Preparing a High School Plan

[chrisber]

I have never done HOD but I am intrigued with the selections and overall program and just keep coming back to it for my oldest who will be 14 and heading into 9th grade next year. I'm not sure, however, that he is ready for all the writing in the WG. We've done Rod & Staff for the last few years so that should be fine and he loves to read so that doesn't scare me but we have never done a formal writing curriculum or formal lit and I'm not sure how that much writing will go. I've read about some on here doing an earlier guide (I would consider MTMM) with extensions but still using the recommended BJU Lit from the WG guide. That all almost seems too complicated as I have quite a few schedules/students to oversee, not to mention, I really can't justify buying more than 1 guide/year for 1 child.

So, I guess I'm wondering if I should just go with the WH? Can I maybe tweak it just a little to suit us, maybe not require quite as much writing or something? I would appreciate help from those who are more familiar with the program. Thanks!

[LynnH]

If you're not sure if he is ready for WG then I definitely wouldn't go with WH. That is a more challenging guide as it is written for 10th grade and builds on skills from WG. The writing program used in WG, EIW, is a fantastic program that starts with sentences and how to write good solid sentences, then moves to paragraphs and then essays. I think it is perfect for someone who hasn't done a lot of writing. There is writing in other areas such as the written narrations for history and if he isn't ready for that many paragraphs you could start with less and build up to that by the end of the year. As far as the formal lit just remember when using BJU lit to do only what is assigned in the guide and don't expect him to have everything that is given in the answer guide.

[chrisber]

Thank you for replying. When I said about going into WH, that was a mistake; I meant WG. I really would like to put him in WG and that is encouraging about the EIW. It just seems a little too complicated to me to put him in the MTMM and compensate for all he'll need to do for high school since this is my first experience with both high school and the curriculum. But then I don't want to put him in something that will totally overwhelm us either if he is not ready for it. So, thank you for "freeing" me to require a little less at first and work up to the full expectation. Although we haven't done a formal writing program, he's done a little writing with the Rod & Staff plus some journaling I've had him do over the years. It's just not something he actually enjoys so I hope it isn't a major struggle every day. I appreciate your input!

[chrisber]

Ok, so I have been reading and studying and reading and studying some more and I still am no closer to knowing what to do. After going over many posts about placement, I'm thinking I might thank myself if I put my (soon-to-be) 14-y-o in MTMM or even Rev-to-Rev so he is able to hopefully do it very independently. As this will be our first experience with HOD, I'm worried the WG might require too much of me to get it going.

So, I've been reading about doing extensions and credits and so on and I understand I can get full history credit with either of those with the extensions. What I cannot figure out is if I need to do something additional for lit? And, I'm thinking I would just go ahead and do the first half of R&S 7 as my son is familiar with this and also because I'm not sure R&S 6 will be considered high school level? I'm assuming the recommended writing program would be high school level?

I'd also really like to do the WG logic this year but it looks like if I do an earlier guide than WG, there is no way around buying 2 guides. Is that the way most people handle doing a lower guide with a high schooler?

[StephanieU]

For literature, you have a few options. First, you can use some of the books listed in a guide you won't get to (AH2 or even AH1 if you start with Rev2Rev) with the DITHOR program. You can include storytime books as well, if you are doing the extensions as part of the history credit. You will want to do close to the 9 genres in the year.
Another option is to just do the BJU literature program suggested for WG. You can add the books if you want, but it wouldn't be absolutely necessary.

For grammar, what have you used in the past? Honestly, most schools aren't going to look at what you used for grammar. So it is better to place them where they fall instead. I know Milestone Books has a placement "test" for Rod and Staff English.

For writing, both the programs in Rev2Rev and MtMM can be used for high school (they are listed as at least through 9th grade curriculum). So there is no modification there.

And unless you want to reinvent the wheel (and plan out the logic on your own), you would need two guides. But, it wouldn't be money wasted, as you will use it in the future.

[chrisber]

This son has been using Rod & Staff since 5th grade. He is currently in 8 but I honestly feel it would be good for him to go back and start with 7 and I like the idea of spreading it out over 2 years. I never knew that could be an option but the idea of having more variety in our weeks is appealing.

Would you need the WG guide to do BJU lit or is it done as is in the BJU text? I'm thinking if we can get enough lit for this year in Rev to Rev or MTMM, that will probably be the easiest transition for us. I am definitely going to look into DITHOR; sounds like that will maybe be the best option to get us up to speed on lit study.

Now to decide on Rev to Rev or MTMM...