Bigger or Preparing...

[melissamomof3girls]

My daughter will be 9 1/2 when we start whichever of the two we decide upon and 4th grade level.

My concerns are she has never done narration and very minimal dictation. I'm wondering if Preparing has a gentle intro into that or if it just starts off with a bang? However, she is a great reader (and loves it), is working on finishing up cursive, and is capable of writing well, we just haven't implemented it well yet. She will at least be ready for Singapore 3A by then and R&S 3.

I have looked at the posts comparing the writing between the two programs, but I was hoping for some personal advice.

I actually have most of the Bigger program here. It looks great and I'm sure we'd do well with it, but I don't want to under-challenge her?

My options are:

1. Bigger as is (only 4 days/week)
2. Bigger with Extensions (but, please, can someone tell me exactly what the extensions add to it??)
3. Preparing as is

[LynnH]

Preparing does introduce written narration in a gentle step by step process. It starts with questions that they can think about after they read and tells them they will use the answers in their narration. It then gives them the starting sentence and the initial narrations only have to be 5 sentences. Since it is the first time any of the guides schedule written narration it is focused on teaching them how to do it. If she fits squarely in Preparing in all other areas she should be fine. Preparing has 3 levels of dictation so you can pick the one that fits her best.

[melissamomof3girls]

Preparing does introduce written narration in a gentle step by step process. It starts with questions that they can think about after they read and tells them they will use the answers in their narration. It then gives them the starting sentence and the initial narrations only have to be 5 sentences. Since it is the first time any of the guides schedule written narration it is focused on teaching them how to do it. If she fits squarely in Preparing in all other areas she should be fine. Preparing has 3 levels of dictation so you can pick the one that fits her best.

Thank you.

I guess I forgot to mention, the notebooking also. She hasn't done much of that yet. This year she has done notebooking for character quality traits and scripture verses. Am I right to assume Preparing gently starts with that too?

[my3sons]

Notebooking begins in Bigger Hearts, but if your dd is able to follow 3-4 directions for creating a notebook page, she will do just fine with PHFHG. The notebooking directions are very clear. I teach my dc to read through the entire box of plans before they begin it, and then we talk through the steps together before they start. I did this for about a month of PHFHG, and then my ds could do much of the work well on his own, with me just getting him started and being available to help as needed. I am thinking from what you've shared that PHFHG sounds like a good placement for her. Here is a link to the PHFHG Photobook - you can see examples of dc's work in it...
http://heartofdakotasphotobooks.shutterfly.com/30

We have been loving PHFHG - the books are fantastic, and so is all of the deep learning going on! It really is a neat guide. HTH!
In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Melissa,

The ladies have already done a terrific job of answering your questions. I'll just pop-in to say that in Preparing it will be very important for your daughter to be ready to read and follow written directions, and be ready to take over reading her science and her independent history books (in the Deluxe Package) on her own. If this seems like it will be too much of a challenge for her, then I would choose Bigger instead. The reason I mention the reading, even more than the writing as a deciding factor for Preparing, is that by CTC she will need to be reading very strongly on her own to be able to handle the history spines and science spines in that guide.

Blessings,
Carrie