We're back

[Tracee]

I'm happy to finally say we are back and have a couple of questions. We are lovers of HOD and have completed LHTH, LHFHG and Beyond, but along the way, we discovered that our oldest had some learning differences and things got tough for us by the time we got to Bigger. He didn't fit neatly into the guide, and we really needed to concentrate on his reading skills. Well, God is Good, in fact He is wonderful and awesome! My oldest did learn to read, and since then, we have discovered that our younger two have dyslexia as well. During our hiatus from HOD, I tried to keep with a Charlotte Mason approach, but I didn't do so well. I struggled to keep up with poetry, art, and composer studies. However, we did continue on with HOD's read alouds and independent reading, and my kiddos have been thriving with Singapore.

Now we are ready for a new chapter. Our oldest just turned 12 and will be in 7th grade next year. I wanted to put him in Revival to Revolution, because we've been studying the Middle Ages this year, and I wanted him to complete all the guides, but I think I'll take a step back and go ahead and put him in Res to Ref. We were going to have to work through the summer finishing up the Middle Ages and Renaissance anyway, so if I put him in Res to Ref, we can take a little break from History for the rest of the summer.

I guess my question is, what will he miss in the last guide?

Now, for my younger two, they just turned 10 last week and will be in 5th grade. I'm going to put them in Bigger and was planning on skipping Preparing We've read all the History books for Preparing and most of the science, read alouds and even some of the extensions. I love Carrie's book selection!!!!!

How can I beef up Bigger so we can make a smooth transition into CtoC? ....more writing....more narrating?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm so excited to be back. I really need the structure I get with HOD. Otherwise, I feel like a wanderer with no clear direction.

[rumkimom]

Sounds like a good plan for your oldest one. I would check the placement chart though just to be sure which one he best fits in. Things always work best when you put them were they fit.

For your younger two, I would recommend checking to see if they can handle CTC (check that placement guide)...they are within the age range (and if you use it for 5th grade they would get though all the guides by 12th grade)..... you can always start them slow (1/2 speed for a few weeks and then work up to full speed). I think Bigger would be way to easy for them.

Don't worry if you can't get all the HS guides in. I know my daughter will get though MTMM and maybe (if she can handle the difficulty) WG. My older son might get though the first AH guide. The youngest...who knows, he is also at the older end of the age range.

[lmercon]

Welcome back! I remember discussing your decision to take a break and focus on some of those skills. I'm so glad that was a productive time. I wouldn't worry about your oldest getting to the last guide. Lots of moms are making the high school years work well without having gotten through all the guides. You'll have to do a little tweaking to make sure all the credits are completed, but it is doable. I agree with the previous poster to consider starting CTC now and just taking it slowly at first until you get a feel for what they can handle. What are your thoughts on that?
Laura

[rumkimom]

Have you checked the placement charts? You said very little about the skills of your twins (other than 5th grade)....where are your twins skills as far as writing and reading? Did they do normal 4th grade level work last year? (when suggesting CTC that is what I assumed.....except for the reading which I know would be below grade level) that is something important to know when placing them.

I am not sure what you could do to Bigger to beef it up...mostly people add on books for the kids to read (not an option really in your case!).

The jump for Bigger to CTC is huge.... My son (age 10.5) is just finishing up Bigger and the ERs....he could never jump up to CTC this year.

I also took years off of HOD due to wanting to school my girls together and the fact that my younger daughter was getting nothing out of Bigger due to her not being able to listen to stories when I read them (very low comprehension)...later I had her tested and she has expressive-receptive language disorder and is mildly autistic. We did not come back to HOD till this last year. She has a rough time in RtoR but is slowly getting better. She does a lot less independent work than a normal child. As far as DITHOR, we did level 2/3 this year as her comprehension is not at a normal level.

[Tracee]

Hi Wendy,

You are right, I didn't really give much information about the skill level of my twins. They have dyslexia as well. My daughter is still really struggling with reading, but her twin brother seems to be moving along pretty well. He is reading the ER set right now with ease. She on the other hand is still reading books like Little Bear, Frog and Toad and Owl at home. I'm not really sure about normal 4th grade level work. In all Language Arts they are behind, reading, spelling, writing, and grammar. It's hard to teach any of those if they can't read. In math they are at grade level, we've been doing Apologia Science, and for History we have studied from Creation to the Middle Ages using various resources. I totally dropped the ball with poetry, art, and composer studies, and I would say copywork is typical, my son hates it and my daughter seems fine with it.

I do have a question for you, I'm worried about skipping Preparing and moving into CtoC from Bigger. I really don't see how to make Preparing work unless we reread all the books. I really don't want to do that. What skills will I be missing in Preparing? Is there anyway to slowly implement those skills in Bigger?

Thank for taking the time to read and respond to my posts. I hope you didn't feel like I was criticizing you on the other board. I just wanted to make sure I had the correct placement for my kids.

Thank you so much.

[rumkimom]

There is a big jump in skills from Bigger to Preparing. They do more narrations, there are lots more question they have to answer in science and History (orally). They learn how to do a written narration.

How much do your kids remember from this last year? My daughter went into RtR even though she had already done one of the history books (lasts 1/2 the year) and most of the science books. The review has been very good for her. Plus HOD does things way different from what you probably did. See how this year goes and as you get closer to the end of it (or in the middle) you can evaluate how they are doing and if you do still want to do preparing with them (see if you could take a look at the guide to see how much different it is and how many of the books would be new).

