Placement help 4th grader 9 1/2 yr.old

[renee]

Hello. I was wondering if someone could confirm for me my placement decision. I have a child who will be 9 1/2 yrs. old going into 4th grade. He is reading 4th grade level books, but he likes to read in small doses (7 pages). I would not say he is a fast reader, but he does comprehend what he is reading. His end of the year test results were right on target. For grammer, we have worked through half of Rod and Staff 3/orally. We have completed Spelling Workout C. For math we use Teaching Textbooks 3, and we have already started the 4th grade level this summer. For cursive we have been working slowly through A Reason For Handwriting. We are still working on cursive letter formation and writing words in cursive, but he cannot write a full sentence in cursive,yet. My big issue is the writing involved in Preparing. He is a reluctant writer, but can form a solid sentence. We have practiced small paragraph writing (3 sentences long). He pretty much complains through the whole thing, but can write a decent sentence. He dictates the sentences to me, and I write it on the board. He then copies it down. My concern is two or three sentences seems to be his limit. He writes neat and copies accurately, but I am not sure how he will react to the copywork in Preparing. I want to make sure this is just not me wanting to have an "easier" year! LOL!

Do you think we should start with Preparing? I would greatly appreciate any advice!

Thank you,

Renee

[MomtoJGJE]

I'm really not sure.... Writing wise it sounds like he's more on par for Bigger. Maybe you could do Preparing half speed for a while to get him used to the amount of reading and writing he will be doing?

A lot of times with my kids if the GUIDE tells them to do something they are way less reluctant to do it than if *I* am telling them to do it.

[renee]

I could start half speed. Maybe I will start in July and see how it goes.

Thank you for your help!

If anyone else has any thought or advice, I would love to hear from you!

Thank you

Renee

[StephanieU]

My daughter definitely balks a lot less if the instructions are coming from a book and not me. Do you think he could grow into the reading and writing in Preparing in a few months? Going half speed for a while is fine, but you wouldn't want it to be the long term solution. We are doing Bigger half speed while my daughter adjusts to the writing (and we enjoy some what of a break). Most families go half speed for at least a few weeks. A few months definitely isn't uncommon.

[renee]

I think he could grow into the amount required for reading and writing. It would probably take more than a few weeks. If it is not uncommon to do this for the first month or so, I guess it may be possible. So I would do one side of the guide one day and the other side the next? Doing grammar and math every day, correct?

Thanks!

[Gwenny]

When is his birthday? What kinds of books is he reading? I'm not sure you should overlook Bigger just yet.

[Jennymommy]

Also, consider whether he will be able to do the next guide completely the year following. It may be better to do Bigger with DITHOR, expecting that all activities will be completed as the guide dictates . There will be plenty to challenge him and prepare him for upper level guides.

[renee]

His birthday is March. 30th. He will be 10. Looking at the next guide, I am really questioning my decision.
I have the HOD book list from the website. I usually pick books from that list. If he is not reading from that list, he is reading ABeka readers. I wouldn't say he enjoys reading. He is not the type of kid to pick up a book and read it just for fun. He does read fluently, though. It is just the writing that is the big question.

He meets the age, reading, and grammar requirements in Preparing. Just not sure how much I can get out of him with the writing portion.

Maybe I should look at Bigger? He would definitely do DIHOR 2/3 and continue with R&S 3.

Renee

[renee]

JennyMommy, I did peek at the next guide after Preparing. I feel that is a lot of writing! I may have to consider starting with Bigger. It's confusing when they fit half into one guide and half into another.

Thank you.

[StephanieU]

Just a note about DITHOR: Most families use the 2/3 workbook with Preparing and either Bigger or CtC. Level 2 books are 3rd grade level reading. Level 3 books are mostly 4th grade reading levels. So, you would want to confirm that you need level 4/5, as those are 5th grade reading level or higher.

[renee]

Thank you so much for clearing that up for me. I would have ordered the wrong level book package. I had no idea!

Renee

[Nealewill]

It may seem like a lot of writing in Preparing but the day is very balanced. There is a lot more copy work than individual writing. When I did it with my dd last year, I was also worried about the volume of writing. It all worked out just fine. As for CTC, I would say that writing wasn't much different between CTC and Preparing. It was a little bit more but my dd didn't balk at it. To me, CTC has more reading than Preparing. But I will say, she was very much prepared for CTC when she finished Preparing

Either way you go, you will hopefully love both. For me, I chose Preparing because I do like to push them a little. I do agree that school shouldn't be traumatically hard. But I also do want to get the a nudge to get them moving forward. My kids usually have to go half paced for about a month or two. And then it seems like by week 10, they are literally flying through their guides. For me, this works well.

Also - I did use the level 2/3 student book when my dd completed Preparing last year. We had a few genres to finish up this year (you only do 5 per year but we finished a couple over the summer leaving 2 to finish up this year) and I went with the level 3 book pack. It was a great decision to do that for us. The books were excellent. Even the books between level 2 and level 3 are similar. You could even do the level 2 books if you wanted the reading assignments to be shorter. I have both packs at my house and this year my younger 2 are completing DITHOR together sharing books from each book pack (so each child does some from level 2 and some from level 3).

As for your children not liking to read, my oldest didn't really dig reading much either when we started HOD. My son couldn't read independently at all when I started HOD but my youngest is a reader and she loves it. She always has her nose in a book. With my older two children though, they do love books now. I think it is because HOD picks such excellent books for them to read that my kids are excited about it now. They always beg me to read their story times to them (my youngest reads her story time to herself). And they usually do most of their reading items first because they like it most. My son is reading the Thomas Edison book almost right after he gets up each day. It is his science book and he absolutely loves it. My hope is that books will grown your child too and he will grow to love them also.

[renee]

I just saw your post now! I posted another question, but you actually cleared up my DIHOR question. Thank you!

Renee

[my3sons]

Hi Renee! I just answered another post that has a similar question, so I'll link it here...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16281

In the above thread, take some time to really look at the writing portions of each guide and how they differ. The pictures in the weekly check-in should help you see what may match better too.

Your child will be 9 yo a good portion of the year, so doing BHFHG would be a fine choice if that seems to fit better. Something else to consider - How is your child at independent work? PHFHG assumes dc can do the Science Exploration and the Independent History Study boxes independently, or grow into doing them independently rather soon. The student independently does the reading within these boxes, and then follows directions for assignments/experiments.

Looking at each of the first week of plans of the guides, and paying special attention to the "I" independent boxes in PHFHG may help too. In general, BHFHG will have you partnering alongside your child for most of the work, and PHFHG will have 1/3 of your child's day be independent; 1/3 be semi-independent; and 1/3 be teacher-directed. So, if you foresee your ds wanting you to do all the reading and be by his side the entire time, and this being necessary for him right now, BHFHG is the better choice. If you see your ds rising to the challenge and reading / working / following some directions independently well or doing this fairly well fairly soon if given the chance to grow into a guide, then PHFHG is the better choice, provided he is within reach of achieving the writing requirements of PHFHG. Please share your thoughts when you get a chance! Any more information could really help us better advise you on placement - thanks!

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Here are links to each of the guide's first week of plans too...

BHFHG:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-first-week.pdf

PHFHG:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-sample-week.pdf

Also, here are the time allotments for each of the boxes of plans for each of the guides...
PHFHG time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4244&p=31219#p31219

BHFHG time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=702

HTH!
In Christ,
Julie