Confused :-( yet again...pls help!

[Charika30]

Hi all,

I have a 10 yr old (birthday was just last month) son who is 4th/5th grade.I just went through the placement chart and he seems to place in BOTH Bigger and Preparing. Is that even possible??? I have the books I would need for bigger because I started him on that last year, then decided to just use Beyond for both my kids (I also have a 7 yr old girl)to make life easier...I think he will do fine with bigger...My only concern is this: I was gently yet firmly encouraged by a family member that kids his age should be doing both research and WRITTEN narrations or book reports. I see that Preparing has these weekly. Even if i got the extension package with Bigger, it would not include these skills, only more reading. I admit I go thru this every year (getting crazy mentally over curriculum and feeling like he needs more and I dont have enough)...Maybe I should relax and just work on CONSISTENCY FINALLY this year with what we already have...BUT should a child his age indeed be doing research and written reports?? Should I get preparing just for these lessons and do bigger for everything else?? Thanks in advance and I truly hope this is not confusing...

[lmercon]

This is just my personal opinion, but I would NOT move a child from Beyond to Preparing. The jump is just too large. Loads of skills are learned in Bigger that are assumed to be in place by Preparing. I would not require a child to do some skill that he is not prepared to do just because it's what most kids his age do. He will do those things in time and do them well if you give him the time to progress through the skills in a logical pattern. You can add more writing in Bigger if you feel he is ready for it, but if he places well in Bigger, then I would do that program with him. Both are really great!
hth,
Laura

[amysconfections]

Well, there are a lot of things to consider. How much time do you have to homeschool? What level is your daughter in and are they combined? If they are combined in Bigger and it's working, then keep them together. If you can't keep up with the amount of teaching in bigger then bump him up to preparing. You can always require written narrations of the extension readers. You can also add in research to Bigger once a week. It's not that big of a deal.

[blessedmomof4]

If you do Bigger with Extensions, the Appendix of Bigger includes a daily reading schedule and written assignment suggestions for each day of the week (written narrations or drawing a picture with a written caption, for example). Bigger is a very teacher-intensive guide which will get all the skills in place needed for success in Preparing. There is plently of written work in the Bigger guide as well. If necessary, you can use Rod and Staff 3 for English instead of 2, which also includes some writing instruction. I also agree with previous poster that this is your child and you know him best, and don't need to measure him by what other kids are doing. If he is making steady progress, he is doing great.

[Charika30]

Yes that does help Laura, thanks to all three of you!!! I know I am probably just OVER-THINKING...I am good for that ...But I agree...It would be too much of a jump and I can add my own researching and written book reports to Bigger...Very true...Oh, I didn't realize Bigger had that instruction with the extensions...i will check that out! I guess sometimes it helps to get these things out and be reassured...thanks again!!!

[netpea]

If you do Bigger with Extensions, the Appendix of Bigger includes a daily reading schedule and written assignment suggestions for each day of the week (written narrations or drawing a picture with a written caption, for example). Bigger is a very teacher-intensive guide which will get all the skills in place needed for success in Preparing. There is plently of written work in the Bigger guide as well. If necessary, you can use Rod and Staff 3 for English instead of 2, which also includes some writing instruction. I also agree with previous poster that this is your child and you know him best, and don't need to measure him by what other kids are doing. If he is making steady progress, he is doing great.

yes! Bigger does have written work! If he is ready for Preparing, you could start there, Preparing does teach them how to do the written narration. But there is a lot of writing and if he isn't ready for it it will be frustrating. Bigger with Extensions would prepare him for the writing work. So is he willing to write a lot? That would be a good indicator if he's ready for Preparing.

[tiffanieh]

I have a 9 year old that could have very easily done Bigger and would have suited him just fine. However, I also know he is capable of Preparing. Since his brother was going to do Preparing I decided to combine them. I do have to coach my 9 year old a bit more on things that my 10 year old does easily (ie. copywork) only because 9 year old hates writing. Is he capable, sure. Do we do hard things even though we don't like to? Definitely.

I don't see any signs of struggling to understand the material and I also think the written work is still FAR less than would be required of them if he was in public school.

[my3sons]

Good discussion! I am wondering which things he places in for Bigger Hearts, and which things he places in for PHFHG? I think that would make a difference in overall placement. I am especially wondering about reading, writing, grammar, and math? If you could please share, that would help us help you with more assurance. The ladies are so right in all they've shared. BHFHG and PHFHG are both wonderful programs, but to know which is a better fit, it would be so helpful to know more about your child's specifics in placement. If you get a chance to share, that would be great, and then we can all chime in with more details and help get you off to a good start!

