Help with ds9's placement

[Tidbits of Learning]

Quick back story-ds9 did LHFHG when he was 7 and BLHFHG somewhat last year when he was 8. He started out both of these guides at 6 and 7. He has a December b-day. Last year he was combined with his sisters in Beyond. My mother battled cancer last year and we had to essentially move home to Georgia for about 4 months during her surgery and beginning chemo. Praise the Lord, she is cancer free as of her November scan.
This year I separated everyone. They really shouldn't have been combined last year, but our lives needed them to be combined. I don't think we would have gotten any school done last year had the kids not been combined for that season. We did add in Zoology 1 and everyone did their own math and language arts of course.
Fast forward this year, ds has been working steadily through Beyond by himself (without the girls I mean). I realized he sort of let the girls lead with everything and he was very distracted at my Mom's. After her surgery, school may have gotten done 2-3 times a week. That is a big maybe. It didn't help that all the other kids (ps cousins) were done with school the first week in May. It is what it is and it had to be that way. We are about 1/2 way through Beyond with ds9 now. I have added cheerful cursive and he is doing well with it. He is finishing up the emerging readers, but probably could do DITHOR 2/3. He can read Charlotte's Web well. We are reading it for storytime and dh lets him read it aloud to him. His is finishing up Phonics C (3rd grade) workbook of the phonics that we have always used. It is more rules and spelling than reading skills though. He is starting Language Arts and Math 3rd grade level in a few weeks. He will be doing Singapore 2A. We use a different language arts program, but he will be starting the 3rd grade level. Our school year is from January to December.
My main question is should I continue with Beyond and let him finish it or should I go ahead and change him to Bigger. He probably places more in Bigger now and the only reason he is still in Beyond was b/c of our life circumstances being so topsy turvy this last year. He really needed to gain the skills in Beyond without his sister's overshadowing him. I think he is there now. He would place in Bigger now by the placement chart.
We are about to go for a vacation at my Mom's for 2 weeks and then we will pick up our new year. I just wanted to get an idea of whether moving him up was a good idea or not as I will be purchasing anything for next year this next week.

[Tidbits of Learning]

I am bumping this up since I am still torn about whether to finish the Beyond guide with my now 9 yr old or to move him up to Bigger. Since our school year is January to December, I guess my biggest concern is that he would be starting the next level of math and language arts every January and changing HOD guides mid-year around June or August.
I would really love to hear any thoughts on this since I think I have thought it to death lol.

[spidermansmum]

Personally,I think I would continue on with Beyond.We had a really disruptive year and finally in August we moved.I desperately wanted to start Bigger In September when traditionally a new school year starts ..and If I remember correctly we were pretty close to finishing beyond ,and he had done the first 10 units twice [another story].
Im really glad we finished Beyond because it gave us the chance to get the routine going without pushing him academically.

[countrymom]

If it is any assurance, we have always been off with reading, math, and LA from the guide and it works fine since it is not attached in any way to the core of the guide. As for the rest of your decision, I guess it depends on your child. Does he seem bored? Can he write well - the writing really picks up in Bigger. If he is still enjoying Beyond I would lean towards finishing it and just keep moving along with the other subjects where he is at. Since he is 9 you could start him in DITHOR while he is still in Beyond and get fully settled into DITHOR before he moves to the next guide. That would make the transition to Bigger a little smoother.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Personally,I think I would continue on with Beyond.We had a really disruptive year and finally in August we moved.I desperately wanted to start Bigger In September when traditionally a new school year starts ..and If I remember correctly we were pretty close to finishing beyond ,and he had done the first 10 units twice [another story].
Im really glad we finished Beyond because it gave us the chance to get the routine going without pushing him academically.

I think that is what I am feeling right now...that it is a new school year we should be moving up feeling. It was as if we moved 2x last year-once to my Mom's amidst a medical crisis and once back home to be with Daddy again once my Mom was in the clear. So...letting him finish seems more logical in less stress and less change at this point. He could really gain confidence before upping everything in Bigger.

[Tidbits of Learning]

If it is any assurance, we have always been off with reading, math, and LA from the guide and it works fine since it is not attached in any way to the core of the guide. As for the rest of your decision, I guess it depends on your child. Does he seem bored? Can he write well - the writing really picks up in Bigger. If he is still enjoying Beyond I would lean towards finishing it and just keep moving along with the other subjects where he is at. Since he is 9 you could start him in DITHOR while he is still in Beyond and get fully settled into DITHOR before he moves to the next guide. That would make the transition to Bigger a little smoother.

His writing is coming along. It has never been a strong skill. I do see a lot of improvement since August. He isn't bored. Beyond is still meeting his needs but it seems he could be stretched a little more. I think starting DITHOR might be just the ticket. I think I was stressing so much about the new school year and well that he went out of the age range before we finished. He does have to test this year b/c he is 3rd grade according to the state. That had me worried as well, but if his language arts and math are 3rd grade...he should be alright testing I guess.

[psreit]

We are in Beyond, with dd turning 9 in May. We will not be finished with Beyond by May, like I had hoped, so we could begin Bigger in August. I am going to complete Beyond before we begin Bigger, so unless I finish over the summer, we will not be starting a new guide the beginning of the year. There was a time when I would have fretted about that. I know there a big jump in skills from Beyond to Bigger, so I want to keep at a steady pace and not make that jump too soon. DD will be over the age range by the time she finishes Bigger, but that's okay. She'll be making progress. Many begin new guides in the middle of the year.

[my3sons]

I am so sorry to hear about your mother's cancer, but praise the Lord she is now doing better! I think that being able to care well for our aging or ill parents is one of the not to be missed blessings of homeschooling, and often teaches our dc more about Godly character than we could ever know. I'm so glad you took the time to care for your mother. No matter what, that was time well spent. I think you've come to a great conclusion here with the ladies' good advice - to start DITHOR and finish out Beyond. This will let your ds grow in his writing skills, be more challenged in his reading skills, and get used to doing DITHOR. Plus, he will feel a sense of accomplishment at finishing Beyond - at least that's the way my dc feel at the end of a guide. I hope this helps, and may your mother continue to be in good health!

In Christ,
Julie

[Tidbits of Learning]

I am so sorry to hear about your mother's cancer, but praise the Lord she is now doing better! I think that being able to care well for our aging or ill parents is one of the not to be missed blessings of homeschooling, and often teaches our dc more about Godly character than we could ever know. I'm so glad you took the time to care for your mother. No matter what, that was time well spent. I think you've come to a great conclusion here with the ladies' good advice - to start DITHOR and finish out Beyond. This will let your ds grow in his writing skills, be more challenged in his reading skills, and get used to doing DITHOR. Plus, he will feel a sense of accomplishment at finishing Beyond - at least that's the way my dc feel at the end of a guide. I hope this helps, and may your mother continue to be in good health!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you. I appreciate the well wishes for my Mom. It was such a blessing to go home and be there and not have to worry about pulling the kids from school or dealing with a stack of assignments that they HAD to finish. It was a blessing to have HOD as well. I know we wouldn't have done ANY school if we would have been using something else.
I know the whole experience made me pray more than I have prayed in a long time. For a long time, I was praying my morning and evening prayers and saying the Our Father nightly. Yet, it had been a long time since I had prayed a heartfelt prayer. It was definitely a time to find that relationship with God that sometimes we let lapse. I know that it was nothing short of God's grace that my Mom went from stage 3B colon cancer to cancer free in a short time span.
God bless.