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This is my first year using homeschooling & am thankful I found HOD, which my dd & I both have been enjoying. However, I sometimes worry whether I chose the right level for her, she is 11 years old & in 6th grade. When I made the decision to homeschool, I knew she was struggling in math, but I thought she was excelling in other areas based on her grades and yearly SAT scores (she attended private school), so I chose CTC. Once we began homeschooling, I realized she was struggling with more than I thought, such as reading at grade level, vocabulary, parts of speech, etc. I have already dropped Writing With the Best for now & am focusing on improving her Grammar knowledge. So far with CTC, she is doing fine with the independent history & Bible study (both being her favorite subjects), but she is really having a hard time with the Science Lab sheets & following detailed instructions on any of the other assignments. I also have to hover quite a bit on some of the independent subjects. Does anyone have any advice to give on helping her become more independent? Should I just put CTC aside & start over with Preparing Hearts? I really would like to continue with CTC...one reason is money, the other is I hate to start over & possibly make her feel discouraged.
Thank you for letting me get all of this out! I have really enjoyed reading this message board & I know there is a wealth of knowledge out there.

Love in Christ,
Mindy

What week are you on? My daughter is 11 and in the 6th grade, and we were having trouble with following directions in the beginning also. However, we started at 1/2 speed and will start week 6 on Monday. She is really improving. I think 1/2 speed (one day in the plans over 2 days) is a great way to handle bumps in the road. By week six I am really seeing the beauty of the notebook as a keepsake. Yes, I loved the pages from the beginning, but now I love the work she has put into those pages. Rod and Staff Grammar is just tough! What level did you purchase? Perhaps going down a grade in Rod and Staff would be a better solution (and cheaper) than switching levels of HOD.? As far as the science, I would just help with the science until your daughter gets the routine down.

Mindy, I know you are going to get some great advice. But just wanted to first say welcome. And Just let you know that I had similar realizations about my children when I pulled them out of school to hs. I am thinking that you might want to slow things down a bit for her. Perhaps do it at half pace for a while and focus on the areas you are finishing she is weak in for a while. I would also just help her out with the science lab sheets until she gets the hang of it and anything else that gives her a little trouble. For her reading not sure if you are doing DITHR but that might be a good thing as well. It might be hard for you to add that right now but if possible maybe at half pace so she can increase her reading skills after you find your groove and get settled into CTC.

One thing that I found a tremendous help in reading is to have them read to you a portion of what they are reading silently aloud. I let my kids read it to themselves first then have them come to me and read it to me. That not only helps with reading it will help with vocabulary if you ask them to explain back to you what they read in their own words. If there is a word they struggle on pronouncing I will just let them know how it is said and what it means if I think they might not know or even ask them to tell me what it means or do they know. Nothing really formal to this but I will tell you what it works.

Another thing is I would try not to hover too much but instead get her into the habit and believing that it is OK to ask questions. That way she will not be getting nervous she is not moving fast enough. You can still check every once in a while and you can ask her what she prefers even as far as what will help her the most.

As far as if Preparing would have been the better fit I would look at that placement chart again and look more at ability and skill set than age and see which one she places most solidly http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php If you still see her placing pretty close to CTC you will probably be fine to just slow it down and give her some time to adjust. Lots of people start out at half pace and I think it can really be a good thing to do.

I know you will get more help but hope something here helps.

Thank you so much for your advice, it really helps & it is a comfort knowing others can relate to what I am going through.

We will begin unit 6 next week. For Language Arts, I am using Shurley English because I had already purchased it before deciding on HOD. It takes up quite a bit of time & it's not her favorite, but she has learned quite a bit so far. We are also using Drawn into the Heart of Reading level 4/5. I started her out in the 6/7/8 book, but it was a bit much for her.

