daybreaking wrote:It sounds like the consensus is definitely CTC!!
If you don't mind, I have one further question about going that route, in regards to helping my son not feel so overwhelmed by the workload. To give you an example of what I mean, we're still finishing up our school for the year and my precious ds has been working for the last hour with tears streaming down his face, because of feeling overwhelmed about how long everything is taking him. He's a hard worker, so I know he'll eventually get done, but this is not how I want our days to be next year and I certainly don't want him to dread school. I'm a bit concerned since he'll be in R&S English 6 and R&S Math 7, both of which will have higher demands, plus he is very involved in music, spending (by choice) 1 to 1 1/2 hours a day practicing his instruments, doing music theory, etc., along with weekly orchestra practice and lessons. Since folks seem to agree that CTC is the best placement, does anyone have suggestions on helping him not be so overwhelmed by longer assignments?
Also, Julie, if you were in my shoes, would you school five days a week (or school through the summer) in an attempt to get through all of the guides or would you just let the last guide go? I'm a "completer" by nature and have always had my children finish all of their school books/curriculum for each year, so it's doing me in to think of not finishing all of the guides. At the same time, I don't want the rest of the years of our schooling to feel rushed and I certainly don't want our days filled with tears.
Hi daybreaking! In answer to your question, I would not school 5 days a week or school through the summer in an attempt to get through all of the guides. I may have answered differently many years back, but I now know the importance of enjoying the homeschool journey to its fullest. This year we personally homeschooled 5 days a week when we could because there were weeks that we couldn't do as much due to my Dad's battle with cancer. My dh also takes the boys fishing, working on his friend's farm, hunting, etc. when I am gone to book fairs. So, for these reasons, when I could do it, I homeschooled 5 days a week. I would not attempt to get more than 1 guide done in 1 school year, as I feel it would make our homeschool journey too rushed and too stressful. Life is so busy already, and time together is precious! I want our memories to be good ones. This takes precedence, for me, now. If I really had a strong desire to finish the last guide, I'd simply homeschool one more year and graduate my ds a year later. But, if I felt he was ready to graduate, and if I was ready to graduate him, I'd not do that last guide.
A few thoughts on alleviating ds's stress level and helping him with time management skills... I'd definitely do R & S English 6 half-speed, and I'd also do a large portion of it orally or on the marker board, clipping along with the lesson by doing it with him at his side, and assigning only one section to be written in a notebook. For R & S Math, I'd set the timer for 30-40 minutes, depending on ds's ability and attention span, and when it rings, I'd stop, picking up wherever you left off the next day, even if that was in the middle of the lesson (he is ahead anyway, and 30-40 minutes is enough math time for his age). I'd drop the R & S Spelling and just focus on dictation. I know this will be hard to do, but I used R & S Spelling alongside dictation several years with my ds Wyatt, who had speech delays and struggled early on with spelling. Dropping it was the best decision I made. It allowed him to focus more completely on moving through his dictation and spelling correctly or editing carefully with my help his written work. I did dictation daily, as I knew this was a struggle for him. It paid off! He just completed the high school WG guide and rarely misspelled words. Keep plugging away with dictation and focus on it fully! It will work!
I'd share the time allotments pasted below with ds, and set a timer (that doesn't tick loudly
) for him at the start of each box.
I'd stay by his side at first, for the first several weeks for sure, making sure to answer any questions or hop in with guidance whenever he is 'stuck.' One thing that my oldest ds got 'stuck' on was his spelling in his own writing. He is somewhat of a perfectionist, and he didn't want to misspell anything. We worked on learning to use the resource he read from (usually a living book) to find how to spell the person's name, event, etc. properly. I taught him to first look in the book, then look on his IPOD dictionary, then to write and see if it 'looked right,' and otherwise I'd jot it for him on a marker board or sticky note. For my middle ds, he would get stuck on picking topics to write about. For him, I learned to help him choose a topic first, or help him get started. This helped him keep moving along. For my youngest, well he's younger, but his attention span wanders. For him, setting the timer, staying near him, and keeping him moving along rather than losing focus is what I need to do to keep him moving along. I make a rule of thumb at these upper guides not to let the time allotments go wild - if my dc are needing help, near tears, upset/stressed, going way over the suggested time allotment, I hop in and do whatever to help them finish in a timely fashion.
This helped each of my sons see how they could move forward with their work, that it was alright if everything was not perfect, and that dawdling doesn't pay off (different lessons for my different personalities of sons).
In looking at the "Learning Through History" side of the page first, we're coming up with approximately these time allotments:
Reading About History Box: 30 min.(Indpendent)
Storytime: 20 min.
Project/ Written Narration Box: 20 min.(Independent)
Bible Quiet Time: 20-30 min. (Independent)
Independent History Study: 15-20 min. (Independent)
In looking through the "Learning the Basics" side of the page next, we're coming up with approximately the following time allotments:
Geography/Genesis Study: 20 min.
Poetry: 15 min.(Independent)
Dictation: 5 min.
Grammar or Write with the Best: 20 min.
DITHR: 30 min.
Math: 30 min.
Science: 30 min. (Independent)
This equals 270 min. a day, if all subjects were done each day. Grammar, dictation, Write with the Best and DITHR actually rotate through the language arts box, which means they aren't all done every day. This will lessen the overall daily time. Any boxes that are meant to be independent have 5-10 extra min. built into the time allotment above due to the fact that when kiddos are doing something on their own, it often takes longer than anticipated. So, we've built time in for that!
We found with Preparing Hearts that it took a little while to get into a routine, and then the time dropped back substancially as the year wore on and my son knew what to expect. So, you can anticipate after the initial training of getting into a routine with CTC that your child's time will drop back as the year progresses.
Blessings,
Carrie
I hope this helps! As much as possible, I'd try not to add anything extra to ds's day, to keep him on track with finishing within the suggested time allotments, and to balance his love of music with the needs of his school day. I think he will do just fine and will grow into the guide well over time!!! HTH!
In Christ,
Julie