Rev to Rev is taking way too long

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bmbadd
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:17 pm

Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by bmbadd » Sat Oct 03, 2015 1:09 pm

We've use HOD since CTC, but my daughter has interests outside of what is covered by the curriculum so we add in language studies and some other things. Our days are taking way too long. We've had to drop the Biblical World View, Bible Time, and never seem to have time for the history projects, and our day is still going 8-14 hours.... THIS IS EXTREME for a 7th grader and we just can't keep it up! Really considering giving up on HOD and finding something less time consuming so she has time for extra activities like sports and service work which are out of the question right now. What can I do to give us our life back?

LynnH
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Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by LynnH » Sat Oct 03, 2015 1:42 pm

Rev to Rev should only take between 4 1/2-5 hours a day. When we used it several years ago as written(except for a different math) that is exactly what it was taking my son. I truly can't imagine how it could take 8-14 hours, especially when you have cut so much already. I would do a few things. First I would look at the schedule for how long each box is supposed to take. I don 't have that bookmarked, but maybe someone else does. I would then check to see how long it is taking your daughter to do each box. If you find a boxes that are taking way over the allotted time, which as long as her day is then I am guessing some of the boxes may be taking up to 3 times as long as they should, then try and figure out why. Is she a perfectionist or going off on bunny trails, or dawdling or does she have learning challenges etc. Then I would look closely at how long the things you are adding are taking. With what you have cut from the guide then Rev to Rev truly should only take 4 hours or less a day, so maybe what you have added is taking up the bulk of the day. I know you said they are interests she has that are outside the parameters of the guide. Are they all things she must do this year? Is there any way you could spread any of them out to other years. I know one thing that added some time to our day at times was math. Last year math was taking up to 2 hours a day(we use a different math than what is recommended) so I ended up splitting the lessons up over 2 days.
Mom to:
dd 22 college graduate and employed as an Intervention Specialist
ds 18 US2, Loved Preparing, CTC , RTR , Rev to Rev, MTMM ,WG, WH and US1
http://www.graceandfur.blogspot.com/

hs.mama07

Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by hs.mama07 » Sat Oct 03, 2015 2:00 pm

Here it is:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&p=74537&hilit= ... ist#p74537

Revival to Revolution
my3sons wrote:
Hi ladies! :D Carrie and I talked about the RevtoRev times as we laid out our plans, and though I shared this on some other threads, I thought it would be good to give it its own post here... :D

Left Side of Plans - Learning Through History
Reading about History: 25 min.
*Note: This may be longer on the written narration day, though this will balance out as there is no history project on the written narration day.
Storytime: 15-20 min.
History Project: 20 min.
Rotating box (Geography, Worthy Words, Timeline, Poetry): 10-20 min. (depending on length of poem and length of primary source document)
State Study: 20 min. (3 x a week)
*Note: One day will be shorter when there is no state study.
Independent History Study: 10-15 min. (longer on "Draw and Write" days)
2 hours (using the longest times)

Right Side of Plans - Learning the Basics
Bible Quiet Time: 15 min.
Music Appreciation: 20 min. (2 x a week)
Biblical Worldview: 20 min. (2 x a week)
Math: 30 min.
*Note: Add 15 min. more if doing "Discovering Mathematics".
Language Arts Box:
Dictation: 5 min. (3 x a week)
DITHOR: 35 min. (3 x a week)
Creative Writing: 25-35 min. (1 x a week)
R & S English: 20 min. (4 x a week)
Science Exploration: 25 min.
Inventor Study: 15-20 min.
2 hours, 50 min. (using the longest times)

HTH! :D
In Christ,
Julie

Nealewill
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Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by Nealewill » Sat Oct 03, 2015 4:44 pm

I also am curious what other things your dd is doing? How long are each of the boxes you decided to keep taking?

I know my kids do a couple of things outside of HOD but we are still getting the boxes for HOD done in those time frames listed. I do think there is a bit of a learning curve for the first few units per guide no matter which guide it is. For us, we don't usually find our rhythm until the 10th unit or so it seems at times. I do know that HOD is very full but it is very much meant for a full program with out adding things in. I am not saying that you should or shouldn't drop HOD but if you are adding a lot of other stuff, I might consider going 1/2 speed. I would also pray about what your objectives are in homeschooling. For me, HOD is completely my style. If were to put my own thing together, then this is pretty much exactly how I would want it to look. The only thing we add is a foreign language and piano. My kids also do AWANA in the younger years but we put limits on the amount of time we are willing spend on outside things.

