Pondering Placement
Does MTMM need the extensions to be appropriate for grade 9?
Great question! Yes, it does! That is the reason for the MTMM Extension Pack. It is meant to raise the level of the study in the guide to be able to include high school students. (High school students are technically outside of the target age range of the guide). The extension books are chosen to show different sides of issues and situations that students are often reading about briefly in the text. This is a different experience than simply reading books for pleasure. Instead, each extension book holds a purposeful place in the telling of history. It adds many facets to the study that require the student to think and assimilate information on a higher level.
High school students should do both the extension readings and the follow-up assignments.
Additionally, we are assuming that students at the extension level are also doing the recommended written narration/oral narration/and research follow-ups. This really raises the level of the Extension Pack. The student is made to sift and sort through what was read to share about it in a Charlotte Mason way. Without doing the follow-ups, your child is missing the upped level of skills needed for a high school student in writing written narrations, giving oral narrations, and choosing topics of interest to include for research/notebooking. (This is described fully in the Appendix). I would consider both the extension readings and the follow-ups to be a necessary part of the readings at the 9th grade level.Â
Extension books may be found on audio or read by a parent for students who have reading challenges.
I will mention that for those students who have reading challenges, my response may differ. That is because students who have difficulties reading will flounder under the weight of more reading. In this case, perhaps some books in the Extension Pack could be found as audios to listen to. Some could also possibly be read aloud by a parent. Others who have difficulties in the area of reading may have to omit the extensions all together. This is because school is such a challenge already without adding more. This would definitely be the exception, however.
Blessings,
Carrie
