heartofdakota.com

I have a 7th grader who has been doing Res to Ref this year. The type of work is a good level for her, but the volume has been somewhat of a struggle. Since we have a 2 day per week co-op, we are probably only going to get about half-way done with it this year.

Looking ahead, I am seeing that she will not have time for any additional pass through world history. However, she has not had ancient world history since about 3rd grade. I am wondering if it would be practical or useful to drop back to CTC next year, with extensions, just so she will get that previous time period. I'm thinking perhaps we could save the latter half of Res to Ref, from where it starts using MOH3, for the future, giving her a chance to get back up to speed with the more challenging level before moving on to Rev to Rev, probably in 9th grade.

Is this a feasible option, or will going back now handicap her later?

How far has she made it through R2R? I think that if she is struggling a bit, you could go backwards. But if it seems like she is breezing through, then you might not want to go back. CTC was definitely a step down in challenge from R2R IMHO. Interesting, very! But it is less work. I know you mentioned adding in the extensions. That might make it enough of a challenge though. Does your dd like to read a lot? Adding in the extension books would definitely extend the reading part of the day.

She's only on week 13--it took her awhile to figure out the "system," if that makes sense. She would read the assigned pages but miss the rest of the instructions, so I had to keep going back over and over. We are really only managing a half-time rate, about 2 days' worth per week.

She has finally figured out how to do the written narrations well, and is also doing well with the postcards. She doesn't like the history projects, so we often skip those. She LOVES the Diana Warring tapes--has listened to them over and over to the point that she can quote fairly large sections (like Pope Urban's entire speech!) verbatim. She doesn't love the maps but has finally figured out that, yes, she has to do them!

She likes to read but is a bit slow at it, and she got really bogged down in DITHOR, so we finally dropped that. (I will use the concept of genres from it, but she will read and narrate instead of all the worksheets.) She has learned to love books from her big sisters, but sometimes bites off more than she can chew, and is not an aggressive or fast reader like her big sisters were.

If it helps you understand at all, we came to HOD from Sonlight, which has a LOT of reading and good discussion but little written work and very few projects. We don't love the projects anyway and can do our own reading, but the writing has been a big step up for her. She has learned to love books from her big sisters, but sometimes bites off more than she can chew, and is not an aggressive or fast reader like her big sisters were. I think she is mildly dyslexic, so she doesn't gain as much from just reading as her sisters did. I think the notebooking helps her to process more than just reading.

She does really like HOD, and wants to do it in the future.

If we do this, she'll work some in the summer (which we usually do anyways), do CTC in the fall, probably do Rev to Rev in 9th grade, MtMM in 10th, and Geography in 11th. She may well do dual enrollment in 12th, and will need government at some point, but I'm not afraid of her lacking high school level work--HOD is pretty challenging, imho. (She's my 4th homeschooled child, and I"m not at all concerned about the level of work in HOD being enough! )

I had started DD13 in CTC for g7, we did 8 weeks and had to change curriculum to meet provincial PLOs. I put her back in it this dec of G8 because we just plain missed the Jesus pressence in it, the well laid out days, and the incremental improvements I saw in my children using HOD. I have her doing the extension reading and she is LOVING the reads. She would tell you the written narration box is her unfavourite, but since she figured out all she needs to do is start answering Carrie's Q's for that days reading... it unfreezes her writing block! Happy girl, happy Mama. I recommend CTC for a 14yo. It is a good amount of work for us, and she is growing in her language arts skills, becoming an avid reader, and an enjoyer of ancient history and bible. She will move into RTR when we are done. She is on the older end of the guide recommendation but right where she needs to be. It is meaty enough for certain. I think your plan to pause, then go back and carry on is a good one. You probably have that mama gut feeling on it and if so, I encourage you to follow it. It is not in flattery or simply in passing that I say, we have been purely blessed in our home school to be using HOD. It really is a curriculum that you can KNOW what ever guide you are in, your child is being decipled spiritually and nurtured academically. May The Lord bless your home school.

What encouragement is here - I think you have received excellent advice to ponder, and I hope you've been able to make your decision moving forward. God bless!

In Christ,
Julie