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Well, just getting back from my mission trip this past Sunday, I just can't seem to get back in the swing of things for doing school. Is that bad? I still have 4 more weeks left in Beyond to finish, but in the midst of getting back from Thailand, we are also in the process of moving to Dallas, TX and selling our house. Which I must praise the Lord about: while I was gone, our house SOLD! That was such good news! But now, we are beginning to think about the whole moving deal with boxing and packing, etc. There is just a LOT going on now!

So basically, I am thinking that we will probably pick back up later in the summer or possibly in August and just start there. I am still having my sons continue with their math, devotion reading, journaling, and reading throughout the summer months, but this is probably all we will do. Does that sound okay?

I have really been having thoughts about switching LA to something more workbook based for next year for my sons, so that they could do more independently. I think R&S is effective, but it requires me to sit with them and go through it, and I really would like for them to be able to take it over more on their own. Any thoughts from anyone about this? Has anyone else found this to be true or made a switch on this? I would appreciate any thoughts. I have noticed that both my sons are starting to do very well with their independent work, and most of our struggles come when I try to sit with them and "teach" them something regarding LA, especially my oldest.

Thank you for your thoughts!

I think it sounds great to be off for the summer. You can only do so much. You can easily finish Beyond when you pick back up in the fall.

I will say that I have found LA to be an area that doesn't work well to be done independently...we used CLE before R&S, and it is workbook based and designed to be done independently. It is a very good program. However, after my dc did the assignments, when I would check over it I'd find often that they did it wrong, skipped parts, or just weren't getting it. So then I'd have to sit down with them and go back over the entire lesson, thus spending the time I'd been trying not to. Or, I'd set them to working on it independently and they wouldn't know how to do it, so they would come to me for help anyway. So for us, teaching time is unavoidable with LA. I spend a few minutes doing the first 2/3 of the lesson orally, and when I know they understand it, I let them do the rest of the lesson independently. I usually find they then do it correctly. I feel much better the way we do it now, plus it takes much less time. And, I know that my children are understanding the material and doing well with it. I'd say if R&S is working for you, a switch may not be beneficial for your dc's learning, or save you time. Just my thoughts!

I will say that I used 2 different workbook programs before switching to R & S. I thought I would want workbook due to his dysgraphia and also it would be easier to have him be able to work through it independently. We first used Growing with Grammar. He could do it by himself for the most part and got most of the answers right, but retention was zero. He filled in blanks without really understanding. Then switched to CLE and I had the same experience the pp did. I would check it and find that even though I thought he understood it he didn't and I still had to go back over it with him. Also I had to tweak CLE so much because I didn't need the spelling etc. Rod and Staff actually takes less time than either one of the other programs. We do it as recommended with 2/3 orally and his retention is much better because I can discuss it with him and give him other examples if he isn't getting it. I also know right away if he isn't getting it.

Congrats on a good trip and your house selling! I think it's fine to pick Beyond back up after a break. I agree with the other posters that workbooks don't seem to do the job as well as mom interacting some with dc - and R & S English is an excellent program. I am wondering how far your 7 yo is in R & S English 2, and how for your 10 yo is in R & S English 3 though? Have you been keeping up on the teaching, or has that been difficult to do? This would make a difference in the advice I'd give. Can you answer those few questions? I think I have a few ideas to try!

In Christ,
Julie

Hi Julie,
Well, my oldest son started out the first half of the year in R&S 2 and I decided he needed to move up about 3 months into it or so. I have been doing it mainly 4 days a week since then, but it is difficult for me to be consistent with. It is always a struggle for us both to sit down and do it together. My youngest did Language Lessons for the Young Child (or something like that) until the work book was done and then went to R&S 2. We do it fine together, so it's not so much him I am concerned with. Mainly it is my older one. I just feel that the more he takes over independently, the better it is for us both. I don't mind him coming to ask me questions, but sitting down with him one on one to do it gets very frustrating for me.

Thoughts?

P.S. -- My oldest ds is my strong-willed child. I love him dearly and he has great qualities, but the LESS interaction we have on subject like Math and LA, the better. Really. We enjoy doing all of the history, science, poetry, music, storytime lessons together though. Even DITHOR is fine. But Math and LA are pretty rough for some reason. He does Math on computer, so that is great. And really, he does pretty well with the R&S LA too. I think it is mainly me wanting to put it more in his hands. Hope that helps some... I am just a very big promoter of self-learning, but I know that in these things, there must be some interaction. Does that sound bad?

Thanks!

Tina - I do understand! This must be a common oldest child's trait. I think this desire for independence will make them good leaders some day though, provided we help them channel it for good. I would to the 5 oral review questions with him from the R & S English 3 Teacher's Guide, and then let him read the rest of it and do it himself. I would let him write right in his R & S English Student Book. Yes, I know this is not how it is intended, but it will enable him to do the work more independently with less writing, and it will make for easy checking for you. The books are pretty inexpensive anyway, and this will let him do the circling, short answer parts, etc. very quickly without having to copy it all. As far as the answers that require him writing sentences, he can write them in a notebook to answer them. Then, you can check it with your TG's answer key, and just meet with him at the end to help him fix anything he missed. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you, Julie. I really like that plan. I think it will work out for us to do that. He will really like writing in his book! I will probably let my youngest do that as well.

Thank you for always taking time to respond with insight and wisdom!

That's a wonderful idea! They'll probably enjoy the change of pace. "To everything there is a season..."

Hey yippie more HOD in Dallas! woo hoo... and don't forget it will be 105 F like every day in August, Your kids will not want to be outside during the day anyway. So Starting back up them is a good plan... Some times I think of July and August my "winter" when I don't hardly ever leave the house. Unless were going to the pool or Inside some where.