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Hi there. Some of you already know me, and if so, you may be shocked to learn that I'm going to do CTC with my middle girl this year. She really wants her own program separate from her older sister. I had bought Preparing a few months ago to use with her, but a) thought that juggling 3 different programs/age groups would be too much, and b) I felt that the hands-on stuff in Preparing was too easy or "young" for her. However, now that we're doing school again, my dh is back to work (he was without a job for 4 months), we've gotten in the groove and I'm seeing the needs of each of my children after having taken a school break, I've decided that CTC would be a better fit for for the 10yo (11 in the fall) than Preparing.

All that said... I just read a thread down below about R&S English 4. Do I understand correctly that it's scheduled full time in Preparing, but only half time in CTC? And if so, why is that? It seems like you'd do more grammar in 5th grade than 4th. Could someone enlighten me? If we could do grammar only so many days a week, I'm sure my dd would love that! Do the other LA skills in CTC make up for the difference? Or am I understanding it all wrong?

Surprised, but not shocked. I see you on the other board, but I post by a different name there. HOD recommends finishing Rod and Staff 6 by the end of 8th grade; thus, you can take 1/2 speed a couple of years. The language arts skills are spread across the days so that there is not too much in one day (DITHOR, R&S, Write with the Best, Dictation, Narrations). However, it has always seemed to be made clear that you are free to proceed at full speed with every level if you desire more grammar instruction. We are doing CTC, Bigger, and LHTH. It will be fun to compare notes.

kayrenee,

8arrows did a great job of answering your questions. Here's a link to a couple of other threads that may help too:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4389

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4398

If you have other questions, ask away! We'll pray you'll enjoy CTC as much as we did when we piloted much of it with my oldest son last year. We'll also be doing ALL of it this year with my second son!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie, how old were/are your sons while doing CTC?

P.S. thank you for the responses!

My oldest was a 7th grader, piloting much of CTC with extensions last year. We did do something else for science (as I did not have the science completely written early enough for my oldest son to use).

My oldest son will also be joining my second son to do Genesis: Finding Our Roots and Geography of the Bible Lands this year (as an 8th grader) because I want him to do it with my next son in line who will be doing CTC this year.

My second son is a 5th grader and will be doing CTC as written (without extensions).

Even though my oldest son is a terrific reader and has often done very tough/classical books for his literature study and previous history study, I was ready for him to have a very strong Biblical-focused tour through the ancient time period (having his first ancients tour as a first and second grader through Sonlight, which for us was not nearly as Biblical as we'd have liked). I can honestly say CTC was excellent for my son's heart and for instilling a deeper love and appreciation for the Lord than he'd had before. Even though "The Story of the Ancient World" wasn't a challenge for him to read, it was a challenge for his thinking! He even learned some new things about the Bible and about the Biblical characters that he hadn't heard before. He also enjoyed the tour of Greece and Rome.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you! That's very helpful. My dd is a 5th grader, too.

Oh, and I just told my dd that I'd ordered this for her this morning. I showed her the "package" page with all the books (many of which our library has or we already own), and she exclaimed, "I get my own package?!" She's very excited.

YAY Kayrenee!! I didn't realize you were using CTC with us this year! There are A LOT of us (even on my board) and its going to be SOOOO fun discussing how our year is going together!!

Amber, I *just* decided yesterday morning. Long process how the decision came about. Me thinks I might be a little crazy to use 3 different programs this year (as 1st grader still needs her own thing, too), but I'm going to give it a go!

kayrenee wrote:Amber, I *just* decided yesterday morning. Long process how the decision came about. Me thinks I might be a little crazy to use 3 different programs this year (as 1st grader still needs her own thing, too), but I'm going to give it a go!

I will be using 3 programs soon enough also! LOL I do think that since they are laid out for you so well, it should be fairly easy. There is a lot of independent work in CTC which is great!

I think your gonna do wonderfully and can't wait to share notes with you and everyone else with CTC!

I'm so glad to hear you're excited about CTC. We're excited about using it too! We'll also be using 3+ programs doing Beyond, CTC, piloting the new medieval program, and doing the first half of LHTH.

Sample of the CTC notebooking pages should be coming up on the CTC portion of the website in the next day or so.

Blessings,
Carrie

Amber, Carrie, kayrenee - I'll be doing CTC too this year! So, we'll all have to have some fun in swapping stories and making memories alongside one another. I have another month before we start, but I am looking longingly at the CTC books online. I can't look too often because my outdoor ds needs a bit more of summer before starting, and I may not be able to wait to start if I peek too often. Looking forward to sharing with each other this year!

In Christ,
Julie