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We are ready to start Bigger, but I've been holding off for awhile to increase my ds' reading ability. He is severely dyslexic and making great strides, but it is still going to take some time, and he will probably always read a little slower than his peers.

Here is my dilemma:

He is doing well with narration and the History portion of Bigger is right on target for him. Just glancing through the book, the history and geography activities appear to be a little easy for him, but that is fine. We've had maps and all over our house from they time he was born, so he is used to looking at and talking about geography. The vocabulary, poetry, language arts, storytime and science all seem to be a perfect fit. We are always half a year ahead in math, and behind in reading. He would possibly be ready for the ERs, but probably not for comprehension and more for fluency. If I continue on, are we going to have major issues when we get to Preparing? If I wait too long to do Bigger, he is going to be bored, because it will be too easy. When he was tested, his vocabulary was one of his biggest strengths, even though he has dyslexia. He gets concepts rather quickly, but struggles with reading, writing and rote memorization.

I love HOD and don't want to leave, because I can't make it work with his learning style. There has to be a way to make this work. Right now, we are doing a Native American study followed by a study of Vikings, and then I need to make a decision as to what to do.


Thanks,
Tracy

If it was my child, I would go ahead and do Bigger but understand if you do that, you may have to help him with the readings when you get to Preparing. Your goal would be to gradually increase his independence as he moves forward. But I wouldn't hold him back if he's ready for Bigger. I would work through the ERs as he is able and work toward him being able to read independently but play to his strengths for his core program. He sounds academically ready for the rest of Bigger, in my opinion.

That's how I think I would handle it but then I am not the expert... Hopefully Julie will answer your question with some expert advice.

As you know, my ds is also severely dyslexic, but he's not dumb. He's very bright and has thrived on the history and science in HOD. A long time ago, I determined that I was not going to allow his dyslexia to hinder his education. He, intellectually, can handle concepts WAY above his reading level. I have found that I can't get through a level in one year because he needs more of my time. I'm okay with that now. I do all the readings aloud with him. For written narrations, he dictates it to me while I copy. Then he copies it into his notebook. We do the same for science. Everything takes longer, but it is worth it. It's just what I have to do for this child. We are getting ready to go to RTR next year and are excited. I do every extra package because I want him to have the fullest educational experience possible. Dyslexia will NOT stop him! I'm determined. If I have to read his college engineering textbooks to him, I will by golly!

Anyway, just wanted to encourage you to move along. If your ds isn't independent with the work when the guide says he should be, that's okay!

Laura

Thank you. That is exactly what I was wondering! I'm excited. We are moving on!!!!