Help! Jump to Bigger or finish Beyond?

[JoyofLearning]

I’m really struggling with plans for next year: Finish Beyond or Move on to Bigger. My daughter will be 7 in August. When she was 5 years old, we did LHFHG even though she placed in Beyond for everything but age. It was easy for her, so I supplemented quite a bit and it worked very well. Then this past year, we did Beyond and that was too easy (for skills), so again I supplemented A LOT. I ended up supplementing EVERY subject with an additional curriculum and that did NOT work. Not surprisingly that burned her out and she began to dislike school. It wasn’t because any of it was too hard, but because it was too much. Meanwhile, I had a new baby at the end of last year. Then once school started, we began the process selling/buying/renovating houses. We continued to be consistent with at least the skill subjects every morning despite the craziness of the year. We also did CC one day a week. (She has since expressed wanting to do all of the memory work for next year which takes more time). So far we’ve only used CC as a fun supplement. Currently, we have only completed through Unit 12 of Beyond.

She’s a strong reader and makes up (writes) her own stories and wants to learn cursive. I’ve felt a lot of mommy guilt that she dislikes school so much. She would be a great “Unschooler/delight directed schooler” if I felt more comfortable with the method, but I know God led us to HOD. She much prefers fiction, so I’m afraid she won’t like the history in Bigger (due to her maturity) even though she solidly places in Bigger and it would be a better fit for her with her skill level. I was also looking forward to the rest of the history in Beyond. So, should I just grab placement while it’s a good fit and start Bigger in the fall? OR do I just continue where I left off in Beyond even though we can only do it 4 days a week?

Also, we are were using Phonics Road level 2 which we are comfortable using (but more time intensive) so can I continue to use that or would it be better to switch to R&S 2 and Dictation with cursive? I’ve already dropped some things from last year (Apologia and history projects with a friend, etc..). I just don’t want to end up doing too much again. Or should I finish Beyond and add one of the language arts listed above and her math and start DITHOR? I just need some guidance. We are going on vacation and I was really hoping to have all this figured out before I left and have not felt clear direction.

Edited to add: I wanted to say that we have loved HOD! The issues we have had are due to my over supplementing (amount of time on school vs. age) and life circumstances with the move (not being consistent with HOD). It is not due to her not liking one particular curriculum. She actually likes really likes storytime and she does get into the history for Beyond and it's projects and she loves the poetry. So she enjoys Beyond but then says it's too easy, but then she wants more Science and writing, etc.... but to add in more full curriculums she buck back. So, I know it's better to pick something and be consistent.

Kim

[psreit]

Personally, I would recommend continuing Beyond. Don't interrupt the flow like I did. My situation is the opposite, but I could have finished Bigger history, Bible, science, and read-alouds, even with our special reading and math programs. That is one thing I regret. If it is easy, and she would like more work, use some sort of extension. I'm sure someone else may be able to help with that. But, you could find library books to read more on the topics being covered. You could add more 'fun-reading' books. If she is ready for cursive, maybe she could begin cursive now. You daughter is only 7, so you could just let her do the daily work, and then let her choose something fun that she is interested in. You definitely should stop the supplements. The skills in HOD will gradually become more challenging. Having a couple 'easy' years won't hurt her. My daughter was dreading school every day, because she was having such struggles in math and reading. Now that I have these special programs for her, and she is actually moving forward, her attitude is getting better. For your daughter, if you want her to like school again, ditch the supplements and just enjoy Beyond. It will relieve your stress as well.

[glperky]

I would do what Pam suggested. If you need to add more you could do "unschooling" the rest of the time and you would have the best of both!

[farmfamily]

I agree wholeheartedly with the pps, but I wanted to add that it's possible to do some of the right side of Bigger with Beyond if she is ready for it. For instance, you can add in Rod and Staff 2 to Beyond (do 2/3 of the written part orally), or if the spelling lists are really too easy, she could do dictation from Bigger. Or, she could do DITHOR, or the math from Bigger if she's ready for that. Certainly adding cursive is easy. My 8-year-old placed in Bigger last school year, but I wanted to combine her with her 6-year-old sister who placed in Beyond, so she was adding to Beyond in this way. It was a wonderful year.

Oh, I just looked back and saw that you were already considering these things. Well, if dropping your phonics road curriculum and switching to HOD recommendations would save you time, I'd say go for it! Or simply doing Beyond as written and adding in DITHOR would be a great way to add a little writing to it. The book choices for DITHOR are great; I bet your daughter would love them. As for science, I wouldn't add anything, but get her some science-related books for free reading if she's interested.

If she's not fond of school, add the minimum you need to in order to make it not "too easy" & keep your days short.

[lucsch]

We did Beyond for 2nd grade, as to delay all the handwriting and drawing required in Bigger. The spines are also "harder" in that the language is older. I'm glad we waited, even though my dd was advanced in some other areas, like reading. It fit her well in 3rd/4th grade (we did it over 2 years). I also had her read the extension books over that time. She is going into 5th grade with Preparing with extensions, and it looks like a perfect fit now. I think skill levels in the early grades can vary widely!

