World Geography - Rooted and Grounded
World Geography - Rooted and Grounded
My daughter is overwhelmed with the amount of work in Rooted and Grounded. She is enjoying the reading but says the questions are too abstract. Also, the volume of work seems extensive. For example lesson 2 day 4 after the student has done the reading she is suppose to do 5 short paragraph answers just for the first section. Does anyone modify how they use this program?
Re: World Geography - Rooted and Grounded
We modify by making this a "together" and oral subject. I have turned this into MY daily Bible study as well. She did it as written on her own for the first 6 weeks and really dreaded "Bible". That absolutely wasn't going to fly at my house. You can hate science or history or math but NOT Bible. 
It's going very well now as an interactive subject and we both are learning a great deal. I will also mention that we opted to change up the memory verses and move ahead with another song CD like in the previous HOD guides (same company). She was struggling to keep up with the memory challenges and we've always enjoyed learning together through music so this was another modification that we've done at our house to make the day a little smoother for our family. 
It's going very well now as an interactive subject and we both are learning a great deal. I will also mention that we opted to change up the memory verses and move ahead with another song CD like in the previous HOD guides (same company). She was struggling to keep up with the memory challenges and we've always enjoyed learning together through music so this was another modification that we've done at our house to make the day a little smoother for our family. Currently:
dd 16 AH1 -bits & pieces (previously used Bigger, Preparing, CtC, RtR, Rev, MMtM, WG, WH)
dd 12 REV (previously used LHTH, LHfHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CtC, & RtR)
dd 16 AH1 -bits & pieces (previously used Bigger, Preparing, CtC, RtR, Rev, MMtM, WG, WH)
dd 12 REV (previously used LHTH, LHfHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CtC, & RtR)
Re: World Geography - Rooted and Grounded
mendaymom,
First, I am just wanting to clarify based on what you shared to be sure that you are working through the program as intended. It sounds like you are, but I want to be sure so as to avoid confusion.
On Lesson 2-Day 4 of Rooted and Grounded, the student will do the bottom half of p. 16-17 (doing questions 18-20 only). The reading has eleven verses from the Bible for question 18, none for question 19, and three verses for question 20. So, the students are reading 14 verses for that day. While the directions do mention a short paragraph for the parts of question 18, the space allotted allows for only a couple of sentences at most. For that reason, I see the questions as being short answer questions requiring a sentence or two at most. With the space in mind, In the future, I would allow your student to give shorter answers. This shift in requirement alone may help her feel better overall about the study. Let her know that the goal isn't to be wordy but rather to think more deeply about Scripture and apply it to her own life. The questions are simply meant to prod the thinking! 
This lesson is a longer lesson, probably requiring 35-40 min. When adding the Scripture Memory and the prayer, the student will likely be at 45-50 min. (which is the required time allotment for Bible as the students are earning 1 full credit of Bible in this school year).
I agee that this is a longer lesson. Each Day 4 lesson follows this pattern. The reviews are longer like this as well, however we schedule those to be done orally with a parent.
Perhaps you could tell your daughter that when she hits a roadblock during her Bible lesson, she can come to you. Then, just jump in and help her with the few questions she is stumbling over the most. The answers in the Teacher's Guide for Rooted and Grounded are very good (almost too extensive ). So, don't expect that type of answer from your daughter. Instead, allow more succinct responses and then discuss anything that really stumps her.
Or, if your schedule doesn't allow for interruptions (as I know mine derails quickly if I have too many interruptions), then perhaps instead of coming to you when she hits a roadblock in her Bible study she could instead just place a star next to the few questions that are stumping her (within reason, making sure she doesn't star everything). Then, during your next meeting time with her, make a point to go over the starred questions first.
On a sidenote, make sure you have a scheduled meeting time with you daughter of at least 30-40 min. to go over her work from her guide each day. This would be a great time to go over her Bible.
Having done this program twice now with two different sons, both boys had an adjustment to the expectations at first. Our boys did both settle into this program as time passed, but I do think it took 9 weeks to get settled into it well. One of my sons was too succinct, and needed more prodding. The other son was more wordy. They both learned quite a bit from the study though, and it prodded them to think more deeply about their faith... literally helping them be more rooted and grounded in their faith and in God's Word.
