Placement help.... starting over :)

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Lynnw
Posts: 180
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:33 am
Location: Kentucky

Placement help.... starting over :)

Post by Lynnw » Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:54 am

Okay, I'm still trying to figure out placement and I think I need to start from scratch.... Here's some info about each child...

ds 11.5 (turns 12 in Oct), 6th grade, Love to read, even very challenging books - no formal literature study. Can do written narrations - but would rather not, LOL. Has completed 4 FLL books and part of CLE 5 (My Current plan is to do Daily Grams 6 this year to keep from losing grammar skills while we focus more on writing.) His spelling is probably is biggest weakness in the LA dept. Math - we have switched around some, but have come back to Singapore. He is in 4B right now - it's pretty easy for him, but he needs it before we start 5. I'd like to see us complete 5A and 5B this year unless we hit a snag. He has had the 4 year history cycle pretty much from the beginning (give or take a bit). He studied Ancient History last year with my hodge-podge plans. I have RTR on hand for him and it's the logical guide for him unless I combined him in some way with his younger brother.

ds 8.5 (turns 9 in Oct), 3rd grade. Has become an independent reader in the last 3-6 months, but would still benefit from reading aloud. Recently read many of the Liza, Bill, Jed mysteries. Writing - he had cursive instruction last year, but needs review. He can do copywork easily. He has done a few written summaries, but needs help - this was a stretch for him. He is doing FLL3 and it is easy for him. He is in Singapore 3A and doing very well. He also had Ancient History last year with my hodge-podge plans. I may add some Middle Ages easy readers for him as he is interested in knights and castles. My first thought was that he would fit well in Bigger, but I think he might be able to handle Preparing.

DD 7 (just turned 7 in June), 2nd grade. Still needs phonics instruction. Could become an emerging reader later this school year. Our reading lessons are typically not a struggle, she just needs more time and practice. Writing - she is glad to do copywork. Grammar - she is ready for a gentle intro. We're about 20 lessons into FLL 1, but often skip it because phonics/reading/math is my priority. Math is her biggest struggle. She is almost half way through CLE - 1, but still struggles with place value, "before" and "after," and sometimes with the concept of subtraction. (SHe was the oldest of any of my kids before she got one-to-one correspondence a few years back.) She also had Ancient History read alouds last year, though I'm not worried about a particular sequence at her age. SHe sometimes says she doesn't want to listen to read alouds, but often begs for more afterwards. I recently read Dangerous Journey aloud to all of them and she begged for more along with everyone else. She probably places best in Beyond.

DS 5 (just turned 5 in Aug), K. It's entirely possible I will call him Kindergarten for two years because of his August birthday, but he is very ready to learn letter sounds (already knows many of them). He started Get Ready for the Code a couple weeks ago and it is easy for him. He is learning how to form letters. He is doing well with CLE 1 for math, but I could see him thriving in Singapore next year. He probably place in LHTH or LHFHG, but I probably won't be able to do either of these due to the number of older siblings and number of guides we may end up with for them.

DD 2 - With everything else going on, I'm not going to even consider LHTH for her yet, but she is very bright, fairly verbal and copies everything. SHe is a typical "baby" of the family - she is 2 going on 10!

Combining thoughts.... though the 8and 7 year old are closest in age, they are not so close in academics. What is easy and obvious to my 8yo (he was National Chess Champion as a K'er) is a struggle for my 7yo. The two oldest boys, though 3years apart, are natural buddies. They've been competing at chess tournaments together for 3 years. They do many things together. As much as I want my oldest to do RTR, I could see possibly combining these two in Preparing with my oldest doing extensions. I could also see combining my 7 and 5 yo. My 5 yo is very bright. It might be a good confidence builder for my 7yo to be the "oldest" in a combining situation instead of comparing herself to her older brother.

And, I should add that my dh is deployed until ~February. I am blessed with tons of help from my parents who live close by and from friends, but we will obviously have a few interruptions this year (He will have two weeks of leave this fall) and again when he comes home for good.

