BLHFHG Two Years in a Row?

[Qtipper]

Okay, I am using BLHFHG with my Kindergartener and 2nd Grader. I am kind of watering it down for my kindergartener with phonics/spelling. She doesn't do the copywork. But, she can do the Singapore 1A/B Math. My intention was to use the same guide next year for her. I figured next year it will be a lot more on her level and she will be able to do Singapore 2A/B Math. She listens to the stories this year, but it's kind of like she's listening with 1/2 an ear. Plus, she is my worksheet princess. The child LOVES worksheet (yawn) so she does a lot of Dollar Store/Workbook stuff. She is definitely doing everything she needs to do for Kindergarten. I bought the books with the teacher guide so my 2nd grader can use them this year and Kindergartener can do them next year. It's OKAY to use a guide twice with a student, right?!

I was also intending to do this with DS the following year and have him do Bigger twice. After doing some searching, I started to think that maybe this wasn't a good idea? 1) Has anyone done this? 2) What would you recommend instead?

Thanks for your thoughts~
Qtipper

[Qtipper]

Hmmm...crickets. What are you afraid to tell me? Girlies, I can take it, have I committed an HOD faux pas? HELP Off to search the board...

[Mom2Monkeys]

Girl, you crack me up! I told you most of my thoughts on facebook But, as for repeating Bigger Hearts, I have an alternate for you to consider. Instead, why don't you take two years to do Bigger Hearts? You'd do "half-speed", so some of the boxes one day and the rest the next day for each day's worth of plans.

Each HOD guide builds certain skills and builds one on the other. Repeating guides isn't a norm, as there would be no new skills introduced. But, going half pace to fill the two years is still steady, forward progress. Many moms that do half pace do math everyday, and some also do grammar and/or handwriting everyday. Since Bigger includes cursive handwriting lessons using Cheerful Cursive (highly recommended!) then you'd likely want to do math and handwriting everyday.

As for your K'er repeating Beyond as a 1st grader, I don't see an issue with that. She'll be able to really learn the skills much better and on a deeper level the 2nd time through since it will be better aimed at her skill level. There's a lot of hidden "meat" packed into these guides. I know I already told you, but I highly advise against doing Singapore 2A/B with her as a 1st grader. In fact, even 1B is quite a step up from the early parts of 1A. You may find you stall out with Singapore with her and may choose to start her mid-way through 1A or at 1B for 1st grade. Lots of folks use Singapore math a level behind their child's grade and aren't at all behind. It's very rigorous!

As I think about this....what about take Beyond at half-speed with both of them then move them both into Bigger Hearts together? You could then start Bigger off at half-speed for a bit to get them both going well with it and then take it full speed when they're both ready? You could add R&S 2 english for your son in his 3rd grade year. So, Beyond over K/1st and 2nd/3rd and then start Bigger in 2nd and 4th. If your son needed more, all the guides from Bigger on up have extension packs to deepen the learning for older students. I'm considering doing Bigger with my big two in the fall as 2nd and 5th graders with the extension pack/assignments and R&S english 4 and Math Mammoth 4 for my older. 2nd grader will do Bigger as is.

I have all of Bigger Hearts you could look at when we get together finally if you'd like to see it...including most of the extension pack. Hope you are all feeling well now and I look forward to catching up!

[krismoose]

Hi! I agree with m2m, repeating guides with an older dc is not normally recommended because of the skill progression. I think Bigger would be a bit boring for you & your dc the second time around. Many people do guides at a slower pace for a variety of reasons: to let the child mature in certain areas, to slow the pace down so older guides aren't reached too early, to allow for "life" happening during certain seasons, etc. Repeating Beyond with the Ker would probably be fine, though, since you said it was watered down for her the first time anyhow. I'm looking forward to starting Beyond soon myself! We needed to pause because we went through Litttle Hearts for His Glory a bit *too* quickly for my Ker, and he wasn't quite ready to start Beyond yet! HTH

[Qtipper]

Tamara~You ROCK! Thanks so much for your valuable wisdom. I was listening when you talked with me on FB, I promise!! I just wanted the scoop about repeating guides. Kristen, I appreciate your input too.

I am sensing that it's really not recommended to repeat guides So, I guess we will have to somehow switch up our game plan. I will say that when we initially started I was going to do both kids in Bigger and I am glad we didn't. Now, I am thinking I will try to get Lou Bear to be more of an active participant; do the copywork, spelling lists and slow down the Singapore?? But, she gets math. We were at the Montessori school and the math is very similar. She was adding and subtracting in school before I started 1A. Hmmmm...can you repeat Singapore if needed? 1A doesn't go with Bigger, does it?

Our game plan: We are planning to school through the summer, since summers in AR like winters in SD...you never leave your house! So, the goal is to finish BLHFHG by October/November and then start Bigger at a nice relaxed pace. Do you think that will work? Then the K'er will be in 1st and we can either repeat 1A/1B or move up if she can handle it?? I will say this. She is 6 and will be 7 in June. She is supposed to be in 1st grade this year, but I waited to send her to school.

I think Bigger will be a challenge for both of them. Hmmmmm...what to do, what to do???

