Intro to Comp v Rod and Staff English 4

[Anita]

After ANOTHER cross-country move (our second in three years), I am picking up the pieces of another homeschool year that started out on track and then fell right off the rails. LOL. The current plan is to finish up the kids’ work from last year while rounding it out with more robust materials. I dont want to fly though this just to “get it done”, i want to be able to savor the material and really soak it in. But we’ve been living with it for almost a year now and the kids need new things to look at as we wade back in to “old” material. I also have a Kindergartner to teach now (today is her fifth birthday — where did the time go?) and my older three children are close in skills, so I am combining almost every subject except Math and Religion. We are basically all doing MP3 (with some SC5/6 modifications) and additions/substitutions from other providers (mostly Seton).

This is going to sound bratty, but I dont want to teach Into to Comp. LOL AndI know my guys can’t handle IEW. Ive looked at Rod and Staff English 4 samples on their web site and also noticed that it is used in SC7/8. I love the looks of this program and I really do think it will be more successful to teach English and Composition to my children than Intro to Comp. My oldest, especially, has a short attention span for literature an has immature writing skills (although they are far better than they were even last year — he’s so surprising). But my older daughter really enjoys writing and is skilled at it. My younger son doesn’t have much in the way of composition practice under his belt, and doesnt gravitate towards writing during school, but he is a voracious reader.

I like the look of R&S because it is seems explicitly taught, systematic and it doesnt look to tax my “mom brain” too much. (I need as much hand holding as I can get with my busy schedule — HA.) Intro to Comp just seems like it would be too ... “vague” (that’s the best word I can use to sum it up) — for my oldest, especially. But I also haven't done either program. Can you compare and contrast Into to Comp with Rod and Staff English 4 and give me some recommendations? My oldest is 13 (functionally 3rd-4th grade), next is my older daughter, 11 (functionally 4th-5th grade), next is my younger son, 9 (functionally 3rd-4th grade).

TIA!

[cherylswope]

Good morning, Anita.

I think you gave a good comparison/contrast above! A few thoughts:

- We chose Intro to Comp over IEW because the literature selections for Intro to Comp overlapped with our existing SC literature selections. This made for a more condensed lit/comp program requiring less time and less new reading. For students with short attention spans and for teachers with plenty on their plates, this made sense.

- For your oldest, and possibly for you, Intro to Comp might be more "vague" or open-ended than the more systematic R&S 4 English, which we chose for all of these reasons: to work on the mechanics of writing, to teach and review the foundations of grammar, and to cover the essentials of English (including poetry) with predictable, step-by-step exercises before embarking the following years on Classical Composition.

- When choosing R&S English, I had spoken at length with Abigail Johnson, our MP Classical Composition master teacher. She thought we should spend another year or two making sure that our SC students have sufficiently covered the basics of composition before introducing Classical Composition. We introduce Classical Composition in SC 9 & 10. (I will especially love seeing what your students do in Fable.)

Based on everything you mentioned, and based on everything above, I think you can teach confidently from R&S English and go in peace with the decision.

I love your new signature quote.

Good to hear from you --

[Anita]

Thank you, Cheryl. (warm fuzzies from South Carolina — hopefully, our “forever home”)

As you know, we were early adopters of SC — way back in the “ancient days” when SC was new so we have been through all the lower levels of SC with my children. But then we had our fourth baby, moved to the Wild West and ended up putting the kids in a Charter School. COVID hit, with all its distance-learning chaos, and we decided to come back to homeschooling. Last year (fall, 2020) was our first full year back ... or so I thought. It was all going pretty well until we got a job offer here. So we only finished half our 2020-2021 school year. We effectively took hiatus after Christmas so we could prep and sell the Colorado house, move to temporary housing here, buy and close on our permanent house and actually move in. We just started full time homeschooling back last week. My lesson plans are a mess! ;D

My oldest two (W and S, 13 and 11) are doing a mix of Seton, Grade 4 and MP electives. W is doing Rod and Staff Grade 5 Math; S is doing Rod and Staff Grade 4 Math.
My younger son, (C, almost 9) is doing Seton Grade 3, MP electives and Rod and Staff 3 Math.
All three older children just started Rod and Staff Spelling 5 on Monday (I’m impressed with Rod and Staff as a whole, BTW. Deceptively weighty, despite the “simple” format. And very well-mapped. I love that their teacher guides are so thorough. They are extremely helpful for my teaching style and personality.)

