first day with RtR

[Gwenny]

I had my daughter start her RtR today and just told her to follow the order I gave her in her schedule and just get a few things done. (I set out an order for her and her sister because they are sharing the main books--they each have their own guide though) I wanted her to get some done before next week when we really start but we will have some of our older children home visiting. I also wanted to be free to help if she needed, etc. She did really really well. AND, she got all of the boxes done that were in the schedule. She was only to work on the independent items and I thought she would just get a couple of them done! I am having her fix some of her writing to be neater but that's about it. She seemed so happy and I know she felt good about herself. In the science box she was supposed to do a notebooking assignment. She had to come up with her own pneumonic phrase--I had read the instructions a few days ago so I knew they told her where the example was---she came downstairs and said she didn't know how to do it. I told her they gave her an example--she insisted they didn't---I made her go read it again and lo and behold she didn't come back saying it wasn't there! I think she only reads so far in the directions and then stops and doesn't complete them.

Anyway, it was encouraging and I was so glad to be able to praise her--I have a hard time finding things sometime---I'm so excited about this year. I think we are both in a better place and are more prepared.

Thank you Carrie!! And Julie!

[Rice]

That's great to hear! My DS will start in two weeks. Planning for half speed at first, but maybe he will surprise me, as your DD did.

Blessings,

[rumkimom]

I was hoping to start next week (1/2 speed) but we are still waiting for our materials to arrive. I will be getting started with LA today though....we have those and are doing something slightly different than the guide due to some learning issues. We will be doing the writing from CTC, easy grammar and 2/3 DITHOR.

[Gwenny]

Good idea rumkimom. It is easier to ease into things. Waiting on your other materials will help force you to do that. It definitely isn't how I would prefer told o it. My tendency is all or nothing, but it backfires on me. HOD and this board have helped me the last couple of years to realize that slow and steady wins the race. I'm definitely the hare! Is it your 14 yo that is doing RtR? My daughter is 13 (and the other is 18 with major learning issues). I'm still waiting to add in her math, just a little bit longer. She also will have to start piano lessons and practicing the beginning of Sept. We took the whole summer off of lessons this year--that's a big chunk of time. I'm excited though.

[rumkimom]

Yup, it is my 14 year old who is doing RtR this year. Her LA went well this morning.

[Tami]

We've only done 3 days (which took us 4) and my kiddos are overwhelmed. I'm trying to decide how to handle it.

I know this is a silly question, but when you say you are "going 1/2 speed" what exactly do you mean? Are you doing the left page one day and the right page the next or do you divide things up differently?

My twins also have dyslexia so we are adding in additional time for remediation and for them to absorb the information. I don't want to slow down for too long (they are 14yo in 8th grade) because they really need to move forward as quickly as possible (emphasis on as possible). The first couple of days went well....yesterday, not so much.

I see such a benefit for my kids with this curriculum....my son already is feeling much more successful in his drawing (an area that he does not enjoy), and they now understand how the Medieval Writing Lessons work. Yay! I know it will work out in the end, I just am trying to to stress them out unnecessarily.

Thanks!

[rumkimom]

Tami - we are doing LA & math everyday, but are splitting up the rest of the boxes (8 left) into 2 days. I plan to do everything on the left side except storytime on day 1, then will do storytime and the right side on day 2. If you are following the LA and math boxes (we are using something different due to learning issues), you can split it up by doing each page as a different day and then plan to go for 5 days a week instead of 4. Doing this for a few days may help your children not to get too overwhelmed. My daughter does not have problems reading, but does have problems with comprehending what she reads. She also has Expressive-Receptive language disorder so comprehension/narration/writing is very difficult for her....thus the reason I put her in a lower level for her age, but this is where she is at. I am sure we will have some tears of frustration especially when we first start next week. I will stay at 1/2 speed as long as she needs it.

[MomtoJGJE]

I split it up differently because some of my kids are like me... they prefer math and science over history and English. Of course my others prefer English and science over math and history. So when I split it I do one of two things.

1 - I make sure they have at least one thing they like and one thing they don't like each day. So for my math/science kids we do math and history one day, then science, LA, storytime, etc the other day. Or some mixture like that. Or....

2 - This is the main way we do less.... I will set a time I want them to work. Generally for my older ones it's 1.5-2 hours and my younger ones it's 45min-1 hour. As long as they are working hard for that amount of time, they can be done wherever they get to for that day. Then the next day they work on the rest of the work for that day. If they finish, they start the next day's work. Sometimes it might take them three days to do one day in the guide. I'm ok with that as long as they are WORKING the entire time I've set for them. It evens out because some days have less reading (time consuming for my kids) and more written work or drawing. So those days they finish an entire day in the time set.

