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We should have finished week 2 on Friday of last week, but as the lesson began, I realized that I wanted to explore further some of the topics in history. I wonder if this is necessary, as we will be going through Bigger next year, and I don't want to get off on too many trails if we will cover this in more depth then.

Should we take the time to wander off a bit and slow our journey down with Beyond, or should I try to stay with the plan and finish up in a week with each lesson? Part of the reason I'm asking is because my 7 y/o has really become such a good reader, and I don't want to hold him back from starting Bigger when we normally would. He is reading the history lessons from the American Pioneers and Patriots to me! He's also quickly memorizing the Scripture verse and the poetry from the first two lessons. Well, not all of the second poem, but the first third of it in the first couple of days we read it. I have been amazed at how this has really "clicked" with him, and I'm so glad we took the step to give HOD a try!

So...should we move ahead as scheduled with Beyond, or just take it slowly and savor the time with this year? I'm leaning towards a little slower, but am a little confused how to handle this, and also don't want to make it overkill right now if we will explore history deeper next year with Bigger.

If you feel like taking your time then you should. That is one of the joys of homeschooling, being able to go at your own pace. I am planning on using Beyond next year for 1st. I will slow down the pace if I need to so my dd can get the most out of the program. HTH!

Gina

Vicki,

I do think your son sounds like he will be ready for "Bigger...." when you get there, so it probably is best not to slow down too much. But, I wouldn't be so rigid about finishing a week within a week. What you may want to consider is having one day each week that you allow for bunny trails and on the other days of the week just follow the plans in the guide.

We have done a 4-day week off and on several years of our homeschooling and really enjoyed ourselves and the freedom of that pace. If you came to your bunny trail day and there wasn't anything extra you wanted to do that day, you could always just teach the next day of plans as is. We've had Wednesday as our extra day one year and Fridays on other years. This year we're doing the 5 day plan, as I need my third grader to be done with "Bigger..." because he'll need the rigor of "Preparing..." next year.

If you do a 4-day week, it would mean that you would need to go 9
weeks longer into the next school year to finish "Beyond...", which isn't that much. Just an option to consider!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks for your help, Carrie!

I think as you said, I should get going and try to finish with Beyond. I like the idea of the special day for bunny trails, and I may just plug that into my plans for each unit. I'm just so blessed to have found this curriculum, and also that it is working so well for us.