The plan is to finish — actually finish — MP3 with SC5/6 accommodations and sprinkle in some literature for fun from:
* The Book of Virtues — delightful and short selections we can read over breaks or at lunch
* Chapter book saint bios that coincide with American history (St Isaac Jogues, in particular, is a riveting read)
* Our Seton readers (a mix of folk tales, fairy tales, morality tales, poetry and short excerpts from books like Henry and Ribsy)
* American history chapter books from the Sonlight/Bookshark reading list (Phoebe the Spy, Swift Rivers, Walk the World’s Rim, Pedro’s Journal, etc) that coincide with MP American History and our Seton American History 4 text book.
* The Tuttle Twins book series that explores political thought through a set of twins and their adventures; especially good for teaching kids complex political theory in every day situations.

We are going to be reading A LOT together. This is something I value and something we just don't do enough of. I feel like we need to get our feet under us on that score before we start trying to take the books apart and analyze them. Call it a “soft start”. I want to reel them in to loving the books and the process of reading together before I throw a lit guide at them (I can hear the plaintive groaning in my head). I do have the teacher’s guides for Mr Popper’s Penguins and Paddington Bear. We will go over those orally (per the MP3 & SC5/6 guides) but will just read Farmer Boy for pleasure and discuss it together. (I refuse to read Charlotte’s Web one more time. We’ve already read it twice together as a family.) However, we are not planning on doing Poetry FtGS this time around or Timeline (though we will keep a timeline journal as we discover people and places in our studies). I feel like I need to wrangle these dogies before I can attempt much else.

Yet I can also hear Cheryl’s “mama voice” in my head. There will be plenty of systematic, structured skill-building as well, mom. Spelling, Handwriting, Latina Christiana, States and Capitals, EGR, Math, Christian Studies 1, Religion, Catechism, Greek Myths and a program called Reasoning and Reading, whichexercises their comprehension skills in language. I’ve also decided on Rod and Staff Science 4 instead of MP Astronomy.

I hope I’ve made good choices.
Thanks for the “go in peace”

XOXOXOXO

[DiannaKennedy]

I have absolutely no advice here, but just wanted to say I am so happy to see your smiling face back on the forum.

So ---- what are you doing this summer?

Ya know .... in July-ish? 🤣

[Anita]

Uh, NOT coming to Kentucky! 😂
I miss y’all but it’s like the devil’s arm pit in July there, girl.
Now, if you invited me just to come and hang out... in, like, October... 😜
HOPE YOU’RE WELL ❤️

[DiannaKennedy]

Uh, NOT coming to Kentucky! 😂
I miss y’all but it’s like the devil’s arm pit in July there, girl.
Now, if you invited me just to come and hang out... in, like, October... 😜
HOPE YOU’RE WELL ❤️

We have A/C ----- it can't be any hotter than SC.

[Colomama]

Hey old friend! I'm so delighted to see you back on here. I've thought a lot about you. We need to catch up.

As far as plans being a mess. It's all good! One foot in front of the other. When we have our kids with us as we walk through this messy life, they learn far more than they'll ever learn in books. Take heart, theyve been learning ALL year. Promise. But don't forget to take a summer break. It's good for mamas and kiddos.

[Anita]

DiannaKennedy Valid point, compelling argument. 😄 (I love you! 😂)
Colomama Yes ❤️ Absolutely. 100% agree.
And Yes! We need a catch up session. (A ketchup session 🤔?)

We basically took January to May off. We did some light schooling with the materials I was able to squirrel away in the back of the minivan before they loaded and transported it. But it wasn’t much (Math, Religion, Handwriting, etc) So we need to get back in there. My oldest, especially, likes structure and predictability. And my baby needs to learn how to read. I am still of a mind to do a summer break. But it will have to be on the short side. We all need to keep moving ahead. Perhaps 2 weeks on and one week off, continuously, until fall...? I’m still pondering.

You’re right, though, they have still been learning. This has been a good time to catch up on pleasure books, jigsaw puzzles, favorite new music (my boys are going though a Frank Sinatra phase) and write new stories (my older daughter has written five sci-fi epics so far). If we can gather round the table for a read aloud, complete some Math and Religion, and say some prayers together every day, I’d call that a good summer program. It seems like placement and materials get harder and harder to decide upon the longer we draw this out, though. We really do need to get them settled in for the long haul. (Pray we never have to move again!)