I've found that overall, when I just set an amount of time with my only "rule" being to work hard the entire time, they get more done and it sticks more than when I've said "ok we are doing these boxes today and those tomorrow."

[Tami]

Thanks so much! Those ideas are very helpful!

Today I'm trying to give them more uninterrupted time and see if that helps. I was trying to break up independent things and w/mom things but the constant shuffling was very distracting to them. We'll see if it helps.

If they are still frustrated, I'll definitely slow it down. I'm not sure why I get so stressed over the pace sometimes; all it does is frustrate them and they certainly aren't going to learn more! Also, one of them works faster than the other which causes a few issues. I do think that they need to be challenged to work more efficiently....there has been a lot of time wasted and a lot of silliness going on during lessons. Such a balance to be found!

Thanks again!

[Little Women]

This is my first year with HOD, and we are near the end of unit 2, but we have been working for about 3 weeks. In the beginning, we tried to do everything. But at some point in the afternoon, we just both felt "done." So I'd just say, "Ok, that's enough. We'll pick up where we left off, tomorrow." Sometime during unit 2, we have begun to be able to do a full day or close. I didn't have a careful plan, it has just worked out this way, and it seems to be good where we are right now.

[my3sons]

I had my daughter start her RtR today and just told her to follow the order I gave her in her schedule and just get a few things done. (I set out an order for her and her sister because they are sharing the main books--they each have their own guide though) I wanted her to get some done before next week when we really start but we will have some of our older children home visiting. I also wanted to be free to help if she needed, etc. She did really really well. AND, she got all of the boxes done that were in the schedule. She was only to work on the independent items and I thought she would just get a couple of them done! I am having her fix some of her writing to be neater but that's about it. She seemed so happy and I know she felt good about herself. In the science box she was supposed to do a notebooking assignment. She had to come up with her own pneumonic phrase--I had read the instructions a few days ago so I knew they told her where the example was---she came downstairs and said she didn't know how to do it. I told her they gave her an example--she insisted they didn't---I made her go read it again and lo and behold she didn't come back saying it wasn't there! I think she only reads so far in the directions and then stops and doesn't complete them.

Anyway, it was encouraging and I was so glad to be able to praise her--I have a hard time finding things sometime---I'm so excited about this year. I think we are both in a better place and are more prepared.

Thank you Carrie!! And Julie!

Gwenny - I'm so glad your start with RTR went well! As a mom planning for a successful school year, you did a lot of things right before you even officially started. Thank you for sharing and for encouraging others here, Gwenny! A few things I loved that you naturally did...
*You read through the guide and made some tentative plans before you started.
*You read through the first day and were familiar with what your daughter would encounter, even in the independent boxes, prior to starting.
*You set manageable goals the first day, realizing that as the first day, it might not all go perfectly.
*You clearly shared with your dd that you expected her to be independent the first portion of the day, and you assigned the portions of the guide that were supposed to be independent for independent work time.
*You set a manageable amount of time for dd to be on her own working independently, rather than long periods of time leaving her unattended.
*You were available for help when she hit her first bump in the road, which happened to be in science, and when she came to you - because you read the plans before starting - you knew how to encourage her to find the answer herself, which she did and felt success about.
*You set goals for dd to improve her writing that are realistic, and you let her know your expectations about this right from the start so good habits can be formed.
*You praised your dd for her effort and work to meet the goals you'd set for her!

WOW! That is a lot 'done right' on your part as the teacher and the encouraging parent! I know that wasn't your intention in sharing this, but I just wanted to point out the work and thought process that went into setting your dd up for success for her first day of school. It is not often we get praise or accolades as homeschool moms, but I just have to point out JOB WELL DONE, MOM! Thank you for sharing about your first day, and for encouraging others here! Thank you also for your kind words of thanks to Carrie and to me. It is appreciated more than you know. May your dd have many more steps to success the rest of the year - I have prayed for it and will try to remember to do so again. God bless, Gwenny!

