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I am looking at unit study programs again.....Long story, I will try to condense
I have a DS 13 that is not performing on grade level, most likely due to my switching around so very much. Please be gentle, as I have been in tears over this.
I think one reason is due to math difficulty. We have finally gone back to MUS and that seems to work the best. We have had to work extra, extra hard with math. We will be starting Epsilon as soon as we finish Delta.

Anyway, the extra time we have to allot for math, makes it hard to fit anything else into our day, but I know we need to do that. We have gone this year from ACE 6th grade paces to BJU 6th grade on DVD for everything , but math. We did not finish either program. BJU worked pretty well, but my son was doing school way into the night and I could not keep that going.
He does not enjoy school at all and hates to read.He doesn't seem to have reading issues, but just isn't interested. He is a very literal guy that just wants to go fishing! I am worried that reading material that is classic will give him trouble.
Otherwise, he is a joy to be around!
I have looked at the placement chart and I'm thinking with HOD, he might place into CTC Grade level really bothers me because I use to be a public school teacher. I know this shouldn't matter, as I'm in a relaxed state for homeschooling. If I go with HOD, what program might work for us. I am really upset that he is not where he needs to be!

Thanks and many blessings!
momofone

O.k., now that I look at the placement chart again....R to R, might be doable. He has written summaries with 8 to 12 sentences. That's a little more info!
Thanks!
momofone

What grade level do you considered your 13 year old supposed to be in now? Do you consider him 7th or 8th?
My ds11 struggles with school so much. He has dyslexia and dysgraphia. When we came back to HOD, I put him in Preparing even though a year and a half ago he had completed through Bigger and then completed K12's 4th and 1/2 of 5th grade. The thing is...he could complete the k12 work but it was deep into the night and he was not happy. He hated school with a passion. Since coming back to HOD, he seems happier. The work is actually helping him to fully gain skills instead of halfheartedly rushing through them to get to the next assignment and get through for the school year. Am I particularly happy that he is going to be doing a guide at 5th/6th grade that his younger sibling will hit in 4th? No, but it is where he needs to be and I know that deep down it is what we should do for this season of his learning.
I do plan to re-evaluate the placement chart each year and I may skip a guide or 2 in the future. Not back to back of course but if after Preparing and CTC he places in Rev2Rev instead of RTR then I will move him. I know that the reason we are going back are gaps and not that he can't work on grade level in everything. We are filling in the gaps and going from there. I am hoping to at least make it to MTMM by 9th grade, but I am taking it a year at a time.
I hope some of this helps you b/c I know how hard it is as a homeschool parent not to beat yourself up if your child has gaps at a certain point and you have to backtrack to fill in those gaps. I just want you to know almost all of us have been there especially when we change curriculum.

Sounds like you have a lot going on with your thoughts First, don't ever give the Devil so much control over you. I have felt like a failure at times and I was almost in tears. But in reality, I just gave the Devil a strong hold to hold me back. So please - first tell the Devil he has no right over you and needs to leave!

Next, I would really assess the placement chart for your son. If he places solidly in CTC, that is honestly what I would do with him next year. HOD is written so that kids do a lot of stuff independently. And even though they have suggested age ranges, most kids I know don't do the program at the lowest age range necessarily. Some kids can but not most. CTC may state that a 4th grader could do it but it is a lot of work for a 4th grader! I know many people who automatically plan to use it for 5th or 6th and several members on the board use it for 7th. Also - the books selections chosen are written for various ages. The creative writing was written to a 3rd-12th grade level. Apologia can easily be 6th or 7th grade stuff. And the way HOD uses it is so much better than just doing the History Notebooking. Those Tiner books are written for junior or senior high students to use for science. As for Diana Waring - I know many people who use this for junior high or even 9th or 10th grade. So the books are solid, will interest your son, and will still be age appropriate.

Also - with HOD, the neat thing is that because it is written for different ages, it can easily be adjusted to meet your child where he is. If he is a descent reader and just hates to read, I can honestly say the HOD books are fantastic. I have kids who are not readers at all and they love the books! If he can read and can read quickly, I would probably have him read the extensions. That will bring the workload up to his grade level. But if he is going to struggle with completing the extensions, I would probably skip them this year.

With Draw into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR) I would pick books that are his grade level. Since he isn't familiar with the program I would probably do the level 4/5 guide unless you think he can handle the daily writing with level 6/7/8. If he is a good reader, then you have many options for picking book packs. DITHOR is schedule 3 days a week for 35 weeks so you will only need to complete half of a book pack a year. If you wanted to get him caught up a bit, you could do all 9 books in a year if you wanted. But I probably wouldn't do all 9 books if you do the extensions - especially since you said he hates to read.

