Beyond w/ a 7yo and advanced 5yo?

[Sue G in PA]

First, my apologies if this gets long and rambly! I am so indecisive about what to do for next year. I will be teaching dd5, ds7, ds9 while chasing a very energetic toddler and guiding a 9th grader through MFW Ancient Hist. and Lit. I have decided to do Preparing with ds9. My first thought was to have my 7yo just go along for the ride. Ds7 is an emerging reader. He can read basic early phonics readers. I am taking him through The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading and The Reading Lesson while using some components of MFW 1st grade (I already had it, so thought I might use it!). I know...crazy hodge-podge there, but it's working.

Then there is my dd5 (soon to be 5 that is). She is very advanced. She can read more advanced material than ds7 and much more fluently. Her writing is also advanced...she will often sit at the table and just write her own stories. Ds7 despises writing. I don't say this to compare...only to give you all an idea of capabilities. Could I do Beyond with both of these children and Preparing with ds9? Or...should I just have ds7 tag along with ds9 in Preparing and have dd5 listen in ( which she will want to do). She loves school, btw...anything school related. Books, orkbooks, worksheets, etc. are her best friends. I hope somebody will be able to help me sort this all out! Thanks!

[funkmomma71]

If it were me and my dc in this situation I would go with using Beyond with the 7yo and 5yo. I know it may sound like lot of work, but it would seem to be more work to come up with worksheets and other activites for these younger children than to have something all planned out and easy to follow. You could probably get through much of Beyond while your older students are working on their independent work and hopefully have the older children helping out with the toddler while you're teaching the younger ones. The biggest hurdle you may have is that MFW may not have prepared your children well for Beyond so you may have to go slower at first or just require less work from them.

Not to throw a monkey wrench into your plans but, you might want to go with LHFHG paired with the Emerging Readers from Beyond instead. This would take even less time and would be a good foundation for Beyond. If the history is too light in LHFHG you can easily beef it up with some of the suggested books from the appendix. HTH!

[MomtoJGJE]

I was going to suggest LHFHG with first grade options, emerging readers, and if you want to the extra reading. Have you used the placement chart for them to see where they fit best? There is quite a bit more sitting still and listening in Beyond than LHFHG, and for my children that is a huge thing... everything else is fine, but the passages are so much longer than in LHFHG.

LHFHG really makes it easy to transition to Beyond, so will make better easier work for you....

[Sue G in PA]

I'm curious why MFW wouldn't have prepared my kids well enough for Beyond? My 7yo son, as I said, is slower when it comes to reading and writing. His math is fantastic...he is certainly a mathy kid. He loves to be read to and treasures our read-aloud times. But, this child is an easily frustrated child and if something is too difficult or doesn't come to him right away...he gets a bit, um, intense? Ok, he really begins to lose it! I did look into using LHFHG but didn't want to hold him back or stunt his academic growth. LHFHG would be perfect for dd5...perfect. Ds7 can read a bit, knows his letters already, can spell (in fact he can spell better than he an read...odd huh?) cvc words and some sight words. I suppose I could just use LHFHG for everything but math and la for ds7...and continue taking him through Phonics Road which was my plan regardless of which program we chose. Thanks for the suggestions. Anyone else? Oh...the benefit to using LHFHG would be a "lighter' day for them, is that correct? And thus easier for me to juggle, right?

[Mom2Monkeys]

I think the benefit of using LHFHG would be not only easier for you to juggle, shorter day for the kids, but also a better fit, easier to tweak up for the older than down for the younger. If you plan to continue HOD, you likely wouldn't want your younger getting to some of the older guides so young. Beyond is a good jump from LHFHG and Bigger is a BIG jump from Beyond, and it just keeps getting more in depth (as it should!). I would suggest going with LHFHG, adding in the supplemental readings from the appendix if you'd like, K math, thinking skills, and handwriting for your 5yo and 1st grade math, thinking skills, and handwriting for your 7yo. I have a 6 year old boy who will be starting LHFHG (he'll be 7 shortly after the new school year). He's very mathy, doing well with reading, great listening skills, ...but the foundation layed by each guide is worth starting with LHFHG to prepare him for Beyond. I seriously do NOT think you'd be holding him back academically by going with LHFHG. My thought is that you are laying down an excellent foundation for him! For them both!
As another option, Perhaps you could go half speed in Beyond for them both to allow your 5yo to mature a bit through that guide before getting into Bigger.

Another benefit of LHFHG is that if you did it, you and your kids won't miss the fun!

