Half speed

[Mbrand]

Sounds silly, I'm sure. But, how do you go half speed?

I asked some questions on another post about placement and several ladies said that I should start out half speed. But, I'm not sure how to do it. Would you just do the left page one day and the right page the next? Or would you do half of each page every day?

[StephanieU]

Half sites is getting one day of the guide done over two physical days. When starting a guide, I normally​try to mix the fun boxes with the not so fun boxes. So it isn't exactly left/right. The right side is mostly skill, so we do half one day and half the next. Same with the left side.

If you are going half speed for more than a month or so, you would want to do math and some language arts daily (daily reading and writing at least). But if you are only going half sites until you get used to the new guide, doing math and LA daily is not necessary.

[Mbrand]

That's what I was thinking. Otherwise you'd have an easy/fun day and then a hard day. I'm thinking I might get hives only doing math 2 or 3 times a week, but in your experience it works out okay through the year?

[StephanieU]

We do half speed over the summer, so I am fine with 2-3 days a week. My kids actually finish a level in less than a year (we use Horizons, which has 160 lessons plus 16 tests).

[HSMom]

I have a question to tack onto this... I've read (here & other posts) that when you do half speed you should still do LA/math every day. But how do you do this? Wouldn't you end up ahead in the guide for LA & math?

Thanks!

[StephanieU]

It depends on the guide you are in and how long you are going half speed. Singapore math is advanced, so if your child is at the young end of the age range, then it is okay to do math every other day. If you are at the middle or older age, you want to do math daily. In the latest guides, there aren't activities. It is just pages to do each day (Singapore 2B is the last one with activities). For phonics/reading, it is already at your pace. When it comes to grammar, only Beyond has the lessons in the guide. Starting in Bigger, it is page numbers to do in Rod and Staff English. So again it is easy to do it daily if needed, as it is almost always a lesson a day. And Dictation/spelling is similar to phonics - at the child's pace.

Does that makes sense?

[Home_Mama]

Sometimes we do half speed if our outside-school life is too overwhelming or if the kids are sick. For math and English I will have them do half lessons each day. For Rod and Staff English we read the lesson together and do the oral work on the first day and then I have them do the written work on the second day. For math also, we spilt the lesson so we complete an entire lesson in two days. That way it keeps the material fresh in their minds and we are moving forward at a slower pace.