Please help me not go insane!!! :)

[Michaeljenn]

I am desperately trying to decide on which HOD guide to use this fall. I will have a just turned 10yo, 7yo (turning 8 in October), and a 4yo (turning 5 in early Sept.) Both older kiddo's were in public school this year. They will finish the year out and we will begin homeschooling again in the fall. They were homeschooled before. I am trying to decide where to place my soon to be 10yo. She places in both Preparing and CTC. I think that CTC would be a bit more challenging for her, but very doable. However, Preparing looks so good, how can I skip it?? Also, I am wondering if I did do Preparing and then CTC, would it repeat info too much... I am assuming it probably won't, but it was a concern of mine. Also, my 10yo will be a 5th grader in the fall and it would get her off track to do the Geography guide in 9th grade.... oh my brain hurts! LOL

One thing I am sure of is that my 7yo will be doing Beyond:)

Any thought or suggestions? I know I need to get a grip here...

Thanks,
Jennifer

[Nealewill]

I did preparing this year and it was a wonderful intro to world history. With your dd being in public school already, I would probably go with CTC if she places there. Basically, Preparing is a world overview in both history and science. And it is teaching kids how to do written narrations. I am guessing your child who went to school can already write a fair bit. So doing the written narrations in CTC will probably be fine. Also, what makes preparing great is that is preparing the kids for the next 4 years of history and science. It touches a little bit on the subjects taught in those 4 years. Those 4 years are going to dig deep into the topics. So your 10 yo will cover the topics much deeper than they do in Preparing.

The other things I have seen some moms do is they will have a child do Preparing first and then do school 5 days a week (HOD is written for 4 days a week). If you add in the 5th day every year, your child would be able to do 5 guides in 4 years. But for me, I love only having the kids do 4 days of school. I need that 5th day to get caught up if we need to and to just have fun sometimes. So I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing the 5th day but I am only mentioning it because you could.

I personally vote for CTC. I think you will love it, and it is even more independent than Preparing.

[Michaeljenn]

Thank you for your reply!! She has done quite a bit of writing. They have written papers on all the types of writing so far... compare/contrast, persuasive, ect... They have not done a ton of written narrations, if any, but I think she would probably be fine. Her biggest issue is that she does not like to read too much. She is a good reader, just does not enjoy it as much as I would like. It has to really capture her attention, but I guess we are all like that in some ways! LOL

[MelInKansas]

In what areas would you say she places in Preparing and not CTC? You mention reading, is that why you would place her lower? I don't think there's too much repeat, Preparing is an overview of World History and CTC is a more focussed study of Creation to Christ, more in depth with more reading at a deeper level. I bet she will find the readings fascinating, if you think that the reading workload will be too much (and if you can manage) you could read some of it TO her and then transition until she is reading all of the independent stuff on her own. Have her read along with you as you read to her. Would you be doing DITHOR also with her? You can customize DITHOR for her reading level/stamina and the book selections on HOD are all excellent, exciting, and good moral foundation books.

[Michaeljenn]

I think the biggest thing that concerns me is the work/reading load when she hits RTR... I would rather it be a bit more easier, therefore enjoyable, instead of her feeling like she is overloaded with too much reading. If we do Preparing, I was going to have her read some of the history herself... I plan to pre-read the books in the summer as well. I like the idea of doing school 5 days a week as well to get through all 5 of the guides... decisions, decisions!! We do have Co-op on Friday's and she is a competitive gymnast, spending 15 hours a week in the gym, so it may be hard to do 5 days... but we could always double up on day a week and still only "do" school 4 days a week with maybe a bit of "homework" on the weekends.

I have also read too many reviews about how Wonderful Preparing is, and I hate to miss out on it!! LOL See.. driving myself insane here!!

[Gwenny]

I would have her do Preparing. She is new to this way of schooling-there is plenty of meat but she would probably be able to do a lot independently-if not right away, she will soon into the guide. It is an awesome guide! My daughter is just finishing it and has been able to do most on her own-she's a little older. I know she is so prepared for CtC and will get so much out of it since it won't be a complete struggle.
I wouldn't try to do the 5 days with all that you have going. It will be pretty hard to double up-that would be a very long day.

[8arrows]

I vote for Preparing too. If the child places in two guides, it is better to go down. I would not try 5 days a week with your schedule. You want to have a successful year. Sometimes we can sabotage our year by trying to do too much!

[Michaeljenn]

Thank you everyone:) I think I am going to stick with Preparing. I borrowed the guide from a friend to look at and have pretty much read through the whole thing. It looks so good. I think an easier, less stressful year is what we need. I know she will still be challenged, but I really want her to enjoy school:) We used R&S before she went to PS, and she is one of those strange children who LOVED it and is actually excited to "get" to do Rod and Staff English again. She will probably do that book at full speed because I cannot seem to keep her from wanting to do several lessons a day. She is going to be a grammar nerd I guess!! LOL

So excited to get started and be part of this wonderful board! Thanks to Carrie for all your hard work and creating such an awesome program!!