[Sue G in PA]

Well, you have all convinced me to go with LHFHG and I am excited. I had thought of the overall progression as well and figured that starting here was a good place for both of them. IF I stick with HOD it just makes sense. Dd5 is very mature academically and I know she will not be overshelmed with LHFHG or with Beyond after that. Not if she continues to advance like she is. My only concern now is Preparing for my ds9 who is NOT very excited about doing any type of academic work. IF as you say Bigger is a BIG jump from Beyond, I wonder how much of a jump Preparing is from Bigger? I hope Preparing works out for ds9. He is bright and a good reader, just not fond of sit-down work or writing. Hmm...

[Mom2Monkeys]

Preparing is a good jump too. They will have more writing (notebooking pages, scripture, creative writing lessons, etc.), some independent work, as well as moving from oral narrations to learning to do written narrations. Have you considered starting him in Bigger. My oldest is very bright, loves to read, is going to be 9 in June, as is doing wonderfully in Bigger (which we will continue for the fall in 4th grade). It's not too little or too much...just right! Preparing would just be too much. I'm just using the next level of R&S English that is in the guide (3 instead of 2), and doing cursive copywork of the poetry instead of learning cursive since she's already done that. Bigger is for ages 7-9 so your son would fit within the age range. Have you checked the placement chart? Doing Bigger with him first would help solidify or begin his oral narration skills prior to learning to do written narration-- which I highly recommend!! And if he doesn't like to write, Bigger would be a great transition for him prior to Preparing. Just my 2 cents!

[Sue G in PA]

I did consider Bigger. A lot. I liked Preparing b/c it was World History. I figured then he could go right into the 4 year cycle for 5th-8th using either HOD, MFW or MOH (Mystery of History). If we do Bigger (American History) and then Preparing (World), he won't really get to the last part of World History (1850-Mod). I guess it really doesn't matter too much. I'm off to check out both programs. FWIW...he was right on target for Preparing in the placement chart. Knows cursive, can do oral narrations and some written...(can do it, but hates it), can copy in cursive, etc.

[funkmomma71]

I'm curious why MFW wouldn't have prepared my kids well enough for Beyond?

I do not mean to offend with my comment concerning MFW 1st grade not being enough to prepare your child for Beyond. I made the comment because my dear friend who switched to MFW after using LHFHG was grateful to have used LHFHG instead of MFW 1st grade because she feels that LHFHG is a more rigorous curriculum than MFW 1st grade.

It does seem as if you have made up your mind and I think you will find that it is definitely easier to beef up LHFHG than it would be to water down Beyond. For our family, I was amazed at how well prepared my daughter was for Beyond after going through LHFHG. Best wishes.

[Tree House Academy]

Hi Sue. I know you!

Honestly, after using part of Bigger last year with an advanced 6 year old, I ended up dropping back and doing Little Hearts. It is not too "baby-ish" for my now 6.5 year old at all and it has really prepared him as far as listening to books without pictures, narration, etc. to move into Beyond this fall. If I were you, I would absolutely go with Little Hearts over Beyond. For one thing, it would greatly benefit your younger child and be more on her level of understanding as far as the stories and concepts go. Your 7 year old can still do his own thing in LA, Math, and even reading. Or, you can buy the manual for Beyond and do the Emerging Readers this year. That is what we did and now my younger ds is reading easily at a 4th grade level. We hope to start DITHR with him in the fall.

HOD is so customizable and it is so much easier to add on (if need be) than to cut down, IMO. I would really give Little Hearts another glance if I were you.

Best of luck in whatever you choose.

[Sue G in PA]

Nancy, I wasn't offended by the comment in the least! No worries. I was just curious. Thank you for the explanation...that does help me to know that LHFHG is more rigorous than MFW 1st. And yes, Rebecca, I know you, too. Thanks for your advice as well. I have decided on LHFHG. My heart says it's the right way to go...I just hope my kids agree!

[Tree House Academy]

That is great to hear. I don't think you will be disappointed. We did a few tweeks here and there for my ds6 because he would not do the dramatic play no matter how hard I tried. I just added in French on those days instead. HOD is so very easily customized to fit each child.

[my3sons]

Well, I'm late to the chat, so I get to just say - "HOORAY, Sue!" The ladies did such an awesome job chatting through this with you, and I think you made a good decision. You can always get the Beyond manual and beef up the LA if you'd like, as this would be super easy to do, this seems to be the area you'd like to beef up, and you could use whatever parts you wanted.

In Christ,
Julie

[Sue G in PA]

Thanks, Julie! I am excited about the decision and can't wait to start. The LA is a bit "easy" for ds7 in LHFHG but he will be doing Phonics Road next year which would be plenty for him. And, I plan to add WWE for him as well. He should be okay.

[my3sons]

Sounds like a good plan to me! The planning's over... Now, let the fun begin!
In Christ,
Julie