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Ok, I have two daughters who are very different. I think that both could be taught using the Beyond curriculum, but I am not too sure, since the reading levels of my two girls are so very widespread, at barely 6, and 8 1/2 y.o. My older daughter has had a great deal of trouble with reading and math in K and 1st grades (in a private Christian School) but with a little tutoring, and a bit of finetuning to help my heavily auditory, very poor visual learner to find her groove... she is reading way above grade level in difficulty, and has vastly improved speed and fluency this year. She is also only a month away from being caught up in math. My experiences have certainly made me a seriously committed homeschool mom! I was so disappointed that even in a class of only 5 children, no one could take the time to really understand and accomodate my daughters different learning style!

That said, I have my concerns about holding her back on her reading, since we have worked so very hard and made such progress this year, while we work on helping my 6 yo become a real reader. The 6 yo has the phonics sounds and can sound out words, but refuses to actually read books. (Partly because she really wants to have tutoring, because they had rewards they could purchase by achieving levels, and she wants the prizes, herself). She can read words when they are part of a computer game, or when they are single words on signs or books, but give her a book and she says, "But I don't know how to read!" We are going to be working on that hurdle over the summer, but I worry that they are too far apart in their reading levels. Hannah could also very easily be in the Bigger program.

Is this particular spread of a beginning reader and a fluent reader too great of a spread? I would still plan on trying to go back to schooling them together, later, if possible because I have a 2yr old and an 89 y.o Grandmother with dementia to tend to as well, and have only about 6 hours of coverage for my grandmother with a daytime caregiver, and I have to do any errands or additional classes/activities for the girls during those hours, as well. I am married, and live in the home of my parents to care for my Grandmother, but my mother works very long hours outside of the home, and my husband works 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off, plus travel days to get to and from work, so I am pretty overwhelmed by my tight schedule, and poor support system. I really would prefer to school them together this year, but would feel terrible if I couldn't make sure that my 8 year old is feeling some challenge from her schooling, as well.

I have worked hard to help her see that she is just as smart as her classmates were, and that it was a matter of learning styles that kept her from keeping up with her classmates, and I don't want her to think that her sister is able to do the same work she can do. Any suggestions? I looked at the first weeks lessons, but I could not see where there is a more or less challenging option. Is that found in the appendix?

Thank you,
Ruthann

Have you looked at the placement chart VERY carefully for each child? If one is truly falling in at LHFHG and the other is at BHFHG, then I wouldn't meet them in the middle with Beyond. Especially given the scenarios you have mentioned, I would really want to meet them where they are, giving each of them special time with you. They can also take real "ownership" of their guide, not feel competitive with each other, etc. LHFHG really does sound like the perfect fit for your younger (and it is SUCH a sweet guide...even my own personal walk with the Lord was strengthened thru this guide!)...You should easily be able to accomplish BOTH guides under 4 hours combined, meeting your hour requirements!

Has your younger daughter completed or nearly completed a phonics program or something equivalent? If so, and if she is able to copy a sentence or two, and work on ten very simple spelling words each week, then she is probably ready for Beyond. If she has a long way to go before she's ready to read something like Frog and Toad, then she would probably do better in LHFHG, which is a great program, as the pp has said.

If she is ready for Beyond, then I think you ought to be able to combine with your older daughter. My daughter, who will be 8 in a couple of months is combined with her younger sister (just turning six) in Beyond and we just started this week. They are very different in their reading abilities, but with just a little tweaking, combining works very well for us. Here's how it looks for us:

The younger does all the guide as written (except for math since we have a different curriculum we love). For reading she is just starting the Emerging Reader set with the easier of the two Bibles (however, we could easily have waited on starting the ERs for a few months if she needed to finish any phonics work - they are not coordinated with anything else in the guide).

