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Hi there,

I posted this question on the HOD yahoo board and received nice input from the moms there, but I would like to ask here too and hopefully get Carrie's advice. I am currently using R&S English 4 with my dd. We will not finish by end of school year (we began it in October and are about 1/2 way through) so we will pick it up again in the fall with CTC. We've used R&S throughout and did the earlier books primarily orally but this year I started having her do the written portions assigned in the lessons. I've read mixed reviews on what the proper way to implement the books with HOD actually is. Some posts say it should be done orally to maintain CM's view on short lessons, other posts say it's supposed to be done written to build writing skills. Carrie, can you please tell me how you intend for it to be completed? I don't want my dd to miss out on skills - but I also don't want to burn her out.....

Blessings,
Caryn

You can see Julie's (my3sons and Carrie's sister) post here where she talks about doing 2/3 or it orally and 1/3 of it written. I've seen her post this often in many threads. HTH!

Thanks Edwena.

Do you know if this is the plan for all the levels? What I mean is, as the kids age is the expectation to continue just doing 1/3 written? I know there is a large amount of writing across the curriculum so I am completely fine with doing it orally, I just want to make sure I'm not going too easy on the kiddos if they are supposed to be doing more.

Not positive. I've just seen it posted a lot in Julie's posts. It's what I've done with ds in level 2 and plan to continue to do with Level 3. He's had absolutely no problem with retaining anything. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will answer soon.

We do advise to do a good portion of R & S English orally, within all of the levels of R & S English. It's a way to have thorough coverage without burnout. I think it is good to be mindful when choosing which third is to be written. R & S English includes writing assignments along with its grammar instruction. If there is a writing assignment for the day, I have my ds write that part. For example, writing a clear paragraph with supporting details would be more important to have him write than a section that asked him to write "S" for singular nouns and "P" for plural nouns. Writing "S" and "P" does little to further his writing abilities, but writing a paragraph does. Likewise, if diagramming is part of the day's lesson, I usually have him write all or a portion of those for sure. Diagramming is something that one needs to write to learn well. If there are many writing assignments or many diagramming exercises within one day's lesson, I will model a portion for them and have them write the other portion. I usually do not have Wyatt (in Level 4) write more than 5 sentences/answers a day, 7 maybe tops. I usually do not have Riley (in Level 2) write more than 3 sentences/answers a day, 4 maybe tops.

I also think it is important to consider the level a student is doing when choosing what third is to be written. For example, in Level 4 using correct capitalization is something I would just have my ds orally say or point to the words that need to be capitalized (as this is primarily a review skill and one he has down quite well by Level 4). However, in Level 2, writing sentences with correct capitalization is an important new skill to be learned, so I'd have my ds doing that level write at least a few sentences to learn that skill.

Doing R & S English within HOD is different than doing R & S English as a stand alone with other curriculums. In addition to doing R & S English, HOD's daily LA plans include creative writing programs, oral narrations, written narrations, copywork, dictation, Storytime follow-ups that are genre/story element/Godly character traits oriented, poetry studies, vocabulary work, prereading strategies, editing checklists, oral reading instruction, not to mention all of "Drawn into the Heart of Reading's" literature skills which are just too many to try to list here. If HOD was a curriculum that did not have specific incremental LA skills planned in their guides, writing out all of R & S English would be very important, because it may very well be the only step-by-step skill-focused writing dc would be doing in their day. However HOD does so much more than just have an English program tacked on. It has LA skills planned in just about every subject area! HOD has your LA bases covered and then some. If you are doing all of an HOD guide and doing 2/3 of your R & S English orally, you'll be just fine in the LA department - in fact, you'll be quite far ahead of the game.

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,

Thank you I really appreciate your thorough answer. My oldest is in level 4 this year and we will be finishing it up in the fall. Your post gave me a great way to gauge what we've been doing, I will plan to reduce the amount of writing I've asked of her (she hasn't complained it just takes up more time....). I understand now what you mean about being selective on which portions to have them write out. We've always used R&S but we've only recently switched to HOD so I think I was still trying to implement R&S the way we were before when it was a stand-alone LA program.

Thanks everyone!

Caryn,

This is such a good thread with such wise advice. I agree that we have continued to do 2/3 of the lesson orally with only 1/3 written at every level we've used of Rod and Staff English so far with our boys. We're currently in English 7 with my oldest son, finishing English 4 with my next son, and doing English 2 with my third son. Both my oldest and my second sons were doing English half-speed according to their guides' plans this year.

Next year, my oldest will continue English 7 at half-speed and my second son will bump up to full-speed English 5 as scheduled in Rev2Rev. I agree that it is good to be selective about which parts to assign to be done on paper. If I am really pressed for time, we may even do the whole lesson orally or on a white board on some days though, to keep everything moving along. We've seen wonderful retention with our boys in the long haul. Rod and Staff does a great job of spiraling back around to concepts, so the students have multiple chances to truly internalize a concept. This is why it's alright to do much of it orally. We always do the oral review at the beginning of each lesson as that is key!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you Carrie. We switched our plans around today and did much more of the lesson orally and it went very well (and quicker!). I appreciate your advice on this subject - and everyone else's as well! I just have to say that my family is LOVING HOD. You have really blessed our family by the work you've done. Tomorrow is Box Day!!!!!!!!

Carrie wrote:We always do the oral review at the beginning of each lesson as that is key!

Blessings,
Carrie

We are currently using R&S Level 2 without the teacher guide, so therefore we are not able to do the oral review. Is this a problem? Would it be good for me to purchase the teacher's guide so I can do the oral review, or does this become more important in Level 3 and up?

Thank you!!!!

Heart_Mom,

There is not a formal oral review in English 2, so you can do English 2 without the Teacher's Guide. The oral review really becomes more important in Level 3 on up.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie wrote:Heart_Mom,

There is not a formal oral review in English 2, so you can do English 2 without the Teacher's Guide. The oral review really becomes more important in Level 3 on up.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you, Carrie, for letting me know! I will definitely purchase the Level 3 Teacher's Guide when we get to that level, and I'm glad to know that the oral review is important to do each day.

Thanks so much for your help!