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Hi All! Sorry to ask, but I really need placement advice. We have never used HOD before...I have poured over the placement charts and still do not know which program would be best. I am trying to decide between BHFHG and PHFHG. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

I have soon-to-be 9 year old twins; one is dyslexic and struggles with reading, the other is an advanced reader but an extremely reluctant writer. Neither write or read in cursive. We use All About Reading for my dyslexic daughter, and will continue to do so, and Math U See for both. I'm confident my son is ready for DITHOR, but not sure which level would be best because I want to make sure he is fully comprehending and gaining the most from each book. I really like the American History part of BHFHG and find that content to be the most appealing, but I don't know if it is enough? I want the children engaged and challenged, but not overly challenged to the point that they are frustrated all the time. In looking at the placement charts, we are kind of split down the middle. Your help and advice is greatly appreciated. ♥

I would go with Bigger if you are deciding between Bigger and Preparing. It is always best to go lower and beef up if necessary than to have to modify things.
As for DITHOR, I would definitely go with the 2/3 workbook. Some of the books in DITHOR are easily found at a library. I would check out a few of them (or view a sample page online) and see which level (2 or 3) is best. You want a book he can read easily but isn't TOO easy. The focus is on literary analysis, not on actually reading the words.
And Bigger will be challenging enough for young 9yos! If you look at the books HOD uses, they are easily 3rd-4th grade if not higher. If you want to, you could do some of the extension books as well more as read-alouds. I think two are actually listed as storytime options already. They just add to the history and science in Bigger.

Thank you for the advice, Stephanie. Do you know how the extension packages work? I'm really quite confused by all of this.

I also think Bigger is the way to go. It will give you a solid start in HOD and allow your kiddos to grow into the various skills. I wouldn't worry about it not being enough, there are lots of skills in Bigger.

Would you also recommend going with R&S English 2 still, or moving up to 3?

As for Rod and Staff, what have they had for grammar so far?

As for the extensions, Carrie has a schedule in the appendix for what to read daily from them. She also recommends that they do oral narrations, written narrations, and other work, but that woudln't be necessary for a 9yo at all. That is more for a 10-11yo doing Bigger, combined with a younger sibling. Personally, I would just read the history ones that you can get ahold of, as they just add to the history even more!

I think going with Bigger is great. No need for extensions as they fall in the age range. Do DITHOR 2/3. Choose level 2 books for your dyslexic son and 3 or 4/5 for your older son. I would advise you to do R&S 2. Hardly any writing. A nice easy intro to grammar. I'm just finishing up using 3 with Bigger and I regret it. Carrie says 3 can be used for grades 3-5. I wish I had have held off to do 3 with Preparing, when she'll be in grade 4.

Thank you all for the GREAT advice. I am certain and SOOO excited to go ahead with Bigger. YAY! Thanks again.

I think your kids will absolutely love Bigger. My son is almost finished with it and it has been a very challenging and engaging year! Even my oldest (10) has jumped in to listen to some of history and sciences readings along with completing some of the activities. And Bigger will definitely get your kids writing! There is regularly scheduled copy work. That will give your kids a boat load of writing confidence for when they move into doing more independent writing. I am literally and absolutely amazed at the shear volume of writing my little guy can do because of all of the notebooking activities and copywork he has completed already. It has truly been a fantastic year!

On a side note, I think waiting a year to do Preparing would be great as well. Once you begin Preparing, your kids will begin taking on some of the reading assignments for history and all of the reading assignments for science. That is such a tricky age for each child because no two kids are alike. Last year my oldest completed Preparing and she struggled with a lot of dyslexic tendencies as well and Preparing helped build her confidence in reading along with his her desire and passion to want to read. My son will be completing Preparing next year and he did have to use Level 2 and 3 of All About Reading before he could really read (he has auditory processing disorder). He also completed about 1/2 of level 4 but by then, he caught the reading bug, his reading skills took off exponentially, and we dove head first into every living book we could find I will say that once a child finishes Level 3 of All About Reading, they are prepared to complete the reading in Preparing. I am not sure how far along you are but I just wanted to throw that comment in to help you gage the reading level of the books that the kids would complete with Preparing and how it compares with AAR.

Sounds like a great year ahead. I know you'll enjoy it!!