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We just got our box TODAY, and I'm SO excited!!

But, as I read through the manual, it says that "Storytime" is a read-aloud by the teacher (which I understand), but the "Extension" guide in the Appendix says that those books are supposed to be read independently by the student--and I thought that the Extension books were supposed to be used in place of the other "Storytime" selections?

This is probably a really obvious question, but we only bought the Extension package (not the History or Girl Interest, which said were optional if you get the Extension pkg.), so I'm confused as to exactly where these books fit in.

The Extension books are meant to be read independently, to extend knowledge of history.

In CTC it states that 6th and 7th graders should either listen to the History Interest Set read-aloud, or read the Extension Package books (as scheduled in the Appendix), or do both of these options in order to extend their learning.

You will need to purchase a storytime set (either the history interest set, boy interest set, or girl interest set). If you choose not to do the history interest set (since you have the Extension books to extend their learning in history), then you will need to choose either boy interest set or girl interest set for storytime read aloud.

Thanks Christine! That helps a lot!

Just throwing my 2 cents in lol.... My dd has been a struggling reader so with her I began the year reading aloud the story-time and have progressed to her reading most days on her own. I still pick days to read aloud to her. At the moment we have only done one extenstion, and at that I let it take the place of a reading in the story-time box. I love HOD and its flexibiltiy. For my daughter trying to read everything would have been overwhelming. We have 15 units left in CTC for this year. My goal is to be able to work in at least 2 extenstions along w/ everything else.
Just know that HOD is truly flexible and things can be worked around as needed.
Happy HomeSchooling

My understanding is that for CTC users you should choose a set of read-aloud books OR a set from the extension pack, not both unless you just want to. I could be wrong....but I think you either do the story time together aloud or have your student read the ext. books on his/her own. I'm sure Carrie or Julie will weigh in here soon with the absolute correct information.

Hi there, Heather! I'm so glad you received your HOD things - have fun going through them! The "Introduction" in CTC has a lot of good information to read through when you get the chance. Here is the part about Storytime that may be helpful here:
Sixth and seventh graders should either listen to the History Interest Set read aloud, or read the Extension Package books (as scheduled in the Appendix), or do both of these options in order to extend their learning. If you are a family that enjoys reading aloud, you may choose to read aloud more than one set of books from the Basic Package.

You do need a read-aloud set, and you can choose either the history interest, boy interest, or girl interest. The CTC guide has this note to consider as you ponder which set you'd enjoy using the most:
If you desire to read aloud books that coordinate with the historical time period being studied, you will want to choose the History Interest Set. In keeping with the ancient time period, the History Interest Set does contain some violent content. If you wish to avoid this, choose the Boy Interest or Girl Interest Set instead; these sets do not match the history, but were instead selected to provide excellent read-alouds from 9 different genres.

The Storytime box does teach these skills, just so you know its purpose (as this changes somewhat from year to year):
Each unit includes the following activities in coordination with the
“Storytime” read-aloud assignments:

Day 1: give a detailed oral narration
Day 2: rotate through the following 4 narration activities: an outline sketch, a
short skit, a question and answer session, and an advertisement speech
for the book
Day 3: give a summary narration
Day 4: make connections between the story and Proverbs

One more note in CTC to consider as you choose:
Due to the more mature content of the books within the ancient time period – both in the violence that was prevalent in this period and the depravity of worship of pagan gods – this extension package is best suited for mature 6th and 7th graders who are strong, independent readers.

A schedule of daily independent readings for these books is provided in the Appendix of Hearts for Him Through Time: Creation to Christ. Books are at a mid-sixth to upper seventh grade reading level. For very sensitive sixth or seventh graders, or for those who are not yet strong readers, we recommend the Basic Package Option 1 – History Set for the parent to read aloud instead. Complete
listings and book descriptions for these books can be found in the Appendix. These books are sold as a set in the Extension Package

I hope that helps as you consider which read-aloud package to choose! Keep in mind the student is meant to read the extension titles independently, so if the child cannot do that, or if they are quite sensitive to topics in the ancients, you may just want to do the History Interest Read Alouds instead. Otherwise, the extensions are excellent and a great way to extend CTC for older dc. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks Julie and Everyone!

That totally helps! (I LOVE these boards! Everyone is SO helpful and nice!)