Placement help, CTC/RTR/Preparing

[blessedmomof4]

Okay-I have been turning this over in my mind and I find I need to get it out of my head and get some opinions for next fall I am in a unique situation. My younger girls did about half of Bigger when they were in 3rd and 4th grades, then they went to public school. I took my youngest out of public school in mid-5th grade and did Preparing with her. We finished Preparing around Christmas for the first half of grade 6, and are now doing the rest of Bigger with Extensions. She is currently in her second half of grade 6. I just took my second youngest out of 7th grade public online school, so she is joining us for the second half of Bigger with Extensions for her second half of grade 7. In order to "beef up" Bigger for Tamara, age 11, she is using Rod and Staff 5 daily, and I am requiring written narrations. Keri, age 13, started using Rod and Staff 6 3 times a week and also doing written narrations. I am also having her do some additional reading. We are using a different math program.
If you understood all that, here is the next part Dd age 13 is a good reader, but a slow reader. She needs work on reading and following written directions. I suspect mild dyslexia or tracking issues, as she says her eyes "jump" to the wrong spot when she is reading, so she has to find her place, which slows her down. Because of this, I don't want her to do Extensions in any higher level package, as she does not enjoy reading that much. This week, she even asked me to please read to her aloud from the Extension book, and I got the impression she was becoming fatigued of reading for the day. She is good at creative writing, but needs to work on spelling and soon report writing in preparation for high school. She did fine on her first attempts ever at written narration, writing 5 sentences the first time, and 10 the second.
Dd age 11 is an excellent reader and would read all day if allowed, but enjoys having me read aloud to her just because it's mom time. She would rather have me read aloud to her for Storytime than read those books herself. She is not a fan of writing narrations, and struggles with this, but is also good at creative writing.
Part 3 So I am positive I would use CTC as written for dd age 11, who will turn 12 in September. I would use the girl interest package, some of which I own and some of which are carried by my local library system. It is Keri, who will just turned 13 last month, that I am struggling to place. My question is, would it be too "light" for her if I placed her in CTC, using the Basic Package History Interest Set for her to read on her own (I would like to stretch her a bit in this area, but not overwhelm her)? Or would it be better to place her in RTR, also using the Basic Package for her to read on her own? Another thought was to have Keri do Preparing with Extensions, because of her reading issues, but require longer written narrations and add a writing program. I toyed with that idea before, and was advised against it, but I thought I'd put it out there again, now that I have more details about Keri's abilities.
If you read this far, thanks! Also thanks in advance for any input.

[blessedmomof4]

I think I've answered my own question, lol. I went back to the placement chart and printed it out, like I should have done before, and concentrated on placing them as though they are not using HOD right now at all, which is kind of true for all the "tweaking" I am currently doing. Tamara, who will be 12 in September, would fit in RTR only in the areas of age and reading, so CTC will be a great fit for her, as I thought. Keri, who just turned 13, really would fit most solidly in RTR for reading, writing, and grammar, but could go either way in the other subject areas. My main concern is the volume of independent reading and the following of written directions. I think I can work with her over the next few months to grow in those areas. Soooo, now to decide if I challenge her with RTR or go easier with CTC...Thanks for "listening" while I thought this over! I am very excited to plan for next fall, and I hope to be placing my first order within a month or two

[1shortmomof4]

I am currently using RTR and I have a dd that has reading issues (she is 14) (I also have an 11 year old with reading issues) and this particular has never used HOD before until this year. When we began the year she was assigned all of the independent reading - the history portion for example (which is long on some days!) - along with everything else. Well, she was quickly overwhelmed and stressed to the max; not what I was hoping for in using HOD. I had/have used HOD with my younger child and the short readings, short lessons were a perfect fit for his developmental/dyslexic needs so was hoping for the same results for her - certainly not the outbursts of frustration in anger. Sooooo, I sit with her and read all of the history and the Shakespeare. She enjoys listening to the Warring CDs. She does the science completely independently because the writing is geared to a bit younger - builds fluency and confidence with overwhelming. She is reading the read-alouds to herself although we've switched 2 books - 1 because it was more "boyish" and I wanted her to read a missionary biography and for now we are doing a unit on Poetry for part of her literature credit. (She is a 9th grader.) I would probably have done CTC this year if we hadn't recently covered this time period and could have added in some extensions as needed. I think there is a lot of challenge in the RTR level - and if your dd has some reading issues I'd be inclined to take it slower rather than overwhelm her. 13 and onward have lots of growing into maturity issues (socially, etc.) that have just begun (trust me, I've got a 17 year old ds, too and have seen the natural progression of that walk towards independence and adulthood - so much like a toddler - they take two steps forward and three steps back) so while challenge might be good I think it is important to look at the whole picture of her - not just the educational side. If your other dd is going to use CTC I'd group them together. This will help you, too! I'm currently working through 2 guides (had tried 3 but that was just too much! as I have an 8 year old, too) and it is a skill to keep things balanced and meeting everyone's needs. There have been suggestions on how to add to the CTC which you could do if you thought it were needed - try it out without at first and then add-on as needed.
Heidi

