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I will be starting Preparing w/dd in July & I have a few questions.

First, do the dictation passages serve as spelling practice? We've been doing All About Spelling & I'm debating on whether or not I should continue with that, do a modified version of SWR or just do whatever is contained in HOD.

Second, how do you give your child the daily independent assignments? Do you just give the student the book or re-type the assignments or....?

Third, is it possible to take some of the work listed as teacher directed or semi-independent & turn it into independent work? I've started Beyond w/ds already & it's going fine, but I'm wondering what adjustments will need to be made when dd starts in Prep.

Thanks for any help!

We are in Bigger this year, but I think I can answer a few of your questions. Yes, the dictation serves as spelling. Of course, you can always add whatever you want. This year we are doing Spelling Workout with dictation twice a week.
I have a weekly checklist for assignments so nothing is accidentally missed. Then I give her the manual or occasionally make copies for her to use.
Making more of the work independent would of course depend on the maturity level of your child. Some of the assignments could be done with minimal supervision - for instance, with the vocabulary, I have her look up and show me the correct definitions (since many words have more than one definition), and then she makes the cards independently. Many people begins the manuals at half-pace as the students are adjusting to new skills, and then move up to full speed after a few weeks. You could use this time to see what she is capable of doing well independently.

Kathy

We are finishing up with Preparing and my kids do the independent boxes (the two at the bottom) each morning before we begin. I just leave the manual open with a paper clip so they know what to do, and I leave the books they'll need next to the manual the night before. The vocabulary box is pretty much independent, unless they have a question about which definition from the dictionary to copy, and the timeline cards could be done independently just looking at the manual as well. The poetry could be done independently a few days a week, but you'll want to do at least day 1 with your child. Same with the Bible memory. The others--history, project, storytime and Bible study--really need mom, I think.

We only use the dictation for spelling, and so far so good. Hope that helps!

Thank you both! I'm still not sure what I"ll do re: dictation & spelling. I'll just have to see how things go. I was considering switching out the book's dictation passages for passages from the reading, but if the Prep dictation is the spelling...

Thank for the ideas re: the independent work as well. I'll probably start out using the plans as written & then see how much I can tweak as we go. Ds's work isn't taking long at all so I'm probably concerned over time issues for nothing!

lostinabook wrote:Thank you both! I'm still not sure what I"ll do re: dictation & spelling. I'll just have to see how things go. I was considering switching out the book's dictation passages for passages from the reading, but if the Prep dictation is the spelling...

Thank for the ideas re: the independent work as well. I'll probably start out using the plans as written & then see how much I can tweak as we go. Ds's work isn't taking long at all so I'm probably concerned over time issues for nothing!

You have a great idea to start out with the plans as written and go from there. I used to add spelling to HOD and stopped, realizing the way HOD was doing it was better and more than enough anyway. The dictation has been wonderful for my ds - but it's a slow burn. It takes time to see results, but they are longer lasting (and carry over to my ds's writing) more than any other spelling program did.

We're in the 30th week of PHFHG and my ds could do the whole thing by himself, if I let him. If you want your ds to be independent, take time to train him to use the PHFHG manuel. Just have him read the plans right from there (no need at all to retype them), and put a mark in the corner of the box as he finishes each of them. We're doing Beyond and PHFHG now - you'll do great!

In Christ ,
Julie

Glad to hear that it would be possible for dd to do Prep alone Julie! I'm hoping she'll want to do quite a bit by herself since we have several other things that we either do all together or with the two of us.

I'm sorry I said "ds" instead of "dd"! The discussion parts of PHFHG you'll want to be sure you do with your dd though (especially the biblical ones) - they are short and oh so meaningful. But PHFHG can be as independent as you train your dd to be with it.

In Christ,
Julie

That's ok--the way I wrote it was confusing. Yep, I'll definitely do discussion regardless of whether we read the material together. Thanks so much for your help!