I used YR 1 last year with 3 Grammar level students. This year I'm using YR 2 and I'll have 2 LG, 1 UG and 1 D (and a 3yo). I'm trying to visualize and plan my weeks/days to include everyone and all their subjects. I've looked at Marcia's daily schedule example and read all the preliminary resources for using YR 2 (I think), but I'm not sure how much discussion and what kind to have with my 11 yo, 6th grade ds. We are going to really work on his writing skills this year. I'm wondering how much of the accountability and thinking questions I should have him, write/be prepared to answer, and about my ability to discuss them with him. I've read the teachers note and I know the "answers" are pretty much in there, but it seems like I may be fumbling around trying to decipher the answers. I may not have too much discussion at the beginning of the year until I get used to the D level, but I don't want that to become the norm for our year. I have the CD "tips for teaching a household". Then, there are questions in the "History of the Church" book for week 1 and I don't see any answers, so I'm thinking "how am I going to have time to find those answers and be able to discuss them with my ds?". I think that maybe I won't have him answer those questions in that book, but again, I don't want that to become the norm- always leaving things out. Can someone give me an idea of how much TOG work to give my D student besides his readings, answering some AQ and TQs, completing any worksheets for the week? Someone told me they did TWTM and had their dc outline his readings (as TWTM says to do for history). Well, first my ds has to learn how to outline (it's in his LA program for this year). I'm really going to rely on God that He will enable me to accomplish all that He intends this year. Sue

Sue
I am so glad you posted this I was about to ask the same thing. My dd is 11 and just starting D, I am wondering how the transition from UG to D shoul look like.
Dana

Hi,

I am interested in this,too. Every morning seems to be used up with individual instruction in the 3Rs for my grammar children and Friday afternoon is 2 hour discussion with my rhetoric daughter. It seems like my 11 yo 6th grade daughter gets the short end all the time. If I have her discussion on Thursday, then she only has 4 days each week to complete her work, but when on Friday? I'm not much good mentally after 3 on Friday.

One thing I'm doing to avoid the 4-day problem is making assignments on Friday or Saturday for the following week. My kids don't mind doing reading on the weekend, so they get some ahead that way.

No one is much good mentally after 3 on Friday! It's not a good time for a discussion.

Beth

Hi,

This is our second year with TOG. I have a 12 yods who is doing the D level for the second year. Our dd is 9 and doing the UG level for the second year. I have a few suggestions that might be helpful for easing into D level work. First, I should add that my son loves to read! He reads anything and everything we put in front of him. So, it is impossible to assign too much reading for the week. Writing is another story, so we did have to work on that a bit more.

First Year in Dialectic Level for our family:

The AQs and TQs are required at our house every week. I print out a copy of the SAP for his binder and he is responsible for getting them completed during the week. I put checks next to the Q's that I want answered in complete sentences with full detail. I put a D next to Q's to discuss orally. For the oral discussion, he needs to be prepared and have "notes" to jog his memory if necessary for dates or key people. This worked very well. We had discussions on Thursday or Friday each week. They would last about 20-30 min. for history and less for literature. For extra subjects like Church History (Year 2) or Bible (Year 1), we would discuss the content, but I would not require written answers to the questions. I do not read all of the D material every week. Sometimes it is so interesting that I can't help myself I do read the Teacher Notes to prepare for our discussions. Remember, the goal is not to know everything. You want to get your child thinking and talking about what is going on and why. I always learn new things by talking with my son about what he is learning. If you have not read Marcia's notes on Socratic Discussions, check it out on the Loom.

**If I had a R and D at home, I would combine the history discussion. Many/most of the history topics seem to track well with these two levels. You will all benefit from the discussion and sharing of ideas. After the D student runs out of things to share, they can be excused and you can continue with the R student to cover anything else.

Second Year in Dialectic Level:

This year my son is in a co-op with 5 boys doing D work. They are required to write answers to the TQ and AQ each week. We do not meet every week, so they just complete the work and file it until co-op. My son is very excited about starting his co-op for D. He has typed up all of his Q's and has everything ready for the first meeting. It is a bit more than last year, but he's doing it all very cheerfully. The excitement of being with a group is very motivating to him. If it was just for Mom, I'm sure there would be more negotiating about whether or not is was necessary to write answers to all of the Q's. Since I am not having our weekly discussion time, we do chat as a family about what we're learning in history. Plus, my son and I are discussing the Church History Q's orally, because they will not include that in our co-op.

As you ask others what they do, you will find that everyone does it a bit differently. I believe that most students are capable of doing these Q's, but it might be best to ease into it with more oral discussion at first and then increase the writing over time. Another tip I used a lot last year is to create blank tables and charts to help them organize their thoughts while doing the history reading. Often TOG will provide or suggest a chart. If not, you can create a blank form and print it out to encourage the student to to fill it in as they're reading to get the most detail recorded. It's the same as taking notes, just more interesting to do it in a variety of ways. I have been very pleased with the SAPS in TOG. They do offer a lot of variety and do a great job of covering the material.

This is a bit long, but I wanted to provide an idea of how this can look. It's really not hard to do and it doesn't need to take a lot of time. If you have read your teacher notes for the week, you will be fine leading the discussion. If you can't answer something, just post the question on the forum and someone will help you out (or just ask your child ).

Blessings,
Eia

Eia,
I just wanted to say that I found your answer to be VERY helpful to me as I was reading this thread. The detail was just what I needed to get a good idea and run with it. Thank you for taking the time...

God Bless,
Julie

Wow, thanks Eia,and others for taking the time to answer, this has been informative!
Ellen

Sue,
When I do my history discussions with my dialectic son I always include my UG son as well. Sometimes I give him the dialectic chart to fill in as he reads but 90% of the time I just start asking questions and because he has read on the same topics he can enter in to the conversations. On more than one occasion my UG son has said let me go get my book and I will read you what I read about that answers that question. So I think including him is very beneficial to us all. He has good things to add.
Laura