Separating kids in HOD..Teaching MFW ECC and HOD RTR

[rika4584]

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We began HOD CTC late last year (Oct. 28, 2013). We are now in unit 17 with ds10 and ds12. My 12 year old is flourishing and doing very well in everything offered in the guide. He is very well placed and this has been a great year for him thus far. 

My 10 year old is also doing very well except he just told me today that the writing is too much for him. He is on the younger end of the guide; he began it 2 months before his 10th birthday. He has never complained or said anything until now about the writing. His answers are well stated but messy because it is physically difficult for him to write so much. This leaves me to consider other options for him for next year so he can mature a bit before going into HOD RTR. From what I've seen, it has a LOT of writing and it would be too much for ds10.

Now, another piece to the puzzle is I want to separate them into their own guides anyway. My oldest wants his own thing and to not feel like he is in the same class as little brother since he is going into junior high. There is also a bit of competition that has arisen as well as one kiddo not trying as hard because the other is quick to answer. There are some other things but the point is they would do better in their own guide. So I need your help :-).

I have some options...some makes more sense than others ;-). Please chime in and be sure to offer other options that I haven't considered yet. 

Note: We aren't necessarily concerned with teaching history out of order. I am more concerned with giving him a proper workload for his age and maturity level.

Option 1: Have ds10 stop CTC and go to Preparing. He will finish Preparing, then finish the 2nd half of CTC before going into HOD RTR.

Option 2: Ds10 finishes CTC then takes a break from HOD. He goes into MFW ECC for a year then head back to HOD RTR after he's matured a bit.

This option would mean I would teach MFW ECC to ds10 and HOD RTR to ds12. How would this look for me? I can't put my oldest in ECC because he doesn't do well with MFW. Now that we've found what works for him, he would like to stick with it.

Option 3: Keep him flowing with the HOD guides and put him in HOD RTR after finishing CTC. 

Option 4: Anything else I haven't mentioned :-).

Thank you for your time!!

[HeartatHome]

I like option #1 best. I'm still in the younger guides and haven't done preparing yet but it looks fantastic. I also like option #2 and that would be my second choice.

[Tenaj]

I like option #1 but I like HOD and really didn't like MFW so you can take my opinion with that in mind :)   Preparing is my favorite HOD guide so far (we've done up through Res to Ref.)

 

 

[hands-on-mama]

If it were me, I would probably go with option #1. It makes the most sense to me.

[Chelli]

I would do option #1 since you are planning on returning to HOD anyway and each guide builds on itself for the skills needed to do the next one. 

[boysrus]

You could also go half speed with CTC.  That would in essence separate the two, but you wouldn't have to buy another guide.  I think option #1 is probably best, but considering you already own CTC, slowing it down could work also.

[Monarch Room]

It sounds like you are in a similar situation that I was in last year. I had combined my 1st and 4th graders in Bigger. It was a great year, but I realized that I didn't want my 2 kids in the same guide. There was no way my youngest could compete with the skill and speed of his brother who was a full 3 years older. I backed the youngest into Beyond, and moved the oldest into CtC for the this year. I thought it would be difficult to separate them into their own guides, but it has actually been so much easier. They still participate in each others' activities, so I feel like they still have shared learning experiences, but without the competition.

 

This year my oldest will move into RtR, and I will do ECC with my youngest. That has me in your option #2, but that wouldn't be my first choice if my son were your youngest's age. My youngest will only be in 3rd, and I think Preparing is will be far more suited for my youngest in 4th. I think option #1 would be my first choice in your situation. Preparing is apparently not to be missed :) You could work with your youngest on the teacher dependent things in Preparing while your oldest does his independent work in RtR. That's what we did this year with Beyond and CtC. It was totally doable. I'm looking forward to our little detour into MFW, but HOD is my first love :)

[rika4584]

Since my ds10 does well with independent work in CTC, I can make some of the "T" and "S" boxes into "I" boxes in Preparing.  What is preparing like? My ten year old likes to read so I was thinking to add the extensions for extra reading but eliminate the written work for those books. The only reason I'm hesitant to put him in Preparing is because he doesn't find the work in CTC too difficult...it's just the physical inability to write so much.  Will preparing keep him feeling adequately challenged?  I really want them separate but I don't know any other options to separate them if I don't go with my option 1.  My oldest is fine where he is so I can't bump him up.

 

Thank you everyone for your responses so far!

[Tidbits of Learning]

The ability to write well and longer is a skill for the kids even if the material is not as challenging as you would like.  In fact, I would say that it is easier to tackle the writing if you have a firm grasp on the material and what it is asking you to write.  Preparing is World History and we went into Preparing this year with ds11 specifically b/c he needed to work on his writing and taking thoughts to paper.  He can orally tell me all day long what is being asked of him, but written work is really struggling.  He would have definitely placed in CTC if it weren't for the writing.  I would say the history will still be stimulating with Preparing, but the science is definitely not as much in Preparing as CTC.  Maybe pick an Apologia science to do alongside it?  

I am going to be the odd man out though and say that I probably would separate into different programs for a year.  I would probably do option 2.  I really don't think going backwards at any time is a good idea.  While placement is key, thinking about where your child will be intellectually challenged is important as well.

[rika4584]

The ability to write well and longer is a skill for the kids even if the material is not as challenging as you would like.  In fact, I would say that it is easier to tackle the writing if you have a firm grasp on the material and what it is asking you to write.  Preparing is World History and we went into Preparing this year with ds11 specifically b/c he needed to work on his writing and taking thoughts to paper.  He can orally tell me all day long what is being asked of him, but written work is really struggling.  He would have definitely placed in CTC if it weren't for the writing.  I would say the history will still be stimulating with Preparing, but the science is definitely not as much in Preparing as CTC.  Maybe pick an Apologia science to do alongside it?  

I am going to be the odd man out though and say that I probably would separate into different programs for a year.  I would probably do option 2.  I really don't think going backwards at any time is a good idea.  While placement is key, thinking about where your child will be intellectually challenged is important as well.

 

Funny you mention this because I spoke with my son today and he said he didn't want or need easier work because he would be bored again. His mind is very sharp and although he is technically a 4th grader, he usually works on a much higher level. I refer to him as a 5th grader because he skipped kindy, which was a mistake on my part. I should've just made kindy more challenging rather than bumping him up to first grade. But that's another story ;-).

 

I've always had trouble finding a perfect balance for him.  The work is either too easy or just right but his little body can't physically put out what his mind has to say.  He did his day 4 written narration and I told him to just write the minimum 5 sentences to try to help with our issue. He wrote the 5 sentences but stated that he had more to say so he felt cheated but his hands and fingers didn't hurt.  He doesn't type fluently so poking one letter at a time to type his writings takes forever so this is out for now, atleast until I teach him to type.  I just know the writing in RTR is going to be way too much so I need to figure out what to do.

 

Thank you for sharing!

[Another Lynn]

Funny you mention this because I spoke with my son today and he said he didn't want or need easier work because he would be bored again. His mind is very sharp and although he is technically a 4th grader, he usually works on a much higher level. I refer to him as a 5th grader because he skipped kindy, which was a mistake on my part. I should've just made kindy more challenging rather than bumping him up to first grade. But that's another story ;-).

 

I've always had trouble finding a perfect balance for him.  The work is either too easy or just right but his little body can't physically put out what his mind has to say.  He did his day 4 written narration and I told him to just write the minimum 5 sentences to try to help with our issue. He wrote the 5 sentences but stated that he had more to say so he felt cheated but his hands and fingers didn't hurt.  He doesn't type fluently so poking one letter at a time to type his writings takes forever so this is out for now, atleast until I teach him to type.  I just know the writing in RTR is going to be way too much so I need to figure out what to do.

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

In this case, I might consider staying in CTC, but going half pace.  As you go half pace, add a typing program everyday.  Add other books according to his interests.  Keep him intellectually challenged with extension books or other reading.  Keep written narrations going as assigned in the guide - slow and steady.  Work on typing so that by the time he gets to RTR he's ready to type the longer narrations.