Considering switching to HOD for 2015/2016 - Placement ?'s

[tkbbmom24]

Hi! We are considering switching to HOD for our next school year but have some placement questions. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

What we are considering: World Geography for our 16 yo ds that will be a Jr. He has primarily used SL with some tweaks With the exception of MFW ECC with WP Animal Worlds and Sky and Sea. This year we are using Biblioplan Year 4 w/ MOH IV and adding in 20th century decade summaries ala SL and some SL materials from Core 300. He uses CLE English I and Literature I along w/ living books using either oral narration or Lit guides from BIP. He is in Chemistry using DIVE Chemistry w/ the internet textbook, Queen's Further Investigations, Chem 101, some Apologia and living books. He uses RS for Spanish; TT Geometry, and then he has electives of Windows Programming and Robotics I. He will have the following credits by the end of the year: Engl I, Engl II; Alg I, Alg II, Geometry; Honors American History, Honors Modern World History; Honors Physical Science, Honors Bio, Honors Chem - he'll finish w/ Honors Adv Chem by Dec. 2016; PE; Intro to Engineering & Design; Robotics I; Windows Programming; Keyboarding; Intro to Art History; Spanish I.

He is interested in doing Geography and World Religions for next school year. He needs to do something for the Engl III credit at home - probably will continue w/ CLE w/ living books added in like we've been doing. He'll probably do Physics when we finish Chemistry or he might go ahead and do dual enrollment. He'll move to the Community College for math and probably Spanish.

He is strong in math, science and reading but weak in writing - he loves history and is like a sponge for anything he hears. He is gifted but his ADHD, dyslexia and dysgraphia get in the way

For our 11 yo that will be 6th grade I'm torn between Preparing and CTC. Like his siblings, he's gifted, loves anything to do with history, especially Egyptian and Greek ancient history. But, unlike his siblings he's not been a fan of most school -- he sees it as slowing him down He's probably more ADHD than his 16 yo brother, but not as dyslexic/dysgraphic -- but, well, let's just say he's got lots of quirks due to SPD. He's clearly the baby and we've all babied him due to the fact that he's our miracle kiddo that stopped breathing numerous times as a baby and has had more ER visits in 11 years than I can count due to asthma and allergic reactions. We started using CLE this year for LA, Math, Reading, Bible and he's doing Biblioplan w/ SOTW IV and MOH IV. We were doing Science like I had with his older siblings which was just lots of living books, Queen's Discovering Nature and plenty of experiments - then he found AOP Lifepac Science 5 (go ahead and roll your eyes because I did ) at a local homeschool used book store and he's loving it.

When I look at the placement suggestions I'm not sure. He's only becoming more independent this year, partly because of the CLE. He's great with copywork and actually enjoys it, but he does copywork in print and not cursive. Due to his SPD he has difficulty seeing cursive writing as a whole and instead sees individual parts so it was very frustrating for him. He is doing Cursive using something from CLE and he's finally producing correct formations. I see him as being able to do the reading, but baulking at it. The writing I'm not sure about - he can produce simple paragraphs of 3-5 sentences but it's not something he readily does. He's very much a perfectionist and is afraid of writing for fear it will be wrong. He does like to create stories on the computer though for fun

So do you think I'm on the right track w/ placement for either ds?

[MelInKansas]

I would say I can maybe help guide you with the younger one but not the older as I am not as familiar with the HS guides or what is needed at that level.

It does sound like maybe CTC is a good fit for that younger one. One thing I would caution you is to NOT focus on what is being studied but really on the skill level the child needs to have for the guide. So don't choose WG because he wants to do Geography, make sure he is ready for all of it before you go with that. I think a lot of people make the mistake of picking their program based on what part of History they want to study and then have problems, because the skills build on one another and the program is much much easier to use if your child is placed correctly.

[Carrie]

Hello! Welcome to the HOD Board!

In looking at placement for your kiddos, I think that you are on the right path. With your oldest son, I do think he could benefit from the World Geography Guide, keeping in mind that since the target age range is for ages 13-15 extending to 16-17 year olds that he will be on the older age range of extending. This is fine, as the course is very solid. It just means that a few of the activities may seem a bit on the young side. I would still encourage you to have your son do the plans as written, simply because each activity truly does have a purpose. Plus, the writing required in the guide will actually feel like quite a bit when compared to what it sounds like he has been doing in the past.

From what you've shared thus far, it sounds like your son could benefit from the World Geography portion, the World Religion & Culture's study, the Essentials in Writing: Grade 10, and possibly even the literature in the guide. If desired, you could instead continue with CLE for his English credit, but it is worth looking at the English credit in the World Geography Guide to see if that may fit your son instead. The Deeper Roots Bible study along with Practical Happiness for Bible would be another excellent credit to earn and subject matter to include. Both are scheduled in the World Geography Guide. If your son has not already done Logic, then the Logic package would be another excellent credit to pursue that is also already scheduled in your World Geography Guide.

