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I am excited to begin HOD this year with my 6yr old (1st grade). After looking at the placement chart, I ordered Beyond. I felt Bigger would be too much, but I also feel Beyond might not challenge him enough. Are there any suggestions or recommendations for an advanced child in Beyond?

What areas specifically are you concerned about?

My 6yo fit into Bigger on the placement chart for all but age (and he has already learned cursive). I chose Beyond because my child is used to short school days and mostly self educating in his own areas of interest beyond the 3Rs and foreign language. We started Monday and so far my school disliking child has utterly shocked me by enjoying school. He does math at his own level. The reading choices box is for tailoring to the child's level. There are two spelling lists to choose from according to the child's level. You can make any choices you want for each genre in the Storytime box. DS had already started R&S 2 (scheduled in Bigger) before I settled on HOD so he is continuing that but I could honestly have gone either way on it. I thought DS would be far more interested in Bigger's science but he still likes the activities in Beyond and he enjoys pursuing his own scientific interests which he is still doing in his free time.

To be honest, though, I wasn't going for "challenging" this year. I'd probably say "engaging" instead. Overall though I was making choices for a child who needs to grow in good habits and attitude toward school more than anything else.

We are almost done with Beyond with my DD, age 7. She was 7 when we started, using it for 1st grade. Beyond was PLENTY for us!!! She loved the History & all the activities for it. The Bible verses were just right. The science book might be a little light but she still enjoyed the activities, very much. I feel like she got more out of Doing than Reading with science but that's ok. The copywork was our biggest struggle, partly my fault. I knew she could do it so I pushed her too hard at the begining, after several (ok maybe 15 units) I started setting a timer & she only went that long. The spelling/ light grammer was just the intro she needed into formal LA & the math was FUN!!!
No, there's not creative writing, per se, but they do narrations that you write down, find the main topic sentence & copy it. (That's just one example) there is other little writing sprinkled throughout. Oh, with the spelling, once a week they have to come up with their own sentences for 3 of the words. My DD tried to get creative & make a sentence that had all 3 words in it, LOL!!!

Overall, I feel like Beyond was perfect for our 1st grade year!! Also, I feel like my DD is pretty bright. She was reading at age 5, before she even started kindy. There is no fluff, no busy work; just exactly what they need in Beyond!! HTH

I was in the same boat, but also found that Beyond was a good fit for my advanced daughter. She is very ready for Bigger this year as a 2nd grader although I know that is not typical. We've already started and she will be 7 in August.

The only thing I upped was the reading. We flew through the emerging readers, which I still think was valuable because it built her reading comprehension skills. Then we started with the level 2-3 reading list for DITHR. We did not do the program, just read the books and it was good. I began talking with her about some of the elements of literature (character, setting, conflict, etc.) and helping her apply it to what we read, but this was nothing formal. I also gave her a journal entry on lighter days because she really loves writing and she learned cursive.

Because everything was quite easy for her I modified and did the work in 4 days instead of 5. This gave us Fridays to explore something different if she wanted or take a trip to the zoo or museum. I would plan the week before how to do this so that she wasn't overloaded with work on any one day.

You'll love Beyond for 1st! It was a perfect fit for us

Oh, yeah, I forgot to address the reading. Even tho my DD was reading (chapter books) before we started we went thru the Emerging readers at a slightly faster pace. It was helpful for her to read out loud & answer the comprehension questions. We will do at least 2 genres of Dithor before we r done w/ Beyond. We are doing the whole thing but I'm helping her writing in the student notebook.

I think its important to have a short enough school day that they have free time just to play. Right now in my house its imagination games, playing house with my DS being the super hero. Or they pretend they are puppies, kitties etc. My DD made her own construction paper dog ears, and bought an actual (pink) dog collar from walmart with her own money. (I don't let her wear it in public, lol). Here is an OLD thread I just found that describes this more. I know it doesn't directly answer your question but I'm excited to just discover it and want to share! HTH.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2170

Thank you all so much! This definitely helps relieve some of the doubt. Can't wait to start the new year...my son is already asking to start.