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It's quite possible he would have been better placed in CTC.... or even Preparing with extensions.... but I put him in RTR because I honestly think he CAN handle the work and, I confess, because we did ancients last year and would like to do Middle Ages this year. But, he's possibly not ready for this degree of independence. Actually I think he can do the work independently, but I think he's used to more interaction with me - and honestly, more spoon feeding as well... Academically.... his reading level is no problem.... he needs more guidance with his writing and RTR is giving him that.

So.... any tips on helping him grow into this guide?

1) Go back a guide: I realize going back a guide is an option... and I'm not totally opposed to that, but he really wants to do Middle Ages, and I do think he's capable of the work....

2) Do the guide half pace: This is most likely what we will do .... but for how long? When will I know we're ready to go full pace?

3) I was also wondering if I could/should choose one more block to be "T" instead of "I" just to give him more of my time. With my dh deployed, parental time is already cut by one. (One area we did together today was Shakespeare which was fine with me because I'd like to be in on that anyway.)

Other ideas are welcome!

Thanks ladies!

I am wondering how he is being stretched too far by RTR? Are there some boxes marked "I" that he has difficulty doing independently? Or some "S" boxes you are needing to really help him with a bunch? Or, would you say it's more that he wants more time with you alone? Before I try to give any advice, I thought I should ask these questions, so I may be able to help better.

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,
Thank you so much for your response and your question. In trying to answer your question, I'm realizing I may just need to help him ease into the independence more. I think his difficulty is in reading the instructions (instead of me telling him what to do) and in managing his time better. I have expected too much too fast in this area. We did go over a schedule for him to follow.... but I think it was still too much freedom. I think if I spend more time going over the boxes for the day with him first in addition to holding him accountable to our schedule that I will see fruit in a couple weeks. I'm very bad about seeing an issue and in knee-jerk fashion wanting a quick solution instead of one that takes time .

If you have other thoughts or tips in this area let me know!

As far as I vs. S vs. T.... I think Shakespeare is the only area I'd like to make "T" for us and I think we'll enjoy doing it together. The only other problem I'm seeing goes back to his understanding of what he is to do. He can read on his own fine, but then when he's supposed to do his notebook work he comes to me for explanation.

Thanks for helping me think through this!

With gratitude,
Lynn

Well, that makes sense, Lynn. I am the same way - I need to think out loud about things, and then usually the more I talk the more the answer becomes clearer. Oh how my dh wishes this were not by best method of thinking! You know I may not be remembering this right, but I'm thinking your ds didn't do CTC, did he? Please correct me if I am wrong. I remember with Wyatt in CTC I needed to read through the boxes with him first, have him tell me then what he was going to do in his own words step by step, and then he'd do the box. (I kind of borrowed CM's idea of reading and narrating orally back, I guess - though I did have him look at the directions as he told it back to me) It seemed when he was telling it back to me I could catch any parts of the directions he overlooked. Once he'd done this for about 2-4 weeks, he'd been through all of the rotation of plans (which follow a pattern with directions), and he didn't need to go through hardly anything with me. I would still have him tell me what he was going to do for painting, as he needed to learn to read those directions with more focus, and I'd ask if he had any questions for any of his boxes he was doing next after our teacher times together, which he skimmed, but usually he was very independent then.

Maybe you could try that with your ds for awhile? That may help him learn the habit of careful attention to following directions more independently. You could go half-speed if you think that doing this would add too much time to the day, and then full-speed when he became more familiar with the boxes. This training time of teaching dc how to become successfully independent is really worth it, and is not something you'll have to do much with again if it goes well. My ds was able to pick up RTR and run with it this year, and I know it's due to CTC's training. If I'd had him in RTR this year and he hadn't done CTC last year, I know I'd be having to do exactly what I did in CTC to teach him independence. I hope something here helps, but for what it's worth, I think you have a very capable boy who just needs a little practice at following directions and working independently, a little hand-holding for a bit, and then I think he'll do great!

In Christ,
Julie