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After quite a bit of pondering and praying, I have put together a 1/2 speed schedule for dd:
Day 1 - left side of Bigger with 1/2 page cursive and ETC. Also Storytime daily with ds and DITHOR orally as time allows.
Day 2 - right side of Bigger finishing 1/2 page of cursive and completing grammar orally on days that include science writing.

I am also going to let her use three lined paper for now until she is comfortable with the writing load at 1/2 speed and then transition her to regular notebook paper at 1/2 speed before moving to full speed.

My concern with this schedule is only doing math and spelling every other day. I am wondering if there will be a problem with retention/enough practice at this pace? We do read Life of Fred at bedtime most nights, so math may not be a problem, but spelling...?

What does everyone think?

Thanks!

If it were me, I would keep up with the math and spelling and do those daily, unless she is struggling and it is too hard. But it doesn't sound like she is. So I think doing them daily would work out great.

We tend to do things quite differently from most... we do huge chunks of math every 6 weeks or so for 3 weeks at a time. Between those times it's basically as they want to do it, which tends to be 2-3 times a week. It has absolutely not hurt their retention at all.... in fact I have less times of frustration out of them since we've started doing it this way because they have time to think about the things they've learned and use them in real life so they know what to do when they see it again.

As far as spelling, I'm the world's worst at remembering to have them do dictation (I don't have any doing lists any more, but it was the same way then) Generally I'll do good with it for a couple of weeks and then it'll be a few weeks before I remember it again. Sometimes over a month. Every time I go back to it they've jumped a page or two in abilities. So it doesn't seem that skipping time really hurts with spelling either.

bethelmommy wrote:After quite a bit of pondering and praying, I have put together a 1/2 speed schedule for dd:
Day 1 - left side of Bigger with 1/2 page cursive and ETC. Also Storytime daily with ds and DITHOR orally as time allows.
Day 2 - right side of Bigger finishing 1/2 page of cursive and completing grammar orally on days that include science writing.

I am also going to let her use three lined paper for now until she is comfortable with the writing load at 1/2 speed and then transition her to regular notebook paper at 1/2 speed before moving to full speed.

My concern with this schedule is only doing math and spelling every other day. I am wondering if there will be a problem with retention/enough practice at this pace? We do read Life of Fred at bedtime most nights, so math may not be a problem, but spelling...?

What does everyone think?

Thanks!

Our home has been hit by the flu , and I am just recovering. I was trying to catch up on reading what you'd shared, and this thread was so helpful. The ladies had such good thoughts. It really seems like you have come up with a great plan here. In regard to the concerns you shared about half-speed math and spelling, both the past 2 posters make excellent observations - there is merit in both. I think it probably will make a difference on your personal preference and your dd's response to half-speed.

There are things that if you are on a roll with them, it is best not to go half-speed with them, as momentum can be lost. Phonics is one thing that comes to mind that fits this description, or at least it has in our house. Are you schooling 5 days a week or 4 days a week? If it is 4 days a week, then every other week these subjects would only come up 2 times. If this continues for a lengthy amount of time in a row, then it could affect retention, however, that depends on the student. Of course, on the week you'd only be doing these subjects 2 times, you could simply do just math and spelling on the fifth day. However, one entire day off IS nice.

One other thought would be to do half the spelling words one day, and the other half the next day, thus halving the lesson and doing a little each day. The same concept could be applied to the math - doing the textbook/activity one day, and the workbook the next (reviewing a few textbook/activity type problems if need be). We have done this with R & S English in the past and liked it. That being said, I tried half-speed with Riley last year in RTR with everything except math/DITHOR/spelling, and it really still felt like full-speed. It honestly didn't take hardly any time off the day, though I am not sure why. I ended up going back to straight up half-speed and loved it (though that was a very trying time for me due to my Dad's failing health).

So, all of that to say, maybe give the plan you have shared a trial run? See how it's going. See how long the day feels for dd. See how well she seems to be retaining spelling/math half-speed. See how much of you there is to go around in this season in life. I am sorry not to be more definitive here. I just think that in this case, there are many things that could work, and it just depends on how it goes for you and your dd's particular needs right now.

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks for all the responses! I am going to try the 1/2 speed schedule I posted earlier and see how it goes. We school 5 days a week (sometimes 6). If I need to change spelling and math to daily I will, but I am hopeful every other day will work out for the short term.

Julie, I am glad you all are recovering. We have 3 kiddos sick with a stomach bug and it is next to impossible to get any school done. I am hoping to get back to our regular routine on Monday.

Thanks again for all the help!