Half Speed Question - if you do full speed 3 R's

[abrightmom]

If you use a guide half speed BUT do full speed 3 R's how does that work? Are you working from 2 places in your guide then, one for "content" (left side which is going half speed) and one for "skills" (right side, full speed? When you finish the 3 R's (right side) do you then move up in the guide to the next skill level OR to the next guide containing your skill level? Then you're completing the second half of the left side of your original guide and the entire right side of the next guide (or skill level) for the following school year.

IF that makes any sense to you at all and you can answer my question please do! I just want to make sure that what I am thinking and what people are referring to makes sense in my brain.

An example:

I choose to use Beyond over two years but I want to work full speed on the 3 R's. Year one my child completes half of the left side. But, he completes ALL of the right side at a first grade level. Year two my child completes the second half of the left side of Beyond. But he has moved up to the right side of Bigger and works at a second grade level. He would then be using DITHOR (if he's thru with ERS), dictation, 2nd grade math, R&S English 2 as scheduled in the Bigger guide. The next year he moves up to Bigger as his main program but since he'd be in 3rd grade we'd have to move him to R&S 3 and 3rd grade math since he completed the right side of Bigger previously.

Yes??? No???

[countrymom]

Theoretically yes, although I don't think you need to feel like you need to be tied to a specific guide. I sometimes take an extra day to do more activities for math, and we were not quite done with TRL when we started Beyond at 1/2 speed, so we are in one place for math, one for reading, and another for the rest. I have my son do copywork, math, and reading everyday. I have chosen to do the language arts box at 1/2 speed with the rest, but you would not have to do it that way.

[abrightmom]

Countrymom,

Do you just mark your guide in various places (like with colored post its) to keep track of where you are for each subject?

[Mommamo]

I'm using Bigger right now.( For a while C was in Beyond and Bigger at the same time because that's where she was for math.) So, today we did Unit 12 day 5 for our main lesson, Unit 23 or so for math (I can't remember exactly) and then something else for the ERs and something else for grammar (sorry I don't remember where exactly).

Even if you do half speed for the guide and full speed for the basics (math, language arts), you probably won't be doing a full other right side page. Does that make sense? Because you'll still be with that lesson in story time, science, etc. You'll just mark where you are for whatever you're still doing full speed. It sounds a whole lot harder than it is. I just use some orange post-its, I don't even color-code them, and mark where we are in the guide. It has worked out fine for me.

[moedertje]

I am not Countryom, but I am also in different place in LHFHG, since I am doing the left side half speed and the 3 R's full speed. I just have many colorful sticky tabs in my manual and it works beautifully.
Success

[countrymom]

Yes, those better quality sticky tabs work great. A great invention indeed!

[my3sons]

Good ideas! Going half-speed is a great option, but I think it's important to note that going half-speed with the left side of entire guide after entire guide is not usually the best pacing unless you have a child with special needs to consider. Going half-speed in a guide is a way to help dc grow into a guide. It can be done for 2 full years if need be, or it can be done for as little as say 2 weeks just to get dc used to a guide. If you are going half-speed year after year with the left side of the plans, and full-speed year after year with the right side of the plans, the left side of the plans will soon be inappropriate for your dc as their right side pace will have moved them past what the left side has planned. If going half-speed year after year is necessary, it is likely that a child was placed far too high to begin with, or that a child is not moving forward as they should. I hope that makes sense.

So, going from your example, if you choose to do Beyond's left side for 2 years (half-speed), but do Beyond's right side for 1 year (full-speed), in order to help your child be ready for Bigger Hearts, I'd probably do it like this:
Year 1:
Beyond Spelling List 1, Beyond Emerging Reader's Set, Beyond Storytime Boy Interest, Beyond Math 1A/1B, Beyond 1 x a week Grammar,

Year 2:
Beyond Spelling List 2, Beyond DITHOR Level 2/3, Beyond Storytime Classic Set, Bigger Hearts Math 2A/2B, Bigger Hearts R & S English 2 just the first half, so half-speed

Year 3 - your child should be ready to move into Bigger Hearts at this point, and LA/math would look like this:
Bigger Hearts Level 2 Dictation, Bigger's Storytime, Bigger's 3A/3B math, Bigger's R & S English 2 second half, all of left side of plans as is

This kind of plan gets your dc the skills needed to grow into a guide, which is the goal of half-speed pacing. Half-speed pacing is not a long-term solution unless dc have special needs, so working toward giving dc the skills they need to do a full guide along with all of its requirements is the purpose of half-speed. I hope this helps!

In Christ,
Julie