Mindy

Hi Mindy, and welcome to the board! We are in the first week of CTC right now and enjoying it very much. I think if my ds had not done the previous HOD guides, he would have had a harder time starting CTC. One key thing that helps is to really spend some time training dc to use the manual as their own. The boxes of plans follow a rotating routine, so your dd will learn to get that down well over time. I'd stick with CTC, possibly switch to R & S English 4 or 5 half-speed (2 days a week) doing 2/3 of it on the marker board or orally and dropping Surely Grammar, add back in Write with the Best the 2 days a week it's scheduled, and focus on teaching dd to carefully read the CTC plans in each box to get the routine of them down. You can just help her with the lab sheet to begin with, until she understands the format. I think she'll grow into it - I really do! Just look at this as a time to train her to follow directions carefully, use the manual checking off the boxes as she completes them, and learn to do the routine of the plans more independently.

In Christ,
Julie

I also purchased 4/5 Drawn for my daughter and this is the one thing we haven't got consistently going yet. I just wanted you to know that you weren't alone in choosing a younger level. I used Shurley Grammar one year. It is a nice program, but it is intensive. I used the third grade. My favorite part of it is actually the jingles. In the third grade there were activities that I thought could be dropped (learning the 50 states and their captials for one--not a bad thing to do, just the way they did it was going to take up too much time and was not my idea of grammar). There were also several writing assignments. We did do those, but if you could skip those if you have Writing with the Best. All that to say, if you want to stick with Shurley, I would see if there are parts you can cut out. I do like Rod and Staff better, but Shurley Grammar is in my top 3 picks.

Thank you so much for your help. I am going to purchase the Rod & Staff English, re-introduce Writing With the Best, & consider doing everything @ half speed for a while. I talked to my dd about the different ideas & she wants to stick with CTC because she is really enjoying it so far. She is also cautious about changing from Shurley to Rod & Staff (even though she dreads doing Shurley) because she has learned so much so far. After reading several reviews & also what you have to say about Rod & Staff, I feel confident she will continue to learn a lot even if we switch.

Mindy,

I think your plan sounds like a good one! I agree that it's would work well to just slow CTC down and work on the skills in the guide until your daughter gains some confidence and some practice in those areas. You will actually still be making good progress skill-wise, and the training will really help her in the days to come!

I do think that shifting from Shurley English to Rod and Staff will save you precious teaching time. As 8arrows mentioned, Shurley is a good, solid English program. However, I agree that it is very time-intensive for the teacher. My older sister uses it with her kiddos but has really pared down the lessons and skips levels of Shurley, stretching one level out over two years (and this from a high school grammar teacher by profession)!

So, in your switch to Rod and Staff make sure to get the right level, so it isn't too hard. Also, make sure to do MUCH of the lesson orally or on a white board, only assigning one portion to be done on paper each day. This will really keep your time down and will still make sure your daughter gets the solid grammar content that is needed. Also, be sure to do the 5 question oral review at the beginning of each Rod and Staff lesson each day.

In all honesty, it's so important skill-wise for kiddos to have solid reading and writing instruction as they head into middle school (in preparation for high school). So, if you are able to shift DITHR and Write with the Best back into your schedule (doing DITHR 3 days a week and Write with the Best 2 days a week as scheduled in CTC) that would be great. Go ahead and slow down the rest of CTC, but try to keep those areas on track if at all possible. Strong language arts and math skills are right behind time spent in God's word as far as importance for the future goes.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,

Thank you so much for your response. We have added Write With the Best back into our day & have slowed down a bit with Shurley English. I have ordered Rod & Staff & can't wait to begin using it. I feel much better since I have gotten my concerns out there & received so many great suggestions. I can't say enough how impressed I am with this curriculum & with the wonderful people on this message board.

In Christ,
Mindy

Oh, Mindy, I'm so glad! Give yourself permission to slow down and think of it as training your daughter in how to use the guide. It will be the best time you've ever spent and will make her year go so much better. I'd suggest giving it a month at half-speed, until you and your daughter feel comfortable with it. You could go 5 days a week instead of 4 for awhile if you're worried about being behind. Just a thought.

If your day still seems to be going long after the changes, you could always time your subjects and compare them to the CTC time allotment thread I'll link below to see where the time eaters are in your day. You could post any areas that you need some ideas for shaving off time, and we'd be glad to help. Here's the CTC time allotment thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3765

Blessings,
Carrie