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My oldest son will be finishing Bigger in about 3 weeks. We did English Rod and Staff 3 this year. We did the entire book without difficulty. He really liked it and did very well with it. It is my understanding (correct me if I am wrong) that we need to finish English 6 by the end of 8th grade. Is that right?
My question is about how to schedule the next 3 books over the next 5 years.
We will be doing Preparing in the fall and using Rod and Staff English 4. Should I plan on going full pace with 4 and doing English 5 half paced and English 6 half paced?
I am aware that English 5 is scheduled to be half paced in CTC and RTR.
I have heard so many say that English 4 really takes off in level of difficulty which makes me wonder about the possibility of half pacing it instead of one of the others.

I assume that I am over thinking this like I do everything else. I would appreciate any feedback I can get from those who have experience with using English 4 with a 4th grader. My son really enjoys grammar - so I don't think it would be too hard for him. I just don't want to overwhelm him with so much work that he doesn't enjoy it.

Any thoughts on the best way to schedule these courses so that we can finish with English 6 by 8th grade? I know that ultimately I need to pay close attention to how my son is receiving the material and adjust to his needs, however, it would just really help me to hear from others who have been there with specific experiences with Rod and Staff English and how children respond to it.

Thanks!

My older son has used R&S English since 2nd grade. He is now in 5th using the 5th grade book. (We just started HOD a few months ago, so that is why he is at a different pace than HOD recommendations). He has had no problems with it, but he is my academic one and pretty much just picks up everything with ease. Most days he doesn't even need me to go over the lesson with him. Now my second son is different in his academic abilities. He is using the 2nd grade book and he is in 3rd grade. He will probably just go with the HOD plans and just go up to the 6th grade book, finishing it in 8th grade.
Since I am new to HOD, I can't give a whole lot of advice there, but I'd say just go at the pace that works with your son. You could start out at normal pace if you want and then always slow it down if need be.
I look forward to what others will tell you about pacing as I have been debating what to do with my son. Lord willing he will start Res.to Ref. in the fall, when he'll be in 6th grade, in which the last half of an English book is scheduled, but he will be ready to start the 6th grade book, so I'm not sure what we'll do, probably just work the English as scheduled, 2 days a week but use the 6th grade book and do the first half and then finish it in Rev. to Rev. English is scheduled daily in that one to cover a whole book so the last half of that year I may just do review or may just get the 7th grade book and let him work on it. We'll think about that when we get there I guess and see where we are and how he is doing.
Blessings!
Michelle

Larissa, I think you are on the same track as we are. We are finishing R&S3 with Bigger now too and my dc will be using Preparing for 4th grade this fall. I think we will just follow the plans as written in the guides. In Preparing R&S4 is scheduled at full pace everyday. In CTC and RTR, I think 5 is scheduled in at 2 lessons per week. Then it looks like R&S6 is scheduled everyday in Rev2Rev but at 1/2 pace. So I think the way it is scheduled will have us finishing up R&S6 in the Modern Times guide which will be 8th grade for us. Unless I find it is getting too challenging or have unforeseen circumstances, I'm planning on just following the recommendations in the guides from here on out. I haven't BTDT, but that is our plan.

I thought that you and I were on the same track, Patty. . . and was actually wondering what you were planning to do. My instinct was to keep going full pace with the English 4, but I started doubting myself when I kept hearing about how quickly the English 4 takes off. I feel pretty confident that my son will be able to handle it - I am just a little sensitive about pushing too hard.
This helps, thanks!

Larissa,

Great advice has been shared in this thread! I agree that I would go at full-speed for English 4 as scheduled within Preparing Hearts. Then, you'd head into CTC and RTR, doing English 5 over two years as scheduled, giving you the needed room to do the extra writing programs scheduled in CTC and RTR. Then, in Rev2Rev and Modern Times, you'd do English 6 over two years, to allow room for the writing programs in those guides. Of course, this is just one of the ways to do the grammar, as each guide gives more than one choice. But this path will work well for your particular situation, and still allow you to follow the schedule in your HOD guide each year, keeping your language arts time in balance for what we are scheduling each year in the guide balance-wise.

Blessings,
Carrie