R&S Questions :) Ideal level for guides?

[waterandclay]

The geography guide's sneak peak got me thinking about R&S long term, and how to schedule it for my kids.

This quote from Carrie from the composition and grammar sneak peak had me thinking:

"Students will complete half of Rod and Staff 7 as a freshman and the other half as a sophomore. Of course, students who are new to HOD (or who came to Rod and Staff late) may be on a different Rod and Staff sequence, however I just wanted to share our "ideal"."

My oldest will be in CtC next year. He did R&S 3 this year because it was his first year home from PS, and he had little grammar instruction. I was thinking that I might bump him up to R&S 5 because it is scheduled half time, but then the above quote had me reconsider. I didn't know R&S 7 was scheduled in the HS guide when I thought about bumping him up to level 5. If I did that he would complete level 7 in MtMM, and then be ahead of schedule right? I don't really want to do that. If I continue HOD long term (which at this point I can't imagine not doing so) then I'm right on target to hit R&S 7 in 9th if I do level 4 for 2 years in CtC and RtR. Is R&S 4 challenging enough to do with a 5th and 6th grader? I know IEW is scheduled in RtR, so that makes things a little more challenging when R&S is only scheduled 2 out of the 4 days. Are levels 6 and 7 just really challenging? Is that why they are being done over 2 years' time?

So here is my plan I think:

5th CtC with 1/2 of R&S 4
6th RtR with 1/2 of R&S 4
7th Rev2Rev R&S 5
8th MtMM R&S 6
9th Geo Guide 1/2 of R&S 7
10th Future guide 1/2 of R&S 7

My other question is that my youngest will not be doing Preparing until 4th. I had him do R&S 2 prematurely (I don't know what I was thinking), so I was thinking I may fill a few years with FLL because I already own it level 2 and 3 or something else? He will be in 2nd next year. I would then start him in R&S level 3 in 4th when we do Preparing. Sorry if I'm obsessing about ideals, but if I have the chance to schedule things as written that would make my life easier right?

[Kteni]

I tried to do R&S 5 with my DD11 who is in 5th grade. It turned out to be too much for this year so we set it aside and plan to use it at a later date (I really like it). I just picked up R&S 4 from a gal and plan to use that with her instead. I thought we would start it now but, now that I am looking at doing HOD, I will just leave it for the fall when she starts Preparing. She will be starting 6th grade. I am thinking it will be a very good fit. In looking at R&S, I can see that it has more meat to it than many LA programs. You would not have a problem mixing in FLL for your younger son at all. Your sequence looks great. It's no biggy to progress to R&S 8 in 10th grade when that new comes out. You just roll with how your son is doing. You know the drill

[LynnH]

You would do half of level 5 in CTC then finish it in RTR. Then half of 6 in Rev to Rev and finish it in MTMM so you would be right on track for 7 in the high school guides. This is what we have done and how it is scheduled in the guides.

[waterandclay]

Oh! I didn't realize R&S was also scheduled at half speed in Rev2Rev and MtMM. Do you think it would be better to skip to level 4, or is there instruction that is really important in level 4 that I should cover? Is there enough review in level 5 to skip level 4? I would think it would be nicer to do R&S levels 5 and 6 two days per week from CtC to MtMM rather than doing my above plan. Is it unwise to skip a level?

Thank you so much for your help

[Kteni]

So Grammar is explained a little simpler in R&S 4 than 5. Here are the titles of the communications lessons in them:

4:
Learning to Observe and Listen
The Paragraph
Speaking Clearly
Combining Sentences
Writing Sentences of Different Lengths
Learning About Poetry
Topic Sentences and Titles
Unity and Order
Developing Paragraphs by Giving Examples
Developing Paragraphs by Using Steps
Writing Directions
Taking Notes for a Report
Writing a Book Report
Choral Reading
Writing a Story From a Picture
The Parts and Form of a Friendly Letter
Addressing an Envelope
Giving an Oral Book Report
Writing a Story
What to Write in a Friendly Letter
Telling How to Do Something
Rhyme in Poetry
Rhythm in Poetry
Telling a Story
Making Introductions
Conversation in Stories
Descriptive Words in Poetry
Dividing a Longer Story Into Paragraphs
Writing a Story From a Poem
Writing a Story From a Personal Experience
Using the Telephone
Being Clear and Specific
Bible Poetry

5:
Writing About a Personal Experience
Using Exact Words
The Paragraph
Writing Paragraphs with Unity and Order
Sentence Variety in Paragraphs
Developing Paragraphs by Giving Examples
Developing Paragraphs by Using Steps
Learning to Outline
More about Outlining
Giving Directions Orally
Observing, Listening, and Taking Notes
Making an Outline for a Report
Writing a Report
The Form of a Friendly Letter
Writing an Interesting Friendly Letter
Addressing an Envelope
Poetry
Rhyme and Rhythm in Poetry
More About Rhythm in Poetry
Descriptive Language in Poetry
Telling a Story About a Personal Experience
Writing a Book Report
Using Conversation to Make Stories Interesting
Writing a Good Title
Using Our Senses in Writing Descriptions
Making Introductions
Using the Telephone

Now, having not used an HOD guide, I can't tell you if Carrie has assigned all those lessons... maybe someone else can comment on that. My DD11 was not ready for the amount of writing needed in the grammar or communications lessons yet. She COULD push through them if I wanted her to sit there for over an hour on it, but that benefits no one and crushes learning enthusiasm. I thought it best not to skip 4. That is how it is working out for my child though. Your son may zip through the G5 if he is a solid writer all ready!

[StillJulie]

I haven't figured out what to do with my oldest. She'll get halfway through Rod & Staff 7 this year, her seventh grade year.