13 yo having difficulty with CTC extensions

[deltagal]

My 13 yo son is currently working his way through the CTC extensions. He's always used extensions up to this year and has really enjoyed them, but he seems to be having difficulty with comprehension in some of them. The current book he is reading is Hittite Warriorr. It seems to be a bit of a struggle for him. I'm wondering what I should do? Should I drop extensions? Read them to him? Or...your thoughts please!

[blessedmomof4]

I would drop the Extensions if he is finding them difficult. What you can do is try having him read the History Read Aloud set instead if he is able, or read those aloud to him if they are still too difficult. Either way you would follow up with the activities in the Storytime box of the daily plans. The Extension book readings tend to be longer and may get tedious for you to read aloud to him. According to the HOD website for CTC regarding the Extensions: "Due to the more mature content of the books set during the ancient time period, both in the violence that was prevalent during this period and in the depravity of worship of pagan gods, this extension package is best suited for mature 6th and 7th graders who are strong, independent readers. For very sensitive 6th or 7th graders, or for those who are not yet strong readers, we recommend the Storytime History Set for the parent to read aloud instead." HTH

[mamas4bugs]

I would likely drop them as well. The idea behind the extensions is to add to the content for those children who need it. I would say that if he is struggling with the extensions, he probably doesn't fit into the category of "needing" them.

[deltagal]

Thanks Ladies. I think I will drop the extensions and start reading the Storytime to him again. He has been reading those on his own, as well, but I'm noticing the same confusion that has not been present before. He did fine in Preparing with these materials, but things change. I may slip a few of the extension books into his DITHOR stash.

[Tiffini]

Florence, we did the same thing. We used much of the Extensions with my dd when she did CtC last year, but skipped a few of the books that just weren't working for her since she is a sensitive reader (Hittite Warrior was one of them). I think she still got plenty from the ones she did read and we may use the others down the road a bit. I loved the read alouds and read them to all my kids, so that added a lot for her as well.

[deltagal]

Florence, we did the same thing. We used much of the Extensions with my dd when she did CtC last year, but skipped a few of the books that just weren't working for her since she is a sensitive reader (Hittite Warrior was one of them). I think she still got plenty from the ones she did read and we may use the others down the road a bit. I loved the read alouds and read them to all my kids, so that added a lot for her as well.

Tiffini,

Now, that's an idea...use some, but not all of the extensions. At what point or how did you determine that a book wasn't working for her?

[Tiffini]

OK, I went back and looked at what we did last year. Funny how quickly I can forget things! I actually was not quite right in what I said earlier. Here's what we did: My dd is a very sensitive reader so I took Carrie's warnings seriously about the books. Skill-wise, she can handle the level of reading, but not emotionally. I had her read the History Interest set as her "extension books" last year while I mixed and matched from the Girl/Boy Interest Set as read alouds for the whole gang. Then, I had her read some of books from the actual Extension Package that I knew she could handle emotionally. She read Dinosaurs by Design, Within the Palace Gates and Twice Freed. The others we may use down the road. This year with RtR, she has used all of the Extension books with no problems at all and I feel she will do fine with next year's Extensions with Rev to Rev, too. I can't wait!

[deltagal]

I had her read the History Interest set as her "extension books" last year while I mixed and matched from the Girl/Boy Interest Set as read alouds for the whole gang. Then, I had her read some of books from the actual Extension Package that I knew she could handle emotionally. She read Dinosaurs by Design, Within the Palace Gates and Twice Freed. The others we may use down the road. This year with RtR, she has used all of the Extension books with no problems at all and I feel she will do fine with next year's Extensions with Rev to Rev, too. I can't wait!

Oh, that's a great idea! And....thanks for the reassurance about RTR.