Question about Combining the history part

[Kims]

My younger son always sits in on the readings anyway and wondered if after next year I could do the history part together with them. I want to do LHFHG with him because I LOVE It. My older will be finishing Beyond next year so the year I want to put them together would be for Bigger.
Any thoughts on this if you are not confused about what I want to do?

[mommyof2ladies]

I am curious about this also. Mine will be 6 and 7.5 when we start back in the Fall. They are already doing Beyond's history together. Not sure what to do about next year. I am sure the ladies on this board will give some good ideas!

[countrymom]

If I am looking at the ages in your siggie and what you want to do correctly, your youngest would be 6 when starting the Bigger history. Even though it looks like you are just talking about the history portion, I would have a couple of concerns. Six is pretty young to actually fully comprehend and participate in the activities for Bigger. Every child is different so you would need to judge that. My youngest often listens in with the history portion or storytime portion of Bigger with big brother and enjoys it, but he is not ready to actively be a student in that guide. There is a difference between just listening to the stories and enjoying them and actually building skills and increasing the learning foundation from them. Also, history is directly tied in to the activity box below, Bible, and to a lesser degree the poem and science, so to get the full intent a child would really need to do the whole guide. The second part to consider is the fact that Beyond is a huge stepping stone between Little Hearts and Bigger and there are many skills that are learned and refined in Beyond. I would be inclined to encourage you to do Beyond with your youngest in that second year so that he can truly gain all there is to be gained from Bigger. The other question to ask yourself would be what happens after Bigger? If your youngest participates in Bigger with your other child, does he continue on through the guides in that fashion (again keeping in mind the history ties in with other boxes in the guide)? I think you would find at some point this would be an issue for your youngest in terms of skills and comprehension. You could just allow your younger son to listen in on history as he pleases, but for some children it might be best to keep it fresh for the following year when he is actually doing the guide. If you would like for your youngest to be able to listen in with your older ds in that second year (the year older would begin Bigger), you could let him listen in on storytime and then use a different storytime list when you actually go through Bigger with him.

[Kims]

After I posted this I started thinking and wondering how it would work in the next few years when my 6yo got older but my 4yo was still 2 years behind.
I think I will just not worry about it and stick with the level they are on and let them listen to the others if they want.