When to Stop Going Half-Speed
Most students in Heart of Dakota complete a guide each year and then move up to the next guide, which is the intended pacing of the guides. However, unforeseen challenges arise sometimes, and when they do, students can move to half-speed pacing for awhile.
Unforeseen challenges might include an unexpected health problem, hospital stay, job change, move to a new home, or a student may just need more time to grow into the reading/writing/independent levels of a guide. This is especially true if kiddos are on the very youngest side of the target age range.
Half-speed pacing can save the day at times like these! However, half-speed pacing provides a temporary answer to an unforeseen challenge. The goal should always be to return to full-speed pacing as soon as it makes sense to do so! So, how do you know when to stop going half-speed?
The Feeling You Need to Add More
Emmett did Bigger Hearts for His Glory half-speed for about 3 months when he was 7 years old. He read like a champ, but his writing needed to catch up to his reading! After about 3 months of half-speed with a focus on improving his writing, I began feeling like I needed to add more to his day. He finished all his half-speed work quickly, and his day ended way too soon.
Riley did Creation to Christ half-speed for about 4 months when he was 9 years old. He LOVED the history projects, the drawing in Draw and Write through History, and the Paint Like a Poet assignments. In fact, he loved them sooooooo much that he took extra long to complete them. After about 3 months of half-speed with a focus on improving his time management skills, I began feeling like I needed to add more to his day.
Thank the Lord I stepped back from this thought of needing to add more and simply switched to full-speed pacing! Both graduated high school on time, and half-speed pacing provided the temporary fix for only the time it needed to!
Training Time Is Over
When students begin a new guide, everything should not be easy at the beginning of the guide. Roughly one-third of the guide should comprise new skills to master. One-third of the guide should include skills students have been introduced to but still need to strengthen. One-third of the guide should fulfill skills students are good at but need to continue to practice to keep them sharp.
Going half-speed at the start of a guide can make sense if students are new to Heart of Dakota, if students need to build confidence, or if students are new to independent learning. However, half-speed pacing should only be used for the first two to six weeks. If you have another younger student in a five-day-a-week guide with 170 days of plans, it can make sense to start half-speed in older students’ four-day-a-week guides with 140 days of plans.
The purpose of half-speed in this case is so you can train your older students how to properly complete each “I” independent box of plans. “S” semi-independent boxes offer another training opportunity. However, students grow and mature in these skills all year long. It is good to recognize when training time is over and move to full-speed as soon as possible!
Greener Pastures Grazing
Starting half-speed can help students and parents alike ease into their Heart of Dakota guides and their homeschool year. This can be a blessing! However, parents and students can sabotage the year by using this time for what I’ll call “Greener Pastures Grazing.”
Rather than taking the time to truly teach kiddos how to use a guide properly, how to complete each box of plans properly, and how to finish each homeschool day in a timely fashion, it can be tempting for parents to choose half-speed pacing and go “Greener Pastures Grazing”. Researching curriculum, posting tons of questions on social media, and/or diving deeply into altering plans before even truly homeschooling full-speed can be… well, all consuming. In fact, it can become what you do instead of homeschool! Once you’ve done your due research and the homeschool year is underway, you’re already in the green pasture, and it’s time to dig in and enjoy the teaching!
Likewise, rather than taking the time to truly complete the guide properly, to complete each box of plans properly, and to finish each homeschool day in a timely fashion, it can be tempting for students to choose half-speed pacing and go “Greener Pastures Grazing.” Giving a homeschool curriculum half the effort, posing tons of questions due to half the focus, and/or diving deeply into asking for half the plans to be altered before even truly homeschooling full-speed can be… well, a way to get out of work. In fact, it can become what students do to have lots of free time instead of homeschool! Once kiddos have started and the homeschool year is underway, they’re already in the green pasture, and it’s time to dig in and enjoy the learning!
In Closing
Half-speed pacing offers a wonderful temporary solution in times of need! It can be an incredible blessing! However, if you’re feeling you need to add more, or if training time truly needs to be over, or if you or your kiddo are prone to “Greener Pastures Grazing” – it’s time to stop going half-speed! We rarely, if ever, recommend going half-speed for two full years in a guide. Truly extenuating circumstances would have to be present.
So if you’re going half-speed, try using these “checks” and “balances” to see when it makes sense to move to full-speed. There is a whole wonderful year ahead of you and your student, and it’s time to seize the day and enjoy it to its fullest, with its full-speed pacing, as intended! Trust me, there is not a greater feeling of accomplishment than finishing a guide in a year and moving on to another guide the next year for a fresh beginning. It is my prayer that you have that joy at the end of this homeschool year too!
P.S. for Uncombining Children
If you have combined two children, and the youngest of the pair is younger than the guide’s target age range, you will need to uncombine at some point (i.e. oldest starting 8th grade and getting ready for high school, and youngest starting 6th grade; or oldest starting 4th grade and youngest starting 1st grade and unable to read independently/write well/follow independent box directions). To do this, your younger of the pair more than likely was not able to keep up on the independent work assigned, the reading, and the writing, etc. So, the younger could repeat a younger guide because they didn’t technically ‘do it’ fully. Or, the younger could go half-speed for the purpose of uncombining. In this situation, the younger may go half-speed longer for the purpose of uncombining. Click this post for more information!
