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We have had a great three weeks so far with Bigger, but while I'm always diligent to cover reading, math, grammar and spelling/dictation, we don't always get to storytime, some of the history or science. Especially the two days a month that we have a co-op. What do you all do when you miss a day? Do you double up lessons or do you skip some of the activities? I've done some things on Sunday afternoons, but I don't want to make this a habit. Thanks in advance!
Steph

I personally do various things. One thing I've tried to do is rearrange the daily schedule to make it more likely that those kinds of things will get done. Undoubtedly these things take longer in Bigger than LHFHG though but what I try to do is one skill subject, like math, and then do one of those content subjects or fun activities that I'm likely to skip if I wait until the end and then another skill subject and so forth. We both feel more focused and lively this way and therefore more productive with the time we're spending on school so I feel like CM was on to something when she recommended arranging the school day this way.

As I side note (which may be entirely irrelevant to you and your child ), when I was focusing on the core stuff first it would wear me down so that I wasn't up for activities by the time we were done with it (it doesn't take much for me, I'm a wimp ). DS meanwhile had higher hopes for the day and I found I was disappointing him and after a bit, his enthusiasm had noticeably waned. There is so much in HOD to enjoy but as delightful as their math and grammar schedule may be, I don't believe that's where it's at. I guess you could say that for me, in order to get those things done, my priorities first went through an adjustment. This may not be an issue for you but surely I'm not the only one!

Another thing I might do when things are out of whack, is read while the children are eating. Mine love a story so they appreciate this. Also, Storytime may take the place of bedtime reading.

Worst case scenario, I complete what I missed the next day either with the next day's lessons or just spreading it over two days. We're inclined towards year round schooling so I never feel a particular pressure to get a whole Unit done each week as much as I do aim for it. I'd prefer to take longer and not miss or skimp on anything.

Bigger takes some getting used to there are a lot of new skills to be learned and you could always do it at half pace for a while. Take 2 weeks to finish a unit, so your children can learn all the skills from that this guide has to offer. I did this with my ds who was 7 when we started Bigger. It was of great benefit to him and he blossomed without missing out on any subject. You will notice when your children can handle full pace. This is the beauty of homeschooling, that we go at the pace our kiddo's need to come to their fullest potential.
Success

I am doing Beyond this year and we are doing a weekly co-op. Co-op day is also dance day so there is no way any school is getting done on that day, it's just co-op day. So for me I do 4 days a week, finishing all the boxes on a day. If I don't get them done in the morning I have an extra time scheduled in the afternoon. Or plan C is DH, I discuss that below.

Last year with LHFHG I either would do 4 day weeks but try to double up, where I would do a double dose of storytime, history, and would pick some of the rotating box and/or math activity to skip. I do feel my DD learned a lot but I also feel she did miss being thoroughly taught in some things. There's no way we could double up in Beyond and hope to learn it properly. We have now finished week 7 and I think we've done everything except 1 of the boxes 1 day and it has been so great to do them all! I feel like each thing complements the others in some great ways, and I would not want my DD to miss out on that!

The longest I let something wait if we haven't done it yet is after dinner. My DH loves being able to participate, especially with math or science so if I'm having one of those days and we just can't get through it, I leave math and science for him to do with them! I do occasionally save reading (read aloud, what I read to them) for lunchtime or snack time. We (so far) haven't had to do any on Saturday or Sunday. Of course, a 4 day week adds 9 weeks onto the guide, meaning it takes 45 weeks instead of 36 weeks to complete it. I decided this is okay for us, we will still take something of a summer break (this year it was only 7 weeks, just long enough to do summer soccer, dance, and swimming lessons), and we will finish Beyond whenever we start the "Fall 2012" school year. Maybe Fall 2012 we will be doing school 5 days a week instead, God only knows!

If I know I am going to be short on time here and there, I skip the 3 R's. I do this because they are not connected to the guide and will be done in sequence no matter what. The core content of the guide is so important is helps our dc develop skills needed for the next guide, therefore I would not double up or skip. If you have an ongoing problem you may want to consider 1/2 speed, particularly if you are pushing the recommended times or 4 days a week.

Here's my brief answer after years of trying to speed us along...

I keep moving along. We don't skip anything. If I've allowed the children ample time and they've dilly dallied or been distracted then they lose privileges and we use Saturdays to catch up. If the reason we're off track is my fault then I recognize this and pare down our schedule so we can get where we need to be without any undue hardship on my learners. I intentionally save the last 3 to 4 days of the month for "catch-up" on school work or house work with no regular lessons planned. That's it!

If I have issues getting to something with some of my kids, I always do those things first in the day. Even if it takes you a bit out of the order of the guide for a while until it becomes a habit that really works for us. I find my kids are still able to make the connections and that helps us to get it all done if we have struggled. Kind of simple but that works.

Another thing I have done is make my flow of the day a few different ways and see what works best for all my kids together. I am basically talking about a couple of different schedules. I just do not like to assign times. We do it more like blocks of the day and a certain order between the three programs we run each year. I find usually some orders to the day flow better than others. I kind of spend my first few days of school figuring that out each year. It all flows pretty well now but we are always adding extrra stuff with our oldest in high school so that makes us need to adjust each year.

Hope you find a good solution. One of the great things about HOD is you can get it all done. Hate for you to miss that blessing.

I almost never skip anything. I just pick up the next day where we left off. I almost never do Day 1 on a Monday. Having the weekend in between never snagged the flow at all. It may mean that I have to go a few more days into the summer, but I don't like the feeling of being rushed. Saturdays are not days for schoolwork around here. We all need a break from that!

I have struggled with this same thing this term.

We had been used to doing the 3 R's and then a history/science/nature or art study during the day. We would do 3 hours tops!! And lots of this was hands on.

But I do love HOD. I just at this stage cannot do the whole planned day in a day! My kids are not used to that much instruction in one day. And I ma now ok with this

I started the term feeling like I had to complete everything all in one day, but it was too much for us. Not because the level was too high because the kids are thriving, but because it was more than what we are used too. We like to have our afternoons free to do freetime, handicrafts, extra-curricular activities, housewrok and family time. We find that if we go into our afternoons everyone has had enough!

So I have dedcided for now to go 1/2 speed for as long as this suits us. It may change in the future, but if not I am ok with keeping the kids up with their 3R's and plod along with science/history/DITHOR and poetry.

I think each family is different and each child is different and a family needs to use the curriculum in the way that fits them.

I like the idea of doing core subjects interwoven into the fun stuff!! I am going to give this a try!! Thanks for the idea.