Question about english in CTC

[Missy OH]

Carrie, (update at the bottom of my post)

I see in CTC the english is being stretched for two years, and you recommend finishing R&S 6 by the end of 8th grade. Will Writing w/ the Best also be used for two years?

So in CTC my 6th grader will be doing half of RS 5. The following year the rest of RS 5. Then in 8th grade do RS 6 fully for the year. Are you planning on adding creative writing each year?

I hope my questions are making sense.

Could you explain why you think RS 6 is enough to prepare a student for high school. Do you think a student should know how to write essays before high school or learn that skill during?

BTW, HOD is a wonderful curriculum and the customer service is awesome. Thank you so much for the time you have dedicated to this ministry.

Blessings,
Missy

P.S. I thought of another question we are wondering about. Is it ok to read the entire book before doing the DITHOR unit?

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I found a post about the different writing programs and order you are suggesting from back in Feb.
Write w/ the Best
Igniting Your Writing vol.2 intermediate and then advanced
The Elegant Essay IEW

That post answered most of my questions. Is this what you are still thinking?

[angela&4boys]

*************************************************************************************************************
I found a post about the different writing programs and order you are suggesting from back in Feb.
Write w/ the Best
Igniting Your Writing vol.2 intermediate and then advanced
The Elegant Essay IEW

That post answered most of my questions. Is this what you are still thinking?

Hi Missy,

Would you mind sharing a link to this post? I'm interested as well because I'll have a 6th grader next year.

TIA!!!

[Carrie]

Missy,

Thanks for your patience in waiting for me to get to your post. We're still playing catch-up after a wonderful convention in Kansas City. Rod and Staff 6 is very thorough in its coverage of grammar, mechanics, and usage along with solid coverage in writing. We find that covering grammar through Rod and Staff 6 prior to high school easily covers all needed state standards for grammar, mechanics, and usage and then some! It is very solid, rigorous grammar preparation.

We find that it is also important for parents not to face burn-out in the course of grammar coverage, and while Rod and Staff is excellent in its coverage too much of it can cause parents (and kiddos) to bail out of such a rigorous program. So, within the area of grammar, we are looking for a balance that will prepare kiddos well for high school, without causing frustration and burn-out along the way.

We will be continuing to schedule solid writing coverage through grade 8 within our guides. We will use almost all of Write with the Best within CTC (omitting 2 of the units). Then, in the next guide, we will move on to scheduling something else for writing. We do love Igniting Your Writing 2, however in visiting with the author it appears that it may be going out of print within the next few years. So, we may need to revise our thinking on the writing sequence. We shall see.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Missy OH]

Thank you!

I have 3 dc (boys) that I want to put in CTC. Would you mind telling me what I need to pick for them?

These are their grades now and what they have done:

7th grader finished Primary Language Lessons, Intermediate Language Lessons, and has almost completed R&S 6 (we could stretch this easily into next year or finish over the summer)

6th grader finished PLL, and part of ILL, and almost completed R&S 5

5th grader finished PLL, and started ILL, and almost done w/ R&S 4

We have not done a writing program. Rod and Staff english is good. You would not believe the difference in their writing from the beginning of the year until now, and we haven't even finished the book. At the moment, I plan on my now 7th grader doing MFW in highschool and essay writing is covered in that. Would Writing w/ the Best be the right choice for all of them? I think I like this one better, but Igniting your writing looks good, too. Also, since they haven't had a lot of grammar until this year, should we continue going at the speed we are even if it means using the upper level grammar books from R&S? My middle son, needs a lot of help in the grammar area.

Would the dictation work for my children in CTC? My oldest is a good speller and good at dictation. My middle son needs help in spelling, but handles dictation well. Even though dictation was a big part of our schooling in the past, we have not done any this year.

Thank you, again. I appreciate your time.
Missy

[Missy OH]

just bumping.......

[Carrie]

Missy,

Since I'm writing during every spare minute right now, I truly appreciate your patience on waiting for a response on this!

As far as Rod and Staff English goes, I'm assuming that with teaching English 4, 5, and 6 this past year you invested quite a bit of time in teaching English. So, my advice for this upcoming year would be to begin to pull the teaching time spent on grammar more back into balance with the rest of your day.

In order to do that, I'd advise that for your 8th grader next year you finish Rod and Staff 6 first and then could begin the first part of 7 if time allows. For your 7th grader next year, I would plan on doing English 6 at half-speed over 2 years in grades 7-8. For your 6th grader next year, I would either do Rod and Staff 5 at half-speed (doing half in grade 6 and half in grade 7 and doing all of Rod and Staff 6 in grade 8 ), or you could do Rod and Staff 5 at full-speed (doing it all in grade 6 and then halfing English 6 over 2 years in grades 7-8). Either way would work.

I would use Write with the best with your younger 2 students for sure (and it also works well for an 8th grader). However, you may wish to consider The Elegant Essay for your 8th grader, in place of Write with the Best, if you desire for your 8th grader to have essay prep. before high school. That is a totally personal choice. Either writing option will work. One is just more rigorous than the other.

As far as dictation goes, I do think your kiddos would benefit from the dictation passages scheduled in CTC. You'll have to see whether the upper set of passages within CTC are enough for your 8th grader. If not, you could easily do dictation from his literature instead.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Missy OH]

Thank you! This has been a huge help.

Missy