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We are on our second week of CTC, and I do have to say that the girls are enjoying it. Keri actually wants to continue school through the summer. "so my brain doesn't turn to mush" That would suit me fine, moving her ahead of Tamara, who would rather not do school over the summer-I would be content to keep up Tamara's math lessons, and just let her read and write freely all summer. Tamara has no issues in those areas.
However, our days are still too loooong. Part of it is lively discussions, which is not a bad thing. The squabbling has gone away, since I put my foot down over that. Truth is, Keri takes a long time to get her readings done. It truly takes her about twice as long as it does her younger sister Therefore, we are having days lasting up to 6 hours, today was 7 I don't know what to do to help her. She also takes a long time on the DITHOR workbook, especially the Christian character days (usually day 9). Honestly, I think a half-speed schedule would be great for her, but that would put her behind her younger sister, who would be done in a flash daily at half-speed
If I read aloud to her instead of her reading, that would speed things up, but it won't give her the practice she needs. One thing I was considering for DITHOR is to get her next genre book on CD and have her listen to it while following along in the printed book.
All this, yet this is the girl who consistently scores high and gifted on reading comprehension tests and language arts tests. Keri is using Rod and Staff 6 successfully, although with that I read the lesson aloud from the teacher's guide and have her follow in her student book before doing the oral portion and then assigning her written work. If it were Tamara alone, we would be finished on time. We have got to get this under control, or I won't have energy for anything else soon

Lourdes, it's nice to see you! This might be totally off base, but what about letting Tamara be finished for the year and then let Keri go half-pace? If Keri does half pace over the summer, she will pull ahead of her sister and when fall comes around she can be ahead at least for a while and hopefully by fall she will be moving along a bit more quickly. If you can't stop right now with Tamara maybe you can just try to hang in there for a few more weeks until you can let her take a break and let Keri go half-pace. I think your idea of a book on tape would be a good idea or maybe even hold off on the DITHR for a few weeks until you are able to get your schedule under control. Maybe you could just work on getting the rest of CTC done in a reasonable time and add DITHR in the fall after Keri has had time to get used to the schedule. You could always do part of the reading aloud for a while if that helps, gradually easing off and allowing Keri to take over. Perhaps one or more of these things will help you get your schedule under control. I'm glad you all are having a fun time with it even still!

Keri sounds a bit like me - she likes to read and probably gets a lot out of it (I'm inferring this from you saying that the discussion takes a long time), but she doesn't read fast. That's not a bad thing! I can skim if I have to, but I don't enjoy rushing through big chunks of reading.

I think letting her work this summer sounds good. Also, is there a way that her day could be "long" but your day could be shorter? Could she do some of the reading in the late afternoon or evening as "homework" for the next day?

Anyway, it sounds frustrating and exhausting, but also like a rather good problem to have! Each one is engaged in her own way.

Lourdes - Keri is really making so many gains! Considering she is transitioning from a more traditional style of learning that she did last year, to HOD learning this year, I think she'd doing pretty well! How does she feel about her days going long? My middle ds would do school all day every day - he is not very motivated to finish in a timely fashion because he loves school so very much. I, on the other hand, am highly motivated to finish school on time, as I love it too but have many other responsibilities in life besides homeschooling. This part of the pp's good thoughts stood out to me...

Also, is there a way that her day could be "long" but your day could be shorter? Could she do some of the reading in the late afternoon or evening as "homework" for the next day?

I am wondering if this could work? Also, one thing to keep in mind with the lively discussions, if they are adding much to your day, are they worth the stress they may cause if the day goes longer? This is a question families may answer differently, and there is not one right answer, but only one right answer for your family. But it is something to ask yourself, when not in the heat of the moment of discussing things, to see if you think the trade-off is worth it.

I really liked Patty's thoughts on what you shared about Keri wanting to school through the summer - which BTW is AMAZING, and something to truly take a moment as a proud mama to celebrate! You have lit the fire in her again with learning through HOD, Lourdes, WAY TO GO! But, yes, the schooling half-speed through the summer could work, but it should not be another thing for you to do necessarily - I think you need a break too - and I just remembered you are busy with some learning of your own at the college level. Hmmmm. Do you think you could have her take a summer break but work on DITHOR, even just 3 days a week? That could help her strengthen those skills and learn to speed up her reading time too, which after a summer of this, could help her speed up her reading in CTC as well. What are your thoughts about all of this? I hope something here can help.

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks Patty and Julie for some great ideas! One thing though-Keri is not at a point yet where I can assign her something to get done later in the day or on a weekend and have it done-tried that...she brought her DITHOR to her father's place over the weekend and did none of it I also tried assigning it for her to do in the afternoon while I did something else-still didn't get done. It seems because reading is her biggest challenge, it won't get done unless I "sit" on her. To tell the truth, I don't mind the lively dicussions-it's good to see the girls connecting with the curriculum and with each other Keri doesn't seem to mind the days being long-I'm the one who wants to be done "on time".
I do need to keep on with Tamara, as we have to complete 180 school days and are not there yet. But half speed with Keri over the summer may be doable, even with me in college classes, and I don't mind being in two different parts of the guide by fall. I do like the other idea of just doing DITHOR with Keri over the summer. I am going to do math with Tamara over the summer-come to think of it, Keri will probably be happy to continue math as well, because she enjoys it.
So, maybe, I will have Keri do DITHOR with me and math on her own over the summer, and Tamara can do math with me and free reading on her own over the summer. This would allow ME the break I need while covering their challenge areas. However, Keri is really enjoying CTC....will have to think about it some more, lol.

You could also set a time for discussion during the school day, and then jot down at the beginning of that time anything they want to discuss. Then whatever new comes up jot it down also, but otherwise just be done when the time is up... then you could come back later (during supper or something) and finish the discussion not in "school"

Well I tried half-speed and it seemed to make them MORE lazy The next idea comes from Keri-she would like to get some of her work done without Tamara around. So we agreed she will get up before Tamara and do her independent work. Perhaps this will make it so both are done in a timely basis, since Keri takes longer on assignments where she has to read. I hope we hit our "groove" soon.