To extend or not to extend?

[Little Women]

I'm a little confused by a couple of things on your placement chart. Maybe it's because my child has a summer birthday, but I'm having trouble figuring out if we should use extensions or not. Here are the details:

My youngest will be 12 next school year.
She will be in 7th grade, though she is a slower reader. She loves to read, but isn't very fast.
She is very quick at grasping content.
She struggles with spelling, which we will probably work on more than just with dictation.
We want to go along with an older sibling's non-HOD studies, and the levels seem right for her to do Res to Ref.
She will definitely want to do the Shakespeare studies, though she might not want to do the pages when it comes down to it, as Shakespeare is very popular with older siblings.

The "program selection" page shows that a 12yo should be able to do either Res to Ref or Rev to Rev without extentions.
However, the "program placement chart" says "with extensions for 7th and 8th grade."

Is HOD presuming that most 7th graders will be 13? (That's not typically the case in my state. Though kids have to be 5yo by Sept. 1 to start K that year, almost all kids will be 12 through much of their 7th grade year.)

For a 7th grader in the circumstances of mine, should I plan on the extensions for Res to Ref, or not?

[Mumkins]

I've had the same issue, with my child's age being in range, but guide lists extensions for their grade. The way I've looked at it, is, if they place in the guide as is, leave it. But, if they almost placed in the next guide, but not quite, add extensions.

[Rice]

I'm curious to see Julie or Carrie's response, but I will say this. If this is your first year with HOD I suggest you start half speed, getting to know the new books, the system of HOD, where she will put the work for each subject (separate notebook, 3-ring binder, etc.), and getting used to what is expected in each Box, etc. Plan for the first two units to take a month (on your calendar) then if it works for you to speed up sooner then you have some grace scheduled in.

Also, you can start the year without Extensions, or plan for her to have the first book as a free read or family read-aloud, then when she's handling the main curriculum fine (which may or may not be an adjustment for her from what she's used to) you can add in the Extensions. At that point you can decide if she will read them on her own time, read them as scheduled or actually do the suggested assignments (2 written, 1 notebooking and 1 oral narration each Unit), or leave them to use as summer or DITHOR reads later on. (FWIW, I suggest you probably not use most of them for DITHOR this year as the books you use for DITHOR should be slightly easier than their instructional reading level so they can discuss the elements of the story, Christian character, etc. rather than be working to understand the book itself and the Extensions books are, for the most part, at an instructional level for each guide - with some exceptions, of course. Not to mention that most Extension books are history so it would be hard to fill all the genres from them; humor, fantasy, etc.)

Blessings,

[Nealewill]

Where I live kids must be at least 5 year olds to start school by the cut off date but they are allowed to begin K at 6 if the parents prefer. That would put a child at age 13 when they start 7th grade.

I also agree with Mumkins, if your child places well in the age range without the extensions, then you don't use them. The extensions are optional but were created for a variety of need. The initial and primary reason for the extension (from my understanding) were established to help parents who wanted to combine kids in one guide where one child was a bit ahead of the other child. However, I have read that some parents prefer that their kids are on the older end of the age range because their kids love to devour good books this gives parents with kids who love to read a more literature heavy curriculum. I have seen some parents on here who have children who hate writing and the extension option can gives these kids a strong education with a more gentle writing volume.

All that being said, if your child fits well in the guide without the extensions, then I would not use them. If you feel like the guide would be too easy without the extensions and you are set on using this level, then you would want to add them in.

[my3sons]

Cutoff dates for entering grade levels vary among schools, which is why age ranges within grade levels vary as well. In general, IMO, a 7th grader doing CTC should do the extensions for sure unless special considerations apply. A 7th grader doing RTR would be more 'on the bubble', and I'd consider whether that student was doing more 6th grade level work or more 7th grade level work overall (they may be a 'young' 7th grader or an 'old' 7th grader based on age and/or ability). I'd also weigh whether doing the extensions would prohibit the student from doing his/her best work on the core (daily) part of the plans (for example, if a student had to skip a lot of skills in the daily plans of the guide to be able to do the extensions, that would not be advised). Last, I'd consider if the parent would have to read the extensions to the student (unless special needs/concerns apply). If the student can handle reading the extensions himself/herself and still fully be capable of doing the daily work in the guide completely, I'd personally have him/her do the extensions in RTR if he/she was in 7th grade. If the student was in 8th grade, I'd have that student do the extensions in RTR for sure. Likewise, if a student is a 9th grader doing RevtoRev, I would have the student do the extensions (especially for high school credit; unless, again, special needs/concerns apply), but a student in 8th grade would be 'on the bubble.' So, there is overlap in ages and grade levels, as well as in skills and abilities, and all this should be weighed to choose what is best for the student. A parent knows best what their child can handle, when to challenge and when to pull back. This is the beauty of HOD! Choosing what best befits a student's age, skills, abilities, and needs overall is considered in placement. It is also what makes this answer a longer one that is not set in stone. I do hope that this helps as you decide what is best for your dd!

In Christ,
Julie

[Little Women]

Thank you to all who responded. My dd is definitely a "young" 7th grader, with her birthday not until later this month and being mildly dyslexic--she can read pretty well, but not very quickly, and her spelling is not good. The amount of writing in RtR is going to be a challenge, I think--I'm sure she can do it, she's just not used to doing it all the time. We already have many of the extension books, though, and she does love to take books along when we go somewhere, so I think I'll put them in a basket for "free time reading," and she can get done whatever she gets done.

Blessings!