Moving forward with Homer--what next?

[nancybr]

My 12 yr old son (7th grade) was a very reluctant writer coming into Homer A. After much thought, I decided against using Older Beginners, fearing that it might move too quickly for him. So, we began with Homer A, scheduling the workbook lessons one week and the writing project in the second week. This has worked well with the rest of his schedule and helped him gain confidence. Halfway through Homer A, I began to think we could've started in Older Beginners, so I consulted the Twenty Week Schedule for Older Students in the back of the Homer book. I decided to follow that plan for the remainder of Homer A, while still working each project over two weeks. I am making sure that he covers all the grammar in Harvey's (though most has been review for him) and that we are covering all lessons through Skill Level 5. Speeding this up has not hindered my son in any way, and he continues to enjoy the program and do well.

Now I am wondering if I should move into Homer B for 8th grade, or if I should purchase the Older Beginners and work through that from where we will leave off in Homer A. I plan to have my son work through the exercises in other weeks (the models we are skipping) if I see the need arise. There is not enough time left in our school year to complete Homer B if we continue to spread the lessons/writing over two weeks. I'd appreciate your suggestions for how we should proceed from here. Thanks so much!
Nancy

[Lene Mahler Jaqua]

I would look over Homer B, see what he needs and seek to complete that as best you can during this school year. There is much repetition and if he is more confident in one area, move quicker when you can.

Instead of doing one week of lessons and one week of WP, I would beef up his pace do lessons every week and continue to spread the writing project out over two weeks so he gets used to doing both lessons and writing projects every week.

That way you can start Maxim in the fall. You should still be able to complete the series before the end of high school.

Lene

[nancybr]

Lene,
I had not planned to purchase any new curriculum for the remainder of this year, and I do not yet own the Homer B Student Book or Instructor's Guide. In looking over the Homer core book, I feel a bit overwhelmed trying to move forward without the student book and IG. With two other children, one who has learning challenges as well as major health problems, I think I'll be stretching myself trying to plan out the lessons without the IG and student book as a guide.

Though my son's confidence has grown, I feel the pace still suits him, especially considering his workload in other subjects. He has a pretty full day, and he devotes 1 hour to CW as it is. The writing process is slow for him and I do not see him wasting time. He seems to be working to the best of his ability. If I were to have him do lessons every week, would I keep the lesson to 1/2 hour and have him devote the other 1/2 hour to writing? I suppose spreading the WP over 2 weeks would allow the same amount of writing time. Still, I don't see us beginning that until the fall, as I'm out of funds for purchasing curriculum right now...

Thanks again.
Nancy

Feb 8, 2010 15:56:02 GMT -5 Lene Mahler Jaqua said:

I would look over Homer B, see what he needs and seek to complete that as best you can during this school year. There is much repetition and if he is more confident in one area, move quicker when you can.

Instead of doing one week of lessons and one week of WP, I would beef up his pace do lessons every week and continue to spread the writing project out over two weeks so he gets used to doing both lessons and writing projects every week.

That way you can start Maxim in the fall. You should still be able to complete the series before the end of high school.

Lene

[Lene Mahler Jaqua]

I am sorry. I did not know that you did not own Homer B.

If the pace suits him, stick with it. But I don' t see how you can continue after Homer A if you say that you don't have the confidence to use the core book alone. You would either have to continue with Older Beginners (Workbook and Instructor's Guide) or with Homer B (Workbook and Instructor's Guide) to finish Homer, if you don't want to work with the core book alone.

I guess I am not totally sure what your question is at this point. Yes, you can limit your language arts to 1 hour per day, and you can limit each lesson to 1/2 hour and each writing project's work to 1/2 hour per day and see how far you get. In the lessons, you just cut down the number of sentences to parse or the number of words to define, etc. Just do the exercise for 1/2 hour seeing how far you can get with the principle of that lesson. And be sure to skip things when you see that he knows it well. That way on some days you can devote the whole hour to the writing project.
Does that answer your question? Or what am I missing?

Lene

[nancybr]

Lene,
Sorry if I wasn't clear--probably should've waited until this cold passed to think about this and post...

We have been working through Homer A with the workbook and IG and it has been a blessing for me. I was just wondering if it made sense to purchase the Older Beginners for next fall in order to go at a quicker pace, or have him work through Homer B in its entirety. I would be purchasing the student workbook and IG for which ever I decided to go with.
Thanks.
Nancy

[Lene Mahler Jaqua]

Yes, I think that in that case (and sorry I didn't quite understand it. I don't think you were unclear, really. I just wasn't sure... same cold, I am sure) that Older Beginners would be a fine choice. If the lessons get too hard, slow down and take more time for each exercise.

Lene

[nancybr]

Thanks, Lene. Hope you feel better soon! This cold just won't let go of me... As always, I appreciate your help.
Nancy

[annettew]

Lene,

I'm in a similar situation with finishing Homer A with a sixth grader and trying to figure out whether to purchase Homer B or the Older Beginner's for 7th grade.

It looked to me that both you and Kathy had recommended switching to the Older Beginner. Would it be okay to ask why?

The pace in the Older Beginner is so much more intense. I agree with the author that it is for a mature student. My son is more athletic than he is academic. I would like him to enjoy the journey and not just "get the work done".

Thank-you,
Annette

[Lene Mahler Jaqua]

Since you are dealing with a 6th grader, and therefore are not in a hurry, there is no question that Homer B is the better option. You will be working at a slower pace and get more drill for all the complex grammar in Homer B. It is definitely worth it whenever you can, to move at a pace that helps the student retain the material better.

For older students 8th grade and up there is a different issue, which is getting through the material in a timely manner. This is not an issue for 6th grade. With 7th graders I'd still say that Older Beginners is a challenging pace and many 7th graders would still be better served by going through Homer A and B, rather than jumping into Older Beginners.

Really the recommendations we make have to be individual. In the case above the mother reported a student that seemed to grasp the material well, as well as the concern of not wanting to buy a new workbook, etc.

In general, as I said I would not recommend Older Beginners unless it was needed for faster progress or unless you are dealing with a student who is not challenged by the material in Homer A or Homer B workbooks.

Does that make things more clear?

Lene

[annettew]

Thank-you Lene,

It does make sense. I feel much relief at not feeling pressured to tackle the Older Beginners.

Annette