Hi Maria! R & S English 4 and 5 are scheduled at half-speed in the RTR Guide. R & S English is super advanced! R & S English 7 and 8 are high school credit worthy, and are scheduled across the 4 HOD high school guides along with high school level lit/comp for English credit. Here is what Carrie has to say about RTR's R & S English (taken from HOD's website)...
http://www.heartofdakota.com/rtr_hearts ... ckages.php
For English, customize with the options below (or use your own text). Both texts below are scheduled in our guide at half-speed to allow more time for writing instruction.
Note: 7th - 8th grade students who have had significant grammar instruction may choose to use English 6 instead. This text is not scheduled within the Resurrection to Reformation Teacher’s Guide, but lessons are divided into days within the Rod and Staff text for ease of use.
I would only do R & S 7 for 2 days a week with an 8th grader, as this is an advanced pace already. You can just do it on the days that R & S English 4 and 5 are scheduled half-pace in your RTR guide, planning to get through half of 7 this year.
As far as dictation, there are wonderful important instructions at the start of each level of dictation passages to follow. As far as placement, in a good placement, a student is probably missing a passage a week or two. If they never miss a passage for months on end, it's too easy. If they miss a passage daily, it's too hard. You can start at the beginning of a level to test it out for a few weeks, and then adjust by moving up or down 25-50 passages as needed. Once a benchmark starting place is best determined, it is best just to keep steadily moving forward. The best starting place for your oldest will be impacted by how much dictation that student has had in the past, as well as how strong of a student he/she is in LA. I'd start easier and move up if needed personally. It's always easier to go 'up' than 'down'! HTH!
In Christ,
Julie