Okay, it is helpful to get all that on "paper." I'm going to finish getting ready for Church and rejoice in God's goodness and know that He gave us each of these precious ones at precisely the time he wanted us to have each one and He will provide for me and for their needs.

If you read all that, THanks!!!
Married 19 years to Dh, Detective and Army Reservist: 1 tour in Iraq, 1 tour in Afghanistan
ds 12.5 (7th grade) RevtoRev
ds 9.5 (4th grade) Preparing

dd 8 (3rd grade) Beyond
ds 6 (K/1st grade) Beyond
dd 3

blessedmomof4
Posts: 1138
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:34 pm
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Re: Placement help.... starting over :)

Post by blessedmomof4 » Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:50 am

Hi! I don't have any thoughts on combining, but I wanted ot mention that LHTH only takes 30 minutes a day, and LHFHG is about 1 1/2 hours a day. If you use either of these, I think it is very doable, even with however many other guides you wind up using for the older kids. Also, the guides from Preparing up have steadily more independent work for your students, so your actual teaching time doesn't go up! I'm sure someone else will come in with input on combining.
Lourdes
Wife to Danforth
2 grads 9/19/92,7/8/95
2 in charter school 1/31/98, 9/19/99
3 in Heaven 8/11/06, 8/18/10, 9/13/13
Future HODie is here! 9/14/12

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Placement help.... starting over :)

Post by my3sons » Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:30 pm

Thanks for describing each of your dc, Lynn! :D They sound precious. From what you've shared, combining your 5 and 7 yo in LHFHG would be a good placement. You can really focus on reading instruction and math then, while still having a good balance of science, history, Bible study, devotions, and hands-on activities. If you wanted, you could get the Beyond manual to do spelling lessons and the gentle grammar introduction with her, but there is no harm in waiting on that a year either.

For your older 2 dc, I do think combining them in PHFHG is a good idea. Your older ds can do the extensions, while also having instruction that is more guided for written narrations (while also requiring less length). :wink: As long as younger ds can do the science readings, he should be fine, as this is meant to be done independently and will be important for him to do so he can be ready for CTC the next year. What are your thoughts about all this though? 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

Lynnw
Posts: 180
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:33 am
Location: Kentucky

Re: Placement help.... starting over :)

Post by Lynnw » Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:05 pm

Lourdes, thank you for the encouragement! I appreciate it.

Julie, Thank you for wading through all my info and thinking through it with me again. I LOVE your suggestion. LHFHG with my 5yo and 7yo feels more do-able than Beyond. I would love to combine the older two in Preparing, but I have thought about it and talked with my oldest about his school year. Two big benefits we discussed are 1)doing school with his brother and 2) having a slightly lighter year with more time for free reading, chess, other activities, etc. But, he is more inclined to do RTR and with it all here in front of us it's hard to blame him! It looks so perfect for him this year. So, inspite of the appeal of doing two guides, I'm leaning towards RTR for him and Bigger for my 8.5 yo (which will be a good match for him too I think!). This placement has us in three guides, but with the third guide being LHFHG instead of Beyond, I feel more optimistic about our success! And I feel much better about combining the 5 and 7 instead of the 7 and 8 yo. I'm praying that if we need to adjust and put the older two in Preparing that the Lord would show us quickly!

Thank you again for helping me take a fresh look!

