Hi!

I need some advice from you expert, sage TOGers. This is my first year doing TOG, and I'm HOOKED! I love, love, love it, and so do my children.

I have a very mature almost 11yo, a dyslexic (amongst other learning disabilities) 9 yo, a very gifted just-turned-6yo (at a 3rd grade level across the board except for writing), and an almost 4 yo who loves to sit in (and eagerly does her pre-K work).

My question is about my 11yo. I have been doing UG with her and see that it is just too easy, especially the literature. She has been asking D-level questions, but has also been enjoying learning and doing the crafts, etc at the UG level. Since I have no experience with D-level, would you suggest that I move her up to D or just keep her at UG, though it is rather easy (I'm already beefing it up for her and still it is easy). She is also a very independent learner who would probably enjoy breaking away from the group to learn on her own. As of present, I read almost everything to the 9yo, 6yo, and 4yo in a group setting and my 11yo listens in.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Sabrina
zuperbre@hotmail.com

Hi!! My 11yo is doing dialectic but he is a voracious reader. He started doing dialectic work last year when he was 10, mostly because it was easier for me to do he and my other son together that is 2 years older and he reads just as well. Last year, some of the work for dialectic overwhelmed him. The reading was no problem, the thinking questions... So I modified the work for him but had him do all of the reading (and more.. he LOVES history). That worked well for us. I gradually added in more of the work as the year progressed and this year he is up to regular dialectic work no problem. So maybe you could just start off with him having to do the reading and accountability questions. If that goes well, then add the thinking questions. If that goes well, church history, then timeline, etc. Do whatever order of adding material you think he cn handle. I hope that helps.

Christine

I also modified the D work for my just turned 11 year old last year. The lit was no problem. For history, she was just responsible for accountability questions, although I brought in ideas from the thinking questions during discussion time. Also, I put the accountability questions into a Word document with lines for responses. It was less overwhelming for her that way. This year, I'm not putting them into a word document, but I'm taking the first few weeks to work with her on teaching her to organize her notes to answer the questions.

Louise

Thank you, thank you, ladies! I have done what both of you suggested/listed, and things are going GREAT! I'm very glad I made the jump, and so is my daughter. She's doing very well with the modifications you've both suggested. Thanks for taking the time to counsel me!

Sabrina