MtMM and Literature for 9th grade

[jjn3beans]

I've been mapping out dd12's progression through HOD. She's in RtR now. I was confident with using MtMM for 9th grade except literature. Since she'll only get through 3 of the high school guides, she'll miss Brit Lit, and she needs this in our state for graduation. Any ideas on how to accomplish this?

-Choose easier Brit Lit selections for her age (9th grade), using DITHOR or analysis guides found elsewhere?
-Do the lit from the next guide up every year, starting in 9th grade? (MtMM plus the WG lit?) I might not mind doing this, IF it doesn't mess up the beautiful flow of HOD, tying together with history.
-Something else?

Thanks for helping me think this part through.

[Tabitha]

Carrie and the Ladies here have just helped me a ton in this arena, and I am confident they will pop in here.

First, great that you are looking ahead. There is a way that you can combine 5 books from the WG guide and 5 books from the WH guide to make a Brit Lit course. You do need to look ahead to do this since some of the titles for this option would be in the 'boy' selection of one of the guides. How to do this is mentioned here, and scroll down to the 9th post in the thread:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15016.

As far as MTMM, you can use the books in this guide for 9th grade literature. The best way is using DITHOR with high school level books. I believe you'd want to read all the genres.

My dd is finishing up the WG guide now. I like leaving that literature where it is. If that is your gut instinct as well, taking advantage of using DITHOR in MTMM is a wonderful option to have.

Searching through the various 'beef up' threads for MTMM and doing a search for 'Brit Lit' on the forum should yield more info for both of these topics.

[jjn3beans]

Thanks! If I read correctly in the link, I have to find some reading for 9th grade lit and leave the Brit lit selections in WG and WH? And it will be enough? What will she read for lit in 9th then during MtMM? Wondering what would the English credits be named then for 9th grade through 12th if starting in MtMM?

Also, I think I read somewhere that Carrie said MtMM was enough American history for 1 credit or is it just 1/2 credit? I'm just new to this credit worthiness thing, and need to figure it out.

[my3sons]

MTMM with extensions is worth 1 full credit. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[jjn3beans]

So with extensions it is worth 1 credit for literature, as well as 1 credit for history?

[Carrie]

Julie,

The history with extensions in MTMM would be worth 1 full credit. To earn the English credit you would need to combine the Rod and Staff English level your student is doing (English 6 is scheduled in MTMM, but is very advanced so we typically use it for 8th graders), plus the composition scheduled in MTMM (which is Write with the Best II - and is definitely high school worthy), plus the literature you choose to do. If you desired to keep the guides intact coming up, you would do Drawn into the Heart of Reading for your literature portion with either the level 7/8 book pack or with harder selections of your own choosing. Either would work for grade 9. Together the grammar/composition/literature would equal one English credit for grade 9.

If you did desire to borrow the literature from the guide ahead, the only potential problem I foresee is that you may at times need to borrow the full English credit from the next guide up in order to keep the needed balance. For MTMM, you could either use the writing program as written and borrow just the literature from the World Geography guide, or if the composition and grammar from the World Geography seemed a better fit than the composition and grammar in MTMM, then you could borrow those from the Geography Guide as well.

The following year you would borrow the literature from the World History Guide. Depending on what you did for composition and grammar the previous year, we would then decide whether to also borrow the grammar and composition from the World History guide or use what was scheduled in the World Geography Guide. So, you definitely have options.

One thing that will make a difference in how you handle literature will be how well your student does in this area and whether she is used to reading quite a volume on her own each day. There is quite a difference in volume between what is read for Drawn into the Heart of Reading and what is read for literature in the World Geography guide. There is also a difference in level of difficulty, vocabulary, and in the level of literary analysis.

Feel free to share a bit more about your daughter as a reader, so we can help you talk through the option that may suit her best.

Blessings,
Carrie

[jjn3beans]

Thanks for the followup! My DD that will use this for 9th grade is dyslexic, and while she reads on grade level, she has to work extra hard to do so. Until this year, I have read all her history, science, and a read aloud to her, while she read mainly historical fiction novels to herself with questions. This year she is reading most of history herself, science by herself, and the DITHOR books herself. She has a hard time with step-by-step directions, which we are working on. We're on unit 7 of RtR, and she has improved in reading directions, but still gets confused. We haven't used the left side of the guide except the written/oral narrations and storytime instructions. I already had another program when we decided to switch and couldn't take the loss of money/switch to full RtR (though I wish we could have). This DD has been apathetic in the past, not caring and only doing j.u.s.t. what was required of her. Anyway, does this help any?

PS: I had two main reasons of switching to HOD. I fearfully decided to switch after 7 years with another curriculum. One was because my girls became very passive in their learning with our previous curriculum/style and the second reason was I felt the passiveness was "leaking" over to their relationship with the Lord. At 7-1/2 weeks in, I will say that both of my older DDs are not as passive, and they are engaging with the material more with HOD's teaching! I was skeptical when seeing people rave about HOD, but now that we've dipped our feet in, I have become one that raves. Even if it is silently to myself, I am elated with how this is working for us. In fact, the girls beg me to switch totally over to HOD (which we will next year in Rev to Rev). Surprisingly, it's not because it's easier. On the contrary, it is much more challenging than before. It leads me to believe that the reason they want more is because they are interested and engaged. Bravo!!

[my3sons]

...PS: I had two main reasons of switching to HOD. I fearfully decided to switch after 7 years with another curriculum. One was because my girls became very passive in their learning with our previous curriculum/style and the second reason was I felt the passiveness was "leaking" over to their relationship with the Lord. At 7-1/2 weeks in, I will say that both of my older DDs are not as passive, and they are engaging with the material more with HOD's teaching! I was skeptical when seeing people rave about HOD, but now that we've dipped our feet in, I have become one that raves. Even if it is silently to myself, I am elated with how this is working for us. In fact, the girls beg me to switch totally over to HOD (which we will next year in Rev to Rev). Surprisingly, it's not because it's easier. On the contrary, it is much more challenging than before. It leads me to believe that the reason they want more is because they are interested and engaged. Bravo!!

HOORAY!!! I was so happy to read this! Engaging in the material... more challenging but girls are still ALL IN... more interested... mom raving about HOD and sharing the joy with others... ALL WORTH CELEBRATING!!! Thanks for letting us know how it's going, and may the Lord continue to give you little blessings like this all year long.

In Christ,
Julie