My older daughter does all of the left side of the plans (History, Science, Bible, Poetry, etc.) with her sister. They also do the storytime from the right side together. BUT, all the language arts & math she does separately. We own the Bigger guide and my daughter does the Grammar lessons, weekly vocabulary assignment, studied dictation etc. from in there. My older daughter is an excellent reader - she can easily read books at a fourth grade level, so for her we do Drawn into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR) level 2/3, which is giving her literature skills that I think are great - she also works on godly character traits in this program. Anyways, just because she is in Beyond with her sister, it doesn't mean we have "held her back" in her reading. She is doing exactly the same reading as if she had been in Bigger.

HTH

Thank you, both. I really appreciate the guidance, as I have been consumed lately with trying to find a good fit for my family, and this seems like the best fit I have found! I just need to figure out how to make it work.

My younger does solidly fit in the beyond. It is purely a won't, not a can't read. She really does want to do tutoring, but she was sounding out words like "frustrated" and "angry" and "joyful" from a chart in her preschool classroom when she was 4, and was reading in that class, before we ever got to homeschool. She started saying she can't read only after her sister started going to tutoring. I am going to be introducing a "school store" into our homeschool to try to encourage the reading over the summer and into next year, because that really is what she wanted... all the cool prizes they gave my older daughter. I really only have an issue with holding my older daughter back. She tested out at a 3.7 reading level before starting this last school year, but was still working on speed and fluency, so we worked on that, primarily this year, rather than push long chapter books, we worked on the shorter books with a higher reading level. She is going to have to build confidence with the longer books, but she reads everything she sees, now from cereal boxes to the warning lables on baby sisters baby gear! She has also started really helping her sister sound out words, too. I truly believe that the younger is actually reading, because she is writing books, and sounding things out phonetically, with the rules she knows. She has totally completed K phonics and has started 1st grade phonics, and does very well. Also she is about half way through 1st grade math, and has completed both K and 1st grade science in her last curriculum. There was reading involved in that, too, but she has a stubborn streak, and doesn't have enough incentive, yet, to show me what she can do. I have just been too busy, and not had the finances to put together a prize box until recently. We took the last two weeks off, but we are going to be doing school 2-3 days a week for the summer to not lose too much ground and take pressure off for next year. There will be a few weeks of travel intermittently through the summer, so they won't miss out on the fun.

All in all, my heart was torn, thinking it may be best to separate them into beyond and bigger, but it might be a good idea to do most together, but get the Bigger text for Grammer. I was planning on doing the Drawn into the Heart of Reading with my older daughter, already. Some of the books were some of my favorites from my childhood! I do feel my younger would benefit from some one on one time, but I have some ideas for how to give her that in her math and phonics program - as well as some extracurricular projects. Thank you, Tiffaneah and Farm Family!

I think it sounds like ur younger is ready for Beyond and even the Emerging Reader set. I think that will really help her confidence, you could always give your prizes for doing the ER's. Also, that would be a good one on one time with ur younger. I also think doing the LA and math from Bigger for ur older will work great and give u a little one on one time w/ her too. HTH

If you have your older dd in Drawn Into the Heart of Reading, she will be reading on her own level, while your younger finishes phonics or does ER books. They will have different levels of Math, and adding the grammar will help to limit the comparing. Depending on the spelling skills, you could have them do separate spelling lists, as there are two different lists in the guide...different levels of difficulty. Does your older dd write in cursive yet? If not, maybe you could begin that. It is scheduled in the Bigger guide. Just thinking of ways to make her work a little different than little sister. She'll be fine.

Sounds like Beyond for both with right side of Bigger Hearts for LA/math for your older dd will be a good fit! For economical "prizes", we have things like watch a favorite movie, a pack of gum, choose a special snack, popcorn with M & M's, 20 minutes of activity of choice with mom or dad, later bedtime, hot cocoa with whipped cream and little chocolate chips, root beer floats, set a tent in the backyard, make s'mores around firepit, $1-$3 to spend on things at the Dollar store, bottle of root beer, etc. These things are inexpensive and fun - just a few ideas that have worked for us as we try to watch what we spend, yet encourage! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you, Julie! I do appreciate the suggestions! I will add them to my list, and I am really happy to have found a way to make it work! Can't wait to order with our next paycheck! Blessings to you and your sister, I read about your dad. I hope all is well!
Ruthann