LG vs. D level?

[siloam]

I am starting to look at year 4, and so far the only thing that stands out is it seems the level of books used for LG and UG literature are lower than year 3. Am I right here? For example in week 10 Blueberries for Sal and Little Toot are scheduled. Good books, but I would expect them to be at my 7yo's level not at my 9yo who is doing LG year 3 lit now. In week 9 UG reads Meet Kit. Another good book, but it would be something my 9yo would read and not my 10/11 yo who is now doing UG lit in year 3.

All this to say I am considering moving everyone up a year in literature: having my 7yo do the LG Literature, my 10yo do the UG lit and my 10/11 yo do the D level literature...but then I worry about content given the time period being studied for my oldest. Has anyone read the LG and D level Lit? Can you give me some perspective if you have?

For History I will keep them in the lower levels where they are at now, so I am just talking about Literature here.

Heather

[Mrs. Edwards]

Since this post is over a month old, you've probably figured something out by now, but here are a few thoughts...

My oldest twin girls were 7 going on 8 when we did Y3 and they did the lower grammar work, but now as 8 going on 9 year olds, they are doing upper grammar for Y4. I think that it is just time for you to graduate your 9yo to UG. I don't think that TOG intends that kids necessarily go through all four year plans in one level, particularly in LG. Once a kid is reading pretty independently, UG is the way to go.

That being said, there are a few exceptions in Y4. Some UG Lit books (such as "The Littles" or "Meet Kit") are fun, easy reads and others (such as "The Father's Promise") are difficult to pack into the two weeks allotted, even for strong UG readers. I also notice that sometimes the easier books follow a difficult one, so that it is nice to have an easy book if the harder one is still unfinished.

I do not have D level kids, but two of the moms in my TOG group do have kids reading D level and I think a few of the books have been challenging. But, the beauty of TOG is it is easy to slide down and do a UG book if that is the case. A younger D might find "All Creatures Great and Small" long and overwhelming, for instance, but a strong reader would love it.

As for the content, yes, there are troubling details to Y4. We're on week 20 and so far I think the hardest to accept was the Holocaust and the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. But, there are some very good book suggestions for kids that handle these subjects delicately. (Sorry, this is history, not lit.)

I am so, so happy with the way that Y4 is helping my kids put the world around them, particularly current events, into context. Just weeks after the Mumbai attacks of December '08, for instance, we read about the history of India , the establishment of Pakistan, and the independence of both nations from Great Britain following WWII. My kids, who are pretty young (8 and under) could understand, albeit simplistically, why these nations have such deep-seated animosity toward each other and the Mumbai attacks made more sense to them after that.

I would recommend moving up your kids for the literature assignments, but being ready to slide down if necessary for some assignments.

I've been posting about our Y4 experience on my blog if you are interested.

Veritas at Home
http://sixedwards.blogspot.com

Mrs. Edwards