5th grader and 7th grader in CTC?

[my3sons]

Thanks so much for sharing about your dc, and after reading through all of this thread, I think you came to a great conclusion to have your ds do BHFHG with extensions! He is an avid reader, and the extensions will nicely beef up his science and history without adding more teaching time for you, as they are independent. If ds hasn't done R & S English before, I do think R & S English 4 may be a better fit - not only for the grammar, but also for the writing. The writing lessons in R & S English have done as much to help our sons become better writers as the formal writing programs we have used through the years! The lessons in English are concise, with step-by-step directions, and they teach writing skills that can be applied cross-curricular (i.e. outlining, taking notes, constructing solid paragraphs, etc.). I also think DITHOR 4/5 would be great, and he'd probably love either the 4/5 Boy Interest Book Pack or the 5/6 Boy Interest Book Pack, whichever fits his comfort level with reading better. The placement test with math will be a big help in choosing which math levels to use. It is super accurate! So, hooray! I think ds is figured out for the most part!

Now, about dd... what do you think? There is somewhat of a bigger increase in workload in difficulty from RTR to RevtoRev, but not as much from CTC to RTR. So, maybe by printing the first week of plans out of both choices, you could see which one fit her better? They are both awesome guides, but the best guide will be the one that fits her the best skillwise, and I'd probably be more apt to choose the one that she 100% can handle the independent workload independently (something I have done with my last 2 dc that has helped homeschooling 3 guides at a time be very doable ). Could you share a little more about her maybe? Sorry I took a little bit to get back to you here! I have been returning phone calls, and it is c-r-a-z-y busy - in a good way - right now!!! In the meantime, though, you got an answer from Carrie herself - that's a bonus as authors just don't usually do that, right?!? She is very gracious with her time even though it is short. Anyway, love to hear more about dd, if you get the chance!!! In the meantime - we are celebrating getting ds figured out - hooray!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[rodandmegs]

Hi, Julie. I am thankful to have made a decision about my son. I feel really good about having him in Bigger! I think it will be a good introduction for him, and having him combined with my 7 year old will be helpful to me as well. He has done R&S grammar before in 1st, 2nd, and part of 3rd grade. He did Easy Grammar and Daily Grams for part of 3rd {4th grade level}. Last year, when I put them in public school, I was shocked by how little grammar they actually did! He is a quick learner, though, and he always enjoyed grammar while we were homeschooling. {We did a lot of the R&S orally.}

My oldest daughter really, really wants to do CLE. The books should arrive today, so we are going to look through them thoroughly and decided what to do. If we do choose HOD, I will choose Res-Ref. The Rev-Rev looks like a bigger workload, and am afraid that would discourage her.

[rodandmegs]

Ok, I got the English 5 and singapore 5a in today. It is exactly what he needs. I do have a question though. How much of the singapore math should he do each day to complete 5a and 5b in one school year? I guess I could go through each book and see, but I thought I would ask you ladies first. He is a motivated learner. I'm sure we will do part of his math each day on a white board (as it is much easier for him to write with a dry erase marker). So any input would be appreciated...