High school level Bible study is intended to be a step up from what was done in middle school, so this study was chosen to fulfill that need for a rise in difficulty. It is meant to get kiddos thinking beneath the surface of what was read and thinking about things that do not have easy answers. It is also good preparation for the Bible study coming in future years of our high school guides as well. As adults, we know that Bible study can be work, but it is rewarding work as it clarifies what we believe and why. The same is true for our children as they grow in maturity and learn to study God's Word more deeply. If you can think of this study as as shift in the direction toward more adult-level Bible study, you can embrace it more as a tool in helping your student grow.
As the parent, you can definitely be as involved as desired with the Bible study. You may want to interact with your child more often than the plans suggest and that is definitely to be commended should you choose to do so! More time spent discussing God's Word with our kiddos is always a blessing. In my busy homeschooling schedule, I didn't have the time to do more discussion with my boys, and if that should happen to be the case with you, I would encourage you that your child can progress through the plans as written too. She will just need to understand that grappling with the answers and thinking more deeply about Scripture is a part of Bible this year. It may take time, but you will see the fruit of this study by year end.
Blessings,
Carrie
First, I am just wanting to clarify based on what you shared to be sure that you are working through the program as intended. It sounds like you are, but I want to be sure so as to avoid confusion.
On Lesson 2-Day 4 of Rooted and Grounded, the student will do the bottom half of p. 16-17 (doing questions 18-20 only). The reading has eleven verses from the Bible for question 18, none for question 19, and three verses for question 20. So, the students are reading 14 verses for that day. While the directions do mention a short paragraph for the parts of question 18, the space allotted allows for only a couple of sentences at most. For that reason, I see the questions as being short answer questions requiring a sentence or two at most. With the space in mind, In the future, I would allow your student to give shorter answers. This shift in requirement alone may help her feel better overall about the study. Let her know that the goal isn't to be wordy but rather to think more deeply about Scripture and apply it to her own life. The questions are simply meant to prod the thinking! This lesson is a longer lesson, probably requiring 35-40 min. When adding the Scripture Memory and the prayer, the student will likely be at 45-50 min. (which is the required time allotment for Bible as the students are earning 1 full credit of Bible in this school year).
I agee that this is a longer lesson. Each Day 4 lesson follows this pattern. The reviews are longer like this as well, however we schedule those to be done orally with a parent.
Perhaps you could tell your daughter that when she hits a roadblock during her Bible lesson, she can come to you. Then, just jump in and help her with the few questions she is stumbling over the most. The answers in the Teacher's Guide for Rooted and Grounded are very good (almost too extensive ). So, don't expect that type of answer from your daughter. Instead, allow more succinct responses and then discuss anything that really stumps her. Or, if your schedule doesn't allow for interruptions (as I know mine derails quickly if I have too many interruptions), then perhaps instead of coming to you when she hits a roadblock in her Bible study she could instead just place a star next to the few questions that are stumping her (within reason, making sure she doesn't star everything). Then, during your next meeting time with her, make a point to go over the starred questions first.
On a sidenote, make sure you have a scheduled meeting time with you daughter of at least 30-40 min. to go over her work from her guide each day. This would be a great time to go over her Bible.
Having done this program twice now with two different sons, both boys had an adjustment to the expectations at first. Our boys did both settle into this program as time passed, but I do think it took 9 weeks to get settled into it well. One of my sons was too succinct, and needed more prodding. The other son was more wordy. They both learned quite a bit from the study though, and it prodded them to think more deeply about their faith... literally helping them be more rooted and grounded in their faith and in God's Word.
High school level Bible study is intended to be a step up from what was done in middle school, so this study was chosen to fulfill that need for a rise in difficulty. It is meant to get kiddos thinking beneath the surface of what was read and thinking about things that do not have easy answers. It is also good preparation for the Bible study coming in future years of our high school guides as well.
As adults, we know that Bible study can be work, but it is rewarding work as it clarifies what we believe and why. The same is true for our children as they grow in maturity and learn to study God's Word more deeply. If you can think of this study as as shift in the direction toward more adult-level Bible study, you can embrace it more as a tool in helping your student grow.As the parent, you can definitely be as involved as desired with the Bible study. You may want to interact with your child more often than the plans suggest and that is definitely to be commended should you choose to do so! More time spent discussing God's Word with our kiddos is always a blessing. In my busy homeschooling schedule, I didn't have the time to do more discussion with my boys, and if that should happen to be the case with you, I would encourage you that your child can progress through the plans as written too. She will just need to understand that grappling with the answers and thinking more deeply about Scripture is a part of Bible this year. It may take time, but you will see the fruit of this study by year end.
Blessings,
Carrie