feel free to pop back and share your thoughts.

Blessings,
Carrie

[HopeAnna]

Carrie,

Thank you so much!!! I love the attitude of my oldest son. We had been talking about do World Geography and when I asked him about doing Rev2Rev, he told me that he trusted me to place him right where he needed to be and he is okay with whatever I have him do next year!

I like the idea of doing Rev2Rev because it does bring us back to where he is with all the rest of the areas and it gives us a bit of a break from another intense year of US history. That does leave me in a pickle as to what to do for English the rest of this year though since I just received R&S 5. I might go ahead and just start and go slowly.

I really, really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions and help me place my son where he needs to be and not just where mom wants him to be.

I would really like that link on how to count Rev2Rev for HS and how to beef up the parts I need to work with.

I appreciate the time you took to answer my questions and help me with this! It certainly makes choosing HOD an even better choice!

Hope

[Carrie]

Hope,

Glad to help! Here is the link I was talking about for Rev2Rev for high school: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8208&p=59681#p59681

As far as Rev2Rev goes, since your son will get to the Fine Arts credit in the World History guide his senior year, you could wait to add anything to the composer study in Rev2Rev (not worrying about gaining credit there unless desired). If you did decide you'd like to award a 1/2 credit in music appreciation for Rev2Rev, you'd need to get to 70 hours there. There will already be around 45-50 hours in the study as scheduled in the guide (depending on how creative your son gets with the composer research sheets.) The post I've linked above does give suggestions for how to add to the study easily if desired for credit.

You could also decide whether you want to add to the Bible credit to gain up to a 1/2 credit there. You'd need 70 hours or so total to earn a 1/2 credit in Bible. You'll already have 35 hours in the Biblical Worldview Study. Again, you wouldn't have to count credit here unless desired (as your son will be gaining Bible credit through MTMM, the World Geography Guide, and the World History Guide the following years).

The two areas I would encourage you to pursue would be adding 1/2 credit in government and possibly starting the foreign language. We use Getting Started With Spanish for foreign language in the World Geography Guide and that would be easy to add (doing a lesson a day 5 days a week throughout Rev2Rev.) It would earn 1/2 credit in Spanish I for your son.

If you have questions as you pursue your options, let us know. Also, if you do end up ordering, you have 30 days to return your unused materials (in new condition) for a full refund or to switch to another level guide instead if you feel that would fit your son better.

Blessings,
Carrie