2 boys Placement Question

[robsiew]

My two youngest boys are both in Preparing this year. It is our first year with HOD and we just love it!! I want to continue at least until HS, but have a question about placement for these two. My youngest is not an issue. He is 9 this year and I think Preparing is an excellent place for him and he'll just continue on in the series.

I'm wondering about my 11 y/o though. (He's 11 in a few weeks). I placed them together this year for a few reasons. One, to get used to HOD doing one guide seemed like a good idea. Two, I wanted both to have an overview of world history. Three, my 11 y/o is developmentally about where his younger brother is for writing/work load so I didn't want to overload him. He is doing the History expansion reading (he's an excellent reader) on his own to beef up the reading portion a bit. He's coming along in writing, but still behind where I would expect an "average" 11 y/o to be.

So, my issue is I will need to skip one guide with my 11 y/0. He's in 5th grade this year, completing Preparing. I'm thinking next year of splitting up the two boys. Seems like a good point to do that when the 11 y/o will be entering "middle school" age. This will start the process of the two of them not doing the same work. I also think I'll better be able to handle 2 guides after my experience this year. My initial thought is to skip Creation to Christ (we've done a ton of Bible history) with him and put him in Resurrection to Reformation next year. (My 9 y/o would go onto Creation to Christ). Do you think that will be too big of a jump for him? I'm not sure the expectations of each guide and how they progress. He is very independent in most of his work, so the independence issue isn't too much of a deal breaker. His reading level is above grade level so he shouldn't have much trouble with that. Although, he does have some trouble reading for information and being able to retell to me what he learned from his reading. We are practicing that this year though.

Any input you can give me would be great! Maybe someone else sees something I am overlooking...

Robyn
HSing mom to 4
currently teaching Preparing to 9 and 11 y/o

[Rice]

My 2 cents is to follow along with the next guide unless there are definite problems with them being together. History is not how you choose the guide to use - it's ability, so if Preparing is a perfect fit this year then skipping CTC to move on to RTR would be a huge jump. You will have to decide eventually which guide your DS won't do, but that might be the last one. HOD is advanced enough that if he doesn't complete the last guide he'll still have 12th Grade.

I am in a similar position. I put my 12 yo in CTC this year for 7th and had to move him down to Preparing - I think this will mean he will leave 3 guides unfinished! But, not only will he get a better education than if in PS, where he would be passed on whether he grasped anything or not, he will also be learning what he is taught because it will be at his level as he grows through the guides. I will worry about which of the upper guides he will miss when we get to Grade 10-12 (and plan to substitute in some higher English and Science as we move into those upper years).

FWIW, I also have a 9yo who stayed in CTC and is thriving! At this rate he'll finish HOD in Grade 11 and I'll have an extra year for him to figure out what to do. (additional Gr.12 curriculum, work, college???) Both situations have their challenges and both are right for the boy who's doing it!

HTH!

Blessings,

[Jennymommy]

Robyn, in my experience, it is quite a jump in written work from PH to RtR. If you continue the curriculum in order, he would be better prepared for highschool level work without frustration. Of course, by the end of this year he may have gained much in that area. The concern I would have is that he will need strong writing and essay skills for upper guides. I have seen that many people use MTMM for 9th grade, and having done that guide with extensions for one ds, I would definitely consider it to be highschool worthy. If you did that, there are several good discussions on the board on how to beef it up for hs credit. In that case, perhaps younger dc would simply do MTMM, while older ds would do MTMM with extensions and extra science, and possibly foreign language. I'm sure there are many options though, and the helpful follks at HOD are probably best qualified to get you set up

[StephanieU]

I agree that proper placement is the key. I would not split them unless you can honestly say your older one is ready according to the placement chart and from what you see to skip a guide.

[Nealewill]

I would also recommend checking the placement chart as well.

But I do have question for you. What if you put him in CTC now rather than waiting for next year? My dd is doing CTC this year and it is great. I found Preparing also had a lot of Old Testament bible in it. I am find personally that my biggest jump for my oldest dd from Preparing to CTC is the reading, not so much the writing. I think the following year there is a bigger jump in writing than any other skill (JMHO). So what if you bumped the 11 year old up to CTC for this year for this year. You could always skip the story time if you wanted to for this year and just let him continue to listen to the little brother's if you wanted. This would help you not have to read so many books. And then in the fall, you could check the placement chart again. If you felt like your oldest placed in R2R at that point, then you could stop doing CTC and move to R2R. The youngest would then move to CTC for the beginning of the year and your oldest would be a guide ahead still.

It sounds like your son is reading a more similar volume to CTC anyway. I think the science reading was just more challenging in CTC than in Preparing. And having him do the science in CTC, it might be more interesting for him. Just a thought.

[robsiew]

Thank you Ladies for your input! I'm so glad I asked! I think the idea to move him up this year is a good one, but we cannot afford a whole other curriculum at this point so I'm going to have to leave him in Preparing for the year.

After reading your responses I decided to ask my ds11 what he thought of his work load this year. I gave him 3 choices... too easy, too hard, just right. He told me he thought the work load was just right.

So, I think that confirms what you all are saying that I should just keep him with his younger brother. It would be easier for me... I just thought this would be a good year to separate them and help the older one to feel "older".

I will reassess his ability at the end of the year, but likely I will just keep them in the same book. Cheaper too since I wouldn't have to purchase 2 sets of curriculum next year.

Thanks for your input everyone! I appreciate you taking the time to help me!

Robyn

[Rice]

One other idea is that, if you think things are just right for difficulty but he starts finishing early (ie the work load is possibly somewhat easy, or should I say, short, even though the difficulty is right) is to add the Extensions for the older one. That gives just one more assignment (reading plus written, oral or notebooking response) each day. But you might want to wait and see if he needs that challenge or not, first.

Blessings,

[robsiew]

One other idea is that, if you think things are just right for difficulty but he starts finishing early (ie the work load is possibly somewhat easy, or should I say, short, even though the difficulty is right) is to add the Extensions for the older one. That gives just one more assignment (reading plus written, oral or notebooking response) each day. But you might want to wait and see if he needs that challenge or not, first.

Blessings,

Good idea! He is doing the history extension in Preparing this year so it would make sense to continue that seeing as he's on the older end of the age spectrum.

[my3sons]

It looks like you have come to a good conclusion here with these wise and gracious ladies' help! It sounds like things are going well for both, and your ds doesn't seem to be wanting more right now, nor needing the increased writing the next program up would bring. Each year is a good idea to ponder placement, but in general, if a good a student is doing is a good fit now, next year's guide will more than likely be a good fit too, and will also help keep the skills he is learning moving incrementally from teacher-directed, to semi-independent, to independent (which usually helps the 'independent' stage to be most successful). I'll just mention that when your ds is going to begin 9th grade, that for sure will be a good time to reassess placement, but should he continue with doing a guide a year at this pace, he'd be find credit-wise just by not completing the last guide. HTH, and enjoy PHFHG! It is a terrific guide! Oh, and CTC - I doubt it'll be a repeat of what has been done before with Bible history! It is an incredible way to teach the ancients that I've not seen anything else out there that touches it. I think you'll be learning as much as your kiddos - or at least that was my happy experience!

In Christ,
Julie