Bigger Hearts/Preparing

[ourhomeschoolreviews]

Hi everyone. This is the first time being on this board and I am hoping someone can give me some advice. My daughter is 7 1/2 and finishing up 2nd grade. She is well ahead of her level so we worked through the Preparing book this year and loved it. Just two more week to go and we are done!! Next year (3rd grade) I want to do American History so I *think* we are going to go backwards and work through Bigger Hearts. I'm sure I will tweak some things to make it more challenging for her if she needs it.

My first question is about the following year, which would be 4th grade. I don't think I will want to jump into Creation to Christ just yet. If there was another year between Bigger and Preparing or between Prepating and Creation to Christ, I would do that, but there isn't. So, I was thinking of repeating Preparing, but narrowing it down to about 17 chapters and taking two weeks on each. I was also thinking of buying the extension package, which we didn't buy this year.

I am hoping this makes sense. I would love to hear some ideas and feedback from others about this. If anyone has any other suggestions for me I would love to hear those too. Thank you in advance!

Christine

[3sweeties]

Hi Christine!

One question: when she went through Preparing did she do all the "I" boxes by herself, without your help? I think that some of the most important things about Preparing are establishing independence/ownership in learning, following directions on their own, increasing and stretching the student's writing ability, and reading and narrating back to you on their own so that they can move on to the next guide successfully. If she did all of those things, then that is AWESOME!!! My DS 9 still struggles with some of these things--we are half-way through Preparing and he is what I would consider advanced! If not, then I would maybe go back to Bigger and allow her to do many of the assignments on her own, with some help from you as needed and then go through Preparing again, having her do the "I" boxes on her own, maybe with the extensions for 4th grade?? Carrie or Julie may have some better ideas, but that's just my 2 cents!

[ourhomeschoolreviews]

Jessica, thanks for getting back to me! She did not do all the *I* boxes by herself. She probably could have done most, but to be honest, I wanted to read the books too, so I read many of them to her. We also skipped a lot of the Common Book work because she already has a lot of writing.

[blessedmomof4]

Hi!
Usually it is not recommended to go backward in HOD, as each guide builds on skills from the one before it. However, if your daughter was not using Preparing as it is written, and considering her age, I would think that the expected workload in CtC would be too much. It is a HUGE jump up. Doing Preparing as written is intended to prepare the student for taking over much more independent work and lengthier reading and writing assignments, not to mention reading material requiring more maturity. In this case, a year of Bigger as written and then a return to Preparing as written might be a good idea before heading into CtC. Otherwise you would find yourself having to do the readings and tweak the assignments forever, and lose the benefits intended by the program. It's so much more than great book choices, it's teaching kids to become lifelong learners.
I have to say I understand wanting to read the books too-I read all my daughter's books from Preparing, but I just did it myself after school time or before bed Of course, you will still have Storytime to look forward to for reading aloud to your daughter
One trap I fell into with my son when he was younger, was that because he was so advanced in reading and in speaking, I pushed him very hard into things he wasn't ready for in maturity. A child may be advanced, even gifted, but I assure you HOD at the recommended age ranges and done as written will leave you nothing lacking.
My 11 year old is also quite advanced-tested in reading at a 12.9 level, but I know for a fact that considering where she is in EVERY area, she would not get the most out of one of HOD's higher programs because they would overwhelm her as written. She recently finished Preparing as written and she had a great year, and grew in so many ways! I know she will fit right into CtC and will gain the skills necessary to succeed in the upper guides.
You know your child best, but I just wanted to share my experiences as food for thought

[my3sons]

Wise advice has already been given. If Bigger Hearts is a good fit now, why not enjoy it for a year and then re-evaluate? I think at the close of Bigger Hearts you can take a fresh look at the placement chart and go from there. Our dc grow and change with every year of homeschooling, and while I am the ultimate planner by nature, God is teaching me HE is actually the planner anyway. If Bigger Hearts makes sense to do now, I would do it with her and enjoy it to the hilt! Then in a year, we'll chat it over with you again with up-to-date info on dd and help you come to a conclusion that fits best at that point. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[Larissa]

I am certain that you and your daughter will love going through Bigger. I happen to think that Bigger is perfect for 3rd grade. I am using it this year with my 3rd grade son. We both love it! The only thing I am doing differently is I am using the R & S English 3 instead of the English 2. It has really been a fantastic year for us. I can't wait to go through Preparing next year with him.

[ourhomeschoolreviews]

Thank you for all the replies! After reading each one and looking more at everything HOD offers, I think choosing Bigger Hearts for next year is the way to go! We both enjoyed the flow of Preparing and the book selection so I don't want to stray from HOD. I may tweak a few things here and there, for instance, I will probably have her write all her work in cursive for 3rd grade since she has practiced it this whole year. I also liked the way we did the timeline this year vs. the way they present it in Bigger. We cut the note cards in two and taped them next to each other so they can be folded accordion style. It is one of our favorite things to look back on from this year. I'll also probably have her do science questions now and then and also history narration like in Preparing. She is a natural writer and it is nice to have a record of what she has learned, written by her.

One question...I was wondering, for those who have completed Bigger, how did the 5 day-week go? I liked having only 4 days in Preparing because if we missed a day (which we will mostly likely miss each week), we could catch up. I am worried that we will constantly feel like we are behind.

Thanks again for your feedback!

Christine

[blessedmomof4]

You could choose to have a four day week with Bigger. You wouldn't have Day 1 always being Monday, but you would give yourself that 5th day for catch-up or other stuff. This would extend bigger Hearts to 9 weeks longer than it normally would be. Don't worry about being "behind", as steady forward progress is the goal