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If I describe my daughter, would you be able to tell me if your program would suit her. Is your program flexible to adjust material level to child's abilities. Fyi...I started homeschooling this year and am using HOD Little Hearts with my son. Love it for him/me. We are doing great with it. It is just the perfect pace/content for him. My daughter is currently in Abeka 2nd grade dvd program. She isn't in 2nd grade level for everything. It is a very good program and we have benefited from it from the short time we have been using it, but not exactly a fit for us to keep going with. My daughter doesn't need all the rules for phonics. She has a great memory and I think if we got a program that just grouped words by word families and practiced them, she would do just fine. She reads very well and her reading comprehension is very good. She started reading in pre K. In her previous school she was working on subtraction of 3 digit numbers, carrying(regrouping). She isn't a big reader yet. She likes quick facts and information. She knows all of the cursive letters and writes fine with it. She wants to do book reports on animals. She is a mover and a shaker. We briefly tried AiG Science, the animal booklet. She loved it and learned so much. I would like a program that is a framework for me to follow also. I am not creative and do not want to have to read teachers manuals for each subject. I need simple, follow this sort of thing. I would like to keep the old hymns in a program, she enjoys those, so do I. I looked at your website and figured she would be in Bigger. Not sure about the Drawn into Reading. Is that a lot for us to jump into the first year? See, I have all these little bits and pieces of things that I think she would like and do well at, but with out a framework to plug them into, it is scary for me. Thank you in advance

HOD has a lot of the things you ar ementioning. Are you planning on using ABEKA for all of 2nd and then switching your daughter or switching now? How old is your son doing LHFHG?
What I love about HOD is that I can customize the grammar, and, handwriting, and reading/phonics for my daughter. I also love that everything is planned. We can add in fun things that my kids are interested in, but I know that if we only get HOD done, my kids are getting a solid education.

It does sound like BIgger has many of the things you are looking for, but I am wondering about age as well. Make sure you daughter is int he suggested age, as things like the Bible study are best when age appropriate. The books HOD picks for history are also best when age appropriate, as Carrie carefully selects them for the ages suggested. So. although my daughter is reading at a 3rd-4th grade level and doing Horizons Math 2, we are doing Beyond because she is only 6.5yo. She could do the work in Bigger, but she wouldn't completely understand as much of the history and Bible I think. She just needs the maturity of a 7yo to do those, which will be great for nest year.

My son is 6 yr. My daughter is 7 yr, turning 8 in one month. I may just switch all together. Just checking prior to it. Thanks

I think BIgger sounds perfect. I also really like paring down on teacher's manuals. HOD's book selections are so engaging AND informative. My 7 year old is zippy too (8 in Nov.). We used Abeka phonics for first grade, and I am looking forward to starting the emerging readers this week. Explode the Code is always a nice supplement if your child needs just a little phonics boost or supplement. You don't need the teacher's manual. You could also just review some using the handbook for reading from Abeka that you already have.

I agree Bigger Hearts sounds like a good fit for your zippy 7 yo dd! It has been a good fit for our zippy 7 yo ds. I think the Emerging Reader's Set may be a better fit for reading along with its accompanying oral comprehension questions in the Appendix. Or, at least the last 2/3 to 1/2 of it, and then DITHOR 2/3. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Just to touch base with you......My friend let me borrow her Beyond set to try it out with my daughter. She instantly loved the History. She wanted to read more. We went through a week of the lessons and with reviewing my friends Bigger book, I decided to stick with Beyond. My daughter isn't ready for the quantity of reading she would need to do in Bigger. I don't want to overwhelm her. She can read very well, but isn't at the maturity level to sit down and read chapter books yet. Also, the quantity of writing/journaling. I ordered Teaching Textbooks for her math. I did order the English 2 to go with the Beyond. I'm a little on the fence with that. And I am looking at spelling programs. And writing composition programs :/ . I saw a book Simply Wisdom. It is a Charlotte Mason style spelling book. Only dictation! Yes, Beyond has that too. I know. The lessons for LA in Beyond seem too easy for her. ? . Am I overreacting? But, if English 2 is too much we can jump back to the book. ???? I still struggle with wanting to push academics. But what I have noticed with HOD is that it does teach to the heart. It helps pace me. We have discussions and talk about our lessons. I am having faith that what lies ahead in the program will prepare her (and my son) to be successful in the world, academically and spiritually. So, I should stop looking for other programs to plug in, right

For English/grammar, one idea that Julie often suggests is to do the lessons in the guide but not just on Fridays. So, you can do them 2-5 days a week (maybe add a day in every few weeks). Then, when you are done with all 34 lessons in the Beyond guide, you can start Rod and Staff 2. We are doing it with my Beyond child,, and it isn't bad at all. We are about 40 lessons in, and because it we it almost all orally, it is pretty painless.
As for spelling, I would definitely try what is in the Beyond guide. It will probably be enough with both spelling list options. The early lists are easy, but they do definitely get harder. We were doing Spelling List 2 for the first 7-8 units. But, now by Unit 10, we have gone done to Spelling List 1 because the words are trickier, etc.

I am not sure what you mean by the quantity of reading she would need to do in Bigger. In bigger, you as the teacher still read everything to the kids. They are only reading the Emerging readers, books in general or participating in DITHOR.

