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Hi to all,

I have been reading post on the HOD board for days!!! You guys are so helpful.

We will be new to HOD next year DD 11 will be doing RtR, DD wil be 7 and doing BLHFHG. I can not wait to start!!!!

My question is DD11 is doing CLE 5 english this yr and doing very well. In RtR they suggest using Rod & Staff 4 or 5. Should I do Rod & Staff 5 and make it a review yr, should I move her onto Rod & Staff 6 or stick with CLE and do CLE 6.

Thank you
Moe

I know there are others who are familiar with the different English programs and hopefully they'll be able to offer their opinion. In the meantime, here is a link to a scope and sequence chart for Rod and Staff: http://samples.rodandstaffbooks.com/1-19118/ On page 6, you can see the scope and sequence of the various English levels. That should give you an idea of how it compares with what you have been using and where your ds would fit best. I do know that HOD just intends for our dc to finish R&S 6 by the time our dc have completed 8th grade. According to the intro to RTR, grammar is scheduled at 1/2 pace in order to allow more time for writing.

Grammar lessons are scheduled twice in each unit and focus on grammar,
mechanics, and usage for the purpose of improving writing. Choose either
Building with Diligence: English 4 or Following the Plan: English 5. Half of the
grammar text was covered in Creation to Christ, with the other half to be completed
in this guide. Systematic lessons focus on one rule or concept per lesson. In order
to keep the lessons short, you may want to do most of the lesson orally or on a white
board, requiring only one set of practice exercises to be written by the student each
day. The Teacher’s Manual is considered to be necessary at this level. See the
“Table of Contents” in either Building with Diligence: English 4 or Following the
Plan: English 5 for a scope and sequence. Students need a lined composition book
or notebook for their written work.

So with that in mind, perhaps you can figure which level fits best and how it will fit in your overall plan.

I have been looking at RTR and can hardly wait for a couple more years until my dc are ready for it. We enjoyed BLHFHG last year.It sounds like you are going to have an awesome year! Welcome to HOD!

If we use the program for next year, I'm going to just stick with the programs that have worked for us. It took so long to find something that works. "If it ain't broke..."

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moe wrote:Hi to all,

I have been reading post on the HOD board for days!!! You guys are so helpful.

We will be new to HOD next year DD 11 will be doing RtR, DD wil be 7 and doing BLHFHG. I can not wait to start!!!!

My question is DD11 is doing CLE 5 english this yr and doing very well. In RtR they suggest using Rod & Staff 4 or 5. Should I do Rod & Staff 5 and make it a review yr, should I move her onto Rod & Staff 6 or stick with CLE and do CLE 6.

Thank you
Moe

Hi Moe, and welcome to the HOD Board! I have used HOD's LA recommendations and seen such a benefit from doing so. We have enjoyed R & S English in our home for many reasons, but 2 of the biggest reasons are it teaches grammar for the purpose of "WRTING" well, and it is Christian. Here is a thread where I shared the reasons R & S English has been such a blessing for us to use:
R & S English
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4077&p=30147

I know Carrie has said that R & S English 5 is considered a foundational year in grammar, so I would start with that if you do R & S English. Of course you could move on to the next level of CLE, however, R & S English also includes writing instruction, as well as spelling helps, and their thorough coverage is difficult to replace. The combination of IEW's instruction of writing, along with R & S's instruction of writing, along with Charlotte Mason's LA components of oral narration, written narration, copywork, and dictation all works together to give dc a very thorough coverage of writing instruction. If you choose to omit one of these areas HOD plans for you, than you would just need to be sure you were covering that academic need in another way.

I'm excited for you to begin RTR and Beyond! We did Beyond last year and are doing RTR now - what excellent learning my dc have had! I think you will really enjoy these guides, and your dc too.

In Christ,
Julie