As for grammar, I would move to R&S. I don't know what level he places at but I also wouldn't worry about that either. If he places at 4 or 5, then I would just do 4 or 5 and complete 1 level a year. Once he gets to high school, you would then move to completing 1/2 a level per year. Wherever he finishes he finished and I wouldn't worry about it. R&S is very rigorous. So you don't really need to complete through 8 to benefit from the program.

If MUS works, I wouldn't switch. I would try to balance your day with him and his math. I would hate for him to get burnt out and then lose steam from exhaustion. You could definitely go to doing math 6 days week if you need or you could do math over the summer and that might help him get caught up. I would just like to encourage you though in not switching around much. If he is still in elementary math, have him finish with MUS before moving to pre-algebra and algebra. Many people I know who use MUS don't use it past pre-algebra. So that would be a good shopping point. You want to check out Foeresters or start researching but I would try to not jump around. That makes math hard on kids when there is too much jumping. Also, I think as long as he finishes Algebra 2 by high school, he should be fine for math for college. Others with graduates can chime in here. So I don't know if that will help you or not.

Another really neat thing with HOD is that is it written to 4 days per week. What some have done to complete more levels is they do school 5 days week. If you did this, you could finish CTC - MTMM in 3 years instead of 4. Then that would give you time to do 3 out of the 4 high school guides. However, that isn't necessary either. There are many members here who have modified Rev to Rev and MTMM to make it high school worthy and they will only complete 2 of the high school guides. So that is a fantastic option as well. If I were you - I would probably just complete CTC without the extensions next year then the follow year do R2R with extensions. For 9th and 10th grade I would do Rev to Rev and MTMM with extensions and modified to meet other high school electives (like Spanish and Logic). Also with Rev to Rev and MTMM, you could see if your son is ready for high school lit. If yes, you could get the WG guide and up and follow their English plan. If not, then wait. And then for 11th and 12th grade, you would complete World Geography and World History.

I think even though doing CTC may seem like a step back, it isn't! It is a good program and it will challenge your son but not overwhelm him. Since you said R to R might be doable, it makes me think it might also overwhelm him and he may struggle through. You want avoid overload because they are learning a ton of skills, not just the materials studied. And I think completing CTC will help him build some confidence for the future years for the when the workload does get more challenging. I would try not to get hung up about not finishing all of the levels. Many members on here won't finish all of the levels for each child because they have combine kiddos and that is totally fine!

I am sure others will chime in as well and give their thoughts. I do think your son will LOVE CTC! I absolutely love HOD and am so glad we found this gem of a curriculum.

Thanks so much for your caring and thoughtful replies
I will come back to this thread. Right now, I'm trying to pull myself together and do some extensive prayer.
I appreciate the help! I will look into all the suggestions.

momofone

Prayer is your best tool and that's where you should start. I feel like God has always given me wisdom when I have asked, and His plan has worked so much better, God has blessed us as we have sought Him in homeschooling.

Do your best to get over your worry about grade level work. Your son needs you to help him grow in the areas he is working on (it sounds like you have made some progress in math, so hooray for that) and not to stress out over what he should be doing instead. He also doesn't need to be doing school for such long days!! More isn't always better and sometimes kids need maturity in order to conquer new skills, not more practice when they really aren't ready.

I think HOD really helps you balance and shorten your school day without leaving anything out. I am even to a point where I don't care if we finish one guide a year (though as we have moved to the 4 day/week guides I think we will start doing that more often) as long as we are working diligently at it and I see them being challenged at the right level. I am so proud and excited about what my kids are learning in HOD.

Well, you have received some outstanding advice here! The ladies are so encouraging and careful with their advice. Nealewill especially - thank you for all of the time and heart you put into your response here - I think you gave wonderful advice! Prayer is always the best way to begin any decision. If ds can handle it, I'd advise RTR. I think you'd both enjoy that so much - our sons LOVE fishing and are avid outdoorsmen too. The adventure in RTR's great living books pulls our ds's in, and the science experiments and history activities keep the hands-on on component alive that our sons need so much. I think you'd love the varied assessments that RTR provides - no boring humdrum worksheets and fill-in-the-blank stuff. All good follow-ups that keep school interesting and discussions lively! If math is not his thing, that is ok. There are helps for math out there, and God has certainly blessed your ds in other ways that will fulfill His purpose for him. Don't let math govern your day nor steal your joy - do it and move on, there are many adults who do not love math that simply adapt by using calculators and other helps. Ds will be successful in many other ways! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Sorry, it has taken me awhile to get back to this. I will certainly consider RTR. Thank you so much for your heart felt advice! I really appreciate the love here.

Still praying about our situation!
Thanks!

momofone