Daisy,
You caught me late at night at convention, so I'll do the best I can with your questions and my tired mind!
The dictation passages will be one level beyond what is in currently in the Preparing Hearts manual. There are samples on the board for Preparing Hearts somewhere, but it will take me a bit to dig them up.

I may have to look for those a different night. If anyone has the link and would post it, I'd be grateful!
As far as Rod and Staff English goes, in CTC we schedule it twice weekly... planning for 2 years to cover one level. This is to prevent grammar burn-out, keep a steady pace without overwhelming the kiddos (or mom), and allow the child to mature a bit before heading into higher levels of Rod and Staff. If desired, you can easily do it daily finishing a level within a year. We actually split level 4 over 2 years with our oldest son and then went into 5 at full-speed and will do 6 at full-speed. We found splitting the grammar to work well.
As far as Write with the Best goes, we scheduled it twice weekly in CTC to be completed in a year. However, we are omitting 2 of the units (ballad poetry and short story). Each unit is 1o days, so 70 writing days will be included through CTC with additional writing through written narrations, copywork, and Rod and Staff English.
Hope that helps!
Blessings,
Carrie