TERRIFIED

[mrsrandolph]

Just got my Res to Ref box, and I'm TERRIFIED. CTC has been a breeze, but I am moving my daughter up halfway through CTC and leaving my son where he is in CTC. I am scared!! It's a LOT, and it looks HARD! Talk me down!!??

[LynnH]

I think a new guide always looks a little intimidating until you actually start it. I felt like there wasn't much of a jump from CTC to RTR actually. The reading was probably easier. There was more writing, but it was well balanced in the day. From how you have described your daughter I think she will do fine. Maybe go half speed for a week just so she can get a feel for the boxes that are independent. I think you might be surprised by how quickly she finds her wings and starts to soar. For us it usually takes about a month before my son really starts taking ownership of a new guide.

[MelInKansas]

Well, I'd love to hear how it goes as I will be jumping in there in a few months! I already have most of it but I haven't really sat down and tried to look through it.

It will certainly be harder, take longer, and be more challenging. But she should be able to do a lot of it on her own. You probably already know this, I think getting things off to a good start is really key. You'll need to be with her more and sit with her during independent times to make sure she's got the hang of it and knows what to do. Or at least be close by and interruptible. I really dislike the chaos of starting a guide but then it is so worth it when they can just clip right along and do things on their own. I am so proud of my DD who is halfway through CTC now, how she does her work pretty well on her own, and knows just what to do.

Jumping ahead will be interesting. I have to admit I've never done that before. I will say a prayer that it goes well and for wisdom for you in how to implement it.

[countrymom]

We just started R2R this summer and we are totally in a great routine; it is going much smoother than CTC did at the beginning for us. You might want to consider doing something I did for the first time when starting R2R(wished I had done it for CTC). I spent the first unit with just my son and my other son got 4 days off (yes, he was happy). I also spent time pouring through a unit so I had a good feel of what was happening, then I got everything ready and in order. Then I spent that unit with my son, doing everything together so I could show him the expectations and he would also have a good idea of what he was to do by the end of the first unit. My son is younger, so I actually take 5 days for each unit, which is something you could consider to get you going if you don't want to go 1/2 speed. You will be ok, I promise. We are really enjoying this guide.

[Nealewill]

I am doing a lot of the same things countrymom suggested. I got my R2R guide back in February. I really like getting my guides a well in advance so that I can make sure I get my kids ready for the next guide. I just like seeing what the expectations are and making sure that I invest to make them as independent as I can or slow down if I need so that they will be ready. When I first got it, I almost died looking and seeing how much more reading there is. I was a bit panicked because my dd was already complaining about much reading she was doing in CTC. I am happy to report though, she is finishing up one of the DITHOR books that is a 6.1 RL and has teeny tiny words and she has to read 15-17 pages a day LOL. She loves that book! She has read it without complaint. And she is reading it fairly quickly. I am feeling good about the history readings at this point. In addition, I have really pushed her with the research box these past few months of CTC. I saw that she would be doing post cards from research as part of a geography activity in R2R. I think she will do fine with that too. Other than that, science is shorter IMHO as to the volume of reading and the Bible study box looks amazing. I am really looking forward to that box. My last item for consideration at this point is the Shakespeare study. For now, I am scheduling that on the 5th day. I currently have all 3 kids doing the same genre in DITHOR and I am teaching it all at once. I like that schedule. But I can't imagine her doing DITHOR and Shakespeare on the same day when we start out. If I put it on day 5, then she will be plenty refreshed to complete it. I also do know that many people have had their kids listen to it instead of read it. But honestly, I have really enjoyed having my kids do the reading themselves. I feel like it has helped them become much better and faster readers. So I plan to push it to a day with nothing else be happening. And I am sure we will get to a point in the year that reading that book along with all her other schoolwork won't be a problem. In CTC, we had a similar occurance with the paintings. I left them for Saturdays mornings. We did co-op one day a week last year and I didn't have a 5th day. However, my dd wasn't to a point that she couldn't do the painting alone in the beginning. So we saved them, spread everything out on the diningroom table after breakfast and had the paintings finished by lunch LOL. By mid year, she was doing them alone like a pro and doing them during the week on the days they came up in the guide.

It is more work because it is a higher level. You may need to go half speed for a bit. But I am sure your dd will do great. It looks like an amazing guide and I am so excited to be starting it next week!

[rumkimom]

We started our RtR guide by going 1/2 speed. We did not do CTC but switched over from something else...thus far I love it, and my daughter is getting used to it. The amount of reading is a lot for her as well, but at this point we have split it up so that makes it easier.