We started Preparing!

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Gwenny
Posts: 750
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 1:07 pm
Location: Texas

We started Preparing!

Post by Gwenny » Sat Sep 05, 2015 6:39 am

So, in another post I asked about starting Preparing with my son who is 11 but struggles with reading, spelling and the physical act of writing. We started 2 days ago and he is VERY excited and loved it. I think it really gave him a boost of confidence that he gets to "move up" and he said/questioned something about him being better in some things but others are just harder. We finished about 1 3/4 of the boxes for those 2 days. I was flying by the seat of my pants and didn't have a real plan. I think I will go 1/2 speed for about a month or so simply because there is so much writing. I'm going to spend the weekend looking over the guide again and looking on the board for ways to do 1/2 speed for the one who struggles with writing. I want to even the days up as much as possible for that. I know that the time commitment for me is a little longer now, but thankfully I can do it now since my 2 older ones doing school have the tutor doing the activities needing a teacher. God was providing for this before I really knew I needed it. :)
Nancy
Dd29 married (w/2 sons 1/2/14, 5/24/16), ds27, dd25 married (w/dd born 8/9/16), dd25, dd22
Dd 19 HS in special ed
Dd14 RevtoRev
Ds12 RevtoRev
Ds 9 Preparing
Dd 5 LHFHG

Nealewill
Posts: 1611
Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 5:08 pm
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: We started Preparing!

Post by Nealewill » Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:19 am

That is wonderful! Praying it all goes well for you and for him!

I am also finding that this year is a bit packed for me. I am doing both Bigger and Preparing this year. It has been wonderful but it is just busy :-) My son also needs quite a bit of hand holding as well. But I am glad he is in this guide. The material is really interesting and he really enjoys what he is learning! One thing I did for him though - he hates art :shock: so he uses tracing paper for the drawings. A few of them - like the Tower of Babel and Noah's Ark he had the confidence to do on plain paper. I kinda pushed the envelop here and told him he wasn't allowed to use the tracing paper :oops: But the rest, he has mostly been tracing. It has really helped him a lot. One thing we realized with this method - tracing from step to step - the drawing look like they would be the same size but they actually vary a little bit. Be prepared that some stuff won't match up perfectly. Also - I am helping him with a few of the history projects. My son lacks seeing things as they are - for example, he had a really hard time carving out the map from Unit 4 out of play-doh. He kept having things not line up right. I ended up drawing grid lines in the book so he could see where things spatial had to be and grid lines on the play-doh. He even tried removing things that weren't to be taken out - like the land between the two rivers. The grid lines helped a lot but he still made some major errors in where he started things. All and all though - I was right by his side. And he is always excited about the end result. I think that helps with his perseverance to keep working on hard things.
Daneale

DD 13 WG
DS 12 R2R
DD 10 R2R

Enjoyed DITHOR, Little Hearts, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, R2R, RevtoRev, MtMM

Gwenny
Posts: 750
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 1:07 pm
Location: Texas

Re: We started Preparing!

Post by Gwenny » Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:27 am

Those are some busy and tough guides on the mama! The great thing about this guide for him is that he is excellent at drawing and he is incredible with seeing how things fit and sizing etc. He wasn't as thrilled with the Draw and Write book as he thought he'd be because he doesn't really want to draw the dinosaur they way they do. He can do a MUCH better more detailed and to scale drawing. I'm encouraging him to do it their way and then he can do his own later but they will have things he can teach them. He prints out pictures of things, like a character or knight or person (like he printed Harry Potter but he didn't even know who he was-it was just a good picture). Then he draws the picture and makes them bigger but they are to scale. That's another reason I wanted him to move up-more drawing. He definitely has some engineering qualities to him in different areas.
Nancy
Dd29 married (w/2 sons 1/2/14, 5/24/16), ds27, dd25 married (w/dd born 8/9/16), dd25, dd22
Dd 19 HS in special ed
Dd14 RevtoRev
Ds12 RevtoRev
Ds 9 Preparing
Dd 5 LHFHG

my3sons
Posts: 10702
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: We started Preparing!

Post by my3sons » Thu Sep 17, 2015 7:31 pm

I'm so glad to read that your ds made the switch to PHFHG with flying colors! :D :D :D It sounds like it is going to fit him better, and he'll most certainly enjoy the projects that are inherently more mature befitting his age. :) Our Riley has that 'engineering quality' you mentioned, and he simply adores the projects in the guides! I am excited for your ds to see what the rest of the guide holds. :) As far as half-speed, one thing we did for Riley who went half-speed in CTC due to needing to grow into the writing - I went through the plans and put a "W" for writing in the margin next to everything that required him to write. I then put half of the "W" boxes on one day, and the other half of the "W" boxes on the next day. We did full-speed math, dictation, and grammar though, if I remember right. I just thought I'd mention it, as it was an easy way to divide out the writing over 2 days to go half-speed, as that was the area he was needing to grow in to be able to do the guide full-speed. It was probably 4-5 months when he switched to full-speed. He was ready! He'd finally built up those 'muscles.' :) I'm excited to see the progress your ds will surely make too! :D

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

Gwenny
Posts: 750
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 1:07 pm
Location: Texas

Re: We started Preparing!

Post by Gwenny » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:28 am

Thanks for that tip. I wil do that. I don't think he will need to go 1/2 speed that long-but we will see.
Nancy
Dd29 married (w/2 sons 1/2/14, 5/24/16), ds27, dd25 married (w/dd born 8/9/16), dd25, dd22
Dd 19 HS in special ed
Dd14 RevtoRev
Ds12 RevtoRev
Ds 9 Preparing
Dd 5 LHFHG

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