As for English 2 and whether or not to start it now or wait till next year, I personally would just wait. I am wondering if both of your kids are going to be doing Beyond together? I saw that you have a 6 year old child as well. If you are planning to use Beyond for both, then I would wait. In the grand scheme of things with grammar and writing, waiting that extra year doesn't actually matter. Sounds terrible to say - yes I know LOL. But if you wait that extra year, you can teach both kids at the same time then if you wanted to. In addition, my oldest dd was test last year with standardized achievement tests and grammar isn't even on it. So I wouldn't worry about it all. Last year when we did Beyond, the weekly grammar lesson was definitely a gentle year. CM is very gentle learning until the kids reach 8 or 9. I am totally on board with too My oldest didn't have any formal grammar until last year (because that was our first year with HOD and first year with R&S) and she is fine and excelling now. We just went on a vacation and we took a fried of mine's dd with us who is 12. My dd and her were doing mad libs on the way down and my dd was teaching her grammar LOL. R&S is very advanced. So waiting a year to teach it is fine. If it were me, I would just take the extra year and wait. That way you can enjoy one more year of not having so much school.

Also - I just saw your comment about stopping looking for other programs to plug into. I am was total curriculum junkie before finding HOD. I found it last year. That was the first year I did not spend significant time looking to modify what I was already doing. HOD has been a wonderful fit, definitely paces me, we accomplish a TON and my kids are thriving academically. Last year was the first year we finished strong and can honestly look back and say it was a great year. We were able to get our school work done and time - for me this is big because I work from home and I wasn't overly stressed about working and schooling. We went on a ton of field trips. My kids also participated in co-op, music lessons, sports and AWANA (Bible memory club). And we had a wonderful summer break! And at the end of the last year, my kids were very happy with their year too. They each looked forward to school with good attitudes and were really antsy to start the next school year because they had so much fun. They got into a grove during the year and were getting school done quickly and timely. It was a great year.

I can honestly say that when the school year ended, it was a relief to no longer worry that we weren't doing enough and worry about modifying school to match my kids. I also know it was a good year because I had no intentions of look elsewhere for any different products. We just had the best year! It was an absolute blessing! And my personality is to search and research. My husband used to joke with me that every year I would always do something different. He was pleasantly surprised that I decided to stay with HOD for a second year. And he was out right extremely happy with my decision that HOD will be our fit for the long hull. We both love the teaching style, independence, variety and volume of work. My favorite part about their company is how Bible is woven through out and everything is examined through the lens of the Bible. I love that there are hands on activities and such a variety of interesting books to read. For me - my kids aren't avid readers and HOD is lit a fire in their hearts to read more books. Yah!!! As look to future guides, I must admit I am a little intimidated by the volume but definitely think my kids will rise to the occasion. Academically, they are on target and above. I teach college classes as well and I fully believe HOD will more than prepare my kids for any path they chose in life. I am so thankful to Carrie, Julie and their families for creating and publishing this wonderful curriculum. Only in heaven will God reveal how many she has touched.

Nealewill wrote:I am not sure what you mean by the quantity of reading she would need to do in Bigger. In bigger, you as the teacher still read everything to the kids. They are only reading the Emerging readers, books in general or participating in DITHOR.

As for English 2 and whether or not to start it now or wait till next year, I personally would just wait. I am wondering if both of your kids are going to be doing Beyond together? I saw that you have a 6 year old child as well. If you are planning to use Beyond for both, then I would wait. In the grand scheme of things with grammar and writing, waiting that extra year doesn't actually matter. Sounds terrible to say - yes I know LOL. But if you wait that extra year, you can teach both kids at the same time then if you wanted to. In addition, my oldest dd was test last year with standardized achievement tests and grammar isn't even on it. So I wouldn't worry about it all. Last year when we did Beyond, the weekly grammar lesson was definitely a gentle year. CM is very gentle learning until the kids reach 8 or 9. I am totally on board with too My oldest didn't have any formal grammar until last year (because that was our first year with HOD and first year with R&S) and she is fine and excelling now. We just went on a vacation and we took a fried of mine's dd with us who is 12. My dd and her were doing mad libs on the way down and my dd was teaching her grammar LOL. R&S is very advanced. So waiting a year to teach it is fine. If it were me, I would just take the extra year and wait. That way you can enjoy one more year of not having so much school.

Sorry, when I referred to the quantity of reading it was for the DITHOR! I looked at going into that too. haha I am not planning on combining my two. They are very different and I just don't see combining them as an option right now. Combining would be easier for me, but I right now I will continue to keep them in their own books. The red one for my son and blue for my daughter. He is just doing soooo well in the blue that I don't want to mess with anything!

Oh, I see Yes, I like having my kids separate too My kids are all 18 months apart so you would think that combining them would be great. However, for us, combining is terrible I love that everyone does their own thing.

angelpie2276 wrote:I am having faith that what lies ahead in the program will prepare her (and my son) to be successful in the world, academically and spiritually. So, I should stop looking for other programs to plug in, right

HOD is a complete program. You do not need to add anything. When we started with HOD, I already had several years of another curriculum. I tried to combine them so the other wouldn't go to waste. My kids far and away preferred everything HOD. We have long since stopped adding anything extra to our school day and the kids are doing very well. I love that I can complete a day of plans with HOD and know all of the bases are covered. Anything else we add is purely out of interest or just for fun and not as a formal supplement to our school day. Since each day of plans is carefully balanced, my kids have plenty of time to pursue personal interests after their "official" school day is over.

StephanieU wrote:For English/grammar, one idea that Julie often suggests is to do the lessons in the guide but not just on Fridays. So, you can do them 2-5 days a week (maybe add a day in every few weeks). Then, when you are done with all 34 lessons in the Beyond guide, you can start Rod and Staff 2. We are doing it with my Beyond child,, and it isn't bad at all. We are about 40 lessons in, and because it we it almost all orally, it is pretty painless.
As for spelling, I would definitely try what is in the Beyond guide. It will probably be enough with both spelling list options. The early lists are easy, but they do definitely get harder. We were doing Spelling List 2 for the first 7-8 units. But, now by Unit 10, we have gone done to Spelling List 1 because the words are trickier, etc.

That is an excellent idea! I will do that. Thank you!