Rod & Staff with HOD

[Daph]

I'm trying to get a definite plan in place regarding next year, and I'm really not sure which Rod & Staff books I need to be using. I see on the Bigger guide, it shows only one book. Does this mean I wouldn't use any of the other books that come with the Rod & Staff English curriculum? My daughter will be in 4th grade next year.

Also, I'd already planned on signing her up for a writing class, so would I still use the writing instructions in the book or no? I'm just trying to figure all this out so I can have a set list when I start buying. Thank you!

[Daph]

And also - is it a necessity to use DITHOR with Bigger? Is it just a supplement?

[pjdobro]

R&S2 Preparing to Build is scheduled for grammar instruction in Bigger. If you feel your dd is beyond that level, you could easily substitute R&S3 Beginning Wisely just doing 1 lesson per day. We are doing that this year since we did R&S2 last year so this year we are using R&S3 with Bigger. In the next guide, Preparing, both R&S3 and R&S4 are scheduled in the guide so one would use whichever is next in line. What has your dd been using for grammar? Has she done any diagramming yet? All of the other English skills besides grammar are handled in other ways in Bigger. For spelling, you choose either the spelling list or dictation. For reading you choose either the emerging readers set, DITHR, or your own reading program. DITHR is not required but you would need to choose some sort of reading program. Handwriting is scheduled with Cheerful Cursive or Italic D. Formal creative writing isn't started in Bigger per se. There is copywork of the poetry, writing in the notebooking, and some writing within the R&S grammar. I noticed in our R&S3 grammar book that we will be working on writing letters soon. I do believe there was a little in R&S2 as well, so there is some writing instruction within R&S grammar, but it is not extensive. It isn't until CTC, that Carrie schedules an actual writing program to go in the guide. HTH!

[Daph]

For Grammar, we've been using Easy Grammar. We haven't finished our 3rd grade book for the year, though,and I don't anticipate doing that since we only have 30 school days left. (oops) Since EG repeats itself year after year, I thought it might work to just finish it for next year, but I don't want to substitute one more thing. (Already doing that with Math.) Does Rod & Staff have a lot of pictures? For some unknown reason, my dd prefers books that are plain-Jane, black and white.

We have not done a lot of diagramming. I'm guessing I'd start in book 2.

Why do you choose either spelling or dictation? I'm surprised you don't use both.

Thank you so much for the information. This is very helpful! I cannot wait for my Bigger manual to come in. I'm on pins and needles!

[Momma6pack]

Here is a link to the Rod and Staff site where you can view samples: http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/item/1- ... ish_Series It's a link to the 2nd grade level. I really love R&S English! And to answer your question, yes Rod and Staff is completely black and white with occasional drawings - but no color photos or anything like that. The simplicity of their design is great in my opinion, it keeps my kids on task and not distracted by images. I hope the link will help you out!

Blessings,
Caryn

[Daph]

Thanks so much for the link! I'm thinking that I'll work really hard to finish EG3 for this year and move on to R&S4 for next. I'll look at them more in depth at the conference, to be sure.

[blessedmomof4]

Consider using R and S 3 to start with after EG 3, if your daughter hasn't done any diagramming yet. She will not be behind. Rod and Staff moves quickly, and HOD recommends finishing level 6 by the end of grade 8. R and S 7 and 8 are high school credit worthy, so there is no rush to hit them sooner . Also remember to do a lot orally or on a white board, and only assign one portion to be done in writing in her notebook-this keeps lessons short but does not sacrifice retention.
About your spelling question, there are two spelling lists in HOD of common words that are included in Beyond and Bigger. If your child has already mastered the words in spelling list 2, then she is ready to use studied dictation for spelling instruction. The directions and passages for studied dictation are found in the appendix of Bigger.

[Daph]

I see. Thank you, that's very helpful.