Placement help please? Returning to HOD

[Mommamo]

I can't believe I'm asking for placement help, but here we are. We started out with LHFHG with my oldest many, many moons ago. She did LHFHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, and CTC. Life, babies, therapy, and a cross country move happened (well 2 moves in a 6 week time span), and then a car accident, so the guides got spread out longer for her than I would have wanted, and now for the past 1.5 years she hasn't been doing HOD. I'm learning that I don't love doing my own thing. At all. My younger three are all in HOD and school just makes so much more sense, is so much easier, and just feels happier. Even if some days we have to only do part of a day, that's okay, we're still making forward progress. So now I'm not sure what to do with my oldest. If we had stayed in HOD she would be doing MTMM this year because we started her kind of a year early (it's just where her birthday falls that makes the grade a bit off), but then the life I mentioned above happened and it took longer than a year to complete some guides.

Right now she's doing Algebra 1, Cover Story Writing, High School level Spanish 1, and Ambleside Online year 7 covering the middle ages. She is doing most of the reading herself, but she and I are reading Ivanhoe and Churchill's Birth of Britain together and her comprehension is great. (She and I are taking turns reading out loud.) She is actually LOVING Ivanhoe--it's her favorite part of the day. There are some things I enjoy about AO, but the planning is not one of them. I'm trying to decide if I should just scrap everything and jump back into HOD right now, but even if I did, I don't know what guide I would use, or if I should wait until after we finish AO and pick back up with HOD in the fall.

Anyway... She places squarely in MTMM right now when I look at the placement chart, so I'm leaning towards getting that if we wait until next year (she will be 14 all but a couple of weeks of next school year), and maybe just read SOTW 3 or something like that over the summer to get her through the time period we will have missed. But I seriously hate to skip her over 2 guides. I'm kicking myself for not continuing, but there's nothing I can do about that now.

My only other concern is that with AO we are covering Fallacy Detective and Whatever Happened to Penny Candy. Assuming that we will start MTMM in the fall, will it mess things up if we skip those at the time? Or should we stop where we are and start over with them in MTMM?

[Carrie]

Hello! It's good to "see" you!

Thanks so much for sharing about your kiddos as it does help us as we talk through possible options for your oldest daughter. A couple of questions I have for clarification... What grade do you currently consider your oldest daughter to be in right now? Is she currently a 7th grader, with next year being her 8th grade year? The reason I ask is that as we get closer to high school, it helps us to work backward to make sure the student is prepared for the high school guides.

Next, does your daughter write daily in a variety of subject areas right now? Would you consider her to be a person who is not daunted by written work? Or, is she somewhat overwhelmed by too much writing? The reason I ask is that depending on the approach you are using with AO7, the child could be doing very little written work or could be doing excessive written work through written narrations daily. There is quite a bit of leeway with AO, so I always like to ask about the writing to make sure I am not overlooking anything. I am just trying to gauge the writing aspect of her day right now and how heavy it currently is.

Next, would you say she works fairly independently for much of her day, or is she still doing quite a bit of her day with you? Last, how many hours is she used to doing school each day?

If you get a chance to pop back and answer the questions I listed above, it would help us advise you better as you consider transitioning back into HOD.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Mommamo]

Thanks, Carrie, for the help! My daughter would be in 7th grade right now if she were in public school because her birthday is right after the cut off for school. I always hate giving a grade level to her because it feels confusing to me. lol We started her in Kinder (with LHFHG!) the fall she turned 5, though, so if we had stuck with it she would have done MTMM this year. Or maybe last year? Seriously, some years are a blur! This is her 9th year of school including K, so that would make her 8th grade, but we call her 7th grade for social activities, and to give us an extra year with her. She is extremely bright but has some other issues (ADHD, anxiety) that just make me feel better having that extra time with her being at home. We are not in a state where we have to report anything.

