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Currently, my DD7 is in Beyond and on Unit 13. She came to me today asking why she couldn't do Bigger like DS9. I told her I would re-evaluate things later and get back to her. So that's what I'm doing.

The story goes like this: she started Beyond last July. We sailed through til around Oct. when we hit a BIG rut in our homeschool. I set HOD aside and did reading, writing, and math until this current June. We are all thankful and breathing a big sigh of relief to be back to our beloved HOD. So in that time she has grown and developed existing skills and found new ones, too. She is doing the spelling list #2 in Beyond, has started cursive (her print is beautiful), reads beautifully, and has some very good narration skills. Therefore, I thought it only fair to give an honest look at the placement charts to see where she would place if we were just starting out. Both kids do CLE math so I ignore the math section of the placement chart.

Technically speaking, she could fit into Bigger. I do wonder how she might handle the change in the amount of required physical writing. And I wonder if dropping Beyond at this point would cheat her somehow.

I would love to hear other's thoughts. Thank you!

Personally my thought is stick with Beyond. Yes Bigger would challenge her more, in a lot of areas, but if you haven't been doing history, science, etc there definitely might be some gaps. The writing is a lot more in Bigger. My DD will finish it up right at 9 and I am not even sure she is well placed for writing even yet. Having her be where the writing challenges her so much definitely makes it a lot harder for her to get through, and the quality of her work is not nearly as good.

If she is ready for a longer school day and can do narrations on longer readings maybe speed it up a little? I have definitely noticed that doing the guides all the way through as written they are complete and there is a lot of little stuff added in there that there definitely might be skills/knowledge missed by skipping more than half of a guide. I know this because I am bad about skipping stuff, and now going through it a second time I realize where some of those gaps are.

Well, the only way my kids get taught is by combining, so I would try it. What would it hurt to try? If it doesn't work, you both gave it a shot. Just make sure you explain that it is just a trial, and ultimately, the goal is to find the best placement, not just what we would like to do.

I've had as many struggles with under-placement as with over-placement. We had frustration, boredom, lazyness, and overall poor attitude toward school work as more and more time went by with my dd placed too low. I know it may not be the same advice that others have given, but I would really bump her up, if it were me. I wish I had much sooner with my own dd!

I know it's not ideal to skip the remainder of Beyond, but I don't think you'll be gaining as much by sticking it out as you would by placing her up right now. If you can keep her spark for learning, keep her enjoying it, keep her skills growing, go for it! My dd missed out on the last 1/2 or more of Bigger, but we didn't notice a gap at all. Like you said, sometimes their skills grow just by getting older and moving out of a guide that way. I don't think it hurts to look at the placement chart with fresh eyes when your questioning whether your children are correctly placed. Pretend you're new and coming to HOD and think about where you would place her; and then take the plunge! Go half pace if you need to ease her in to the higher requirements, and I think it's okay to ease her in with the writing requirements, too. That is a big jump, even if she is ready for it!

Furthermore, the opportunity to combine would make this an even better option in my eyes. I've looked and looked for a way to make combining work for our family, but so far it hasn't presented itself. Depending on where your older child is in Bigger, you could have her go half pace for a few weeks for younger sis to catch up, or you could possible just dive into the guide wherever big sister's at, if you're still in the first few Units.

Thank you all for responding. You have all offered food for thought on this and I really appreciate it.


Like mom23 said, I am trying to look at the placement charts with "fresh" eyes as if just discovering HOD since we took a bit of a break. And as I stated before her 3 R skills continued to grow during that time. I think if I did move her into Bigger, half-pace would be the wisest speed just to see how she might handle the new workload and requirements. My oldest DS is already at Unit 16 in Bigger so I don't think I could catch her up anytime soon. She would just have to have her own schedule just as if she were still in Beyond and he in Bigger. Same guide, same books, different schedule.

This is still a decision that is at the forefront of my mind and one I'm still praying about - trying not to rush it without careful thought. She sees and hears all that DS is doing and is constantly asking "can I do it, too?!!!" and "I want to do science more like him" and "can I listen to the story, too?" (for history)..... I just don't know if she really wants all the real work that goes along with those things. So, still praying. And appreciating other's thoughts on the matter.