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This has probably been asked a million times, but I'm a little worried about doing American history twice. I've heard it focuses more on the biographical side of history, but how else? Do you think it would be enough for a gifted 3rd grader, with the extensions? I would have to combine him with a young 2nd grader. Thanks!

Beyond is earlier American History, the discovery of the U.S. by Columbus, first settlers, there is a long section about the Pilgrims. Two years in a row of American History is absolutely no problem. There is just so much wonderful stuff covered in both years and it does not overlap much. As you mentioned, Bigger does more biographical study of specific people, though both years are filled with wonderful living books and stories of characters the kids connect with and learn a lot from.

You should look at the placement chart. You could probably beef up Beyond to hit your 3rd grader while still keeping your 2nd grader engaged and involved, but my guess is you would want to add in some of the writing from Bigger - cursive, maybe R&S English, a higher level of math, and then the reading program (level) that fits each child. There are extension books with Beyond that will help your older child gain more from the history and science topics. I don't remember right now whether the extension books are for you to read to them or for the child to read on their own.

Have you looked at the placement chart yet? Sharing where your kids would fall without trying to combine might be helpful for us to guide you on whether combining is what you would want to do. There comes a point where combining is counterproductive because you are doing more to make sure each kid gets what they need to out of it, and it becomes harder than just doing 2 separate guides where the children are placed well and no adaptation is needed. But, back-to-back guides can be difficult for various reasons, so if they place back-to-back then you probably want to combine.

I am not quite sure when your 6 year old is going to turn 7 but my youngest dd turn 6 yesterday and she is gifted also. I am only chiming in to share my experience with Beyond and the abilities of that child so that you get a sense about her and Beyond. As I said, my youngest is gifted. She taught herself to read when she was 3 and started teaching herself math when she was 4. She did this alone because I would be teaching the older 2 and she would just sit there and watch. She can read at a 3rd/4th grade level. She has photographic memory. She has memorized several of the multiplication math facts because I am teaching them to her brother. She easily memorized 3-4 bible verses a week. She has unbelievable reasoning skills. I just did a math problem with her a little while back and I said, "There are 19 people in a restaurant. How many shoes are there?" My older two were dumbfound for a good 5 minutes with this same question in this math level I am doing until I gave them specific hints help them solve this problem. And this is valid to be a true "problem." Until this time - they haven't learn how to add 2 digit numbers together and they haven't learned multiplication yet. So you have to sit and figure this out some how. You need problem solving skills . My older two I had to give hints on how to solve it. My youngest went off by herself and came back about 3 minutes later and said "38." So she is a very natural and excellent problem solver. For fun she will do adult word searches and mind bender puzzles that she reads to her self and works on alone.

She is doing Beyond this year. I have found this to be a WONDERFUL fit for her. While she could definitely do Bigger for school, I find that since she has many interests and I like for her to be able to learn what she wants, I have decided to not advance her in level quickly. I honestly have NO intentions of letting her leave my home until she is 18. I didn't have formal gifted testing done on her but met with a teacher who teaches gifted children. She examined my DD and gave me some great recommendations. She recommended having her learn other stuff like origami, another language, ancient Chinese writing, and then give her lots of puzzles to solve. That is what I plan to do. Now, since my dd is gifted and remembers almost anything put into her brain, she can pretty much tell me everything that has happened to the pilgrims. That has been really fun. Even my son has been able to give good details about the past. I think this is what I love the best. I feel like each year they are building more and more on the stuff they learn. It gives them such a good point of reference!

I also know you probably viewed the science and were maybe hesitant that it wasn't enough for your dd. Honestly, we go to the library every week. My son is done with the emerging readers and I never did them with my youngest. Both kids go to the library and pick out books they want to read. And we set a timer and they read out loud to me for about 10 minutes a day and then on their own for another 10 minutes. Then at another point in the day we will have quite time and they both usually choose to read. But I only mention this because the first section they check out at the library is the science section! My kids have learned SO much just by getting books that interest them. So I have found the science to be absolutely perfect for us as well.

Now, my middle child is bumping up to Bigger. He is almost 8 and is just ready for more work load. I know that even though my youngest could be bumped up, because of her intelligence, I think it is best that she is kept in Beyond. She could definitely get more work done but then I think if bump her, she won't work on the other stuff she loves because she will be tuckered out. I do wonder though with your kids if separating them would be wise to do since it sounds like they are different in level. You could always get Beyond and start doing it now with your 6 year old. And then since she is more advanced, she will probably soar and your 5 year old could go at his or her pace. Just a thought. I am actually loving having my oldest separate and really looking forward to separating my two youngest. As soon as box day comes and I have had a chance to look through everything, they are separate!

Does it teach this?

"the discovery of the U.S. by Columbus"

It is easy enough to edit for my family since we believe this untrue. I'm just curious if Beyond teaches students that Columbus discovered the U.S.

We aren't in Beyond, but I know in LHFHG it is taught that Columbus was one of the first to arrive at America from Europe. They do cover that there were "Indians" here already though, most likely from after the Tower of Babel.

mothermayi wrote:Does it teach this?

"the discovery of the U.S. by Columbus"

It is easy enough to edit for my family since we believe this untrue. I'm just curious if Beyond teaches students that Columbus discovered the U.S.

In Beyond, on page 2 of American Pioneers and Patriots, it mentions that the Vikings were the first white men to come across the Atlantic to America, but they didn't stay.