Lynn
Married 19 years to Dh, Detective and Army Reservist: 1 tour in Iraq, 1 tour in Afghanistan
ds 12.5 (7th grade) RevtoRev
ds 9.5 (4th grade) Preparing

dd 8 (3rd grade) Beyond
ds 6 (K/1st grade) Beyond
dd 3

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Placement help.... starting over :)

Post by my3sons » Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:25 pm

That's great, Lynn! :D I'm so glad you are feeling more at peace with this placement, and I think your oldest will try hard to make it a success as he is helped in the choosing of it. :wink: One really nice thought is you can have him ease into RTR if you (and he) would like that. As you'd considered him possibly doing doing a younger guide anyway, he could easily start RTR half-speed to learn the ins and outs of doing each box of plans, and then take on both pages a few weeks/months in, probably being able to be very successful with the independent things at that point. I also think this will be a good year to have time to focus teaching time on the Bigger Hearts child too, before launching him into further independence. The bulk of your teaching time will be with him, which is perfect, because he'll then be quite independent the next year when he does PHFHG, and about then your little duo will be having an increase in the time they need you. I'm so glad you are feeling good about this, and hope it goes well! :D

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

Mumkins
Posts: 792
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:45 pm
Location: Ontario
Contact:

Re: Placement help.... starting over :)

Post by Mumkins » Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:08 pm

Have you given your son the catalogue to look over and see if he'd like Preparing? It's the one I'm most looking forward too. :D Great biblical history. I'm all for combining. But you do have to do what's best for your family. I'm still trying to find a way to combine my younger two and I don't think it's possible. They're 3 school years apart. :(
7 awesome kids!

2 graduated
2 at highschool
3 coming home to homeschool in the fall💕
DD5 LHFHG
DS9 Preparing
DS12 RTR

We’ve enjoyed LHTH, LHFHG, Beyond, Preparing, CTC, WG

Carrie
Site Admin
Posts: 8125
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Re: Placement help.... starting over :)

Post by Carrie » Tue Aug 24, 2010 12:47 pm

Lynn,

I just wanted to pop-in and say that from reading your initial post, I was thinking of combining your 5 and 7 year olds too, with a possible bit of adding from Beyond for your 7 year old in Emerging Reader/Spelling/Grammar/Math if desired. So that seems to be a good plan! :D

As far as your oldest goes, I'm wanting to check to see how independent he is? Are you thinking that RTR is the best fit for him based on the history cycle or on where he fits on the placement chart? The reason I ask, is I'd be inclined to place him in CTC if he's new to HOD and new to much independence (reading from the guide, following extensive written directions on his own, easily doing written work required etc.). Heading into RTR requires a very strong reader and writer, who has honed independent work skills previous to starting that guide. That description may actually fit your oldest well, and if so, then RTR will be best. I just couldn't tell for sure and thought possibly it would be good to mention.

If your oldest did start in CTC, both he and you would have a bit less rigorous year because he'd truly be able to handle independently what we're asking him to do! :D Just a thought.

It does sound like your next son could do Bigger or Preparing Hearts. So, combining in Preparing Hearts is always an option too. :D

Blessings,
Carrie

Lynnw
Posts: 180
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:33 am
Location: Kentucky

Re: Placement help.... starting over :)

Post by Lynnw » Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:06 pm

Mumkins,
Thank you for your thoughts. He and I did look over the catalog together as we discussed. I understand what you mean about combining with kids 3 years apart - that's what I would have been doing with these two oldest. When they're young it's hard because each year brings so many changes in their skill development. Now, with mine - they *could* go into Preparing together... but on the other hand, the older is getting ready to hit puberty (already showing signs) and the younger is still several years away, making their 3 years difference sometimes seem little and sometimes seem big!

Carrie,
I think you nailed me. I think you are right and CTC might be the better fit for my oldest. Funny enough I own every HOD guide (and books) except LHTH and CTC! We are having a lot of distractions from school right now (currently a tree-house project with Grandpa - who could pass that up?) I'm hoping we can start RTR half pace and see if we can grow into it. But if I'm wrong, I'll be ordering CTC, LOL. I think your assessment is right on!

Thank you!
Lynn
Married 19 years to Dh, Detective and Army Reservist: 1 tour in Iraq, 1 tour in Afghanistan
ds 12.5 (7th grade) RevtoRev
ds 9.5 (4th grade) Preparing

dd 8 (3rd grade) Beyond
ds 6 (K/1st grade) Beyond
dd 3

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