Your twins sound at about the same level or slightly lower than my son (who also has special learning needs)....he is finishing up Bigger (and the ERs). The spelling in Bigger should be about the right level for them if they are in the ERs (it was for my son). Lots of oral things in Bigger so that should be good for them. They might not be able to handle more at the beginning. Mid-year you might be able to add more narrations than are listed in the guide.

Hope that helps to start with.

[Carrie]

Tracee,

Welcome back! It sounds like you have a good plan forming. As I was thinking through some of what you shared, I do think that Bigger sounds like a good placement for your twins. The easiest way to beef up Bigger is to use the Extension readings as assigned in the Appendix. You could potentially read those aloud to your kiddos if time permits, since the reading level is likely a barrier for them to read the extension books independently.

You could possibly forego the story time books in lieu of the Extension books to add greater depth to the study (although the storytime books have excellent literary skills that you would then miss, meaning you would for sure need to do DITHR in order to compensate for losing those skills from the storytime box.) I hesitate to suggest this option, as it would benefit your kiddos so much to have the storytime and follow-up skills as a daily part of their learning.

In looking ahead, I would honestly wait until you are within 8 weeks of finishing Bigger to decide what to do next. This is because kiddos grow and change so much in a year's time, and by the end of Bigger we will have a better idea of whether they should just head into Preparing or whether they can make the jump to CTC. Even if they need to head into Preparing, doing the guide fully along with the readings will provide a very different experience from simply reading the books aloud. Not to mention it would be a terrific stepping stone for your kiddos to do the "I" boxes in Preparing by reading their own assigned material (which they may be able to do in a year's time). Kiddos often like hearing stories more than once, and Preparing is a whirlwind tour through all of world history, meaning there is much content that it actually would be good to cover it again. So, either way your next step after Bigger will be a good one.

For now, I would just settle into Bigger and enjoy the journey. There are so many skills wound within Bigger that I think you will have a good year of growth ahead of your twins.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Tracee]

Wendy and Carrie, Thank you so much. I can't wait to start. I will just wait and see where their skills are before making any decisions about next year. . There's no need to worry about that now. Thank you again! I'm glad to be back!!!

[lmercon]

The advice you have received is just fantastic. I'll throw in my 2 cents as a mom of a severe dyslexic whom I've hsed for the last nine years. As you well know, dyslexia is often characterized by average to exceptionally bright kids who have marked difficulty with phonemic awareness and decoding, spelling, and whole range of related issues. I say that because I often notice moms of dyslexics making curriculum decisions based on their child's skill set. I would guard against that. I'm not saying that skill level isn't an important consideration, but in my opinion, it should not be the primary deciding factor. As Charlotte Mason taught us, children are fed by ideas. To me, the ideas should be the deciding factor. We HAVE to feed our dyslexics nourishing, enriching food. They are smart. They want to be informed. They are inquisitive. But without the proper nourishment, they will wither on the vine and then any hope of strengthening their weak skills is lost. If Bigger will adequately nourish your fifth graders' minds with inspiring ideas, then by all means go for it. I would place them where their "intellectual" level is, not their skill level. That's what I have always done, and it has reaped an abundant harvest. What it meant was I had to accommodate for the lacking skills. I've had to read most of the material to him. For many years, he would dictate his narration and then rewrite it. For many years, I had to sit with him to do almost every subject. But that has paid off. Last year, in MTMM, he started reading more material with amazing comprehension. His narrations are wonderful. For the last two years, he's written his own without my help. All along the way, his mind has been fed on ideas. He is a severe dyslexic, and he actually enjoys school! He's 14, and just informed me yesterday how much he loves history and science. What would have been his response to learning had I held back those ideas because his skills were so horribly behind? So my advice, place them where they are intellectually and accommodate so they can be successful. It will pay off in huge rewards.

[Gwenny]

I agree with lmercon! I've been doing the "he can't move on in the guides because he can't do the independent things independently yet" thing for too long. He needs to move on with the material that he can thrive on intellectually--even though he can't read it with his eyes or do the copywork, etc. If you have read them all of the Preparing books, then they are probably mentally ready for the book content of CTC. To go backwards in level of material is not helpful. I would seriously consider that. Even if you take it slowly at first. Read the books to them, or some of the books are on Learning Ally as audiobooks. Yes, it's great when they can read on their own, and for those who are not dyslexic, reading on your own helps you understand it better. But, that is NOT the case when you have dyslexia! Do things orally, scribe for them, etc. Continue to have them work on the skills, but at a much reduced rate of writing and copying, reading, etc.

Also, put your older one where he places on the placement chart. It's hard to not look at the history part, but here again, it's where he will thrive intellectually. lmercon described it all very well.

I'm right there with you trying to figure all of this out and have agonized over placement also. We just have to approach things differently when dealing with dyslexia/dysgraphia or other learning issues. Some of the skills that they are trying to build or need to have built before going into a certain guide only applies to the typical learner.

I'm so grateful for HOD. It's a great curriculum!

[Tracee]

Thank you Laura and Nancy. I appreciate your words of wisdom. It is very true that they learn at a much higher level than their skills permit. I'm also realizing that I can present the same material to 7 year old and a 10 year old, and the 10 year old will be able to comprehend much more of the material. The learning will be deeper and richer. This is my hope for the books in Bigger. With my older son, I have always done every subject with him, but I really want to move him into more independence. I think it will give him some confidence. I'm noticing some laziness creeping in with him. I've heard it's called being 12. LOL.

Thank you again ladies. I always appreciate seasoned words of wisdom and advice.

[my3sons]

I just wanted to say 'welcome back', Tracee!!! I think you have a good plan moving forward, and I pray the Lord richly blesses your upcoming homeschool year with HOD!

In Christ,
Julie