[Mom2Monkeys]

Tamara~You ROCK! Thanks so much for your valuable wisdom. I was listening when you talked with me on FB, I promise!! I just wanted the scoop about repeating guides. Kristen, I appreciate your input too. I know you were listening! This is the same place I come to get the scoop about it all too...I have my own questions only the lovely ladies on this board can help with! Their advice is priceless!

I am sensing that it's really not recommended to repeat guides So, I guess we will have to somehow switch up our game plan. I will say that when we initially started I was going to do both kids in Bigger and I am glad we didn't. Now, I am thinking I will try to get Lou Bear to be more of an active participant; do the copywork, spelling lists and slow down the Singapore??YES! Defintely! She needs to be able to do all of Beyond as is before moving into Bigger But, she gets math. My DS7 is like that...he LOVES math. Has been solving multi-step, multi-operation real life "word problems" in his head since he was 4 or 5. I'd still not move too quickly in Singapore math for him b/c I don't want to squash is love of math when we hit a super tough level too soon! I would just be sure to do the hands-on with her and encourage her to use the method to solve the problems. Just b/c they can "do the math" on the page doesn't suggest they can "think the math" in real life, which is the goal....true understanding of the concept, not just the steps. We were at the Montessori school and the math is very similar. She was adding and subtracting in school before I started 1A. Hmmmm...can you repeat Singapore if needed? 1A doesn't go with Bigger, does it? 1A doesn't go with Bigger, you'd need the Beyond guide for the hands on for that.

Our game plan: We are planning to school through the summer, since summers in AR like winters in SD...you never leave your house! So, the goal is to finish BLHFHG by October/November and then start Bigger at a nice relaxed pace. Do you think that will work? Then the K'er will be in 1st and we can either repeat 1A/1B or move up if she can handle it?? I will say this. She is 6 and will be 7 in June. She is supposed to be in 1st grade this year, but I waited to send her to school. Her age makes a big difference! That makes this sound more doable without making her drown in the workload or just always being a tag-along. So really, they'll be 7 and 9 when starting Bigger, right? And had you not waited to send her to school she'd be in 2nd in the fall...THAT is very reasonable to start Bigger late fall then! My DD9 is also a June birthday girl and her being the youngest in her grade usually has always made me wonder if I should have waited on her too, but she's so bright and handling it quite well...I just have to remember she's younger than average for her grade and all is well

I think Bigger will be a challenge for both of them. Hmmmmm...what to do, what to do??? Maybe try it half pace for a couple months when you start it in Oct/Nov then transition over a couple weeks or more to full speed. I think you'll enjoy it and my concerns are pretty well rested knowing your K'er is actually older than I thought.

[my3sons]

The ladies really gave such wise advice here already! And yes, I agree, repeating a guide is not suggested due to the reasons already mentioned. You may want to look at the placement chart with fresh eyes for each of your dc alone, and see where they would place individually. I will say this - the single best indicator of whether a child can move on to the next HOD guide is whether that child is able to 100% do everything in the HOD guide he/she is just finishing.

So to start Bigger Hearts, a child should be done with phonics and reading at either the Emerging Reader's Level or a second or third grade independent reading level. For writing, dc should have mastered formation of manuscript letters; be able to copy passages; can compose original sentences; ready to begin simple dictation; and ready to begin cursive writing. Dc beginning BHFHG should know their basic parts of speech in grammar, and be ready for daily further study of parts of speech, mechanics and usage, as well as being able to follow short guided writing lessons along with the grammar.

Maybe both your dc are headed there, but honestly, BHFHG is a challenge for just turned 7 yo's unless they were doing well with every academic expectation in Beyond. If you are thinking that there is no way your dd is headed for that at the conclusion of Beyond, then you probably have a few choices. If ds is not going to be ready for that either, than I'd slow Beyond down now and make sure dc are able to do absolutely everything asked of them in that guide by its conclusion - in particular, able to copy the poem each week, read independently at an ERS or 2/3 level, listen to longer sounding more difficult books and comprehend them well, understand basic parts of speech from the 1 x a week lessons, do the spelling lists along with all of their accompanying LA activities within that box of the plans, etc. Or, if ds is pulling ahead of dd by a margin, I'd move him along in Beyond and then into Bigger, and I'd slow dd down. I'd only do this if they are quite far apart in skills, as they really are close enough in age to combine successfully. At Bigger Hearts, extensions become available, and they are also a part of every subsequent guide, so you can always at any point add extensions for your ds if you keep them combined. In general, HOD beefs up for olders as opposed to tweaking down for youngers, and this keeps everyone moving along in their learning in a successful way. I hope something here helps, but you are so wise to be thinking about this now!

In Christ,
Julie

[krismoose]

Re: slowing down singapore, my ds enjoys and does well with math, but his writing is coming very slowly. He is halfway through 1B at a 6yo, so we have slowed it down by stretching the lessons over several days. He does around 1 workbook page a day, so if that's a full lesson, fine, if not, we just pick up with the next part the next day. I also sometimes have him do pages from the Extra Practice 1 book as a review of sorts before starting the next big section. It's worked well for us, keeping him moving forward steadily, while also giving time to cement his understanding and retrieval of the math facts little by little.