Measure your time each day and see how much time it takes per box and measure how much time it takes per each extra item. Once you do that, post back and let us know how much time each item takes. Then we can hopefully be able to help better and see why which item is taking so long. Hopefully help with that.
Daneale

DD 13 WG
DS 12 R2R
DD 10 R2R

Enjoyed DITHOR, Little Hearts, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, R2R, RevtoRev, MtMM

LovingJesus
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Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by LovingJesus » Sat Oct 03, 2015 6:52 pm

What were her times like in CTC and RTR? Could she manage her time in those guides well? Was the work a struggle at all, or just right?

Those times do sound too long to me for focused learning. Do any of her extras duplicate what is being done in the guide? If they do, could you pick between them?

I hope you can figure out what it is!

Jennymommy
Posts: 298
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:19 pm

Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by Jennymommy » Sun Oct 04, 2015 2:15 pm

When this happened in our home a while back, I realized that I had my priorities wrong. I was on this homeschool journey because God put me here, and He needed to be the most important thing in my life and my children's lives. That became an area of attack, and sure enough, I let the Bible and quiet times go in favor of the academic and interest led items. Our days became nightmares, and God had to bring me back to His basics. Now I teach more kids and am involved in more activities, but my day is more focused and streamlined because I allow God first place, and He honors that. I would encourage you to look to Him for guidance on what He wants for you and your family, and go from there. Also, do spend some time looking at the suggested times for each box and see if you can help your dc to work within that timeframe, without interruption. HTH

my3sons
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Location: South Dakota

Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by my3sons » Sun Oct 04, 2015 3:20 pm

Welcome to the HOD Board, bmbadd! You have already received some excellent responses here! :D As this is your first post on the board, there are some good questions within this thread that have been asked, so we can better get to know you and your dd. :) We are doing Revival to Revolution right now for the second time with our second son. He is less of a get-it-done kind of worker than my oldest ds is, so I anticipated RevtoRev taking him longer to do than it did my oldest ds, but other than the first week, it isn't. I think it is because of the training he had in the previous HOD guides that this adjustment has gone well. I know you'd mentioned having done CTC and RTR with dd previously. That really should have been great training for moving into RevtoRev, and that has me really confused about how RevtoRev could take 8-14 hours a day to do now. Because of that confusion, I'd love to hear more about your dd's day! :)

If one of our kiddo's school day is not clipping along like it should, I have found it super helpful to do some real reflecting. I like to set a legal pad out on the counter for me to jot on throughout the school day. I also jot down the suggested time allotments for each box of plans, and I set a timer at the start of each box. I pay close attention to what is happening during that time then, and I jot anything I notice about what may have caused time to go longer. By the end of the day, I usually have a very good idea what is truly happening!

For my middle ds, I have found that he loves to take his time with creative projects, more so than my oldest ever did. So, for him, it works well for me to help him get started on these projects, set the time for the suggested time allotment, and when it rings, have him set it aside so the 2 of us can move on to my teaching things. He then takes as long as he wants later in the day to finish. This has helped him really determine if he WANTS to take longer on these projects because he is all caught up in enjoying them, or if he wants to move along with them more quickly because at the end of the day, he really will want free time instead. I love that he is learning to weigh this decision himself! Perhaps your dd just needs help with something like this as well. She may need to learn time management skills, or she may need to determine if she wants to take that long on something if it is worth doing it as 'homework' later, as the assignments are not that long to do on their own. It could be that placement is a concern too, however, if she was doing all that she was supposed to do in CTC and RTR (especially if she was doing her "I" boxes independently, doing all of the reading and following all of the directions etc. on her own), RevtoRev is the natural progression of skills for her age. That is why answering some of the questions in this thread would be so helpful, when you get the chance. In the meantime, here is an excellent thread by Carrie to ponder that may help too...

If Your Day Is Taking Too Long by Carrie…
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12776

You are right in thinking that this is far too long for RevtoRev to take to do each day, and that is definitely not the way it is written to be. That kind of reflecting you are doing now is so good, and by using the helps given in this thread as well as by pondering what is happening with each part of the plans by using the timer and noticing where things are going long, I think you will find the answers to getting the day back to the length of time it should be. HTH!

In Christ
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

MomtoJGJE
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Location: Gastonia, NC

Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by MomtoJGJE » Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:33 am

Are you interspersing the interest led things throughout the day along with HOD? Is your 8-14 hours including snacks, bathroom breaks, lunch, dinner, etc? Or is that just plain school time? RtR only takes my DD about 3 hours and the only thing she doesn't do is DITHOR, so I cannot imagine the next guide taking three or four times as long.

