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Posted: **Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:42 am**

I am deciding between two curricula for next year. I have a few questions.

1. How long per day does RES to REF take?

2. How is spelling learned?

3. In high school, will the students have a way to learn to meet deadlines?

4. In high school will there be things that must be studied for tests? (So they can learn how to study?)

5. Do you think HOD will offer or find a way to offer a grading service for essays?

6. I don't know if my current 5th grader is "extremely strong" in grammar or not. So I can't decide whether to put him in R&S English 5 or 6 for 6th grade (with Res to Ref) He is currently finishing up Abeka's grade 5 grammar and also year two of Elementary Greek which covers a lot of advanced grammar. He can diagram.

Posted: **Sat Feb 16, 2013 7:24 pm**

I can't answer all of your questions, but I'll try to answer a couple of them.

1. Here is the time required and breakdown by subject of RTR:

Carrie wrote:Ladies,

These are the general time allotments that we used at our house when we piloted parts of RTR last year with our oldest son. Since he is an older student as well as a strong reader and writer, he often completed his assignments in less than the allotted time below. However, it's important to note that both he and I are no-nonsense, check-it-off type people purely doing what is in the assignment box and moving on. So, if you add to the discussions or enjoy bunny trails, the times will vary! Also, this year I will be using RTR with my 6th grade son who is very creative and distractible. So, I expect his times to be somewhat longer, especially at first! Anyway, this will give you a guideline as you get underway.

Also, if you are new to our programs, or to a Charlotte-Mason style education, you can expect a training period of about 2-4 weeks at the beginning of the year where your times will be longer and your child will need you more. However, after the training, the time will really fall off of your schedule, once the child gets used to the pacing and design of the guide. We found this to be very true with both CTC and RTR as we did them with our boys last year, even with our sweet distractible child!

RTR (Left Side of the Plans):
Reading About History: (30-35 min. including reading and assignment)
Storytime: (15-20 min.)
History Project: (20 min.)
Rotating Box: (20 min.) Longer on the Shakespeare Day
Independent History Study: (10-15 min.) (Longer on Draw and Write days)

RTR (Right Side of the Plans):
Bible Quiet Time: (20 min.)
Math: (30-35 min.)
Science: (25-30 min.)
Rotating Box: Art Appreciation (15-20 min.), Devotional Bible Study (20 min. - twice weekly), Poetry (10-15 min.)
Language Arts (not all areas are done daily):
Dictation (5 min.) 3 times weekly
Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons: (20 min.) 3 times weekly
Drawn into the Heart of Reading: (30-40 min.) 3 times weekly
Grammar: (20 min.) 2 times weekly (much done orally)

2. In the later years, spelling is learned through dictation done the CM way. A child studies the dictation passage, the parent goes over any words or areas that seem difficult having the child writing them down if necessary. Then the parent dictates the passage phrase by phrase while the child writes it down. All words, punctuation, etc. have to be correct to move on to count that passage as correct and move on to the next passage the next day. A passage is repeated for as many days as necessary to get it all correct. This helps the dc see the passage/words in their mind with the correct spelling. You can do a search on the board here and find out lots more about dictation.

3, 4, and 5. Carrie has discussed some of what she will do in the high school guides and the idea of meeting deadlines was in the discussion but I don't think it has been decided exactly how this will be handled. To read more of what has been discussed about the future high school guides, you can read through this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12802 Since the exact guides haven't been completed for high school yet, I don't know if anyone can answer these questions. Carrie will be the best one to guide you on this.

6. I think for grammar, I would consider putting your 6th grader in R&S5 at the highest. R&S is pretty rigorous and there is no need to start higher than 5. In RTR the second half of level 4 or 5 is scheduled for those that have done the first half in CTC. You are on target to complete through level 6 by doing level 5 full speed this year (or do the second half as scheduled) and the first 1/2 of 6 in Rev2Rev and the second 1/2 of 6 in MTMM. The goal with HOD is to complete level 6 by 8th grade and then cover level 7 and 8 in high school.

I hope that helps a little. Welcome to HOD!

Posted: **Sun Feb 17, 2013 2:31 pm**

Thank you! This was helpful, both for the spelling and grammar. I appreciate your time!

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New with a few questions

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