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I wanted to post on how appreciative I am of the wonderful steps my dd has made in just a few months with HOD. She is making remarkable improvements in all areas, but it is in her Independent work where she has grown so much. I was worried a couple months ago that she wasn't going to be ready for CtC next year because she always had so many questions and seemed to need so much help in the areas that were meant to be done independently. However, it is like a switch was thrown or something over the last few weeks. She has just taken off with her work. The boxes marked independent are truly independent for her now. When I check her work, I can see how far she has come. In fact, many of the other boxes she is wanting to do on her own too. She has taken initiative in things like poetry, geography, and vocabulary. In fact, I feel like I have to be careful that she doesn't get too far out on her own and miss something. Exactly how much independence should I give her?

That's wonderful!! Sounds like she will be well prepared for CTC.
We're experiencing the same success here with CTC this year. I just LOVE HOD!

That is wonderful, I am excited for you.... It really is a fun program and I am glad that my son is able to do it mostly independently, but I think I would really enjoy it too ! But as far as how far should you let her go, I really think it is important for you to check up on her maybe once a day, at least. I started off by checking my son pretty often and now I just have him bring me the guide at a certain point in the day and we go over each box together (this is so I can keep up and he is accountable for getting things done). I will listen to his narration or bible vs, then his memorization, I check his boxes (in the notebook)to make sure they are done well and he didnt miss anything, then we go over his Genesis or geography, and his grammar or writing and anything else I am missing. Iam not sure of exactly how "to do" it, but this has worked well for us to make sure everyone is staying on top of things!

Cathy,

It sounds like your daughter is making wonderful progress in growing in maturity and independence. It is such a blessing to train our children in this needed skill in bite-sized steps rather than waiting to thrust it upon them once they reach high school! We have found that our children take much care and are proud of their work that they do independently. They have taken hold of so many skills in this way that otherwise would have been mom-enforced.

My two oldest sons both realized on their own that they could set their alarms and get up at 6:00 (by their own choice) in order to get started on their independent subjects when the house is quiet. This helps them be done earlier during the day with their schoolwork. I set their start time later than 6:00, but they have continued to choose to get up early this whole schoolyear as they are motivated by what they are able to complete on their own. If I was still the one doing all of the reading to them, and they were still tied to the rest of the younger kiddos for many of their subjects this wouldn't have happened. As then they would be waiting on me to "provide" their education, rather than self-starting. So, we've found wonderful motivation and enthusiasm from our boys with their increasing independence. Yet, our family is together for so much of the day that we don't miss out on our family time either. For us, if our kiddos weren't working toward independence, there would be no personal time focused just on each child and his/her education.

As far as independence goes, from my perspective, I do still check everything my kiddos do, even the 'I' boxes. I sit with my second son in late morning and I skim over each of his boxes in his guide while checking the product to make sure he's accomplished everything needed. I often read a couple key ideas aloud to him from several of the boxes and go over a few things that may have had questions just to be sure he's done. I have my son sit with me during this time, as I check everything and have him put it away after I check each item. This way we can discuss very briefly as I quickly look his work over. It takes about 15-20 extra minutes, and we call this our meeting time.

For my oldest son, I check all of his work at lunchtime while he's eating and go over any needed fixes after lunch. This works well for him.

With my youngers, I am with them for all subjects and just check each one as we go.

Blessings,
Carrie