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The only thing I might do if his language will allow it is ask him to repeat in his own words what the instructions are telling him to do. That way you would know if he fully understood the directions. If he doesn't seem to understand then I might show him what I thought the instructions meant. Tha...

Thank you, Melissa! Yes, I've really had to adjust my school expectations for the time being! We've dropped the 3rd guide all together, and been on half speed Bigger for several weeks, really concentrating on beefing up the 3 R's with my 1st and 4th graders. I've tried to avoid schooling during napt...

It's hard to put my finger on one particular box that takes us longer than it seems it should...I think the thing that takes us longer right now is the constant interruption from the 2 yo. Then, there's my son's writing/copywork. It seems that by 4th grade he should be able to handle copying a few s...

Well, here's another way to look at it. Serious students in high school go to school for 8 hours, then come home and do 2-3 hours of homework every day. So our students getting through HOD in 7-8 hours (and 4 days a week if they can finish it all in 4 days) will be done with everything. Everything ...

Yes, I feel like this in general. It seems that their education has gotten much harder and more involved very suddenly as my oldest has hit middle school. :shock: On one hand I can understand that as our children get older school probably should take longer than it used to; but I do find myself wond...

I was struggling actually desiring to get DITHOR done because that extra time it added in per day really made it difficult for some reason. Like you we school year round... so this past summer I started a new routine. We do 4-6 units of the regular guides, then 3 weeks in DITHOR, math, grammar, and...

It does seem to be a hard time of year...at my house, I have to admit that it seems to be Mom that is most "off track" with the rhythm of our school day lately. :oops: And, that, of course, rubs off on the kids. I'm cutting myself a little slack for the time being-it's hard to stay on track with hol...

I think your plan sounds pretty doable. I certainly wouldn't be afraid to give it a try, anyway! I'm sorry I cannot directly answer your question about the extension/narration requirements in Bigger, since I haven't looked at anything to do with the extensions... :D However, since you're pretty fami...

Florence and Julie, thank you both so much for your encouragement and input. Florence, it is so good to know that others before me have struggled successfully through this time and that I can learn from your experience and give myself permission to slow down and just cover the basics on those really...

We've also used CLE, successfully because of the spiral approach, but not successful because of the practical aspect of fitting it into our day, like you mentioned! I'm with you-I really wish there were a spiral program (my kids really need that constant review) that did not take us an hour to get t...

You wouldn't be messing anything up-DITHOR really works with any level reading you plug into it. The only reason to consider keeping him at level 2 is that sometimes with DITHOR (especially beginning it) it is good to have reading that is easy and not too challenging because the DITHOR activities th...

For my dd I ordered the first of the RTR series early-From Girl to Woman. We went through that together when she did Preparing at age 10. It was enough to satisfy her curiosity, and although she had been asking more specific questions about exactly how that baby got in there, this first look at the ...

I've started keeping some grades for my middle schooler this year, even though my state does not require it, for a couple of reasons. 1. It motivates my daughter to do her best. She can qickly see the effects of not being neat or not being thorough in following directions without me having to nag on...

I've set a wake up time for our family this year. We're not currently following it very strictly because of sickness that's being passed around our house, but I do plan to get back to it as soon as we beat the bug. Setting a wake up time teaches responsibility! And, as you said, it allows for life t...

I usually complete the boxes we can do, and save the others we can't do for the next day. If I decided they weren't that important in the scope of eternity... (like your boxes of review when your child already remembered the verses) we may skip it altogether and just go on to the next day's work.