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Tami - we are doing LA & math everyday, but are splitting up the rest of the boxes (8 left) into 2 days. I plan to do everything on the left side except storytime on day 1, then will do storytime and the right side on day 2. If you are following the LA and math boxes (we are using something different due to learning issues), you can split it up by doing each page as a different day and then plan to go for 5 days a week instead of 4. Doing this for a few days may help your children not to get too overwhelmed. My daughter does not have problems reading, but does have problems with comprehending what she reads. She also has Expressive-Receptive language disorder so comprehension/narration/writing is very difficult for her....thus the reason I put her in a lower level for her age, but this is where she is at. I am sure we will have some tears of frustration especially when we first start next week. I will stay at 1/2 speed as long as she needs it.

These are great, doable ideas, rumkimom! I think you have done a super job of planning ahead for your dd and for what will specifically help her the most! Thank you for sharing, as this gives others ideas of how to plan ahead for success when special concerns are known prior to beginning. I have prayed for your dd as well, and will try to remember to pray for her again. How blessed she is to have a mother who is sacrificing much to homeschool her! That sacrifice deserves recognition.

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

We've only done 3 days (which took us 4) and my kiddos are overwhelmed. I'm trying to decide how to handle it.

I know this is a silly question, but when you say you are "going 1/2 speed" what exactly do you mean? Are you doing the left page one day and the right page the next or do you divide things up differently?

My twins also have dyslexia so we are adding in additional time for remediation and for them to absorb the information. I don't want to slow down for too long (they are 14yo in 8th grade) because they really need to move forward as quickly as possible (emphasis on as possible). The first couple of days went well....yesterday, not so much.

I see such a benefit for my kids with this curriculum....my son already is feeling much more successful in his drawing (an area that he does not enjoy), and they now understand how the Medieval Writing Lessons work. Yay! I know it will work out in the end, I just am trying to to stress them out unnecessarily.

Thanks!

Tami, you asked some good questions and have some good information going forward! I want to encourage you that I do remember my own first week to two weeks of middle school and high school as a student back when myself as being pretty rough. I am encouraged that at least with our own dc, though learning the ropes of the academics and the routine of the skills in the guides is something to adjust to, at least their day is not full of other difficulties that tend not to go away (i.e. bullying, teasing, exposure to others with some potentially harmful habits that could be detrimentally influential (swearing, dressing in a way that is too suggestive, food addictions, etc.), and worst - God's presence potentially locked out of the school's doors before dc even enter them. You have made the best decision already to homeschool using a Christ-centered curriculum like HOD! Way to go, Tami! That is sometimes the toughest part - just starting. Now, moving forward, the details have to be worked out. One thing I have noticed about each HOD guide we do - after we work hard at the beginning to establish good routines and to work hard at doing the best possible for each box/skill set of the plans, the guide gets more manageable, even more enjoyable, and time begins to fall off the day more and more each month of school until at the end - WOW! They are doing it all and doing it well. Keep persevering! I have no doubt you can do this, and do it better than anybody else for your dc - because no one can love and teach dc like their mother. No one. I have prayed for you and your dc, and I will try to remember to do so again.

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

I split it up differently because some of my kids are like me... they prefer math and science over history and English. Of course my others prefer English and science over math and history. So when I split it I do one of two things.

1 - I make sure they have at least one thing they like and one thing they don't like each day. So for my math/science kids we do math and history one day, then science, LA, storytime, etc the other day. Or some mixture like that. Or....

2 - This is the main way we do less.... I will set a time I want them to work. Generally for my older ones it's 1.5-2 hours and my younger ones it's 45min-1 hour. As long as they are working hard for that amount of time, they can be done wherever they get to for that day. Then the next day they work on the rest of the work for that day. If they finish, they start the next day's work. Sometimes it might take them three days to do one day in the guide. I'm ok with that as long as they are WORKING the entire time I've set for them. It evens out because some days have less reading (time consuming for my kids) and more written work or drawing. So those days they finish an entire day in the time set.

I've found that overall, when I just set an amount of time with my only "rule" being to work hard the entire time, they get more done and it sticks more than when I've said "ok we are doing these boxes today and those tomorrow."

Thank you for sharing this approach, as it provides a window into how a schedule can be more of a routine with built-in flexibility and with specifics that plan for the differences in dc's learning styles and needs! I am so glad that you are finding a good rhythm with this approach, and I'm glad you shared it as it will certainly click with others who thrive with this kind of 'routine' too!

In Christ,
Julie

[Gwenny]

My3sons, you have the gift of encouraging words. I feel like super mom after your post!! Seriously, thank you for those words. I'm trying and trying to use the fantastic advice that I receive here from you and Carrie and the other here on this great board. I love HOD and all of the things that go along with it.