In Christ,
Julie

[Charika30]

Hi, Julie!

Thank you for your response! Unless I am doing something wrong, he places in both Bigger and preparing for each of the subjects you mentioned (reading, grammar, math) except for writing. Writing he placed in bigger because he is still doing a cursive handwriting book. He is almost done with English 2 and will be immediately going to English 3. he should be done soon (maybe in two months or so) with Math 2b and moving on to the textbook/workbook of 3A. He is reading independently and I will soon try to purchase DITHOR for him...

Thanks again!

[Charika30]

Thank you, Lee Ann and Tiffanie!!! I think the writing suggestions will definitely have me giving preparing a second thought. He CAN write, but does he LIKE to...NO!!! Although when it comes to drawing little comics or just doing a little creative writing with something of interest, he will GLADLY write. When it comes to the R&S English book, he FROWNS upon those lessons... ....In any case, thanks for giving me something to think about... Turns out, however, that he is enjoying doing cursive writing...go figure.. ....

[Charika30]

I am bumping this up because I know Julie asked me some questions to help determine the best guide for my son, and I answered the questions last week in an earlier post...just not sure if she got to see it yet...?

[my3sons]

Thanks for sharing a bit more here! Well, 3A Math, R & S English 3, independent reading and ready for DITHOR - all of this would work fine with PHFHG. Cursive is not a reason not to do PHFHG. He can easily finish out his cursive while doing PHFHG. But, I am wondering why you moved him from BHFHG last year to Beyond? Was it solely for ease of teaching, or was BHFHG too difficult for him? Also, how far did he make it into BHFHG before switching to Beyond? It seems that you are thinking separating the two of them may be a good idea, or am I off on that? Is it just the thought of the written narrations and research that are making you want to bump him up to PHFHG, or do you feel PHFHG may be the better placement and a separating of the two may be beneficial for both? I'm so very sorry for asking more questions, and also for taking some time to get back to you here. I will be diligent at checking this thread over the next few days to respond after you post more quickly. One last thing that may be helpful - read through this thread and see which of the two guides ds places better in based on the amount/type/length of writing activities mentioned in each, and then if you could, share that with us too please. Thanks for your patience! Placement is worth spending time on.

Amount of writing in Bigger vs. PHFHG:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3602

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

I just read your dictation thread too, and it sounds like PHFHG is a better fit in that category. That helps with advice too!
In Christ,
Julie

[Charika30]

Thanks Julie, for responding! No, my ds did well with Bigger (all 3 weeks of it ) He especially loved the science and history notebooking because he LOVES to draw ... The history reading was probably the only area that seemed just a little over his head, but even that wasn't so bad. The only reason I decided to combine my two kiddos in beyond was because I was struggling with the two guides (perhaps I didn't give it enough time) I remember it taking FOREVER just to get to that 3rd unit... At the time beyond still felt like a good fit, but at this point, with it being probably now a year later, even though I am still on unit 18 of Beyond, it is WAY TOO YOUNG for him, obviously with his age and grade and all ...To answer your other questions, I would actually love to keep my kids in the same guide together, but am not sure my dd is ready for bigger and I think she will enjoy continuing Beyond til the end . And as far as my desire to move my ds to preparing, yes it pretty much was solely the written narrations and researching...But, with all that said, I have the books I need for bigger and can just resume him there (or start over??- not sure if he'll remember what was read in beginning of history books)... Also, a few ladies mentioned that jumping from beyond to Preparing would not be good because of the amount of independent work required in preparing. Would you agree with that? And that Bigger will be best because it will prepare him better for more independence?? I can get the preparing guide for the dictation as was suggested in that thread...And can continue Beyond with my dd... Hopefully, I am making the best choice...

[my3sons]

Thanks for getting back to me! I agree from what you've shared that BHFHG with a few PHFHG things should be a good fit for ds, and Beyond sounds like a great fit for dd. I think you can just resume BHFHG with Unit 4 where you left off, and use PHFHG for dictation and R & S English 3. You can also see how PHFHG teaches beginning written narration skills by looking in the Reading about History box on Day 4. You can then have ds do a similar process for written narrations in BHFHG. You can also look at the Research box of plans in PHFHG for ideas about how to go about that since you mentioned that was an area you wanted to add due to ds's age. I would do this very gently and not go over the top with it. PHFHG is a nicely full program already. You could just have ds read his extensions, and one day do a written narration following PHFHG's format, and one day do research on a topic of choice with your guidance following PHFHG's format. The other 2 days he could do oral narrations as follow-ups. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie