Suzanne in ABQ... about R&S6

[SS in MD]

Thanks for you post reguarding Videotext. I will be sure to see it at the homeschool convention in May.

I would love to hear how your 12yo dd does R&S Eng 6 on her own. Your oldest sounds a lot like my oldest- very self-motiviated and self-guided. She is my "list checker offer". My oldest (12 yo dd also) pretty much does R&S Eng on her own. She reads the lesson, but I still have her do the class practice with me, and then some of the written practice or worksheet (also we did spread English 6 over 2 years). Your way sounds more streamlined and less time consuming and doable in a year! Could you please explain it to me in more detail? I'd like dd to spend more time with writing and literature, so I was thinking of switching to AG next year for 7th & 8th, but dd says she's fine with continuing with R&S Eng7. - Thanks!!

Now my 2nd dd (10 yo) is less eager with the entire school thing! She is following the same R&S English path as her sister, but not really as diligent. Again it might be an age thing, but I don't know if I can assume she will be able to do R&S English independently and thoroughly. So, she may need to use AG for sake of my time limitations (their other siblings that will be in 3rd & K by then), but sorry to ramble, guess I can't predict the future ....

Thanks so much for your response!
Sangita

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Hi Sangita,
I didn't plan on having dd teach herself grammar. It just started happening at the end of last year as life became busy. If I was delayed in getting to her because I was working with my ds, or dealing with the endless needs of my toddler, I would ask her to read ahead, and try to start without me. When I'd get to her, we'd go over the oral stuff, and I'd assign part/all of the written practice. Sometimes, if the material was all review, we'd skip ahead and look at the next lesson. I didn't see the point in having her practice material she clearly knew. Gradually, she needed less and less of my help, until she really didn't need me at all. She used to ask me if she could skip a certain lesson because she knew it already. But, after awhile, I just said, "You know whether or not you understand it. If you need the practice, do the exercise, otherwise just skip to the next one." After one chapter test on which she missed entire sections of material, she is more careful not to just skim over things. She digs in and learns what she needs to in order to thoroughly understand the material.

To be honest, I don't know exactly what she does nowadays. I only know that I'll look over at her and she'll be reading the text. Then, a few minutes later she'll be writing a lesson. Afterward, I ask her what lesson she did, so I can record it. She then puts the lesson in her notebook. (I never even look at the lessons, for the most part). If she has a problem, we look it up in the TM. At the end of each chapter, she takes the chapter test in the test booklet. I grade it using the teacher manual, and she corrects it. If she missed a lot in a certain chapter, she'll go back and study the corresponding lesson (or do the lesson if it's one she skipped). Then, I'll give her that part of the test again, to make sure she understands it. If she gets more than 95%, I just have her correct the test, and go on to the next chapter.

In the first half of the book, she was reading all the lessons, but only doing the exercises on about every third one (when new material was presented that she felt she needed to practice). Now, at the end of the book, she is doing almost every lesson, or at least part of every lesson. She doesn't take the time to practice things she already knows, but she doesn't hesitate to do the exercises to learn/practice new material.

I do have her do all the writing exercises, and I read those, but I don't really grade them. I'm looking forward to being more involved in her writing when we start CW next week.

I don't think this is the information you were hoping for. I hope it's helpful.
Suzanne

[SS in MD]

Suzanne,

Thanks for your detailed post. It helps me understand how your dd studies her R&S! I appreciate the help. Guess I need to ponder some more on what to do. It's difficult when you're teaching other dc and you really can't give all the time you want to give to each individual child ykwim?

Is this your first year starting CW? Are you doing it with both your 12 yo and 10 yo or just your older dc? Writing is another "question mark" area for me for next year. Right now 12 yo is working independently through Wordsmith, but next year she'll need something else. (My 10 yo is working thru' WT2 and will need something else too). Trying to decide between IEW, CW, or if we use TOG then TOG's writing aids. Just don't know each one is so different. I've heard good things about CW Homer, but not so much for Diogenes. Is that correct? What made your choose CW? One reason I'm a little hesitant on CW is (of course) time limitations!
I heard CW gets progressively more time intense. Yet, at the same it is writing and its a very important skill that has to be developed. So, I guess it should require more effort. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent again- sorry!

Thanks for your reply! Time for bed- its almost 2am here.:rolleyes:

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I'm just planning on using CW with dd for now. I've looked at it for years, but haven't used it because of time restraints. I'm hoping that, even though they stress the importance of teacher involvement, she'll be able to do much of the "work" on her own. I'm going to take several weeks to focus my time and get us into a routine, but I'm hoping that no more than a half hour of my time will be required. If it takes us a year and a half to get through it, that'll be okay.

I might fold ds into it, but he's a little young for the Older Beginner course. I'd have to put him in Aesop. He hates writing (the physical act of it), so I'm probably going to wait until he's writing more, or typing, or just more mature. I don't want to fight with him (which is what this would turn into). The writing in R&S is sufficient for now.

I'm not sure why I'm drawn to CW. I have a borrowed IEW set sitting here on my shelf, but I just can't get myself to even watch the DVDs. There are little things that bug me, like the terms "ly-words", and "dress ups" that just rub me the wrong way. I'm a straight-forward writer, and don't like fluff. Those terms just seem "fluffy" to me. Why can't they just call adverbs adverbs? KWIM? :) Anyway, I'm happy that they made CW for older beginners. I'm still reading the material, trying to internalize it. I hope we like it. :)

[SS in MD]

Thanks for your reply. You've given me a lot to think about! More research!!!! Why doesn't it get easier every year??

Thanks again!
Sangita