Trying to decide if HOD CTC is right for us

[MelissaC]

Hi y'all! I'm looking into starting CTC with my 2 daughters next year. I'm wondering if anyone using or who has used CTC can tell me a bit about it. Is there ALOT of reading involved? My oldest enjoys reading, but mostly scary stories like RL Stine, and my youngest doesn't care much for reading at all. I'm really hoping a literature based program will help develop a love of reading, but I don't want to overwhelm them. Also, my dd has ADHD and she is a little immature( she's going to be in 7th grade)and kinda sensitive. Is the history extension essential for 7th grade? Any advice, tips or thoughts are so greatly appreciated!!
I feel like Heart of Dakota is where I'm being led. I just want to be as sure as possible without having it in my hands

Thanks so much!
Melissa

[crlacey]

Welcome to HOD! I can't help much with CTC since we aren't there, but some other ladies will certainly be able to chime in to answer your questions.
I would suggest looking at the placement chart to see where your children place in their skills. This will then give people an idea of how to best guide you in choosing a program that best suits your needs and your kids skills.
http://heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

[my3sons]

HI Melissa, and welcome to the HOD board! We are doing CTC right now for the second time with our middle ds and LOVING it! However, we've done every HOD guide, and they are all gooooood. You can't go wrong. How old are your dc? I know one is in 7th grade, but I wasn't sure about the other. This is something to consider when studying the ancients. As the pp shared, it is pretty key to check out the placement chart when placing dc. You may find combining fits well, or you may find not combining fits well. If you are combining, in general, it is better to choose the younger guide and beef it up for the older child. Could you please share about each of your dc's reading, writing, math, and grammar with the first page of the placement chart in mind, as well as your other child's age? Then, the ladies will all be glad to chime in with better advice that best fits your family. Looking forward to getting to know you here!

In Christ,
Julie

[laurapella]

Hi Melissa,

I have not done CTC either, but I wanted to comment on your other question. This is our first year using HOD, and I also worried whether my kids would enjoy the reading. They were not huge readers, and I hoped that a literature based curriculum would help this. I can tell you that they LOVE it!!! They also love the notebooking and hands on activities. I cannot recommend HOD enough!!

Laura

[MelissaC]

My girls will be 9 and 12 next school year. The oldest is a great reader, she was reading at 7th grade level in 4th grade, but she only likes certain types of books. We're trying to get her to branch out, but she totally isn't interested. The younger doesn't care much for reading at all. They have 30 minutes of required personal reading time everyday, but thats all she wants to do. I looked at the placement chart, and CTC looks like it would be a good level to start on. We studied Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome already, but neither of them retained much. They didn't like Greece because there was so much death and leaving babies on the hillside. Rome was too violent, what with the insane emperors, and gladiator fights. I'd like to try to study those times again and work through chronologically. I'm just wondering how much reading is there. Also how long is the average day? Neither of my dc have long attention spans, so I keep the lessons short and to the point. HOD looks awesome, I'm just not sure if it would work for us.
Melissa