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Hi! I am planning to come back to HOD after we finish out our current year. I have looked at the placement charts numerous times, but I am still not sure what the best choice will be for my dd. She will be 7yo when we start HOD again, and she solidly fits in the Preparing guide in all areas. I'm not so worried about her doing Preparing at 7yo, but thought CtC at 8yo might be too much? I was thinking going with Bigger w/ extensions might be an option. Thoughts?

In case you need a little more information, dd is an excellent reader and reads around the 8th grade level. She's at about mid 2nd grade level right now with math. We're almost finished with FLL2 and WWE2.

I can't really give a great answer, but I can at least try, and it'll be bumped up

I have one who just started Preparing, and I also have a 7yo. Now, my 7yo is right on level for reading right now... once she gains confidence she's going to just take off, but right now she's roughly 1st-2nd grade level. But even without that being an issue, I cannot imagine her doing Preparing right now, and I DEFINITELY can't imagine her doing anything past preparing within a year. In fact, that thought almost scares me because the information is so deep in Preparing.... and I do not have sensitive kids.

My suggestion would be to put her in Bigger, with or without extensions. DITHOR level 2 or 3 (to get her used to how it goes) and wherever she places in math/dictation/writing/grammar. Bigger is plenty for a 7yo, even one who can read well. We just got finished with Bigger with my oldest... she's 8.5 and by the end of the day she was ready to stop thinking for a bit

Thank you, Lora Beth. That is the exact type of information I needed!

I agree with the pp. My dd just turned 9 last week and we are in Bigger unit 16. She is using Rod & Staff 3 and her own paced math. But as far as the rest of the skills go, Bigger is perfect for a 7-9 yr old. DITHOR is awesome & you would not want to miss the character study & Proverbs in Bigger. It is a transitional year of working toward independence in the future manuals. The guides are richly full of all around skills. I hope this is making sense. I would agree to place her in Bigger....

Thank you! I think we're definitely going with BHFHG along with DITHOR. I also think I'll get the extension package as well, but not push it. More just allow her to read them in her free time rather than a "part of school". Dd loves to read though so I think she'll enjoy having additional books to read on the topics.

She sounds like my DD when I first came to HOD! I just KNEW she needed to be in Preparing and she was a 7yo 2nd grader, reading waaaay above grade level and considered gifted. I put her in Beyond! It was PERFECT for her age and it let her be SEVEN. She didn't lack learning b/c we still did basics on her level (math and reading). It was totally age appropriate and the books used for the history are actually from a curriculum publishers books for 3rd or 4th grade history. Once we hit Bigger we added the extensions for free time reading which she loved. Bigger is a very big jump from Beyond and I was glad to wait to get there. It took a while longer than Beyond, and there was way more writing, older style reading aloud for history so it really challenged her to develop those listening skills. It really works them on oral narrations and everything just gets deeper. She's now in Preparing as a 10yo, still a gifted child, does the extensions and mostly just for free reading, and even as a gifted 5th grader, she's learning so, so, very much. This is the right age to start the written narrations that Preparing guides them into, it's the right age to start the level of independent work expected of them, and it's the right age to really get a lot out of this level's study of world history and Bible. As we look to CTC for next year....I just can NOT imagine putting her there as an 8 or 9yo...or even as a 10yo this year for 5th! The level and logic really jumps up and the content is just plain hard and there's just no way she could do the level of independence needed to complete CTC and up so you'd forever have a child that needs handholding and is placed too high to do the guides as is. Also, with Preparing and up, it's just plain too much school for a 7yo! It would last so much longer than a kid her age should be doing school, and especially when there are lower levels that aren't any less academically solid that are better geared in content and time to a child of 7, even a very smart child of 7
I wish the depth and breadth of HOD was easier to explain b/c I know so very many moms place their children too high and come back here needing advice! This is our 7th year of schooling at home counting my oldest's K4 year, and the biggest regret I have is how I pushed her in the early learning years just because she could do the work. She missed out on so much that was way more important, and now I"m realizing that being able to "do" the work isn't the same as truly understanding and internalizing the concept being taught through the work. So now, we are filling gaps from the years I pushed and placed her in higher grade level lessons and let her fly through stuff b/c she could do it. I really thought she was getting it! But play is a child's work, so we backed off. Slowed down. Played more. Schooled less. And she knocks 'em outta the water on standardized tests (not that that's a great measure of a child's abilities!)She is really enjoying school now at the age most kids really don't enjoy it anymore. I love that she loves to learn and isn't burned out. I can thank HOD for that, as well as the guidance to place her lower that I received from the ladies of HOD. You will not regret playing more and having totally free afternoons with your 7yo, but you almost certainly will regret full, busy, overloaded school days and having to make a child that wants to go explore nature outside sit inside so she can finish all her work when she's just 7. She has so many more years to do that!

My second DD sounds like yours. Very high reading and comprehension. We are doing Bigger for her 3rd grade yr and its been great. I was beautifully advised to stay on level with her reading. Even though she can read at a high level, the emotional maturity isn't there. She is very mature, but sensitive. When we read about Washingtons troups not having shoes in the snow it really upset her! With her personal reading she read Stone Fox. Way beneath her reading level, but she cried so much as I held her when she finished. I can't imagine pulling her emotionally through books at her actual level!

I would place your dd in Bigger or possibly Beyond. This is our first yr with HOD and Bigger has been a perfect fit for my 3rd and 4th grade girls. They have grown so much and I think Preparing will be perfect next yr.