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I have some questions about the pacing for Rod & Staff English for my children that are combining in guides.

Last year Julie gave me some great help over the phone that lead to the decision to combine my children in pairs in their guides. That has been hands down THE BEST thing we have ever done for our homeschool, and I plan to continue. (Thanks again Julie!) So currently I am running CTC with my 4th and 5th graders, Beyond with my 1st and 2nd graders, and LHTH (half-speed) with my 3 & 4 year old (I also have a 20 month old and a baby due in September!).

I have one question about my 4th grader and one about my 2nd grader.

So for my boys in CTC, the older one (11 years old/5th grade) in on track and doing the first half of English 4 this year. But my 4th grader (almost 10), because he skipped from Bigger to CTC (long story), started into English 3 with CTC. He is really excelling and enjoying CTC! (We are now in unit 20) He does really well with written narrations now and is being able to handle all the independent work. He was struggling for a while with Write With the Best because it was asking him to come up with adverbs when we hadn’t even covered adverbs because he had only just completed English 2. But he has actually really stepped up and is doing much better now. He just wrote a great dialogue with minimal help from me this week!

So my question is not because he is struggling, but just because I’m not sure how I move forward in the future. If we only do half of English 3 this year and half next year, then he won’t start English 4 till Rev to Rev when he is in 6th grade then he will have English 4,5 & 6 to get through by the end of 8th! Since they are combining my older one will hit World Geography for his freshman year but my second son will only be in 8th grade. Just trying to figure out how this works? I know this is looking way ahead.

I have wondered if I should try to do a lesson every day of English 3 so he can start 4 when we start RtoR this fall. But would that be over burdening him on top of WWTB? (We mostly do English all out loud) Or should I just drop WWTB for him and focus on English? (He likes doing it, but he would probably be ok with dropping it). I really think he would like the medieval writing lessons next year so I hate to skip that.

Another thought I had was maybe skip the composition option in Rev2Rev in 6th grade for him but let his older brother do it. That year we can focus on English then he can just do that same program the next year when we do MtoMM and so forth, just always doing the literature and composition from the previous guide while his brother does the guide as written. Then maybe the World Geography guide wouldn’t be as challenging for him during his 8th grade year? And he could use his senior year to just finish up Math, English, literature, and composition?

I am probably way over thinking things here! But I am open to suggestions and ideas. How have other mom’s who have combined dealt with that extra year for their younger kid once they finish all the guides as a junior?

So, secondly, I am wondering how to be proactive in this issue with my next pair. In Beyond, I have an 8 year old son and a daughter who will be 7 this fall. We are in Unit 10 and loving it! These two have combined from the beginning in LHTH and do very well together. They should be ready for Bigger Hearts around the new year (we start all the guides at different times). They are both doing very well with the copy work and spelling, my daughter working through list 1 and my son through list 2. My son already knows the grammar topics in Beyond (because of his phonics program) and I have wondered about going ahead and getting him started in English 2 and then waiting to do it with my daughter till next year. That way as they move forward, he will be in the more advanced placement while she places with the guide as written. I think he could handle it. He had some struggles with reading, but he is now successfully working through the emerging reader set and doing so well! (Yay!) School feels almost too easy for him right now, but I’m happy for him to enjoy another year before the load increases with Bigger Hearts.

I have another question as it relates to reading for this pair but I think I will save it for another thread. Thank you in advance for any thoughts and ideas other may have!

Do you think he can handle adding 2 more days of of R&S a week? If so, I would get through Level 3 ASAP (not doing more than 4 days a week though!). Then, start Level 4 that way. But, as you may have noticed, Level 4 gets hard with the diagramming. So, when you get to that, slow down as needed.

Although the goal is to complete Level 6 by the end of 8th grade, it isn't the end of the world if you don't! My second is definitely not interested in language arts. So, I made the decision to do Level 5 over two guides/years, finishing it at the end of MtMM. We will likely do 6 in high school, but I don't know if I will have him do 7. He is interested in trades or engineering, and I think Level 6 will be more than enough for that.

Bethany, I am so happy to hear your combined pairs are having a wonderful year! I love hearing about all the progress they are each making, and you can be very proud of your fourth grader doing so well in CTC. Skipping a guide is not easy. He really has stepped up to the plate, and you have helped him do that successfully - both of you are to be commended for that!!!

If you did R & S English mainly orally and just had him write a small section only each day, could he do English 3 daily, until he finishes it? Then, move up to 4. Do a lesson a day, maybe until precious baby is born. I would keep going with WWTB - he has made such strides, and we would never sacrifice a writing program for double-timing grammar.

The end goal is to finish R & S English 8 by graduation, and I think we can easily pace that out accordingly, as we see how it's going overall. So much can change year by year, so we need to look at him each year and make the best decision going forward.

I think you can definitely start your 8-year-old son in R & S English 2 now and do a lesson a day, keeping it mainly oral but still writing one small section. That's a wonderful idea!

If you can try to just take it year by year, though I know that can be hard, I know we can keep making good plans going forward. We can look at your younger of the pair (the now 4th grader) each year and choose the best for him going forward, while still keeping what's best for the family in mind too. For now, I think that is daily R & S English 3 and maybe starting 4 until baby arrives, as well as moving forward with WWTB. The stronger writer he becomes the more likely he can stay combined with big brother.

Bethany - you amaze me - I want you to know that. You keep your family moving ahead and learning so much each day, and you do it with such poise and cheerfulness. God has surely chosen you for this very purpose, and you are raising such a strong family of children to know and love the Lord. Pretty special if you ask me.

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you Stephanie and Julie for your kind replies! Julie your kind encouragement is just what my weary Mama heart needed to hear this month. We have had to make a few tweaks to our schedule this month to account for our increasingly active toddler and a potty training 3 year old, so its taken me awhile to get back on here to thank y'all

I started my 8 year old in English 2 and he is doing great and enjoying it. My 4th grader and I have started shooting for 4 lessons a week in English 3 and that is going well also. He is doing so well with WWTB now. Thank you for the encouragement to keep at it and not drop it.

Also, thank you for the reminder to take it one year at a time Its hard to do, (I'm such a planner) but the longer I home school I do see how much becomes clear if I will just wait and persevere where we are at. The Lord is faithful to make the next step clear. I think that is one of the things I love best about HOD is the way it helps me to meet each of my children where they are and give them the skills they need to move forward. I have no plans to try any other curriculum! Thank you for all that y'all do!