The dawdling, distracted child....and the frustrated mama

[3sweeties]

I wholeheartedly agree with many of the pp...a huge part of CTC is solidifying the student's independent learning skills, writing skills, and their ability to follow through on each task. Maybe with the writing you could start slowly with her until she is writing or typing the full 5-8 sentence narration on her own? Baby steps? I know for my DS I have noticed his pride in his work increase since we started CTC (we just finished Unit 17 and will pick it back up in the fall). He knows it is a lot of work and when he does it well and in a timely manner, it is all HIS -- you know what I mean?!? Hang in there!!!

[blessedmomof4]

I am glad I read this post-I was thinking about changing placement for my 12 yo dd who is now in CTC for similar reasons, at least the part about her getting done quickly. I think I will leave her where she is and just make sure she has other things to do when school is done-like chores-maybe if I pile on the chores she will be inspired to take a little more time with her work, heh, heh. I am too prone to second-guess myself, and I agree with pp about how parent's vacillating on decisions makes kids feel power on the one hand and insecurity on the other. Good thing we have each other to keep each other level-headed!

[Mom2Monkeys]

I was going to comment earlier but had to go and now have read all the responses. Can she become accountable to your husband for her independent work, and also have her other work shown to him daily? I too think this sounds far more like a discipline issue. I really get what you are saying about her abilities, but I also have found with my girls, the biggest issue is not that the work is too easy, it is the fact that the work is not done to the very best of their abilities. My girls are both hard workers when they choose to be, but there are times that they really rush through it, or they choose to muck around. Being accountable to Dad often makes it that bit more important to them to get it done.

The other thing is perhaps you could reward in some ways for having completed everything well and in a timely manner. I am trying this with my blossoms at the moment, and they are putting in more effort to get it done well, but in good time.

My oldest, although she doesn't have learning disabilities, is doing Preparing now with extensions. She could be doing RtR or even RevtoRev now, but we are going to have her complete Preparing and then move her to RtR. We would prefer not to skip CtC but have decided it better to challenge her a little more (most likely she will still read the extensions). But throughout it all, my main aim is that she is diligent and hardworking when it comes to her work, so that she will be diligent and hardworking when she is older.

I don't think I've made a great deal of sense.

The other thing I thought was whether you can do a five day week and have her move through CtC a bit quicker to move her to the next guides.

I really wish we could do this. Dad most days just isn't home and although he says he wants to hear how she's doing obedience-wise, he isn't interested in her work or any other homeschooling stuff, and the more problems he hears about or sees, the more he will push for public school. He told me to make up a report card form and start grading her letter grades, and then show him weekly. I did make a very detailed one up (anyone is welcome to it on my blog) but he just isn't a dad like some that is really into being part of the schooling. He's not even sure he wants them homeschooled b/c he thinks they're going to get behind and not be able to have friends.

[Mom2Monkeys]

I agree with annaz in that since you are typing her work that I would focus on having her improve in that area. If you think the sloppy handwriting is due to not slowing down and taking her time then I would focus on that. If it is something like dysgraphia, which my ds has, then I would have her really working on her typing skills so that by the time she gets to RTR she can type all her own stuff. What do you do about all the copywork that she has to write in her notebook? Is she doing that? As I said my ds has dysgraphia so I get that for some kids their handwriting is never going to be what it should be no matter how hard they try. However he does do all the copywork even if he does it on a white piece of paper that is the same width of the notebook box, but longer so he can fit it in. We then just fold it up. He types all his own narrations, research postcards etc. He doesn't use all 10 fingers to type yet, but we are hitting that hard this summer to see if he can do this. It takes him longer probably to do a narration than someone who is writing it, but he does it independently. I really would not move her up to RTR until she can either type her own or write her own stuff legibly. Their is a ton of writing in RTR. If you are going to have to type it all for her that will actually pull you away from your younger kids more. I think part of being ready for a guide is finding a way that works for them to write/type in the boxes in a legible manner, without you stepping in.

She really is in the right guide as far as her age. I really would focus on her sticking on task, so you don't have to keep checking on her and on the above things. Those things are just as important if not more in deciding if dc are ready for the next guide. And also as others have said CTC really picks up in the middle of the guide as far as challenge.

She writes everything in a notebook and is not skipping any copywork at all. She takes her time and does it pretty well, except I tell her it's okay to go faster on things that I'll be typing for her to put in her notebook b/c I want her to know content is priority...no skimping on the written narration b/c of the writing issues.
She has some physical issues that make writing neatly difficult, and typing isn't much easier. She pecks. BAD. LOL She is supposed to be in therapies, as writing and typing are more difficult b/c there is a disconnect somewhere from her hands, eyes, brain and if she can't see exactly where her fingers are, she can't write/type well at all...like to the point she turns her hand and moves around to see the pencil tip while writing just so she can write. Her sensory issues also cause issues in that when she writes, she presses reeeeaaalllly hard on the paper and squeezes the pencil pretty hard too. She will write all day though. Stamina isn't an issue like you'd think anymore, even with all the extra work with pushing/holding so hard. This is what has caused me to hold her back so much...and it's left me with these doubts now b/c she is academically able to be in RTR. She needs to be learning typing, I agree. I just don't know how or what to use in her case. And $$ is a big issue.

And Molly, yes, she does do the extensions. We don't have quite all of them, but almost. I wasn't able to afford all of them.

With her writing it all, and simply staying on task, it seems 3-3.5hrs just isn't enough for a middle schooler. Even with me re-tying what she writes for the notebook, it just seems she's ready for more. I know the next quarter will ramp up, but it also ramps back down for the last half. I really debated placement since the ONLY thing keeping her in CTC was written narrations and mom wanting Ancients. I was kinda scared into CTC with all the stories of it taking way more hours than it should and being so hard and moms being upset over that, and how their kids struggled so much just to do a day in a day and get the prophecy chart done, etc. We just kinda breeze through it, not that we don't learn...we BOTH do...but it just really feels like there should be more skills being developed than written narrations. She has already read her history and science for 2 years, so that's not new to her as it is for most kids in CTC. She's had to read and follow directions in the guides herself for 2 years as well. As I look through the samples of RTR, EVERYTHING is a GREAT fit except the written narrations. She is especially bored with the Bible Quiet Time and is asking for there to be an actual study or more than just reading and a guided prayer. She's enjoying the storytime books, but the activities in RTR with vocabulary finds and plot twists, etc. are much more fitting for where she is. She loves the Life Science in CTC, but it's quick and easy though great content. The books in either program are great for her. It really is just what we do with the books that isn't quite where we need to be.

All that said, we will stick with CTC for now. At the start of the new traditional school year, we'll reevaluate and see if perhaps THEN moving to RTR within the first semester would be the right choice. We may be done with CTC by then anyway since we are mostly doing 5 days a week.

[chillin'inandover]

Tamara,
In reading your post and was an OT prior to this hs journey I see your dd's need to improve her handwriting skills. It would make sense to use CTC as it is adademically easier for her while you provide some therapy at home for her writing. I recall that you said she needs therapy but finances are a concern so perhaps this could be done at home for the interm. Attending MACHE conferences through the years where HOD has also been I have benefitted from Diane Crafts workshops. She has therapy for writing issues that you can do at home. We do Writing Brain Training-daily writing eight exercises for my ds, it takes 20-30 minutes a day. My ds would have done CTC last school yr but he has very slow handwriting -copying 1 sentence can take 10 minutes. DS is doing this over the summer as the recommendation is not to have them do handwriting for about 10 weeks while doing the therapy. Perhaps check her website.
Tammy