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I've written in the past about how we never seem to finish R&S English in the 15 minutes that was given as a general time frame. I've gotten good feedback, but I'm here again after taking an hour to get through an assignment today! It was a review and by the time we did all of the oral part together and much of the written part orally, it was already 45 minutes. (And that's with doing the blackboard diagramming "in the air" to save time.) Then, my ds still had the written portion to do. I realize that a review is longer than the normal assignments, and I realize my ds might just be a slower worker, but still, an hour seems awfully long.

One question I have is whether you do all of the oral section with your child (not the five oral review questions, but the oral section that is part of the assignment) and also have him do all of the written. Today, for example, we did the oral, but then the written was almost identical. It seemed like I was having my ds do double the work. I have to be honest that I'm really having a hard time understanding how anyone is able to do all of the oral and all of the written in just 15 minutes. I'd love to know the secret. (And yes, we do 1/2 to 2/3 of the written orally, in case someone was wondering. )

I'm also struggling on writing assignment days, as they seem to take much longer, and I usually need two days for each of the writing assignments. I have my ds write his story, then I correct it and go over it with him. Then I have him re-write it correctly. I was wondering how other folks do the writing assignments.

Which level are you doing?

lucsch wrote:Which level are you doing?

We're finishing up R&S 4.

Ah, well, we have only used through R&S 3, so it is good to have a heads up on the time it is taking for you. We will be doing it full-speed with Preparing.

daybreaking,

We do the 5 oral questions at the beginning of each lesson, and then we do the entire lesson. However, we do most of the entire lesson orally. This means that we do the sections marked as "Written Exercises" orally too. I only choose one small section in each lesson to have my kiddos do in writing. To do the written exercises orally, I just have my kiddos say the answers instead of writing them. I often read the sentences aloud in the exercises, and then have my child quickly say the answers right after me. My reading parts aloud to them keeps their attention and keeps the lesson moving quickly. Before the lesson begins, however, I have my kiddos read the first part of the lesson to themselves. This way they are prepared for what is to come.

We often diagram together on the white board, moving very quickly through the lesson. I might just draw the diagram lines and have my kiddos point and say where the various words will go. This procedure has allowed us to keep Rod and Staff English very manageable. Even at the upper levels like English 6-8, we are moving very quickly through the lesson and not exceeding 30-40 min. total on most days for both oral and written work. It is true though that review lessons and writing days take longer.

I do think another factor around English 4 is that students have not really cemented their English skills yet, so their answering doesn't come as quickly. They are having to think harder to remember and English is not naturally a part of their skill-base yet. So, for some kiddos it may take longer at the English 4 and 5 level until they become more familiar with what is being asked of them. Don't despair! If your lessons are running long, you could do evens or odds for awhile. However, in the long haul I'd try not to make skipping a practice. I would set a goal not to exceed 30 min. at this stage. If you see you are coming close to that time and are not done for the day, omit any written work and just do it all orally. This is another technique I use when running behind.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie already gave such a helpful answer! I'll just add that we too utilize the markerboard a lot, even on diagramming heavy days. Once we got to R & S English 4, I did notice an increase in time. Probably took us about 25-30 minutes on average, I believe, with Review days and Writing days taking a bit longer. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie