R&S Placement

[Candice]

Hi, I am looking for help with placing my II yr. old/6th grade daughter in R&S English.
This past school year we used some Winston Grammar Basic and got as far as covering the basic parts of speech. We also covered grammar in context informally through literature. Prior to that she had some instruction through BJU English, but again, it was basic coverage.
As far as writing goes, she enjoys creative writing, so has been ambitious in that area. As far as formal writing instruction, it has been minimal. Some forms of writing we covered through BJU English, but that was some time ago. I think she needs some instruction with producing well structured paragraphs and more formulaic writing. She does well with punctuation. She excels in writing overall and enjoys it, but I think she would benefit from practicing specific forms of writing.
I hope this helps. I'd be happy to offer additional information as needed : )
Thank you.

[Jennymommy]

We would love to help Which HOD guide is she doing? The grammar and writing components are coordinated within each guide, however it is not a big deal to adjust the Rod and Staff level

[Candice]

Thank you, Jennymommy.
I'm undecided on which guide. I'm waffling between CTC and RTR. I was thinking I'd post separately about guide selection, but maybe it makes better sense to work that out now : )

[Mumkins]

I'm inclined to say do 4 this year, 5 next and 6 the year after. I'm not sure if that's too much though. I haven't done the guides higher than CTC yet. I know somewhere in there, there's a guide you only do half a level of English with though. But maybe as you are jumping in late, it'd be ok to just do 1 lesson a day, each day.

[Candice]

Thank you, Mumkins.
I think she'd be fine with one lesson a day if that is what is necessary. I've also thought it might be best to start with R&S 4 and just pick up in the book where she needs the instruction. Then move on to 5.

[Jennymommy]

Ok In CTC, both 4&5 are choices that are scheduled twice a week, completing the first half. In RestoRef, they are scheduled again at twice a week to complete the second half. If you choose RestoRef, and do level 4, you would want to do it every day in order to start level 5 with RevtoRev. That would add a bit to your daily work, but it is doable. I would just really look at the charts to determine proper placement, remembering that HOD is beefy, especially when you add DITHOR HTH

[Candice]

Okay, thank you. That helps. As far as placement between CTC and RTR it's one of those things where she could go either way. I think that is what makes it hard to choose.

[Jennymommy]

IMO, if she is super motivated, do RestoRef, otherwise, do CTC and expect her to give her best effort in all the activities CTC is full of great learning, Bible history and secular events combined for a true understanding of ancient times, and the prophecy tracking for Jesus is great

[Candice]

Thanks, Jennymommy.
Would you, or someone else, be able to share with me the the significant differences between CTC and RTR as far as skills and workload?
I lean toward CTC at times because it seems like the more logical place to begin as far as history goes, but my daughter did complete Veritas self-paced Old Testament/Ancient Egypt. So, maybe that's plenty of coverage there. But, I also realize that consideration for placement goes beyond the specific history being covered. At any rate, I keep going back and forth on this one.

[LynnH]

I think the biggest difference between CTC and RTR is the amount of writing. There are written narrations in Science and History and the written narrations are longer with less guidance. I think given what you have shared that the IEW scheduled in RTR would give you that formulaic writing instruction you are looking for. There isn't much difference in the amount of reading.

[Candice]

Thank you, LynnH. This is helpful : )

[LovingJesus]

Candice,

The beginning of R&S 4 has excellent paragraph instruction. It is where my upcoming 6th grader learned to write solid paragraphs.

He did the first 1/2 of R&S 5 this past year with CTC. The first 1/2 of 5 has excellent out lining instruction.

We replaced, a few weeks into CTC, Writing With the Best, with IEW Narnia. It too had excellent out lining instruction that carried over to paragraph construction.

R&S 4 was the paragraph foundation in 4th and the out lining in 5 & IEW built on that knowledge in 5th.

I am not sure between RTR & CTC, but you have been given some good thoughts for your decision.

Blessings,