Right now with AO she is reading the majority of the reading herself, including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and having great comprehension. She does written narrations in at least one subject every day, and does oral narrations on everything she reads that she doesn't have a written narration for that day. She's a super narrator. We are reading Ivanhoe and Birth of Britain together (alternating who is reading out loud) just because both of those are tough reads! She also is keeping a timeline for her history, doing mapwork, and drawing from Draw & Write Through History. Plus since it isn't all planned like HOD, the poor child is having to look if there's something to draw and decide what she wants to map on her own. Now that we have a routine, she's pretty great about it. For writing she is using Cover Story and doing the daily journal along with it. I also have her make a notebooking page for each week's current events, so she does some writing there. For grammar she is doing R&S 6. She keeps a copybook. She has written assignments in Spanish (we are using an old high school Spanish textbook). We aren't loving how literature is handled in AO and actually are about to add DITHOR back in at her request. I think Ivanhoe is actually considered literature, but she loves it so much we won't drop it.

She is planning to be a vet, so the science is super important to us. We are using what is scheduled in AO but also have added Apologia's elementary anatomy book. She does lab sheets for the experiments, which she largely does independently.

She is pretty independent overall, now that we've figured out a good system for her getting everything done. We are reading Fallacy Detective and Penny Candy together because the discussion is so fun! But we will probably stop reading those now that I know we will be headed back to HOD and both are covered in the guides. She has a list in Evernote of what she needs to do each day, and she checks them off as she does it. HOD has prepared her well for being able to work on her own. We did CTC last and she was basically completely independent with it. That's one of the many reasons we are going back to HOD. She enjoys being able to check off what she has done and see clearly what she has to do in a day.

I am concerned about her skipping 2 guides, but we've kept up a lot of the ... habits? ... that we learned in HOD. With music practice and Spanish, which I realize wouldn't be scheduled in these guides, she spends about 5-5.5 hours a day on school (sometimes more if she dawdles ).

[Mommamo]

After reading through samples, I'm almost wondering if we should do Rev2Rev light (maybe just the economy package?) starting when we finish up AO which should be the end of March/early April and working 5 days/week instead of the 4 that's scheduled. She would still feel like she's getting a bit of a break, but it would better prepare her for MTMM to start maybe late September/October going the regular 4 days/week as scheduled once we start that. We school year round anyway, so she would be doing *something* during that time. (And don't worry--she will get breaks and my other kids will still be doing HOD too anyway ) I just really hate for her not to do MTMM for 8th grade, because that would mean not finishing up the high school guides, but I also don't want her to feel overwhelmed either. Does this sound completely outrageous? Would there be another better option?


I mentioned this idea to Caroline (dd) and she reminded me that with her narrations and work she does for American Heritage Girls, she is doing all of the skills I was worried about (like researching things). In fact, she just wrote a speech for AHG last night that she had to do some research for. She does really like the look of the science in Rev2Rev though So now I really have no idea. hahaha

[Carrie]

Mommamo,

Thanks so much for sharing! I am pondering right along with you! As we consider the better fit between Rev2Rev and MTMM, I am wondering whether your daughter has ever had a chance to cover the history that is within Rev2Rev? Did she get a chance to do it with AO?

Also, what has she had for science these last few years? Has she covered certain topics or branches of science?

I was wondering too, whether you take a summer break or whether you school year-round? I was thinking you take a summer break, based on what you'd shared, but I wasn't sure.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Mommamo]

We actually school year round, so that's not a problem. (She has ADHD and does much better with a clear routine) She's only been with AO this year because... well long, long story. Before that she did Veritas Press self paced (the last two ones which cover exploration-modern times between them), and CTC the year before that. With Veritas Press and also with our own reading as a family she probably knows the time period in Rev2Rev the best out of anything. Oh heavens as I type this it makes her schooling sound so haphazard. That was never the intention, but I did what I could through several major life events.

