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Hello! I haven't been on the boards in a while! But I am back.

One of my sons (will be 9 in August) is going to be starting Preparing. He has done Beyond and Bigger, now on to Preparing! My older son (11) doesn't want to do it, so I will be piecing things together for him that are according to his interests more. (He is my strong-willed one). So, I will only have 1 doing the program next year, but he requested to do it again. So Yay! I was glad about that. My question is, how independent should I make Preparing for him?

He likes to do things independently more than he really likes to do it one on one with me. He is a very easy going child, mild mannered. What are the subjects that I will most certainly want us to do together?

Thank you for your thoughts!

P.S. My oldest will be doing DITHOR, though, at his request. He has LOVED mostly all of the DITHOR boy's interest books for the last 2 years. THAT is a downright miracle and blessing! LOL I am finding that as each of my children are doing a little something different in various areas, they are enjoying it more. When I tried to combine them this last year in Bigger, it was a struggle. Looking forward to another year with HOD!

Are you going to be in Arlington, TX at the convention next weekend?

I would follow the guides boxes. Let him do the independent boxes on his own which is the science and the independent history box. Then you can look at the S boxes and see which of those you think he can handle on his own after you teach him how they should be done. My ds worked up to doing most of the S boxes on his own by mid-way through Preparing. I would keep the T boxes because Carrie made them that way for a reason. In the History Reading box he will work on learning how to do a written narration so having you read the history still will help you in guiding him in that area. The Poetry box is where the writing assignments occur so you will want to provide guidance with that. Preparing is such a wonderful guide and he will see how it is moving him towards that independence that he likes.

I also think it a good idea to begin doing the boxes as indicated with the T, S, or I. As you get established in it and feel he's ready to take on more independence with it, here's a link where Carrie suggested an idea to have you and your child read the material silently/seperately; then come together at a set time for your discussions, narratoins, and so forth that the T box instructs. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11739 This will give the student a feel of independence, but at the same time the accountability and guidance to make sure he/she's doing well with it. I'm going to try this with my daughter in Preparing soon!

One more thing-not to budge in where you didn't ask for advice -but I wanted to gently inquire about your older son...Do you think it's possible that his frustration stems from being placed in a guide that was too low for him? I only ask because my daughter had never clicked well with HOD since beginning it last year, and I finally realized that she was frustrated because I had her placed incorrectly! She was doing Bigger and hated every minute of it. I sat down with the chart and took an honest look at where I'd put her if we were new in coming to the program and she placed squarely in Preparing. I immediately bumped her up, and her attitude has improved sooo much!

I'm not trying to push you that you have to do HOD, or anything like that! I guess I was just thinking that since you're going to split them anyway, have you considered running two HOD guides? You know your boys best Just tossing out an idea.