Placement help, please. :)

[mward9702]

Hi Ladies, I am seeking wisdom and guidance with our situation. My daughter is about to turn 8 next week and is finishing Bigger this week. She has always gone along with big brother who is turning 10 next month and it has gone pretty well with some modifications here and there. My son loves history and my daughter loves listening to story times and does a great job at narrating. My concern is starting her in Preparing since she is doing well with copywork but spelling is not her strong point. I think she would be fine starting simple dictation. She is good at cursive and writing but doesn't enjoy lengthy writing sessions, which I try to tailor to her ability. She is reading independently and ready for DITHOR but still needs my full guidance. I am praying about letting my son go on in to Preparing and possibly doing something else with her, but am seeking wisdom and guidance if others have reached a similar pivot point in their home school life. They have enjoyed doing school together up to this point so I am not sure how all of us will adjust with a change such as doing different books. Another option is studying Texas History and nature study until the end of May then picking up in Preparing for the next school year.

Organization is not my strong point especially with my sweet 5 1/2 year old and 3 year old who need love, guidance, and attention. My 5 year old finished little hands in December and I am probably going to try Little Hearts for 1st grade or just read history/science picture books along with her 3 R's. Thanks for your time and wisdom. I may need help thinking out of the box, as well. I am very thankful for homeschooling.

Melissa

[Jennymommy]

Melissa, I had two sons combined through CTC. At that point, it became obvious that older ds was being held back and really needed more challenge. We ended up skipping up to MTMM for him and moving younger ds along in order.
If I could redo, I would have placed older ds according to the charts earlier on as he would have had a better transition to highschool All good now, but it was a hard start...so, maybe look well at placement charts and go from there for each child? Has dd done Beyond? Maybe she would enjoy that as her own guide with girl options and start DITHOR?

[mward9702]

I think she really enjoyed all the Bigger books such as Pioneer Sampler, all the poetry, hymns, etc. We will probably find something separate to do until she is ready for Preparing. Thanks for your encouragement.

[StephanieU]

I am definitely not there yet, but I have ponder this as I consider combining my younger two. I have considered combining them through Bigger and separating them once the older one starts Preparing. My thought was to have the younger one spend a few months just doing the 3Rs, continuing with math and English and starting DITHOR. I was thinking of starting with the non-fiction, biography, and historical fiction so that we would be getting some history and science in (the non-fiction books in the Level 2 and 3 book packs are One Small Square books). I was thinking we would also maybe do the storytime from Bigger again with at least those three genres, again for some history and science. Then after a few months, when the older of the two was going well in Preparing (and my oldest was doing well with her things), we would start Preparing half speed.

[mward9702]

Stephanie, That sounds like a wise plan. That is good that you are looking ahead. I am praying about going forward with Preparing with my 7yo a half speed until she is ready for full speed. I am going to bump my soon to be 10 yo to CTC since he is at that level and pray for him as he gets more independent. Jenny, thank you for your wisdom. I am open to guidance.

Melissa

[Jennymommy]

Hey Melissa, just sharing my experience with ds #3...he is backtracking in CTC now, as an almost 11yo, not because he lacks in ability, but because the amount of writing was overwhelming and he had skipped much of it. I'm looking forward, I realized he would not have success in hs if we continued without completing all the activities. He reads and understands and assimilates everything very well, but getting his thoughts on paper and doing copywork was a real issue. His reading and endurance levels were not matching

[farmfamily]

Hi Melissa,

You are in the same place my two girls were last summer. I moved my 10 year-old to CTC and took 6 months with my 8 year-old where she continued with reading, Rod & Staff, dictation, and math, but for science and history she did a mix of combining with little bro in Beyond and doing some notebooking and other things I added in. The added in science etc. was the first thing to be dropped when we didn't have enough time, so we didn't get very far with that... Eventually in January I started her with Preparing half-speed. Her reading is not strong enough to read the independent history/science readings by herself. (She reads most of it aloud to me and I help her with it as necessary). I think she will need at least 18 months to complete Preparing.

I dithered at the time, but now I am quite sure that uncombining was the right choice for us. My older one has really thrived on the independence in CTC. It was a big jump from Bigger, though. I spent more time with her in the beginning while she was getting used to the workload, but for a long time now she has done all the independent boxes independently and does a very good job with it (she is in unit 25). I always thought that she could drop back to Preparing if she needed to, but actually CTC is perfect for her.

I would suggest that if your son places in CTC, that you first focus on getting him well established in that guide. Let your younger one continue her 3 Rs and have her memorize verses with your Little Hearts child - and listen in on those readings. And start her with DITHOR using Stephanie's suggestions of nonfiction etc. Then once your son is really rolling with CTC, start her off with Preparing half speed. As a back up-plan - if your son struggles with CTC you can move him back to Preparing and perhaps at that point you may decide to keep them together after all. I know combining works well for a lot of people. It sounds like your kids enjoy it, so that is a definite plus. By the end of Bigger, my two girls were constantly bickering during school time. Giving them different work has done wonders for the peace of our household!

[Nealewill]

I split my younger 2 kids up this year and it was great. I was having my two youngest combine and my oldest not but found that my two youngest were really ready to not be together anymore.

With your 10 year old, have you looked at CTC? Does he place there on the chart? If so, then I would consider moving him to CTC and her to Preparing. My 8 year old son will be 9 over the summer and will be moving to Preparing as well. In Preparing you are allowed to have your child copy down what you say. I may need to do the same thing for my son. His spelling is getting better but he still needs a lot of guidance. So my plans for him is it to write his narrations and have him copy it for a while if I need to.

And you could always go 1/2 speed for a while in both guides. This would give each of your children plenty of time to get comfortable in their guide.

[mward9702]

Thank you very much for all the very helpful replies. We just moved so I was delayed in responding. May God bless you!