Anyway, with Beyond we did R&S 2 English and alternated it with the first half of Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl. She did A Reason for Handwriting, as this was a tough area for her. We did DITHOR and book pack 2--I helped her write the answers. I had her read some of the history spines out loud. I added more to spelling, as the word lists in Beyond we super easy. We use our own math, so that wasn't an issue at all. We also supplement science, but that is something I will continue to do (not an issue with a mismatch of skills).

I absolutely loved Beyond's history--I learned a lot about Pilgrims. The history is so sweet seen through the eyes of children. I wouldn't recommend skipping it.

[JoyofLearning]

Thanks for the advice! I think "I" would prefer Beyond because I like the History and feel the need to finish a guide, BUT then I am not using HOD as intended- to BUILD skills. YES, she is YOUNG so I'm trying to meet her interests and maturity level, BUT she is solid in all the skills for Bigger. If I wait another year, Bigger may be too easy and then I'll be in the same predicament (supplementing all the skills). She had many of the skills for Beyond a year before we started, but I held her back due to age. The move was what made us not finish Beyond, NOT her abilities. Now I feel like I have to supplement to work on anything new and our school day just gets too long. I also tend to be less structured with the other subjects (do extra Science one day, more math another day...) so she doesn't know what to expect day to day and she craves that consistency and structure. Perhaps that's been one of the main contributors of the attitude against school. She does well with writing and likes drawing. I have no doubt she could do all the writing required of her in Bigger. I hadn't started formal writing (IEW) or grammar (diagraming) because of her age last year even though others (homeschool writing teachers) who new her said she was ready. Now I don't know that it was good to hold her back. Instead of developing more skills, her day was filled with more busy work (apologia note booking, extra history, etc...) then she needed. As an example of skill level, A year ago she tested at 7th grade reading level (which I know doesn't mean a lot but I haven't tested since) and she has great comprehension, even of older language. She's a natural speller and gets PR spelling words and dictation right the first time. She has read several of the Dithor 2/3 books on her own and reads a ton on her own. She's average in Math (Singapore 2/ Rightstart C). I think Bigger (other than her preferring Fiction) would be a good fit if I didn't add more to it. I'm just not sure she's ready for the Biography approach. She only likes nonfiction if it has to do with something she previously was interested in (example: She read American Girl books about an Indian girl and then would read books about the tribe).

I do think Beyond would be easier if I stick with teacher intensive programs such as Rightstart and PR. It would also be easier if she tries to do CC Memory Master this year (something she has expressed, but I am NOT pushing). If I continue Beyond, I would need to add language arts and some science and I don't know how much is enough. However, if I did Bigger as written, then she would know exactly what was expected of her and she thrives on this. I'm not sure about giving up PR though since she was excited when we briefly started the Little House study. Side question (with my easily distractible self): How different is the grammar in PR 2 vs. R&S 2? The other thing I am considering is that I have an almost 5 year old boy and 3 year old girl I want to try to combine. I think I'll use LHTH with the skills for LHFHG for my son and then do LHFHG the next year slowly with the two of them. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do LHFHG and Bigger together next year. Also since we do CC, we only school 4 days a week so it would take most of the year to finish Beyond if we stayed with it or we would be in Bigger for more than a school year. Adding this other information, any other insights would be appreciated.

[countrymom]

I am giving my advice based on my experience with my oldest child who is a very good student and started the guides younger than suggested (we are now taking Preparing slower to place more in the middle of the guide). Your daughter will be barely 7. Although she may be well advanced in certain skills, she is still only 7 (I had to tell myself this too). There are many skills packed into each guide and I can assure you as you advance through the guides the challenges are there. I would finish Beyond with math at whatever level she is at, Rod and Staff 2, cursive, and if you feel she is ready you could begin DITHOR, maybe doing some of it orally to start with. That is plenty for a 7 yr old and she will enjoy school.

[my3sons]

I think the ladies have given good advice, and it is the advice I would have probably given too. But, you probably know your dd best, and if you are thinking Bigger Hearts is a better fit still, why not give it a try? It sounds like if it is too hard in some areas, you would still need it for the LA/math levels she'd need if using HOD's recommendations. I like your plan for your 2 younger dc, LHTH (with LHFHG LA/math for ds) and the next year LHFHG with the two of them, only with upper LA/math for ds. Doing Bigger Hearts would give you more time to slowly work through the guide, as it will fit her better longer. I'm not sure if your CC is a CC that is pretty intensive or not - they seem to differ quite a bit. If it is quite intense, Bigger Hearts may be quite intense with it. You may have to weigh then which would be the thing to continue with. Hope something here helps! When it doubt, you can always give it a try and go with your gut! See what happens!

In Christ,
Julie