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Hi ladies.
I have a daughter who will be in 6th grade this fall. She is currently doing American History. I was all set to do CTC with her but after looking at Preparing more closely I've been thinking maybe I should go that route. I wish I would have found HOD earlier I love the idea of the overview of world history in Preparing and the research skills that are taught all year. If I put her in Preparing for 6th grade then she would only get 2 years of the four year cycle in before high school. I can't decide! I would love to have some input or suggestions from all of you. Do any of you have 6th graders in Preparing that could give me some insight? Thank you so much.


----Angelique

I went through this thought process as well. I decided something kind of different. I really did not want to just skip Preparing because i think it is a very important program. First let me give you one thought. The first American could probably be 9th grade. I think there is going to be an extension written in for that (I know there will be for the last American course but not sure if there is for this one.) I plan on using it that way with Carries advice to help. Another thought is American History is about the easiest to get on the high school level, Notgrass is looking good to me. In fact I have a crazy idea that we might be able to combine HOD and Notgrass and just do higher level science (maybe some geography as well although we have covered quite a bit of it I may still do it). BUT that is just my crazy idea.

Ok with all that in perspective I probably if I were looking at 6th grade might do all of Preparing. But since I am looking at 7th I decided to do a Preparing mini course. We will just use some items from the economy pack Grandpas Box, The Great Ice Age and CHOW only. I may peak at Bible as well. Carries advice was to use Grandpa's Box and CHOW only and just do that to have a mini over view. I do not think it is ideal but I do think it is better than skipping for us. My younger kids will do the entire program when they are ready for it. I am just doing it this way to accommodate my older child and get my other younger ones all the way through the cycles before they hit high school. Anyway we will take 2-3 months probably over the Summer to do this and then go onto Ancients. I also purchases some of the reading books for them to read on their own, mostly my older child who reads 24/7 but a few for my younger ones. I will not be reading them aloud though.

So long answer if I were you I might consider doing Preparing in full rather than my wacky plan. If all else fails go with where they place best. Hope this was helpful and not just more confusing.

I was thinking of going the same route with my dd (6th grade next year). I wanted Preparing to get her ready for a different kind of schooling than what she was previously used to. She is used to the textbook approach and has never done oral or written narration or notebooking before. I thought that this course would talk us through the process so she could get used to it before heading into something more involved like CTC. Also I wanted her to have an overview of world history. She has had American History in all of her school years, except this present one (5th grade, she is studying world geography and history, but the history is very light). I was not very concerned about her finishing the history rotation by 8th grade because I know she can pick up the rest in highschool. HTH

Angelique - Well, you've gotten 2 great replies here already! Either idea would work well. I will say that if you are wanting some beginning instruction on written narrations, that PHFHG does that really well. CtC will have some instruction on how to go about the written narrations as well, but not at the very beginning level. There will be more science in CtC than in PHFHG, so that may be something to consider as well. We are really enjoying PHFHG and feel that it is complete in every way, but I know CtC is going to be great too! I'm not helping here, am I? I guess I'd say pray about it, and God will make known His will.

In Christ,
Julie

Well, I was planning on having my son start the new program this coming fall. We had not been HOD users and were using mostly textbooks. While we were on line to look at the program, he noticed the booklists for Preparing and thought they looked really good. I had to admit that I think some of this language arts skills were at the Preparing level, and he hadn't had a full overview of history yet. Since I'm a year-round homeschooler and I felt he needed a change, we decided to jump into Preparing now. When we're done, we'll hit the next program. And it will all be fine. . .it's all good.

Be sure to use the placement charts and to really be honest about your child's abilities with things like oral and written narration. I try to focus more on where they are now then how everything fits into a long-range plan.

I have a 6th grader in Preparing and I 'm really pleased. This was a really good fit for him considering where he placed in language arts, math and dication. The Preparing manual meets all our needs, because of where he is across the board in all subject areas. I would place your daughter in the level that she places in according the placement chart, although I'm not sure if it has been updated. Depending on your child's placement you could then roll into her summers or time off a short course of reading and read-alouds that hits on the time periods you feel you've missed. There would be no need to be concerned about her skills at that point, because you will be addressing those.

Blessings to you on your discernment.

Ladies,
Thank you all for your replies. I went ahead and ordered Preparing for her and will keep everything I have for CTC until her 7th grade year. I can't wait to begin in July


---Angelique