real difference preparing and bigger with extensions?

[happyhome]

I am getting ready to start school in a couple of weeks and thought I had it all worked out to do Preparing with my 4th grader and Bigger with my second grader. It took a long time for me to decide to uncombine them-just briefly I have done other curr- but last year did Beyond with both( although very beefed up for my older and simplified for the younger). I felt they placed better in Bigger and Preparing for this year and it would eliminate the stress of trying to beef up a program while going slowly enough for the younger. But now I am reading posts about these two guides being difficult to do together- high teacher involvement time, andI am worried b/c I will also be adding my 5 year old and my 2/1/2 year old into the mix as well( last year we did just a bit of LHTH, but this year I will do that and add more for my K ds). I am not sure if I can handle doing all that is required of me! So my question is, what would be 4th grader be missing by doing Bigger with extensions rather than Preparing? It seems to me it would be more writing practice and instruction in Preparing(we would do R&S 3 either way- Bigger or Preparing), more science , some research skills, and more training in learning independently? Is there more? Trying not to over think this but wanting to set us up for sucess
Thank you!

[pjdobro]

A couple of things that come to mind are the written narrations, the drawing activities in the independent history, the other independent history reading, and the independent science including answering science comprehension questions. Those are things that Preparing has that Bigger doesn't. That doesn't mean that your dd won't do them ever though, it would just be next year instead of this year if you chose to have her do Bigger this year. You could incorporate some of these same skills with Bigger, by have her start reading her science independently and doing that box independently. You could have her do all of the vocabulary words and let her be more independent with that. As the year progresses, you could even have her read her history herself. Those are a couple of ideas for ways you could increase the independence of Bigger for your older dd.

As far as time for both of these guides, it's true that Bigger has been the most teacher intensive for me. It really sets the stage for so many skills that the dc use later. Preparing was less teacher intensive. The dc take over so many boxes themselves that my teacher time really decreased with Preparing. If you do decide to do these 2 guides, you might try starting your older dd first and working with her for a couple of weeks to get her going so she can fully do the independent portions of the guide by herself. Then your teacher time with Preparing will be much less. I found it was only 1 1/2 to 2 hours of my time maximum most days after we were in our groove probably closer to the low side and that includes math and English. Bigger will take more time just because you are doing the history, science, pretty much everything with your student and you are training them in how to do all of those things. It is time well spent though because it really prepares them for the independence in Preparing.

I hope that helps and doesn't confuse your decision more.

[mom23]

You might be okay. I think the area that would concern me is doing Beyond simplified and then being able to handle Bigger as written with your younger one. I'd look at going half pace Bigger with that child, perhaps through the whole year and bringing things up to full speed to finish out the guide next year. That would definitely make things more manageable to run Bigger and Preparing together.

I had a daughter who did Beyond very beefed up, and was able to go right on to Preparing. I briefly put her in Bigger and found it was going to be another very light year for her; and then spent some time going back to the placement chart as if we were new in coming to HOD and found that she was placing in Preparing. We skipped to that and it's going very well. We have had some work to do in narrating and time management-those skills that we missed from Bigger, but we've been able to work with that and she's getting it.

[my3sons]

pjdobro gave some great details about the work in each of the guides! That will surely help as you ponder what to do.

I also think this is a great idea...

...I'd look at going half pace Bigger with that child, perhaps through the whole year and bringing things up to full speed to finish out the guide next year. That would definitely make things more manageable to run Bigger and Preparing together...

What are your thoughts though now?

In Christ,
Julie

[happyhome]

Thank you so much for the input- it is very helpful! As I read the posts and am praying/thinking I am realizing what is concerning me is my 2nd grader. I have full confidence that my older can do Preparing and will be able to be independent. What concerns me is that the work of Bigger will be too much for my 2nd grader- and that some of her behavior isssues(she is adopted and there are things to work through) will overwhelm my time and make it difficult for me to have enough time to do 3 guides. So I could do Bigger half speed or I am actually considering doing Beyond again with different storytime titles and perhaps the Bible from Bigger just to change things up. With her I want to get the basics down meaning just the ability to work well and with a good attitude. I could do Beyond b/c I feel she was dragged along and didn't fully participate at times- math would be the sing 2 A&B and she would be doing emerging readers. What would you ladies suggest?

[pjdobro]

I think I would be inclined to go half-speed with Bigger as Mom23 suggested, rather than repeat Beyond with your younger dd unless you really felt she didn't get much out of it last year. It's possible that she would be less interested repeating material that she has heard before and new material might help gain her interest and help her attitude. I think if it were me as a child, I might feel like I was being held back to repeat a guide. I know every child is different though and not all would feel that way. Bigger was also a wonderful guide for us here because of the character training that goes with the Bible study. It was such a timely study for us, and we were able to really work on building our characters through that guide. It sounds like that might be something that would be really helpful for your dd now also. By taking it half-speed, you can really focus on all of the things you need to emphasize helping her gain the skills she needs while improving her attitude without overwhelming you by it taking too much time.

[my3sons]

I think I would be inclined to go half-speed with Bigger as Mom23 suggested, rather than repeat Beyond with your younger dd unless you really felt she didn't get much out of it last year. It's possible that she would be less interested repeating material that she has heard before and new material might help gain her interest and help her attitude. I think if it were me as a child, I might feel like I was being held back to repeat a guide. I know every child is different though and not all would feel that way. Bigger was also a wonderful guide for us here because of the character training that goes with the Bible study. It was such a timely study for us, and we were able to really work on building our characters through that guide. It sounds like that might be something that would be really helpful for your dd now also. By taking it half-speed, you can really focus on all of the things you need to emphasize helping her gain the skills she needs while improving her attitude without overwhelming you by it taking too much time.

I could not agree more! We really enjoyed going half-speed in Bigger Hearts. I felt like it really gave me time to work on training my ds to have good work habits, careful attention to what we were doing, better time management skills, and more Godly character. I am wondering what your dd did in Beyond though? When you say "simplify", what does that mean? That may make a difference in our advice. If she did quite a bit of Beyond though, and heard all the readings, I'd definitely half-speed Bigger Hearts. Either way, I think you will find doing PHFHG with your older will really make a positive change in your day overall. Your oldest sounds so ready for that greater challenge and independence, your younger sounds like she will benefit from and enjoy the extra attention you will be able to give her.

In Christ,
Julie

[happyhome]

Thank you so much for the wise advice. I really needed to hear that doing Bigger half speed would not be a disservice to my dd. I think she could use going really slow, focusing on skills and feeling sucessful. She also needs that one and one time with me so much. I appreciate everyone's input- what amazing women you are! Thank you for your time!
Laurie