Help with Placement Please!

[fourspahrs]

Hi-new mom considering HOD for next year and needing help choosing the correct guide. My 12 yo daughter really likes the looks of the program but I'm having trouble deciding between Res to Ref and Rev to Rev. She can easily complete copy work with no errors, easily write a narration of 10 or so sentences, is very advanced in writing skills and reads very well independently. She is ready to start Discovering Math 1A and knows the 8 parts of speech. She wants to work independently for most subjects. When I look at the placement chart, she fits the skills of Rev to Rev and even some of the skills for MtMM in writing and Math but for Bible, History, Science, Storytime and Poetry she fits either Res to Ref or Rev to Rev. We just completed a year of ancient history and I would really like her to do the middle ages/reformation/renaissance time period. She took the SAT-10 in April and scored post high school on many of the skills. If I put her in Res to Ref, with extensions for 7th/8th grade, will it be challenging enough for her? How do you increase the difficulty of a guide for an advanced student? (I saw some families are using Res to Ref for high school.) If I put her in Rev to Rev, skipping the middle ages time period, how will I cover that time period so she doesn't have a gap in history? I love to looks of these programs and want to give her enough challenge so she is "bored" (her words!) but not so much to overwhelm her. She is a perfectionist and a box checker so she sometimes struggles with balancing learning with completing. Any suggestions would be so much appreciated!

[Carrie]

Hello! You did a great job of sharing about your daughter. From what you shared I would be inclined to place her in Rev2Rev. However, as you mentioned that she has not done the time period from RTR (and taking into account the fact that she has not done HOD before, I do think that you could consider doing RTR with her instead). I did have my very academically strong, oldest son do RTR in 8th grade simply because I had just written it, and I dearly wanted him to have a Christ-centered, Bible-based tour through that very important time period. He truly enjoyed the study, so I think your daughter would too. She may actually thrive in it even more fully than she would in Rev2Rev, simply because much of the HOD way of doing things and the level of written directions is likely different than she's had in the past.

I would print out the week of RTR and look at all of the 'I' boxes to see what your daughter would be doing independently. I would also take a look at the science to be sure that will be a good fit as well. Link: http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/rtr-we ... glance.pdf

Normally, we don't pay so much attention to the history cycle in making a decision of where a student should begin in HOD, because the skills drive the decision so much more. However, if your daughter is strong in her skills in the 3R's then that gives you a bit more leeway in what you choose.

Feel free to share you thoughts after you've looked through the samples.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Molly]

I love to looks of these programs and want to give her enough challenge so she is "bored" (her words!) but not so much to overwhelm her. She is a perfectionist and a box checker so she sometimes struggles with balancing learning with completing. Any suggestions would be so much appreciated!

I have a 12 yr old who has recently started RtR. She is right in her element, enough of a challenge to make her think, but not so difficult it will overwhelm her. My focus at the moment is to get her to balance her day in a way that suits her, but that gets everything done. She is reading the extension history books, but not doing the assignments for them. It is a wonderful guide so far, we are really enjoying it, especially the times during the day that we get together and discuss things together.

[my3sons]

Hi fourspahrs, and welcome to the HOD Board! You received some good advice, and I wondered if you have had a chance to ponder any of what Carrie and Molly said? I'd love to help you out as well, if you get a chance to share any questions or thoughts you are having about placement after considering their advice. You do have some great options, and having done both RTR and RevtoRev myself, either one of those guides would be excellent to do! What do you think now about all of this? We like to help here.

In Christ,
Julie

[fourspahrs]

Thank you for the encouraging guidance. I decided to go with Res to Ref with the extensions. We're looking forward to a fun year! One question I do have is about science. I had purchased Apologia's General Science for her as their recommendation is for GS in 7th grade. I am wondering if the included science is enough for a very bright, college-bound kid or if I should use General Science instead. My original thinking is to have her do the astronomy book and then move into GS after she completes astronomy. I know Apologia recommends astronomy for K-5 so it may not be challenging enough. I don't want her to be overwhelmed when we hit high school science. Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated!

[chillin'inandover]

Dear fourpahrs,
Welcome to HOD! I plan to have my ds do RTR next yr as a 6th grader young 11 yo (July birthday). He has done all the guides so he is very familiar with format of HOD. In response to your question about science, Apologia does say k-5 for Astronomy but 2 things to consider. First, it is read in 14 weeks not a whole year And it is read by student not parent. Second it advances HOD science by requiring written narration which is harder to do with science. Science includes written narration, weekly lab with write up, notebook page with Bible verse, illustration, & facts, and weekly questions. HOD's science is top notch. It is my ds Favorite part of the day. A lot of learning is going on in that box each day.
The child is also reading the other science selections-Planet Earth & Child's Geography to name a few with all the above extra activities. My ds loves John Hudson Tiner books too ( author of Planet Earth).
My ds is younger but he is quite smart placing in Post High School on standardized tests. He struggles with the writing process but his days are Full. They take longer than suggested but if he doesn't have the extra challenge he gets into trouble. HOD has been the challenge he needs. I have a science background and believe HOD prepares kiddos well in science. I have adult children who went through Apologia through high school but I am sticking with HOD because IMHO it is top notch. You may desire to do Apologia but it is more textbook and you will miss out on the rich learning of living books.
Tammy

[sahervey]

Tammy, thanks so much for you insight into Apologia v. HoD science. I love, love, love Apologia's elementary science and wondered if I wanted to stick with it or just do what HoD suggests for science. Thanks to you, I think I'll choose HoD's suggestions.