[blessedmomof4]

Heidi,
Thank you so much for your comments! You know, I have an 18 year old and a 15 year old, and yet somehow I have quickly forgotten how much emotional growth (2 steps forward, three steps back) happens at Keri's age. Hearing your experience in this area really helps. Considering "the whole picture", as you said, I will go with my first gut instinct, which was to use CTC with the History read-alouds, and try having her read them independently. If this turns out to be not enough, I can add extensions later if needed. I can't thank you enough for helping me regain the right perspective. It is so easy to focus on only academincs when a child is older, forgetting that they have a lot of growing to do in other, equally (or more) important areas of their lives.
My husband will thank you too, as the cost will certainly be less with one program, though I didn't want that to be the greatest determining factor

[1shortmomof4]

I don't get a lot of time to post here that often but I do try to glance over the posts when I can/time allows. I'm so glad that you weren't mad at me for my posts/ideas/thoughts; you just never know what people will think irl. I didn't read your siggy line to see that you have been through the teenage years (well, we haven't officially made it all the way through just yet (my oldest is 17) but for those who haven't crossed that threshold - look out! ha ha! I do love my teens, my tween and my little guy - wouldn't trade them in a minute although I would love my youngest to be a baby again just to hold and cuddle him and there are some days that I would gladly return to caring my reflux/vomiting baby girl and walking the floors with her versus the hormone-surge day of teen land - but the hormones level off, and the water is calm once again - until.....

I see that your kids like LOF - my dd uses this, too! And she struggles/hates to read yet this is the best math for her and she does really well; who knew?

Be sure to do a search or look through some of those high school posts for CTC - they had some great suggestions that you might want to keep in mind to add along with the program!

Heidi

[my3sons]

I am late seeing this post, but I agree with your decision. I think it is a good idea to do CTC and have her read the Basic Interest Package independently. I really like this idea, and I think that it works for many reasons. First, she is still extending her learning in an appropriate way by reading the Basic package. Second, she will have time to grow into the CM style requirements she may not have had as much exposure to. Third, she will have time to build up to reading more each day, and slightly less difficult reading material than RTR has to offer. Fourth, she can be combined with her sister, yet do the Basic package on her own. Fifth, she can build her confidence in her abilities. Sixth, she'll get to move through all of history from Creation to Present day this way, as she moves through the guides. And I could go on - but I think this is the right decision! You could easily eventually add the Extension Package follow-ups, only use them for the Basic Package Titles, maybe mid-year or so, if you wanted. Down the road, she could always do the extensions as she gets used to reading more, and as she progresses in this area. HTH! Great thoughts for your Keri, and I'm so excited for her to do CTC!

In Christ,
Julie

[blessedmomof4]

Julie, thanks for putting that into words for me Your list describes clearly the things that went through my mind while making this decision. You know, in the past, I never would have imagined homeschooling through high school. My son and oldest daughter both went to public school after being homeschooled through grade 8. Heart of Dakota has helped me gain confidence that I actually could do this. My biggest hurdle for high school before was being overwhelmed with the thought of planning. I know that with Heart of Dakota, I can make some adjustments for high school but the bulk of the planning is already done

[my3sons]

I know the feeling - high school used to scare me half to death! Now I'm scared NOT to homeschool in high school. HOD has given me the confidence to press on as well - I'm so glad to read your words here, and I think you have a good plan in place for Keri!

In Christ,
Julie