Hi

I have a 10yr old son and we are completing our 4th year of Classic TOG. He is an avid reader and already reading some of the dialetic level books in 4th grade, but doing UG work. I am thinking of moving him up next year to Dialectic for 5th grade. I know this is earlier than "normal" time and wanted to get any advice or idea of assessing to see if this would be good or not.

Thanks,
Elyse R

My ds did well as a D student in Year One at 11.

I think though rather than looking at his reading level, you should look at his independence level. My ds was already doing significant amounts of his seat work on his own prior to going to D level.

I worked with him at first and provided him a schedule to fill out to assign his TOG work over the week and by the end of the year he was doing that on his own. But it is that willingness and ability to keep working on the next thing that I think distinguishes a D student from a UG student.

I found there to be quite a jump in work load from UG to D. I transitioned my dd at 11 yrs old. She did very well with the jump in literature. For history the first year, we did accountability questions written and thinking questions orally. During weeks of very heavy D level history reading, I sometimes bumped her down to UG for those weeks. She is now in her second year at D level (at 12 years old) and doing well with the work load.

Thank you those responses are very helpful. I will try to evaluate the amount of work he is really doing on his own for the remainder of the year. Those were the things I was concerned about, his reading and comprehension are great, but I am not too sure about the other things.

I am wondering what people's experience has been with the DI Literature books. I will be working with a group of 7th graders mostly new to TOG. We are planning on the History and Lit classes in our CO-op to use TOG y3 this year for this age group. Any thoughts? I wouldn't mind eliminating a book or two as I think they will be much challenged. I'm also trying to decide between DI and UG although my gut says go with DI. ( I'm just afraid of overwhelming them. This will be their first co op LIT class. (although they've done Science, Writing, and History at close to the correct level.
Any thoughts? Books you loved-- hated.

Thoughts on 6/ 7th Graders being DI or UG?

Which year plan are you using?

I think at least for literature, you'l have to go with D. They'll be insulted by the UG selections. For history you might be able to go back and forth.

BUT Marcia said somewhere, recently that in their co-op they don't assign specific books for history but let each family choose. They just assign the questions.

Randi,
As a group, 6th & 7th graders should be able to handle the D work. Any of the younger 6th graders will still have the benefit of the whole group during discussion time and grow into it quickly.

I agree with Pat, everyone needs to be on the same lit book but history resources can be up to the parents.

Enjoy!
Monica

Hi there,
Just a reminder that going into dialectic level (or rhetoric, for that matter) isn't much about reading level at all; it's more about maturity. When the kids' bodies start changing and entering puberty, you can also assume that their brains are also changing and ready for dialectic level. While this isn't always the case because some kids enter puberty earlier or later than others, it is a general guideline.

Hope this helps...