My suggestion would be to begin your days with HOD. Write down the suggested times for each box, get out a timer, and have your DD write down how long each box takes her to do. Don't do any of the other things besides HOD until HOD work is done. Add back in the things you've left out. Just see where all the time is going. Do this for a week so that you can be sure to have all of the different boxes/activities covered. Also have her write down things like "I took extra time on my history project to make it just right" or "Some of the vocabulary was very difficult in the history reading, so I had to reread several times to write my narration" etc.

bmbadd
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Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:17 pm

Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by bmbadd » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:18 am

Wow, you all answer back fast :). We add Latin, Hebrew, and Greek and the Bible time is replaced by a study for her confirmation. I did time, and it seems the history part is taking the longest. She seems to dawdle, and every time she has to switch books/boxes she has trouble settling to start on the new task.

bmbadd
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:17 pm

Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by bmbadd » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:21 am

And, yes she did everything as expected in ctc and rtr, plus extensions and rarely did it take more than 4 hours, often less

Nealewill
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Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 5:08 pm
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by Nealewill » Wed Oct 07, 2015 5:03 am

How far are you into the guide? It is it one of the earlier units or are you a ways in?

I have heard of other parents helping their kids with some of the cutting because I have heard that cutting can take up quite a bit of time in this guide. I have also heard that sometimes science can take a bit longer too, especially at times when the kids are building the machines and such. Or, I have seen other parents say that their kids want to play with what they made over and over and over again. That also adds to the day.

Have timed each history box? I know this is more work on you but I am wondering if you did this for one week, timed each box she worked on and monitored the length of her breaks. I know with my dd last year at the beginning of the year she would need to do something between each box and at times it would take her a good 15 minutes at a time to get to the next book. That practically doubled her day. :shock: Once I figured out that it was the breaks that were messing up her day, I helped her with some strategies to be more efficient. I also found that I would set up a lot of her stuff for her so that when she got to that box, she was ready to run with it. I am wondering with your dd, if you help get her set up and moving if that would help. Is there much printing for the state study or the maps? I would do the printing for her at this point. If there is a lot of cutting, I might look at helping her with it as well.

I can only imagine that a bunch of hand holding might bring on frustration to you at this point. My oldest bumped up from CtC to RtR a few weeks ago. Honestly, for the first week I didn't really sit with her while she worked much. I went over each box and the expectations but I didn't highly monitor everything. In Week 2, I didn't do much at all - not even read the "I" box directions with her. But then when I was looking at the work she produced - even her written narration for history - I was appalled! So, I didn't make her redo anything specifically but I did make her add to her narration a few more sentences separately that gave much better descriptions and that were much more meaningful. This week, she is in unit 3 and I am making her show me EVERYTHING she does before she goes to the next box. Will it always be like this? No. But I am okay with this schedule for a few units because I want her to be able to do things well from here on out. I am wondering the same for your dd. This type of schedule does affect everyone, not just her. But it might something that will help in the long run. What are your thoughts about doing something like this?
Daneale

DD 13 WG
DS 12 R2R
DD 10 R2R

Enjoyed DITHOR, Little Hearts, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, R2R, RevtoRev, MtMM

Carrie
Site Admin
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Re: Rev to Rev is taking way too long

Post by Carrie » Tue Oct 13, 2015 10:07 am

bmbadd,

The ladies are doing a great job of helping you talk through some things. First, to get a handle on the new guide, I would suggest setting aside anything not currently scheduled within HOD. To me, this would mean setting aside your Latin, Hebrew, and Greek for now and shifting your Bible study for confirmation to a time outside of your child's school day. If you have anything else that you have added to your day outside of what is scheduled within HOD, I would take it out of your schedule for the time being.

The reason for this is that it is hard to get a handle on how much dawdling is actually going on within the HOD part of your kiddos day when so much is added to it. Also, if she was successful with HOD in the previous guides, and your time has now expanded to 2-3 times what it was in the previous guide, we need to figure out why that is happening. I would spend several weeks doing only HOD during school-time and getting your times for subjects closer to what they should be. After that I would begin making some hard decisions as to what extras you really want and need to add back in. :D

As kiddos mature, their school day just keeps getting longer. In the past, there was more free time, but as the guides grow the time needed to complete each guide grows too. If you desire to keep extras within your day, then I would be inclined to place them in the evenings, weekends, or on your free 5th day, but I would hesitate to add subjects on top of what is already scheduled within the guide to your regular school schedule. It just gives kiddos the impression that their school day is much longer than it really is!

You will find that this is true for any curriculum you use, as by 7th grade kiddos' academics are taking much longer simply due to the depth of content and coverage needed for each subject.

There is always a learning curve when starting a new guide, so we would love to help you with this! Be encouraged that we are doing Rev2Rev right now without adding anything to HOD with my 7th grader and it taking us around 5 hours with a child who is not a naturally gifted writer or speller. :wink: So, we can all agree that your day is way too long, but it can be fixed. :D

Blessings,
Carrie

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