Delaying Beautiful Girlhood?

[catbeth]

My oldest is doing a trial run of R2R this week, to see if it will work for her 5th grade year. Today went really well, except we didn't get to the history project (my fault). She narrates easily, dictation was a breeze, and I had to make her stop doing math because she still had other boxes to complete (she's used to 30 problems a day using Saxon at school, so 2 pages in 6A seemed like nothing).

But I was pre-reading Beautiful Girlhood, and my gut is telling me "no way." This child is still firmly in the midst of childhood. She will be barely 10 when we start R2R for real in August. BG might be appropriate for her when she's 12. Could I save this study for then or would it be too much with the rest of MTMM?

It's too bad, because a character study would be very helpful for her. This just isn't the right time for BG.

[Nealewill]

I would wait. That box doesn't take a long time to complete either. So saving for a year when she is older would be completely appropriate.

[Gwenny]

I'm curious about why you have chosen RTR? Are you new to HOD? Have you considered CTC? She is not even in the age range for RTR yet and so there are probably many of the books that would be a little much for her age. Age is important in the guides, not necessarily because of difficulty, but because the topic is "heavier". CTC is great for the 5th grade year. That would put you right at starting the high school guides in grade 9. These guides are very meaty leading up to the high school.
I just saw where you said that she will be barely 10 when you start. That is the youngest end of the range and typically works for those that have grown up with HOD. It's pretty intense if you are new.

Just some thoughts.

[Nealewill]

Gwenny - I think she mentioned that her dd will be 10 when she starts. So she will then be in the age range.

It is a tough decisions IMHO about which guide to do. I have had my oldest on the youngest end of the age range and it has been fine. But few things she read in CTC, I think maturity wise she was a bit shocked about some violence. For example, it talks about the event the Bible where a woman stabled someone through the temples (killing him of course) and nailing him to the ground in his tent. Also, in one of the books I just read to my dd there was a scene where a master scratched up a slaves face to where it was bleeding with a pen. I also know that in R2R, they are going to have some mature topics in there as well.

My dd is going to be doing R2R after summer and she will still be 10. I am planning to complete that guide with my dd and to include the study. I think it is a solid study and does talk a lot about changes in her body coming up. As for the delicate discussion of sex, I believe that is primarily restricted to the "God's Design" book. My older two kids are already fully aware of how things work because they have both asked one to many questions. So for us, completing the guide as is will be just fine even with my dd's age.

[catbeth]

I chose this guide because she solidly placed there academically, and she will be in the age range by fall when we do our real start. As a bonus, she gets to study astronomy, which she's been begging for, rather than repeating the Land Animals book, which she covered in minute detail in 3rd grade. I don't think the hard topics in history will be a problem, her school uses Veritas Press history, which is pretty intense.

She's gifted but not eager to grow up.

[Gwenny]

I see what you are saying Nealewill. It does depend on the child. Your daughter has also done 2 of the guides before RTR. (if I remember correctly?) Those really help prepare her for the next guide, even though she is young. I wan't sure if her children have done any of the guides. The guides are so much meatier than they seem at first.

Have I said before that I love HOD? haha

[TrueGRIT]

I don't think it matters as much when you do the boy/girl study. I plan to use it totally independently of any guide. I believe it should be done when the child is ready.
I have never done higher than Preparing, but that is my two cents.

[Nealewill]

Yes, my dd will have 2 guides under her belt before R2R.

It is tricky coming in. I have a friend who had her dd complete RevtoRev this year (her first year) and her dd was on the youngest end of the age range. She also had her dd read all of the extensions, do all 9 genres of DITHOR, and read all of the storytime to herself . That is a lot of school!!!! But her dd is a reader and devours books insanely fast. Her dd is really enjoying her year as well. My friend mentioned she picked HOD this year because she used to plan all of her own stuff and just didn't want to this year. She mentioned that she will be using Memoria Press for 7th grade and up - or at least that has been her original intentions. Who knows though.....I hope she loves HOD and decides to use them instead

