Preparing or Maybe Bigger?

[Michelle 41]

I'm trying to decide where to place my 9.5 year old in the fall. According to the placement chart, he can do Preparing, but is Bigger a guide that shouldn't be skipped? We are coming from MFW. Thanks.

[mom23]

I'd go with the placement chart. You'll enjoy HOD much more if your kids are correctly placed. Placing too low can bring as much frustration and difficulty as placing too high. Go for Preparing!

[Charika30]

I posted a similar question a while back. And from my understanding Preparing is an extremely independent curriculum guide. If your child is ready for very little parent involvement, then I imagine your child should do great. I opted to do Bigger WITH EXTENSIONS which bumps up the guide to teach the older child/higher grade. If you choose this, I think your child can do very well too. BUT to answer your question, No u don't have to do Bigger before you can do Preparing. Whether Bigger with extensions or Preparing, I think they are both very rich and meaty guides... HTH ...

[laurapella]

This is our first year with HOD. We did Preparing with my 4th grade son (turned 10 in Nov). It has been an AMAZING year! We have loved it. I also have been doing Bigger with my 7 yo 2nd grader at half speed. You could do that with extensions, but I think you will love Preparing.

[my3sons]

Welcome to the HOD Board, michelle41! From what you've shared, your 9.5 yo sounds best placed in PHFHG. Just make sure that he places solidly in the PHFHG columns on the first page of the placement chart for reading, writing, grammar, and math, and if he does - PHFHG will be a super fit! Bigger Hearts is a great guide too, but all of them are, and ds has to begin somewhere. I'd place him where he fits best according to the placement chart. PHFHG has a nice balance of "T" teacher-directed, "S" semi-independent, and "I" independent. Each box of plans has one of these letters in its corner to show which of these it is. This has been great for me and for our dc! The upper HOD guides beginning with PHFHG act not only as a teacher's guide, but also as a student planner, which dc can initial or check the corner of each box as they finish. They are super motivated by this, as they can see which boxes are "I" independent, and their own responsibility to complete (and ours to check ), and they can also see which boxes they meet with us partly or completely to do. They can also see the work being completed and the progress toward the 'finish line' each day! Did you have any other questions? I think you are going to thoroughly enjoy PHFHG! It is such a good guide both for moms and dc. We've gotten the privilege of doing PHFHG twice and look forward to one more go-round with our last little guy. You are in for a super year!

In Christ,
Julie