Q about TOG and high school credit

[luvnlattes]

I'm trying to work this out. According to the Loom document you give 1 history credit for a student who completes a minimum of 32 weeks core and in-depth reading assignments and their corresponding Accountability and Thinking questions, mapwork, and charts. I'm assuming this to mean rhetoric level assignments.

 

My oldest will be 8th grade next year. I plan to use that year to prepare him for rhetoric level TOG. I've started assigning him dialectic level history and in-depth reading assignments to begin this preparation. He does the accountablity questions. It is a stretch. In the fall I plan to continue doing this plus I'll add in the thinking questions. Today was a tough day for him. Part of me wants to tell him to suck it up and this is what needs to be done, but the other part of me wonders if the workload is too much.

 

I've read that some people assign high school credit for completing all the dialectic level assignments. If that's the case then I can understand why he feels overloaded. But I'm pretty sure the Loom document is talking about doing all of this at the rhetoric level for high school credit beginning in 9th grade.

 

If you have experience using TOG through high school could you help me understand how you went about assigning credits?

[BlsdMama]

My suggestion is for you to take one week at a time.

 

He can do the reading out of the spine, but as for the supplementary materials, use the Dialectic level materials when you feel the Rhetoric suggestions would be way too much for him to handle.

 

When my Dialectic son needs to learn something, often we'll use the spine as suggested but jump down a level for the supplementary materials. It is important that he cover the time period and understand thoroughly what has happened in that point of history. Sometimes this is better served by reading some simpler materials. The more basic explanations will often help you understand something more clearly so that you can grasp it and go on.

 

I also want to add that it is very likely you'll see a "jump" this next year... You know those spots when your child just mentally grows and you see the lightbulb go on?

[ChemMommy]

The "in-depth" reading, too! Are you sure?

 

I would assign high school credit for the core reading and questions. I would assign AP credit for adding in the in-depth readings.

 

If your soon-to-be ninth grader is struggling, just assign the core reading until he adjusts. Moving to the R level is history and literature, plus adding in other high school classes can be a real challenge at first. Around Christmas, you can begin to add more of the in-depth readings until he is carrying a full R load. And, honestly, some kids won't be able to do all of the in-depth reading because they are not strong readers or quick readers or because they are more mathematical or science people.

 

When my third comes along, she will have less history reading because she will have more science word.

[WTMindy]

First of all, homeschooling credits are fairly arbitrary and you can do whatever you feel comfortable with for your own children. Having said that, I personally, wouldn't feel comfortable assigning a high school credit for the TOG dialectic stage. I don't think that the books are high-school level books.

[luvnlattes]

My suggestion is for you to take one week at a time.

 

He can do the reading out of the spine, but as for the supplementary materials, use the Dialectic level materials when you feel the Rhetoric suggestions would be way too much for him to handle.

 

Thanks for this idea. I hadn't thought about handling it that way.

 

The "in-depth" reading, too! Are you sure?

 

I would assign high school credit for the core reading and questions. I would assign AP credit for adding in the in-depth readings.

 

 

That's what the Loom says. For "Honors," which I am guessing means AP, it says the student should complete all of the reading assignments, mapwork, etc. meaning all 36 weeks instead of 32.

 

Having said that, I personally, wouldn't feel comfortable assigning a high school credit for the TOG dialectic stage. I don't think that the books are high-school level books.

 

I haven't compared the two levels but that's what I was wondering. Thanks for sharing your opinion.

[battlemaiden]

First of all, homeschooling credits are fairly arbitrary and you can do whatever you feel comfortable with for your own children. Having said that, I personally, wouldn't feel comfortable assigning a high school credit for the TOG dialectic stage. I don't think that the books are high-school level books.

 

Agreed.

 

And I would like to add that my 9th grader, doing all rhetoric level in Year 4, is just now during week 24 totally comfortable with the accountability questions and other assignments. I think 9th grade is a really developmental year.

 

In some ways it is as exciting as watching the light bulbs go off in the early years. I worried a lot in the early weeks that he wasn't able to handle the work, but he has become comfortable and has excelled at this point in the year- writing persuasive essays to verify that his understanding of the material is solid.

 

Don't worry, nurture, work alongside, talk/discuss, write, and don't worry about those pesky credits.

 

Jo