I guess all I am saying is that if she is a reader, and she reads really fast, then doing R2R may be fine. My oldest is not a great reader. She is kind of slow. She is just like me It takes her time to reread and ponder and reread some more. Now, she does a great job at what she does But I am looking to slow her down a bit in level because she does take longer to read. My youngest though - wow oh wow - she is my reader! She has read several of the same books my oldest has read this year....just for fun! I feel like a huge part of the placement is contingent upon how quickly and how much reading have kids done in the past. The other area I assess greatly is if they are comfortable with a lot of writing. If they have done quite a bit in the past, then I do think they will do fine in HOD on the lower end of the age range. But I also think that scouring the placement chart carefully is wise to be sure that you know your kids level so that you don't regret placing them too high. For my oldest, I could have placed her in Bigger or Preparing when started. I chose Preparing because technically she did fit the skills. And ultimately I am still glad I did that. She gained independence and she really enjoyed her year. This year, she actually started the year out just fine. I only have 2 reasons for slowing down now. First, she does AWANA and wants to do silvers and gold with that program. And if you aren't sure what AWANA is, it is a Bible club for kids. With the silvers and golds, there is a lot more memorizing of Bible versus and a lot more papers and activities to be turned in. These activities are optional but she is totally interested in completing them. The second reason, and really the only reason I am slowing down, is that she does get tuckered out from doing lots of reading. Next year in R2R, the reading increases. I fear that she will be zonked before she starts! She does a great job with her guide now and finishing 1 days worth of activities in 1 day easily. But I also have been wanting to stagger my kids next year. So all around, this seems like God's perfect timing has spoken and has shown me to slow down my oldest by a couple of months as her slowing down seem to make the most logic sense at this point. For the next month, she is going 1/2 speed and it has been great. She is spending a lot of time on some other stuff, like writing papers and memorizing scripture. She is in the play Alice and Wonderland next week (she is playing the character dodo and the character the door mouse) and is reading the unabridged Alice in Wonderland book and Through the Looking Glass. I think by having her complete 4 hours of "schoolwork" including her extras while slowing down her guide is going to work out perfectly. She is so energized for each day. And then next year she will be more than ready to start the increased volume of reading in R2R with me being more available to help her because my kids are staggered in their guide start times.

[catbeth]

I know that we're online and none of you know my child, but I can promise you that my oldest is very well placed. She reads so much that I can hardly keep her in books. Her previous homeschool work has been challenging, and she transitioned into classical school easily this year and is the top student in her class. Her teacher praises her writing ability. She has breezed through her work so far this week and is enjoying it. I'm sure the other guides are awesome, but she really is good where she is. If she finishes all the guides early, she can take a year to pursue electives or graduate early like I did.

[Gwenny]

Sounds great catbeth! We just wanted to check! Placement is so important to really enjoying your year. That is fantastic about your daughter. That's the way my oldest daughter was (she is 27 now! yikes!) Since my last 5 children (adopted) have struggled with school and had learning issues, I'm so removed from those kiddos that are flying through. It's hard to remember that they can do it.

I hope you like HOD!

[Nealewill]

I agree with Gwenny - proper placement is definitely key to fully enjoying your experience with HOD. Everyone here cares so much and wants you to love the program as much we do

[MomtoJGJE]

If she is properly placed, that's awesome! That's what you want!

Do be prepared to slow down if needed though. Sometimes my oldest gets a bit overwhelmed with the content and has to go half speed for a while to soak it in. I guess, rather than "be prepared" I should say "Don't be afraid"

[Tidbits of Learning]

I guess my question would be about your genetics. If your family goes through changes younger, then I wouldn't want to wait on the study. I had talked to my girls by 10 about all of those things b/c my mother didn't realize that I might go through changes earlier than she did. She thought she had plenty of time to talk to me. I chose not to do the same thing as I couldn't foresee whether my girls would start body changes at 10 or 13. My youngest daughter really struggled with the changes going on and feeling good about herself. At the time we talked, we were not on this path and used a well known book for girls. I have even thought about buying the girls study as I buy the boys study for my oldest son. I don't think going through a study such as this in the pre-teen years would take away from your daughter still being very much in the childhood stage of life. I know I felt scared and alone when my body started making changes and I was clueless. I was 10 which used to be considered early but is starting to become more the norm. My youngest daughter has not been eager to grow up either, but she is tall and lean and it was happening whether she was ready or not and changes did start happening around 10. I was glad that I didn't wait to go through things with her. You might want to think about it from that viewpoint.

[crlacey]

I would agree with the previous poster that said you may want to consider at least part of the study at age 10. My daughter did start all those changes at 10 and I wished she had been in the guide with this study then. Now that she's already done something similar last year, she is not interested in discussing those things again during our school time this year in Res to Ref so we are skipping it and yet the guide still seems full without it. So if you decide to wait, it will be fine. But I would consider buying the books and looking through them since your daughter will want to have that information available when the time is right.

[StephanieU]

I am resurrecting this old Post. My oldest is on Unit 24 of CTC, so she will start RtR this summer (we go slow on the summer, spreading a unit out over many weeks). I am trying to decide if we will do Beautiful Girlhood or not. I want to do the other two resources, but I have seen others mention that Beautiful Girlhood ended childhood for their daughter. It made them not want to play with dolls, etc. She is newly 10, and I think she had another few years before we need to discuss those things.

If delaying it isn't an issue, would you replace it with something else? She already does Awana (currently doing the silvers and golds for Ultimate Challenge 1) and studies for the weekly Bible quiz at church (oral quiz over a chapter of the Bible).