English placement for 10 and 11 yo

[jjdmathnut]

We have always used HOD and are gearing up for RtR this year! However, I have never used the English recommended by HOD but may want to this year. Is it too late to jump into Rod and Staff English? My boys will be 10 (5th grade) and 11 (6th grade) at the start of this school year. We've never diagrammed a sentence! The past few years, we have been using Emma Serl's Intermediate Language Lessons and some supplemental grammar workbooks. So...could someone give me advice about at what level to put them?

[Jennymommy]

I would probably start with English 4 this year, a lesson a day and go from there. Then do English 5 with RevtoRev, and English 6 with MTMM. That will set you up for WG and beyond at half speed Are you also doing medieval writing lessons? That program took me a bit to get figured out, so do spend some time getting to know it before diving in with the kids

[jjdmathnut]

OK, that was helpful; thanks! I need to get everything ordered so I can start looking through it and planning for fall! I feel a bit overwhelmed at the thought of the medieval writing lessons, but we will give it our best shot

[Nealewill]

To share a secret.....I feel a bit overwhelmed too But to be honestly, every product Carrie has scheduled, AS LONG AS I follow her schedule, the work is NEVER overwhelming! For me, that is fantastic. I have completed Preparing and CTC with my oldest and she always starts when she is on the youngest end of the age range. She has always done everything very well. As long as your both of your kids place into R2R, then you will have a great year and your kids will do very well. If your 10 year old doesn't quite place and you want to keep the kids together, then I would do CTC instead. If you ever need to modify in HOD for a younger child, you will always need to modify. Also - modifying actually kind of hurts in the long run because you lose out on some of the skills that each guide is trying to teach. I am not saying they don't both place there I am guessing that you have probably done that research already and know which guide to use. I am just merely offering that bit of information just in case.

[Jennymommy]

Boy, I was distracted when I read this. I also want to make sure of the placement for your younger ds. As Daneale said, it is wise to look at all the skills and place accordingly. As the kids move forward, you want them well prepared to handle the highschool load. If ds is 10 in RtR, he would be 13 doing WG for 7 hours a day. Will he be ready for highschool then? Only you can answer that, but we want to make sure you have a fantastic and successful year Remember that HOD is meant to be taught to each child at their level and is not like MFW, for instance, where you teach many kids of all levels together.