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Anyone out there using the new MTM guide with extensions for high school? I am planning on using it for my rising 9th grader.

Here's my question- I am uncertain about a few choices and looking for any advice/encouragement. I absolutely love the look of HOD thought we've never used it. I am planning on my rising 3rd grader doing Bigger Hearts, and I need the same type of curriculum for my son. So when I saw the new guide, I immediately knew I wanted to use it for my son.

So, with that said, does anyone think that I should go back a guide to the Revival to Revolution and start there with my 9th gr.? We haven't really done that period of history in depth, but we have never actually covered Modern history at all.

What about switching from A Beka grammar to Rod & Staff 7? If I do switch, should I go back a level to R&S 6? I do need to keep credits this year.

He's doing French 1, Biology and a Lit & Writing class at our homeschool co-op (which I am actually on the fence about anyway), so I just really need credits for history and Bible and grammar and creative writing. Should I maybe not do the Lit class at co-op and do something like DOTHR with age-appropriate books instead? (Assuming that I can use that program for him for high school) Grammar, writing and composition are his absolute weakest subjects, and he's frustrated by most anything we try. Developmentally, he cannot analyze literature on a deeper level, though his comprehension is solid and he can discuss the book in a concrete way. He loves to read, and reads most anything. Though the A Beka grammar seems to be working okay, I'm not thrilled with A Beka. He also uses MUS and will be doing Algebra 1.

I am planning on using HOD throughout the rest of his high school years. If the guides come out as scheduled, we could MTM 9th grade, Geography thru History 10th gr., World History 11th gr., and the first American history/government for 12th gr. Which actually works out very nicely. If did move back to RTR, I would skip the Geography, and go straight into World History and then American.

That's a lot of questions! Sorry about that, it's just that I don't want to screw up going into high school, and we need a "planned out" curriculum like HOD. I looked at MFW, but I'm concerned about the literature portion since it seems to be so tightly tied up with the history and Bible.

Any comments, suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

I have a VERY long time before HS (well, 4 more years, WAIT...that's not THAT long!? ) But here is a link that might shed some light on what you are asking
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6220

I am not sure if I would change my language program this late in the game, but if you want to, coming from Abeka, I think you would be fine going into Rod and Staff 7. Will the literature co-op class work on analysis? If so, this would work well and alleviate teaching time on your part. If not, DITHOR 6/7/8 would work well. Carrie has a list of books for that level listed under the beefing up HOD for high school sticky at the top of the main board. If you start with MTM, you can just keep going with the guides. That is probably what I would do. Then you will not need to beef up the history except for the extensions your first year of high school (MTM).

We haven't done it YET, but we plan to! We started using CTC in 8th grade (when we discovered HOD's older-age guides), and just finished RTR for 9th, and have Rev2Rev all set to begin 10th grade in August. (MTMM is for 11th here.) Just wanted to encourage you that it IS totally possible and very do-able to use the HOD guides for high school. There are several of us on the board that are doing it successfully and enjoying it.

Thank you Heather4him for sharing that! I am very excited to be using it for high school as I think it will work great with our learning style, and I really need my lesson plans done for me. It's not my forte, if you know what I mean! I was little concerned about using Rev2Rev (after I had initially thought we'd do MTM for 9th grade but decided to back it up a year since we are new to CM methods and HOD), but after praying about it, reading thorough through the samples and checking out the extension books, I am convinced it will be perfect for us. The 4-day plan is what pleases me the most. We are in a homeschool co-op where my son will be doing French 1, Biology and some electives so having HOD to do at home will make things so simple for us. He is a very logical boy, into computer programming and math and science. So when it comes to language arts, nothing I've ever used with him has been very good. We tried Abeka this year as a last-ditch effort for grammar competence and it has been okay, but he still gets very confused sometimes, and I have a lot of trouble teaching it. So I am considering a switch to Rod & Staff book 7 since I know that it is so much explanatory than Abeka.
I'll be sure to post in the fall about how it's going! Thanks again!

No problem! I hope you have a great year with HOD for high school. Have you checked out the links at the top of the board for "Beefing up HOD for High School"? Those may help a lot, too!!

About Rod & Staff, I'm not sure because we use ACE (started years before finding HOD, and it works, so why "fix it", right?!), but I think HOD only uses up through Book 6 or 8 all the way through 12th grade. So, you may want to look at the HOD recommendations for which year to choose. Hope that helps!

I did look at the beefing up posts, and they definitely helped. I think the reason I am looking to switch over to R&S is because we still don't have a sufficient writing program for ds15. He's okay in grammar, thanks to Abeka, but Abeka's writing portions are not great and we have only used the grammar portions. Since we need a solid writing program anyway, I think he will do well with R & S. Pretty sure we'll start with book 7 and he should do fine.

Thanks!

HOD's recommendation for Rod and Staff English is to finish Level 8 by 12th grade. So if your child is starting with Level 7 in grade 9, then you would split Level 7 in half between 9th and 10th grade, and split Level 8 in half between 11th and 12th grade.

I think your ds will enjoy MTMM so much! And I know YOU will too - I sure have enjoyed the ease of use of HOD guides for me... all laid out, great books, meaningful discussions, Christ-centered plans, special memories together... and I just get to wake up and teach it. I think your ds will do just great with R & S English 7, and I agree with pp that you can spread it out over 9th and 10th grade, and then spread out R & S English 8 over 11th and 12th grade. HOD also recommends doing a good portion of R & S English orally or on the markerboard, reserving only 1 section or so for the student to write in a composition book. This has worked so well for my sons - they have learned so much from doing R & S English, but they have not had to write so much to learn it. Their retention has been good, and we have been able to clip along with it through the years. The step-by-step writing instruction has focused on various writing skills and has been so helpful in 'growing' these skills in my sons. I think you will like the clear, concise, and thorough approach of R & S English. I know you will love the balance of solid academic skills, creative open-ended assignments, and Christ-centered approach to learning in MTMM. I'm so glad you get to do it with your ds, and I'll look forward to sharing with each other about it this coming year as I get to do it with my ds too!

In Christ,
Julie