Looking for advice--second post

[pjsullivan]

o.k. the last person who answered me suggested i give a little background ofr my 10 yr old. Her reading comp. is 9th grade, word recognition 12 th grade but her writing skills are average-as she really doesn't like to write and complains at times. However i am having her take a class on line in March and she is very excited about that! Her math skills are behind but she is catching up slowly. Asfor the indepedent part--she certainly would have no problems doing the preparing independent work. The CTC looks challenging and i would need to work with her to help her gain the independence. She loves to work independenly but also loves to have me to herself (3 other sibling) I do need to be careful because she is a bit senstive and has Obessive compulsive disorders-she is scared by the old testament stories. I would probably work with her closely to get her going, but would also continue helping her so she still gets the individual time with me. So overall, *I* think either would work but i am leaning towards CTC since i have it on hand. And i just figured out a good way to present the activities--she gets very upset when i show her ALL her work in the teaching book-so how about copying and cutting out each box and put it on index cards.
what do all you think??
thanks so much!!!!!!
pam

[blessedmomof4]

o.k. the last person who answered me suggested i give a little background ofr my 10 yr old. Her reading comp. is 9th grade, word recognition 12 th grade but her writing skills are average-as she really doesn't like to write and complains at times. However i am having her take a class on line in March and she is very excited about that! Her math skills are behind but she is catching up slowly. Asfor the indepedent part--she certainly would have no problems doing the preparing independent work. The CTC looks challenging and i would need to work with her to help her gain the independence. She loves to work independenly but also loves to have me to herself (3 other sibling) I do need to be careful because she is a bit senstive and has Obessive compulsive disorders-she is scared by the old testament stories. I would probably work with her closely to get her going, but would also continue helping her so she still gets the individual time with me. So overall, *I* think either would work but i am leaning towards CTC since i have it on hand. And i just figured out a good way to present the activities--she gets very upset when i show her ALL her work in the teaching book-so how about copying and cutting out each box and put it on index cards.
what do all you think??
thanks so much!!!!!!
pam

Hi! I had posted a question about using Preparing with my 10 year old because I thought maybe I should get the extension package. My daughter reads at grade 12 level, but her math is grade 3. She is also an average writer who is reluctant at times. I got some good advice suggesting I just hold off on the extension package, or maybe get her the books to read on her own as she pleases, so that we can devote more time to working on math. For my daughter I think that Preparing is just right with the ratio of independent to teacher led work because she is coming out of having been in public school for a year and a half, and would probably feel a little overwhelmed by CTC as far as how much writing is included. I just don't think she is ready for that aspect right now. Preparing has a nice blend of oral and written work which I think will ease her into writing more later on. Just comparing the book lists for each level, I felt my daughter would be more interested in the Preparing books at this time, even though she is capable of reading higher level books. I plan to let her take out lots of library books as she pleases, as long as she does all her math

[Carrie]

Pam,

Blessedmomof4 gave you great advice about Preparing Hearts. I, too, would lean toward placing your 10 year old in Preparing Hearts based on what you've shared so far. However, you will know your child best.

I'll note a couple things to consider as you ponder. Since you shared that your daughter is scared by the Old Testament stories, I think that going through them by using Grandpa's Box (as scheduled in Preparing Hearts) is a gentler trip through the stories (and is a good idea), prior to reading the more detailed versions of the O.T. stories within The Story of the Ancient World (as scheduled in CTC).

Another thing to consider is that if you placed your daughter in CTC, she would be on the younger to middle age range suggested for the guide. The guide's range is for ages 9-11 with extensions for ages 12-13. It sounds like your daughter reads very well, however writing and math may not be as strong as she might need them to be in order to be successful in CTC. Only you can know about those areas, but I typically err on the side of being right on rather than having something be too difficult.

Another thing to consider is the more mature content that is contained within CTC. For a sensitive student, a trip through Preparing Hearts to "age or mature" the child a bit before heading into CTC would be a good idea to ponder. The books within CTC do have some content warnings, and it is a time period filled with pagan gods and depravity, as well as the history of the Hebrew nation.

One last thing to weigh, is how independent your child wants to be or how independent you want her to be. You could train her to be fairly independent in Preparing Hearts, reading right from the guide, however it will not be nearly as independent as CTC. There are some very key skills within Preparing Hearts that are excellent to practice with your help. It's also good to bear in mind that independence in anything is largely determined by how solid a child's skills are in the area in which you are asking them to be independent.

We typically never ask a child to do something independently until we have first trained them in the previous guide in how to do that skill well. If you haven't used the previous guide, then it will take more training to get that child to the independent level of a skill, meaning you won't really be using an 'Independent' task in CTC in the way in which it was scheduled to be done for awhile (until your child has worked with you on that skill first and gained independence in it). Clear as mud?

Just some things to ponder.

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Thanks, Pam! That helps so much. I am leaning toward PHFHG for her as well, for many of the reasons already shared - the amount of writing, her sensitive nature, her wanting independence but also wanting you to herself, her being overwhelmed by the boxes of plans, etc. I think that PHFHG would be a great year to give her an awesome overview of history, to let her grow in her writing, give her one more year before doing the ancients time period, train her to use the manual as her own and check off the boxes as she goes so she can truly be independent with the things in CTC by the time she gets there.

If you want to challenge her in the area of reading, getting PHFHG's extension package and letting her read through those would be an awesome way to do that. This would give her some independence, she could either read them leisurely or use the Appendix schedule as a checkoff, either way it would challenge her without adding additional teaching time to your day. PHFHG did an awesome job of getting my ds ready for CTC. I especially appreciated PHFHG's guided written narration lessons, and now that he's in CTC and is just asked to write a written narration he can do it, knows what is required, and does it well. I also appreciated the creative writing lessons in PHFHG based on Robert Louis Stevenson's poetry. It sparked his interest in writing, and by the time he got to the lengthier writing lessons with Write with the Best in CTC, he was ready for them. In fact, he LOVES them, and they would have been difficult for him before. No way would he have given me the writing he's giving me now with CTC, if he hadn't first had the writing lessons in PHFHG.

There are many skills such as this, that are introduced well in PHFHG and then the child is asked to do them more independently in CTC. These are all reasons I'd suggest placing her in PHFHG. You are the parent, and will know best what you want to do, but this is the thinking behind the placement idea I'm giving. Prayer is always the best deciding factor when choosing a path for anything, so I pray for clarity for you in this decision. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie