heartofdakota.com

??? I am sure this has been covered or asked before, but I can't find anything about it. Help?

CTC covers only 1/2 of English 5. The other half will be covered in RTR. The goal is for your child to have finished English 6 by the end of 8th grade and then have 4 years to cover the 2 remaining Rod and STaff Grammar texts.

I see. So, since my son is a 6th grader next year doing R&S 5, we need to get through the book in 1 year...then we will just be one book ahead of the manuals, I guess. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

What about:
grade 6 R & S 5 (1st half according to CtC schedule)
grade 7 R & S 5 (2nd half according to RtR schedule)
grade 8 R & S 6 (all)

AM I understanding correctly that HOD recommends going half-speed with R & S for 2 years in the middle grades to avoid grammar burnout? After splitting one manual over two years, you go back to full-speed until 8th, as long as you can do this plan and still get through level 6.

Perhaps, this thread which includes Carrie's thoughts, will be of some use.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5494

Thank you. That link was very helpful. I am still not sure what to do with my son who is working through grade 6 next year. He will start R&S 5, but then if we do the half year thing, we will be only halfway through R&S 6 when he is in 8th grade. Currently, he is doing R&S 4 as a 5th grader and that one is pretty simple for him. He is not a grammar scholar, but I do have a BA in English and a natural grammar slant, so maybe that helps. I have not really looked over R&S 5 yet, but it sounds to be a big step from R&S 4?!

My son is in grade 7 and we just began Rod and Staff 5. Our "Plan" is to complete is by mid-8th, begin 6 and complete it by mid-9th grade.

We work daily on grammar, because we need to complete it sooner than scheduled and we're okay. Rod and Staff continues to build on previous concepts and take gentle steps forward. We're good. IN fact, my son, who is by no means a "pro" when it comes to grammar, really enjoys the lessons because they are so concise.

I just wanted to pop in and agree and respond to threegreatkids, as she's correct that we do schedule one level of Rod and Staff English to be done over two years in the middle guides in order to avoid grammar burnout (both by teacher and student) and to allow the kiddos to mature a bit before heading into the more difficult grammar concepts covered throughout 5 and 6. So, the plan to split English 5 over two years and then do English 6 in grade 8 is one great option. With our oldest son, we actually split English 4 over two years and did all of 5 in grade 7 and all of English 6 in grade 8. So, a myriad of plans will work with the goal (from our perspective) of finishing English 6 by the end of grade 8.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie wrote:I just wanted to pop in and agree and respond to threegreatkids, as she's correct that we do schedule one level of Rod and Staff English to be done over two years in the middle guides in order to avoid grammar burnout (both by teacher and student) and to allow the kiddos to mature a bit before heading into the more difficult grammar concepts covered throughout 5 and 6. So, the plan to split English 5 over two years and then do English 6 in grade 8 is one great option. With our oldest son, we actually split English 4 over two years and did all of 5 in grade 7 and all of English 6 in grade 8. So, a myriad of plans will work with the goal (from our perspective) of finishing English 6 by the end of grade 8.

Blessings,
Carrie

If we need to finish English 6 by the end of 8th grade, then that gives us 3 whole years. We would do English 5 in 6th grade and could split English 6 over the last two years...or split 5 and do all of 6. For those of you that have gone through 5 and 6, which one of those would you think would be better to split? I assume 6 is much harder than 5??? Or is 6 a review?

You could split the two books over three years. Otherwise, I would probably do English 5 over one year and split English 6. English 5 contains 119 lessons and 10 tests; while English 6 contains 132 lessons and 12 tests with the last test being a Final Test. My current 5th grader will have completed English 5 by the end of the school year, and he will begin English 6 in the fall. My 6th grader is doing English 6 this year and will not complete it until next year. English 6 definitely delves a little deeper grammar-wise and includes more writing assignments.

Hope this helps.

Dixie

it does. Thank you!