Hello. My daughter is going to be in the 7th grade next year and very ready for Dialectic level but I'm afraid I am not Can someone help me with the following questions?
I know we are suppose to have discussions with our students but I'm a little confused on what we need to discuss. I noticed the questions on the student activity pages. Are these just to get the student thinking about what we will discuss or do they actually find the answers to these and this is in addition to our discussion. I do see in the teacher's notes the discussion questions and some are the same as those listed on the student pages but not all. Also do we discuss the literature worksheet in addition to the discussion outline questions.
Sorry one more question. Is this the only difference between Upper Grammar and Dialectic is the discussions? I'm not worried about the reading level because my daughter is a great reader but I do have another daughter who is only 1 year behind her and I was thinking about letting her read the dialectic books with her and just not doing the discussions. Any opinions on this. Both are excellent readers. BTW, this will be our 4th year in Tapestry but our first to do Dialectic level.
Thank you so much!

Dear Amy,

When my dss were in the dialectic level, we discussed history, literature, and church history using the discussion outlines.

My students read the books and then answered the questions on the student activity pages. I did try letting them "take notes" on their reading, but I found that they really didn't remember what they'd read well enough to participate fully in our discussions. So I required them to write (type) the answers to all their questions.

At first they did not like the fact that we were not having a "question and answer" session, but they became accustomed to the way the discussions proceeded and really enjoyed them.

I'm going to have both my dds do the dialectic level readings, questions, and discussions next year. My dds are a year apart, too. The younger one really enjoys discussing what she reads, anyway, so I figure she may as well join us.

Blessings to you,

What I do is have my son answer the accountability and thinking questions. At first we spent most of the time talking about his answers to those, but as he progresses, we use the outline/plan of discussion in the TOG manual without reference to those questions. (Note: you could still grade or look at the questions later or before the discussion).

Thank you both for helping me. So if I understand what you are saying, they answer the questions on the student activity pages and this helps them when it comes time to have your discussion time? Also, about how long does it take your child to finish the weekly reading. I was thinking we would have our discussions on Thursday. Do you split the discussions up into different days or different times in the day? Thank you again!

Yes, my dc answer the questions on the student activity pages and bring their answers to discussion time. Our discussions are much better when they've answered the questions ahead of time.

I have students at lower and higher levels, so we break up our discussions into two days: on Wednesday afternoons, we discuss history and church history (and government for my rhetoric students); on Thursday afternoons, we discuss literature (and philosophy for the rhetoric students). They haven't had any trouble finishing the readings and SAP's in time for discussion.

I think your dds will have plenty of time to prepare for a Thursday afternoon discussion. (My dc do fill out their weekly planners on Friday afternoons. If they know the upcoming week is going to be hectic, they usually get started on their readings over the weekend.)

HTH!

I make assignments on Friday at our wrap up discussion time and he can choose to schedule things however he wants. BUT at first I helped him decide how to arrange things. Different weeks have different amounts of reading in the different areas. You and she will better be able to judge that.

My biggest suggestion is to give her her new week's assignments as soon as you have finished your discussion time. That gives her the maximum amount of time to do her work.

Thank you both again! I really appreciate you both taking time to answer my questions. What would I do without other Tapestry moms