Help selecting guides for next year, please.

[JMJS4]

Hello,

I am considering HOD for my dd that will be 11 and in sixth grade next year, and for my ds who will be 13 and in 8th grade. According to the placement chart I *think* my dd places into RTR, and my ds places into Rev2Rev. My ds probably could have placed into MRMM, but he hasn't had much formal literature studies. I am having a hard time deciding exactly what guide each of them places into.

My dd loves to write, does narration/dictation very well, and reads independently. Although, reading is not a real passion for her. We started the year with Sonlight Core F, but she hated all the reading. Just recently I had her start reading the Little House on the Prairie books, and she is in love with reading again. She can read higher level books though. She was reading The Hobbit before that...she just wasn't enjoying it at all. Originally I was considering CTC for my her because she has just started to read and do her science independently, and I didn't know if RTR would be too much for her reading wise. For science this year we did Zoology 2 together, and now she is halfway through Zoology 3 doing it on her own independently. What would we do for science in CTC since she is already doing the Zoology 3 book? Also, she has had a lot of ancient history in the past, and she really isn't excited for more although I am sure it would be a much different year with HOD. Maybe since she is reading more again, and doing the Zoology 3 book independently she would be ready for RTR in the fall? Should I do CTC or RTR with her?


I was planning Rev2Rev for my ds(13) after looking at the placement on the chart. I also liked the idea of him starting at the beginning of American History. He can write very well, does great at narration/dictation, and loves to read. He read over twenty books this past year, and would have read more if I had gotten more sooner. They both have been doing science independently this past year. He is almost finished with Apologia General Science which he did independently this year. For science he learned outlining, note taking, study skills, etc. I would love for him to be able to do the World Geography in 9th, but I am not sure if MTMM would be a good fit for him this year. His reading, writing, grammar, narration, dictation is very strong...the only thing he is missing is that we haven't done formal literature studies. Do you think he could place into Rev2Rev or MTMM? I hear Rev2Rev is a great year though, so maybe we don't want to miss it? Would we need to beef up the science at all?

[StephanieU]

I bet others will give you more ideas, but I wanted to let you now that the literature would be the same for all of those guides you mentioned basically. You would use DITHOR regardless of what guide you picked. So, I wouldn't use that as the sole reason to keep your ds from MtMM. If you pick MtMM with him and you have time over the summer, I would suggest starting DITHOR with him maybe 2-3 days a week. That way you could get close to completing all 9 genres before starting the WG guide, which I think would probably be helpful.

[JMJS4]

Thank you, StephanieU. I think I have decided to do CTC and RevtoRev starting in July. We homeschool year around so we might get to future guides sooner. I don't want to overwhelm them with their first HOD guide. Plus my dd is super excited about the painting in CTC.

My only concern is the science in CTC since my dd is already on lesson 7 of Apologia Zoology 3 (halfway through). I don't know if I should have her finish it, and do something different for science in her 6th grade year. Or maybe I should have her take off science until we reach Lesson 7 in CTC. She has already started the Apologia Notebooking journal, so we wouldn't be following HOD's recommendations for notebooking. Or I could have her complete Zoology 3 and then just do Apologia Human Anatomy since the other part of CTC science is human anatomy. Or we could do Apology Chemistry and Physics, which is what she really wanted to do next. Would we be missing anything by not doing the other books in CTC science?

[Nealewill]

I have a couple of thoughts. First, I love how HOD uses the science books much more than just the books themselves. So, if it were me, I would probably stop working in the book right now and just save the rest of the book for her to complete the science as it is written in CTC. In addition, when she starts CTC, you could just have her do some of the notebooking activities and experiments each week and skip the full on reading. Or you could just have her hold off on science until you get to new material. This will take you about a quarter of the way through the year. In addition, I personally would stick with the human anatomy selections that HOD has selected. I read the history of medicine right after we received our books (my dd is doing CTC next year). That book is fantastic! I couldn't put it down. The other two books are great also. I will admit, before I found HOD, I had planned on having my kids go through all of the younger Apologia series. So when I switched to HOD this past year I was a little sad we wouldn't go through all of them. But I am no longer sad I must admit. I absolutely love the science books HOD has picked and my kids remember so much more from these selections that they were remembering from the Apologia books (my oldest dd went through Botany and Zoology 1). She remember some stuff. But with the science this year with Preparing, she consistenly remembers SO much more. The science with HOD is such a better fit for us. I also wasn't crazy about the science experiments (or lack there of) and think HOD does a much better job with this. Now I no longer even really think much about the fact we won't do the other younger Apologia books at all because I like the HOD science book selection so much more!

As for your older child, I personally am not a fan of the junior high and senior high apologia series. I think they are kind of dry and not all that interesting. I taught the Biology and Chemistry series at the co-op my kids go to. I have personally decided that the books are really not my style. I know for myself I went to a very difficult High School and it was very challenging. And while I did well in each of my classes, I never really retained much of it past high school. For me and my family, I want my kids not only grow in knowledge and be challenged but I also want them to enjoy what they learn and retain it. I feel like HOD does a great job with this. I absolutely love their choices for sciences and this was actually the area that originally drew me into their curriculum. If it were me, I would just use the science that is scheduled for the year your children are covering and use the curriculum as is. They definitely include additional science activities in each level giving the students the opportunity to experience and retain what they learn. I love it! While the apologia series for junior and senior high is rated very highly, most kids I know taking it would never say it was their favorite subject. I want my kids to love science. I love science And the Charlotte Mason approach is so much more interesting IMHO.

[my3sons]

I just have to agree with all the awesome advice you already received here! But what are your thoughts?

In Christ,
Julie