In looking at the following year, your son would then progress into the World History Guide. I also think this sounds like a good fit, and the writing and plans within the World Geography Guide will prepare your son for the World History Guide. Additionally, the literature in the World History Guide, combined with Essentials in Writing: Grade 11 and Rod and Staff English would be an excellent combination for his English IV credit. I would highly recommend you utilize those parts of the World History plans. Also, you could use the Old Testament Bible Survey with Pilgrim's Progress scheduled within the guide for Bible credit, and use the Health portion for a semester credit in health. If he has any Fine Arts credit needed left to earn, he could also utilize that portion of the World History Guide's plans.

For your 11 year old, I am wavering between Preparing and CTC. I am leaning toward Preparing, simply because of what you've shared thus far about your son's writing skills and his reluctance in reading. I guess I need a bit more information to gain a more accurate picture of your 11 year old. So, I'll ask a few more questions. Is he currently doing his own reading of SOTW and MOH in Biblioplan, or are you reading aloud those texts? Does he do any of his own reading right now for school subjects? How often and much would you say your 11 year old is writing each day right now? How much would you say he is reading daily right now? What level of CLE is he doing, and how much of the writing within that program is he doing? If you get a chance to answer these questions that would really help us advise you better.

Blessings,
Carrie

[tkbbmom24]

MelinKansas and Carrie - thank you for your thoughts!

Carrie, the Geography/World Religions program would probably be the only HOD program that our 16 yo uses because the only credits he would need his Sr. year would be Govt/Econ and Engl IV-British Lit. I will take a look at the Engl components for Geography, but I'm not sure that I could justify to the NCAA using two programs labeled for 10th grade since I'm already using CLE's 9th and 10th grade material. I had considered looking at the BJU 11th material to compare w/ CLE's 11th - do you think I could sub their 11th grade into the Geography plans easily? I had planned to use the Logic Portion and just add it into his math credit -- we've done some logic, but from what I recall at least one of the resources listed he has used. I never give a separate logic credit we simply include it as part of math.

For my 11 yo, he is completing CLE 300 and 400 this year because coming from Queen's LA he wasn't familiar with some of the skills needed on the placement test and I decided it was better to give him a year to bolster his independence and desire to like school If there is a writing assignment within the LA he typically does it independently, although sometimes he wants to talk through it first or type it on the computer. He does write stories on his own and illustrates them - he likes to write about Ancient Egypt, Greek Mythology and timetravel/science fiction type things.

As far as reading on his own, he only reads for enjoyment and whatever books I assign him or that is in the CLE reading curriculum. Right now I also have him reading the books that you listed for 2/3 grade for DITHOR just to get his feet wet with the concept. They are below his reading level, but I was more interested in getting him accustomed to reading the book and completing the DITHOR workbook pages since up until this he only read and gave me oral narrations. If it's something he's interested in he'll read for a long period of time - if it's typical school topics that hold no interest he zones out quickly.

History and science I do as read alouds - with the exception of some books I have him read for science for enrichment. I would probably continue to do history and science as primarily read alouds - it's just been what I've always done with my kids as long as they would let me DD hated to be read her material, but my last two boys are strong auditory learners so they both still love it.

[my3sons]

Hi! Carrie had such good ideas already for your older ds. We did the WG course, along with all of its electives, and whatever components you use, I am certain you would enjoy them, as would your ds. The half credit logic elective was a favorite of our son's last year. In fact, he still quotes the fallacies he learned as we are driving past billboards, watching tv commercials, or reading advertisements. For your 11 yo, from what you have just shared, I would think PHFHG would be a good placement for him. This is good news, as PHFHG is simply a wonderful guide! In PHFHG, you retain the History Economy Package readings, as well as the Basic Package readings. The student reads short increments of the Independent History books, as well as short science readings. About 1/3 of PHFHG is teacher-directed, 1/3 semi-independent, and 1/3 independent. This balance is so nice! Two of our sons have completed PHFHG, and it really helped them take on a little independence successfully. They felt their confidence grow, as they took on some independence. Their comprehension of the material they were reading improved, as did their writing. Reading the science terminology themselves as they read their books helped them spell those newly learned words properly in their writing assignments that followed. Likewise, reading a small portion of their history themselves helped them better comprehend it, retain it, and apply it to their subsequent assignments. Learning to follow some directions independently helped them move forward in their learning without always waiting on ME! But, I still retained the bulk of the history readings and the basic package history readings. This was a happy medium, and a nice transition into subsequent guides in which the student is older and more mature, and therefore responsible for more of the reading and increased writing in the day to day assignments. Some of our very favorite books are in PHFHG - "Grandpa's Box," "Tirzah," "Raiders of the Sea," "Triumph for Flavius," and the list could go on and on! I think your ds would probably move into DITHOR 4/5 then, as he will have probably completed DITHOR 2/3. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie