Need help to schedule HS Guides

[staceynco]

Hi. We just started WG a month ago and will not be able to finish before we go on to WH. My son doesn't have to have WG as a credit to graduate, so I was thinking to get through half the guide and give him 1/2 credit for time in WG. He will have done a full year of Science and other basics.

I don't want to start next year behind, so we want to start WH on time. I want him to get through all of the last 3 guides because he needs those credits and they look amazing. Does this sound like a do-able plan? Will doing half of WG help prepare him for WH? We will work 3 days a week through the summer, but not everyday since I feel like I need to give him some kind of summer break. Just an fyi, we started late because we were focusing on getting him caught up in math and other basics.

Also, should we go straight through or should we skip some weeks to get more of the big picture in Geography?

Another option, I just thought of, is to keep going in WG and miss the last part of the senior guide because he doesn't have to have 2 years in American History. He does need Economics and Govt, though. I'm so confused on what would be best. We are enjoying WG so much! Thank you!

[Mommamo]

I'm not in the high school guides yet, (but we will be starting WG in the 2018-2019 school year!) but I would probably try to finish the whole guide if possible. Could you school year round? Or do the guide 5 days/week instead of 4? I know they're very full, so that might not be possible. I would try to do whatever I could to finish the guide before going onto the next one. I just have learned that the guides really do prepare the student for the next one, and I'm afraid that might be a very large jump.

[my3sons]

I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying WG - it is a wonderful guide that teaches foundational skills the rest of the high school years are built upon! Thank you for sharing about your son here - that helps so much! It sounds like you are off to a super start with WG together! I know you'd mentioned taking a break to work on basic skills with your son as being the reason you're not very far into WG. I'm assuming some of those basic skills involve reading/writing/LA type skills. In WG, so many LA basic skills that involve reading, writing, spelling, etc. are incorporated in virtually every subject (i.e. written and oral narrations in response to history readings, etc.). Carrie does such a good job of offering help in systematically teaching these skills in the details of the WG daily plans. The completion of the specific directions Carrie gives in WG's daily plans builds stronger and stronger basic skills in students, increasing their abilities to respond to readings using oral/written assessments. For example, just to see a portion of these skills described in one succinct paragraph, here is the description of WG taken from the Introduction of the guide...

...These include written narrations; key word, summary, detailed, and topic oral narrations; Expedition Journal entries with maps, bulleted notes, outlines, sketches, primary source documents, Socratic discussions, questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, video viewing guides, and research topics; DVD viewings and follow-ups; Book of Centuries portrait gallery and lined timeline entries; hands-on geography projects; guided mapping lessons; one-sentence summaries; graphic organizers and reflective notebook entries; and bookmark prompts targeting higher-level responses.

And this is only one subject! The English credit has many such skills being taught and built upon throughout the year as well. Looking ahead to the next year, the WH guide takes these basic skills to the next level, gradually increasing the length, depth, and maturity of assignments - assuming students have been well trained in these areas from using the WG guide's plans previously. I do understand WG is not a necessary credit in your state, but neither is 2 years of US History, as you'd mentioned - thank you for sharing that! I guess I'd rather see your son continue to soar in strengthening his basic skills and have the satisfaction of completing WG well than skip onto a much harder guide when he really hasn't had the chance to be as prepared as he could be for success with it. Carrie has said in previous posts "It is often true that only 75% of a text needs to completed in order for credit to be counted." If you complete 75% of the WG guide, and your son is 100% able to do all that is asked of him in that guide, and in looking ahead to the WH guide's placement chart and one week plans you feel he is well prepared for that guide, you could (in my opinion) at that point stop the WG guide and begin the WH guide. But, if you reach 75% of the WG guide and find that last 25% of the guide would be ever so helpful in preparing your son for the next guide, in growing those basic skills ever stronger in preparation for the next years of high school, I'd finish it out and just begin the WH guide when he finishes. You could use the 75% rule on the end of the guide sequence as well (for USII History) if need be, or your son could just graduate a tad later. I hope this helps as you ponder what you will do for your son's pacing of learning this year, and I will pray for clarity as you make this decision - God bless!

In Christ,
Julie