Please help me feel at peace with this...PLEASE...

[Tree House Academy]

My younger son is not quite 6 yet (Sept) and he is 5 weeks into Beyond. We LOVE it. We do all of the boxes, the 2nd grade spelling lists, emerging readers, Poetry, and he adores the read alouds. The Science work is right up his alley and nothing has left him puzzled (other than a day or two with morning bells, but we are working through that). He is doing 2-4 sentences of copywork for poetry and just doing super.

Here is my dilemma....I am doing Bigger with my older son and I am afraid that younger ds will not be ready for Bigger at almost 7 years old. Then, to think he will be ready for Preparing at not even quite 8 years old. Oh my! This is a very academically solid child...but I don't want to ruin history for him by going over his head. Do you think, if he is understanding things now, that I should just keep going and slow down Bigger if we struggle next year? Or should I drop back and do JUST History and Science (and I guess Bible too since it all ties in) from Little Hearts and keep with Poetry, LA, Math, Spelling, Copywork from Beyond? It seems like a big mess for me to have to do that....but I don't want my ds to be lost when he gets to Bigger and on up. Of course, if I do that (go back in the history, Science, and Bible only), then I would still want to do the read alouds from Beyond because little guy LOVES them. And poetry too. Little guy is well beyond the "thinking skills" book, so we would likely not do that either. Oh good grief! I wish I could stop second guessing myself all the time!

[water2wine]

I have one going into Beyond at 5 1/2. She will turn six while using Beyond. I understand your struggle. I have been there. I have done Bigger so I know what comes ahead for my dd after she does Beyond. So what I am saying is my child will actually be a year behind yours in age in the same guides. I have looked at Preparing and CTC with this in mind because I have them and will use them this year. I really think we are going to be OK. And here is the thing, Bigger is so very full that slowing it down and still having plenty to do would be a snap. So if we hit a glitch where my dd needs more time that is exactly what we are going to do. So what I would recommend is running Beyond at his comfortable pace and if he is doing fine just keep going. The guides really do prepare them so well for the next guide. I have LHFHG, Beyond, Preparing and CTC on my shelf and when you look at them all side by side you can see how masterfully they really do prepare the child for the next guide to come. I think if your son is doing great I would just keep on going and praise God. He'll show you later if you need to slow down. And if that happens you will be able to do that easily in Bigger.

I am telling you the honest truth having walked down the same path of worry. You can have peace about it and not worry about the future. That has been taken care of for you in the way the guides are written. I have literally lined them all down side by side and walked the path myself just to make sure I was on track and I could really see as long as my child can do the guide we are on the next one will be more than fine when the time comes. The guiides really do prepare them wonderfully for the next level.

And if nothing else perhaps you can look at me and really think that I am the crazy one and perhaps that will give you peace, hahahaha!

Disclaimer here is that my daughter hits all the readiness indicators for Beyond except age. So I would not be using Beyond with such a young child if that were not the case. Age is usually pretty accurate but sometimes maturity and ability do not match age in both directions. I have one that is really ahead of her age in terms of abilities and one that is really behind her age in terms of abilities. HOD works for both just by matching to the rest of the placement chart based on skill sets and abilities.

[sharonb]

I am using Beyond with a just-turned 6-year-old, and he is doing fine (aside from typical wiggly boy stuff and having to be reminded constantly to listen, LOL!). I briefly considered dropping him back to LHFHG too, and combining him with the 4.5 year old instead of with his big sister. I decided against it, because I didn't want to slow down the 6-year-old THAT much (we are trying to do LHFHG half-speed, but are actually going even slower than that!).

I would say stick with what you are doing, and slow Bigger down if you need to.

[Tree House Academy]

Yeah, my almost 6 year old is loving Beyond. There is nothing he is not understanding or not able to do. I only considered dropping back because I feared Bigger would be too much for him in a year. However, a year can bring a lot of changes...so who knows what he will be ready for next year. I am sure I am worrying and second-guessing for nothing.

[sharonb]

Rebecca-
I do the same thing! I feel like I've got to have it all figured out for the next several years. I should know by now that even a few months can make a HUGE difference in a child's abilities and attitudes!

[funkmomma71]

I'm doing Beyond with my 5 year-old dd who will be 6 in October. I was planning on going half-speed for a couple of months and then doing 4-days a week and stretching out Beyond and Bigger over 3 years, but she quickly showed me that she is up to the challenge of Beyond. So I don't know what we'll be doing later down the road to fill in the gap, but I will face that when the time comes, because God has shown me that my best plans may not come close to what He has in store. If Beyond prepares my dd as well as Little Hearts did, then there should be no worries and I'm confident that Beyond will do the job!

[my3sons]

Rebecca - it sounds like your little guy is doing great with Beyond, so why alter with that? I'd keep going full-speed with Beyond and start half-speed with Bigger next year. Then, you can take it from there and see what happens. We've done this with our little Riley, who is always on the young end of guides, and it's worked beautifully. Those little ones surprise us sometimes. I remember doing LHTH and looking ahead to LHFHG thinking - no way will he be ready! But, he did awesome half-speed with it for about 5 months or so, and then finished it full-speed. During that time, I was looking ahead to Beyond thinking - no way will he be ready! But, 2 weeks of half-speed Beyond, and he was ready for it all (albeit 4 days a week to match our PHFHG schedule). Now, we'll be finishing Beyond, and I'm looking ahead at Bigger thinking - no way will he be ready! So, I'm planning on starting it half-speed, but I'm really not so worried about him being ready anymore - somehow if he's doing well with the HOD guide he's in, by the end of it, he's prepared for the next. I bet you'll find the same thing!

In Christ,
Julie

[Shimmer]

This has been a helpful thread to read. In the past couple days, I've realized that my oldest will be placing solidly in Beyond next school year when she will turn 6 a couple months in. It's great to hear from others that have younger children in that program.

I also tend to plan a few years out. It's helpful to me so I have an idea of where I'm going. It puts her progressing faster through the guides that I'd counted on. I thought she'd be doing LHFHG next year, but now I'm planning on getting it asap. So much for my plans, lol. I'd like my two oldest to be combined in the later guides when you can get extensions so I may be facing a gap issue. But as I'm learning with this homeschool adventure, I need to follow the path God gives me when it is revealed.

[Carrie]

Shimmer,

I fully agree with you when you shared... "But as I'm learning with this homeschool adventure, I need to follow the path God gives me when it is revealed." As an avid long-term planner myself, I once had Sonlight planned out through 12th grade for my oldest son and for my next 3 kiddos in line (including several unborn children that I was hoping to have someday)! This was before we started writing our own guides.

However, as I've journeyed on I've learned to take my cues from my kiddos and look to the Lord for His guidance as we go. I do still look and plan ahead for the future, but as to the pacing I am always open to changes in that area. Being willing to adjust the pacing if needed makes the curriculum a great fit for each of my kiddos and allows me the peace of mind to know that if my best-laid plans do not work out, I can still keep moving forward at my child's pace.

Treehouse,

In looking ahead at the next guide in line for my kiddos, I am always overwhelmed thinking that there is no way they will be ready. However, I will say that each year I am pleasantly surprised that after an initial settling in stage, the kiddos rise to the challenge and can do what I'm asking of them. Each guide works well as a stepping stone in preparing the child for the next guide in line.

Whenever I looked at high school materials in the past, I used to go into panic mode thinking my child would never be adequately prepared for THAT level of material. But now that we are on the brink of high school, I can see that my son will do just fine. So be encouraged, as it is amazing the results that a year (or years) of growth and maturation will produce!

Blessings,
Carrie