I'm strongly, strongly considering wrapping up AO and then starting with Rev2Rev this spring to finish up in late fall/early winter. I honestly feel like she's not getting as much out of the AO. Our days feel so hectic. Well, just what she's doing. My younger kids have never stopped doing HOD (slowed down but never outright stopped), so their part of the day is smooth. I've added SOTW 2 to what we're doing in AO, and I'm tempted to just have her finish it to grab that time period (middle ages has been the least studied), drop the last of the AO books (we just have 1 term left), and then start Rev2Rev. For science she has done the Apologia elementary series, largely on her own. She LOVES the look of the science in both Rev2Rev and MTMM. I just really don't want to save MTMM for 9th grade. I know plenty do, but I would prefer not to.

ETA: She also has done DITHOR all along until this school year (we had a car accident early this fall when we were just getting started, so that threw a lot of things off for a long time while I worked on recovering physically and then mentally, which was a lot harder). We are starting DITHOR back next week because that's her favorite subject.

[Carrie]

Mommamo,

You are so gracious to continue to share about your daughter. You have your plate full and should feel good about what you have accomplished with your kids through some very difficult life events. As all of us who have homeschooled for any length of time know, this journey is a long walk to the finish line rather than a race.

With what you have shared about your daughter, I would probably be inclined to place her in MTMM. For science, I would allow her to choose between the science in Rev2Rev or the science in MTMM. She will only get to do one of them before high school. The science in WG is somewhat similar in topics to the science in Rev2Rev, so if she does omit Rev2Rev science it would be alright. However, if she dearly loves the look of the science in Rev2Rev, she can choose to do that one. My oldest son did that particular science his 8th grade year and then went right into the science in WG. He felt that the one reinforced the other very well. So, either science will work!

I wouldn't worry about doing Rev2Rev with her as it sounds like she has already covered that time period quite well. Instead, I would be inclined to start MTMM with her now and do it 4 days a week as planned (with either Rev2Rev science or MTMM science). This would allow time to ease her into the guide, possibly at half speed for a week or two (or more) to make sure she adjusts well. She could keep going with Ivanhoe (and do it along with DITHR).

One other option to consider, if you did want to fill-in before beginning MTMM would be to do either the first 1/2 or the last 1/2 of RTR. This would allow her to cover a time period that she hasn't had much exposure in and get back into the rhythm of the HOD guides. MOH III begins around week 15 of RTR. The spine books before MOHIII are Peril and Peace, Monks and Mystics, Famous Men of Rome, and The Story of the Middle Ages, While I typically don't advise completing only half of a guide or beginning a guide in the middle, in this case it would work (since she is already skill-wise close to the level for MTTM and you would be filling in more for content purposes). If she did go this route, I would do as much of the RTR guide as scheduled each day as possible to make sure she is moving forward in all areas. Anyway, this is just one other option to consider. RTR is a wonderfully engaging guide and the time period is full of so many important life lessons and fascinating people!!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Mommamo]

Oh Carrie this helps so much!! I will talk to my daughter and see which option she prefers. As I think I mentioned before, we will be using these guides with all of our other kiddos, so I certainly don't mind buying another guide. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind that I could only do half a guide! I actually think starting RtR or MTMM right now would be a super option, and am somewhat leaning towards RTR along with Rev2Rev science because Caroline really wants to do MTMM science too. She's a science loving kid! You have set my heart at ease--this has weighed on me for weeks now. I am so happy to be getting her back into HOD.

[Mommamo]

Just wanted to mention that this option is working perfectly for us! We went with MTMM and are doing it half paced right now. We are doing a mix of the science from the previous guide and the science in this one at my daughter's request. We've started out half speed, and it's perfect! We're wanting to do it at half speed for the next month or so, then reevaluate if we want to keep going half speed over the summer or take a break and return to it full speed in the fall.

This is exactly what I wanted it to be. She feels so happy to be back. The workload is balanced (not because we're doing it half speed but because it just is well written. I'm happy to have that structure to our day again without me having to plan it. Thank you so much, Carrie, for helping us with placement and for writing this great curriculum.

[Carrie]

Mommamo,

Thanks so much for updating us! I am glad that the new plan is working well for your daughter. We are enjoying MTMM with our 8th grade son this year too.

Blessings,
Carrie