Comparison A Beka to HOD/Beyond or Bigger

[meganlabouff]

We are possibly making the switch from A Beka to HOD next year. We have enjoyed A Beka, but we really feel its not the best fit for our very active almost 7 year old. With that being said, he has learned so much with A Beka. He's reading extremely well and we completed A Beka 1st grade math early. I know that we could cut out the things we feel make A Beka extremely tedious. But after looking at HOD, it seems so fun and wonderfully prepared. I also like the idea of having one guide vs. several teacher guides to pull from each day.

Here's a brief background on myself and son. We have three boys, almost 7, 2 and 4 mos. We are a military family who will be moving to TX this summer. We school year round, we do take a long break in the summer, but keeping up with a routine works best for my son, we mainly review and solidify over the summer. This year was really our first year with an all in one curricula. Kindergarten was partially in public school and then just pieced together to complete.

I am super torn on which guide to use with HOD. He really could place in either, from what I have looked at. I tend to lean towards Bigger only because he is use to the workload. I looked at the examples and feel confident he could work with Bigger with ease. I am sure some days would be more challenging than others, but isn't that how school goes? I want him to be challenged in a good way. The sample of Beyond that I looked at seemed too easy. I realize it was only a couple days and the beginning. I wish I knew what the end of the Beyond guide looked like so I could get a better gauge. I am hesitant because the little advice I have received says I should go with the younger guide if just beginning HOD, using Beyond instead of Bigger.

I wanted to reach out for more input here from the publishers and families. Thank you, Meg

[Tidbits of Learning]

Was he in Abeka 1st or 2nd grade materials? Do you plan to continue with HOD? I ask these questions b/c while Abeka is heavy on the worksheet load...it is mainly phonics and math in 1st grade that they are working on continually. It is a lot of worksheets and fill in the blanks. HOD is not that method of learning so it can look like a lighter load when it isn't.
My ds7 is coming from K12's first grade which is a lot of busy work as well and he was neck high in the ancients time period when we withdrew at Christmas time. He could have placed in Bigger, but since I have older kids and we used HOD before doing the charter school with K12 for 2 years...I know what the older guides ask of the kids. My ds was past phonics so the ER's was a good start for him. The spelling in Beyond has 2 lists so we are doing them both this year. I don't think Beyond is any less than 1st grade Abeka in terms of scope and sequence. The amount of busy work though is very different.
Are you switching from Abeka's math and language arts? I ask because if you aren't I would suggest choosing Beyond and continuing cursive with Abeka. If you are switching, it would depend on other things. I would suggest sticking with Abeka math if it is a good fit for your student. I would also not suggest a change in language arts from Abeka if it is a good fit for your child. Language arts run on more of a CM path with HOD and Abeka is ahead in scope and sequence for language arts at this grade level for 2nd grade than HOD's Beyond or Bigger. You begin creative writing in 2nd grade with Abeka's language arts.
In Abeka, there are specific answers you are looking for on the worksheets and within the reading comprehension questions. With HOD, it is critical thinking skills without a definitive right or wrong answer sometimes in the subjects of Bible, Science, and History. In other words, your child is telling you orally or in writing what they took from the material in HOD instead of looking for a specific answer to a closed question. It is very open ended discussion and learning.
For us, Beyond was a good fit academically for ds 7 with those content based subjects-history, science, and religion. The fact that the lessons do not take all day and are not filled with worksheets and busy work has allowed us to explore outside resources. ds7 also has time to take piano, play soccer, and attend outside classes in art, music, drama, and the like. He also does an outside science class with our co-op. If I would have put him in Bigger, we would not have had that ability to pursue the outside classes and resources.
The history texts used in Beyond are actually 3rd and 4th grade resources from Christian Liberty Press. Since my ds was used to more writing, we are utilizing some notebooking pages for the history and experiment pages for the science that someone has made available on the HOD yahoo group. That would probably be my advice over moving into Bigger from 1st grade Abeka. I would probably suggest since you are switching from a different style of learning at the younger grades to not switch your math and language arts at this time b/c the goals of HOD and Abeka's scope and sequence are running on a different time line to get to the same goals. If your plan was to switch the language arts and math as well, then I would tell you to go with Bigger and do a 4-day a week schedule to make it last longer.
I considered both scenarios with my own ds coming from a very different style of learning for kindergarten and 1st grade. We also school year round. I felt it would be good for ds to adjust to the style changes of HOD in the Beyond guide while continuing his language arts and math where we had left off with k12. Have you started Abeka 2nd grade math? For us, I just continue in our guides and move on to the next level of math and language arts as we complete them.
I feel like I have rambled on and on, but hope some of this is helpful for you in your decision.

[StephanieU]

Since you school year round, i would go wtih Beyond. First, if you count backwards, Beyond would be 2nd grade. So, if you average 1 guide a year, it will work out perfectly. Second, HOD is different than traditional textbook curriculum like ABeka. It may take him a little bit to get used to the new style (as well as you getting used to things). Finally, it is always easier to beef things up in HOD than to make them simpler. So, again, Beyond would be the "winner".

Now, before you buy Beyond, you have a few things to decide. If you plan on changing to Singapore math, have him take the placement test. Singapore has a slightly different scope and sequence, so he may only place into 1B instead of 2A - which isn't a bad thing. The hands on activities for 1A and 1B are in the Beyond guide, and the activities for 2A and 2B are in the Bigger guide. After 2B, there are not "special" hands on activities in the guide, and then textbook/home instructor guides are used instead. Also consider spelling and grammar. Have you done spelling and grammar with ABeka? If so, you might want to do Preparing to Build (Rod and Staff English 2) instead of what is planned int he Beyond guide. If he is a good speller, you might also want to do the dictation in Bigger instead.

But that means you are working out of two guides. But, the good news is that after Bigger you won't. In Preparing and all subsequent guides, Carrie has plans for 2 levels for grammar, math, etc. So, you won't have to work out of two guides for long. And if you aren't using the hands-on Singapore activities, you might only need the appendix really of the second guide.

And I guess the final decision would be Emerging Readers or DITHOR. Most libraries have books on both lists. I would recommend checking a few out and see where he places. You want the reading to be easy to read without being overly simple. He should be able to read fluently and not to be overly challenged, as you want your child ot focus on comprehension instead of the physical reading of the words.

[Nealewill]

If it were me, and he is going into 2nd grade, I would probably go with Beyond. I came from Abeka with my oldest (she finished up through 2nd grade) and Bigger would have been a real challenge on her. There is a lot more writing with Bigger and even though your son can do some writing, I think he will do better with Beyond. I would take advantage of doing plenty of copy work with him and the writing activities in math using Singapore wouldn't be a problem either. This would also give him plenty of opportunity to be moving during the day and delay for one more year the need to "sit" and do more school. I am using Beyond for 2nd grade my son and it is a perfect fit!

[meganlabouff]

Thank you all very much. It's such a daunting task to look at new curriculum, but I have definitely continued to feel pulled to HOD.

He has completed most of Abeka 1st grade. We have about two months left in everything but Abeka math, which we finished early, we are currently reviewing and using bits of Mammoth Math that was gifted to us. He does well with their Language and did great with Phonics. We are going to to Singapore 1B over the summer for review purposes and then I will decide if he works best with A Beka or Singapore. I know that Singapore is a mastery approach and Abeka is a spiral approach.

After reading your comments, which I greatly appreciate, I feel better about choosing Beyond.

Thank you!