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I am beginning CTC with my 10 year old daughter. She was not exactly happy about this but she really complains about anything that requires "Work" so for the first time, i am not letting her attitude dictate what we do in school. I love the look of CTC and we are also picking up where we left off in Bigger for her brothers. Anyway, my question is What books is she suppose to read for CTC. I see the read alouds schedule but i don't seea specific book list for the independent reading. Do i just pick books myself? I don't think i should do the extension ones but i would like her to do some independent reading. Any tips?
pj.

PJ,

There are boxes scheduled each day in CTC that are independent and many of them include reading. You could choose to use the ext. boks which you already know are independent, or she could read other selections (story time) independently some or all the time as you deem appropriate for her abilities. My son often does the S (semi-independent) boxes on his own because he's 12 and certainly able to do so. Another option could be to have her read the ext. books for Bigger....since her siblings are doing that book, if you don't think she's ready for the ones in CTC, though they would not be the same time period in history. For that matter, you could choose to have her read some of the Preparing...books (did you skip that manual?). My son skipped up to CTC this year so 'missed' PHFHG but is choosing to read some of the Preparing...books on his own b/c he finds them interesting. There seem to be a lot of different choices....I'm sure you'll get other great suggestions that are probably much more coherent but these are the things that occurred to me when I read your post. Hope that helped at least a little.

Any box with an "I" for "Independent" in the corner is meant to be done independently (including the reading) by the child. There is a fair share of it in CTC, which is appropriate for that age, so she'd probably have enough on her plate with that - especially if you are working on the heart issue of complaining. BTW - good for you to identify it and choose to work on it with her! We're working on cheerful attitudes here too, mainly with one of my ds's in particular, and usually in regard to the topic of chores. So, I understand this issue well and think you are wise not to let it dictate your selection of materials.

Your dd will also be independently reading books for Drawn into the Heart of Reading, probably using Level 4/5 of the Student Book as you teach the 4/5 plans from DITHOR. Here is a link to the available book packs for that level:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/drawn-into-optional4-5.php

I think that's enough to assign for school, but if you would enjoy having her read some of the extension titles, she could do that as well. Those titles are really meant for dc aged 12 and 13 though, so I think I'd shy away from that (mature content), and let her focus on cheerfully studying CTC's core instead. If you just want some free reading for her, you can do what I did and just look at the HOD book shop and pick titles from previous guides we didn't get to use (i.e. the Storytime books in the 2 sets we didn't use in Bigger Hearts - since you only use 1, etc.) and have those on hand for her to read at her leisure. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Pam,

I think I responded to a different post of yours and was thinking you were doing Preparing Hearts with your oldest, but I didn't realize you'd moved her to CTC. So, my other post may not make much sense. I may just be confused overall on the placement, but I'll just mention that you'll want to make sure that your daughter can handle the level of work within CTC, placement chart wise, so you don't overwhelm her. I only mention this because she'll be on the youngest age range of CTC, but if she's already been through Preparing Hearts or has had a pretty rigorous education thus far(and if she fits well there on the placement chart), then she should be fine.

I believe the ladies have done a good job of answering your questions about the readings.

Blessings,
Carrie