Help - probably supplementing too much

[PoppyD]

Hi ladies,
We are doing CTC. We are loving it. The problem is that we are supplementing a few things and some days we don't get to HOD until almost lunch. Help me weed out some of it please!
We are doing:
short Bible study so we can all meet together as a family for Bible
states and capitals flash cards
a family read aloud.
listening to Andrew Pudewa's (IEW) poetry audio cd and memorizing poems
Latin
Daily Paragraph Editing
Reflex math drill program
Typing
Reading and reasoning - logic
We had already decided to do an online writing class (The Potter's School) as our own writing program before buying HOD, so that's not negotiable. I'm still trying to do some of Write with the Best when we have time, because I like it. In retrospect, I may have gone with just doing HOD writing, but I've already paid for this class and think it will be really good, so we're going to stick with this.

Clearly we have too much. Not sure what to quit.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Poppy

[Jennymommy]

Hey Poppy Logic will be studied in WG, and critical thinking is an integral part of all HOD guides, so I would let that go. Th poetry is nice, but is also studied in many ways throughout HOD. Maybe save the flashcards for summer brush-up as you will also be studying states and state history in RevtoRev and MTMM. Maybe you can do storytime books for family read aloud, and save non curriculum books for summer or school breaks. HTH

[Nealewill]

I personally really like the way that HOD covers most of their material. If it were me, I would drop the states and capitals flash cards. Those will be covered again in a higher level. I would also drop the family read aloud or save that for bed time. That is what we do - my kids like to be read to before bed so we read something then. I would drop the poetry audio CD and use HOD's poetry. I love the painting in CTC that goes with the poetry. What do you use for grammar? If you are using a grammar program, I would drop the daily paragraph editing. I would skip logic or save it for Fridays. This way you only have HOD 4 days during the week. And I would skip the writing and math in HOD since it sounds like you have that covered.

I also add in languages - we do Latin and Greek. We also have word from Lord in the morning but it is a 5-10 min devotional. My husband brings up a verse and we talk about it. Short and sweet but it starts our day right.

As for a crazy schedule - here is a picture of mine. I build slack into my day big time! It never takes this long but it seems like if I don't build time in, then it always takes longer. Also - I won't be doing DITHOR or Dictation every day. This schedule holds true for Tuesday-Thursday. Mondays and Fridays are much lighter. I don't do those two items and those days are half days anyway. Also - I color coded my schedule. Anything in Red means I meet with all 3 kids at the same time. Anything in yellow - I meet with my youngest alone. Blue is me meeting with my son. Orange is me meeting with my oldest. I am doing two subjects with both my youngest and my middle child and I coded that in a different shade of blue since both align better with the level of Preparing than with Bigger. So anyway - this is what I am doing.

Today was our first day. I had only planned to half days but it turns out I am going to busy on Thursday and Friday. So no school. We are doing a full day today and it has gone great. We are basically done - we had haircuts this afternoon so we just got back and each child only has 1 thing left to do. My oldest will eventually bump up to RtR in 4 weeks but her schedule didn't change much.

[my3sons]

I have been there years' back! Yikes, that is quite a bit to add to an already meaty guide though! Kiddos only have so much time they can maintain the habit of 'attention,' and by adding much to the day, they cannot remain in an optimal learning mode the entire time. Plus, it just makes the day long, and that is never a bonus in dc's minds, as they love their free time just as we do! I know so many things look so good, but tipping the balance to being overly heavy in one area often throws off the balance Carrie worked so hard to plan in the guides. One thing I have done that helped me gain clarity when I feel overload is dropping everything but the guide for a month. Then, I add the things back in that are truly doable and that we actually felt we enjoyed. The academics are all met in HOD, so the extras should be fun, and not time consuming! If I were you, I'd keep the class and drop the rest for a month, and then re-evaluate. You may add some back in or none back in, but you will see more clearly what would be best. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[PoppyD]

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling pretty good about dropping all but the writing class, reflex math drill practice (which honestly is just part of our math program - i do that instead of flash card drill), and Latin. I just feel like Latin preps them so well for foreign language study later. We intend to pick up Spanish, French or Italian later on. Do most people just wait until a lot later for foreign language?
Thanks ladies! This is helpful..........and freeing!
-Poppy

[PoppyD]

Oh and can someone remind me how vocabulary is incorporated into CTC aside from reading good books? I forgot to mention that dd does Wordly Wise also. We had the online subscription last year and it expires in December. I'm ok dropping it. I just wondered how vocabulary is studied.

[Mumkins]

I'm adding French to Preparing this year. I'm half dreading, half excited. But, schools here all start French in 4th grade, if not earlier. So, we're doing it and will yearly through 9th.

[Nealewill]

Vocab is done through science on Day 3 of the guide. There is also vocabulary activities included in DITHOR. I do 3 vocab activities per literature book. And we read 5 lit books a year. I would drop the vocab program if it were me. I have found that because my kids read SO much and I read so much to them, my kids vocabulary is quite extensive and in no need of a special vocabulary program like that.

As for dropping Latin, if you did or didn't do it, you would just want to make sure it is done in a balanced way. I actually only allow 10 min for Greek and 10-20 min for Latin (10 for my younger kids and 20 for my oldest). The first year that I did HOD, I actually dropped everything except for the items in the manual. My second year is when I added Latin. I added Greek this year only because the kids begged (and begged and begged) but if I feel like our day is too hectic, I am dropping it.

I agree with Julie - HOD is very meaty! I have never found a program that literally covers every academic area in such a balanced way and so well. Before finding HOD, I was striving for excellence with several resources. Our days were longer and my kids weren't making nearly as much progress. With HOD - we have made serious headway and then some! HOD truly does a wonderful job of incorporating multiple skills into individual activities thereby lightening the student's workload all while maximizing their learning and growth. I would even say that with HOD, I find it difficult to substitute things out with other resources because each box has a skill and is balanced each day with all of the other boxes. So I do think doing it open and go the first time is the way to go. That is what we did 2 years ago. That was the best year because it gave us time to settle into the skills and to focus on things like following instructions and managing time well. By doing this, you will see what your day looks like and will be able to see if adding Latin back in is a good fit for your schedule.

And on a side note - with my schedule - I mentioned I added slack to it. So far, we have finished our morning activities by 10:00 or 11:00 (youngest 10:00, oldest 11:00) and the afternoon hasn't taken nearly that amount of time either. So I am glad for the schedule I put together. I basically set up a worst case scenario of my day if that makes sense. It always feels good to finish faster With your kids and your schedule, I would give yourself some grace.