Shelved Bigger earlier, ready to get it back out! Questions?

[momofone]

Maybe my third try at HOD will be a charm! I can't answer "why" I have kept backing out, but it's still in my heart!
I guess that previous public school teaching has taken it's toll on me. It certainly does not help homeschooling, in my opinion.
Anyway, on with my questions...
We have worked in textbooks this year, but I've had to go back to some of the 2nd grade material, long story This is my guys second round on 2nd grade English and math. (Some due to mom being inconsistent ) His only real problems have been in math, but have moved ahead this year, yeah!!

My real question is English??? He has caught on to LA fairly well. Compostion is like pulling teeth Based on this, do you all think we should go through R&S English or the English 3 with Bigger? I've looked at the English 2, actually owned it at one time, and looked very simple for him. However, with this program, he has not worked with adjectives, adverbs, prepositons and such. He has worked with nouns, verbs and etc.

Also, we do try to take off for the summer. Should I just keep this on the shelf until fall or go ahead and start maybe half speed?? I know we'll have a learning curve to get over with the history books, but I've made up my mind not to worry! "Exposure" to history/science is what I'm after for now.The pieces will come together "down the road". The three R's concern me the most for now. So, just would love your input. It feels great to chime in again with you all!

Tina
mom of one silly little guy! He's almost 9 years.

[Carrie]

Tina,

Welcome back for another look! It's nice to see you again. In answer to your questions, I'm thinking that it would be best to just get underway with Bigger Hearts, if you're contemplating using it anyway. It is a good idea to start half-speed and work your way up to full-speed before your summer break. Then, you can just pick it back up after summer.

As far as Rod and Staff English goes, our typical recommendation would be for a third grader to do Rod and Staff 2 and a 4th grader to do Rod and Staff 3. However, your own family goals will have more to do with this decision than our recommendations. So, if you are desiring a more rigorous grammar approach you could begin with Rod and Staff 3. It does include beginning diagramming and requires some previous understanding of the various parts of speech. On the other hand, if you are currently working within second grade English with your son, then it would make sense to me to place him in English 2.

If you have other questions, ask away!

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Hi Tina! This is exactly what we are doing...
...start half-speed and work your way up to full-speed before your summer break. Then, you can just pick it back up after summer.

We have also done it with previous guides, and have been happy with the progress we make and the summers off. I think starting BHFHG now would be a great idea. Then, you can get as far as you do, take your summer break, and pick it back up. If ds hasn't been through R & S 2 completely, I'd probably still do that to fill in any gaps he may have, plus, diagramming begins in R & S 3, which can be tricky if the skills in R & S 2 aren't laid well.

HOD is such a strong academic program, has Christ at its center, and keeps the fun in learning too. I taught ps for 7 years in the past, and now have homeschooled for 8 years with HOD. The last 8 years have been so much better than the first 7! Of course, I'm teaching my own dc, which is obviously more near and dear to my heart , but I'd encourage you to give BHFHG a try as it is written in its entirety for a whole year, and then reap the harvest - especially when you do PHFHG following BHFHG - that is a bountiful harvest when you've planted the seeds for it in BHFHG. HTH, and I'd be glad to answer any other questions you may have as well!

In Christ,
Julie

[momofone]

Thanks soooo much Carrie and Julie!
I'm actually quite embarrassed to admit that I keep putting HOD on the shelf! It's just that public school thinking that takes over!
I need to realize that I'm not going to be happy until I give HOD a try. I keep thinking about it! Even though I'm scared to let go of some of these texts, LOL!

Problem #2-- I ordered a DVD curriculum for this semester and I spent waaaay too much money to just set it aside. I'm thinking of just using part of it and incorporate Bigger in all I can. How does that sound??? Shhhh! Don't tell my husband! He will kill me!
Thanks!!!
Tina

[my3sons]

I do think it's a super idea to give Bigger a full try, and I bet you'll love it if you do! I really want for this time around for you to be doing it with all the bells and whistles it's intended though, but I do completely understand having to watch what you spend. So, I know a bunch of ladies just get what they need for say the first 3 months of a guide? That may be a great way for you to start, but then make sure you order the next third when you need it, and then the next third- pretty please! The entire year with BHFHG is what makes it so wonderful. Would you like to know the first set of books you'd need say the first third of the year, or the first half? Or would that not be helpful anyway, and is there another way we could help?

In Christ,
Julie

[momofone]

Oh thanks Julie!
I have everything for Bigger except I can't find Science in Colonial America. It's in my house somewhere! I was able to return my DVD program and I'll get most of my money back from that. So, that was a big relief!

We actually started today!! That is, half speed. We did the history and geo. box, read the poem and discussed, reading with one of the emerging readers (we're starting in the later part of those) and Bible. We also did math. When I receive my English book, we'll start that also! Everything went well today! DS seemed to really enjoy it all.

Our biggest problem is MATH! We have gleaned a lot from MUS, but I have added other materials(concepts) up to this point and it has worked fine. I'm thinking of adding the Singapore and see what happens!That way, we could work in Singapore and use MUS as a help or reinforcement. MATH FACTS DO NOT COME EASILY TO THIS CHILD, . I'm afraid he's math "challenged" like his good, old Mom
We will be working in Drawn Into... starting in August or before. I will need to get readers for that and we should be set. Do you think I have a good plan?? I'm open to suggestions!

Also, excuse my ignorance, but does half speed mean doing history (with all the 3 R's) one day and science the next?? Thanks for all the help and I probably will have more questions this year and next year for sure! We are sticking to the plan!

God Bless,
Tina

[my3sons]

Tina - congrats on a super first day half-speed! I'm so glad it went well, and I think if you keep moving ahead with it you'll really see the fruits of that. As far as math, I think that there can be a lot of different "right fits" for kiddos. We have enjoyed solely doing Singapore along with the hands-on math activities in the HOD guides. But, I know many people enjoy MUS as well, so if you'd enjoy trying a combination of the 2 of them - I say go for it! Doing Singapore over the years has helped my dc get their facts down almost by osmosis - it just sort of happened, I think through the teaching methods of Singapore. However, I know this isn't always the case, so trying a combination would probably be a good idea since you enjoy MUS already. Stagger starting, beginning DITHOR later should be just fine - just be sure you start it then! For me, I have to really remind myself of stagger starts or they get away from me. And there's no one right way to do half-speed. In fact, it is funny you asked that because I was just thinking how it might be neat to start a thread on that topic so ladies can share how half-speed HOD looks in their homes. We are currently doing 2 HOD programs half-speed in our home. I'll describe how on a new post so others will respond too, and you can see what meshing of ideas fits your day to day the best. I'm so happy for you that you've been able to start, and I hope that missing books shows up (we have the same problem at our house). Enjoy HOD - it's such a blessing.

In Christ,
Julie

[momofone]

Thanks again Julie! Ya'll are so helpful (spoken with a true southern accent )
I really am blessed to have this board to rely on!

I'm gonna try rotating out the science/history portion this week and see how it goes. We will just kind of pick and choose and "see" how we need to finish out our year. It's nice to know that we don't have a t.v. teacher to keep up with anymore. I feel like we have freedom now. So, that will be a load off of us.
Thanks again! I'll keep ya posted!

Tina
ds-8 (9 in April) working in Bigger