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Hi, I wanted a bit of advice. I bought Bigger to use this year, and Preparing for next year....I wondered if anyone using P who has used B can tell me how much harder it seems. My son is 8.5 and we are using R&S 3 with no problems, plus 25 new spelling words daily (from Sequential Spelling book 2 ). Great on both---he rarely makes a mistake. We use all of Bigger, except we were using Saxon math but are switching to Singapore soon. He was almost done with saxon 3. Anyway, my son is really advanced on most things, excpet for math which he is on grade level I would say, and writing....I have never been one to push him to to write, as his arm tires. Maybe I just need to make him practice more! He has exceptional reading skills, artistic ability, and can comprehend, remember, and narrate tremendous amounts. He reads stuff like the Narnia books...like one per day. So, Bigger is WONDERFUL, and we are using all 3 sets of readers (classic, boy and girl interest) and the Expansion pack. This is not a strain for him, he LOVES reading more than anything else. I really think he could dig in better with the meatier topics and projects of Preparing.....I think he would actually prefer more....especially with the history and science. my ONLY hesitation is the amount of writing. Should we continue using Bigger, and just let it be a bit light, or go to Preparing, and let him pare back the writing a bit or do a bit of it for/with him? I think other than that, it would be a great fit for where he is. I don't mind waiting to use Bigger later---my daughter will get to it soon enough!
What do y'all think we should do? I am not stressed because no matter what, we LOVE ALL of HOD!!!!

Well, I am having the opposite problem and need advice. My 8 yo dd is on her 4th unit of Preparing and it is still taking her forever, and she is not enjoying it. She is balking over the writing and not always doing as well as I would expect with some of the comprehension questions. I did not read the posts about reducing the number of vocab words until after she had done vocab last week, so maybe that will help but I would rather do something that would be easier for her than water down Preparing. I do my own schedule for math and grammar, so this would not change if I switched to Bigger. My concern is that I was planning on using Bigger in combination in 2 years with her younger brother and the extension pack for her. However, perhaps it is preferable to do what fits her better this year, as who knows what might be going on in 2 years?
Anyway, let me see if I have any information that might help you. The 1st day of science has ind. reading and notebooking - usually a Bible verse, drawing and labeling, followed by copying a paragraph of text. Day 1 also has a dictation exercise- you choose from 3 different levels in the appendix. It also has a Research box in which the students research a topic in an encyclopedia or wikipedia.org - this is not written work but my dd has had trouble scanning and finding info (or at least the answers to the questions listed). I did notice today that the directions do say to answer one or more of the questions - we have always done all of them!
On day 2, you rewrite lines of the poem, but I do this writing for her - it says students may copy or type changes if desired. Day 3 asks for written answers to science reading questions. Dictation is done on days 3 and 4. On day 4 they dictate a history narration to you and then copy it. They also record their science experiment and copy their Bible verses. Also, their ind. history work asks for copywork 1 to 2 days a week.
Also, remember Preparing is a 4 day a week guide, so you can think about if this would be better for you or not. I would recommend trying some of Preparing week 1 available online such as the research and Bible study. Also, several of the reading assignments are from the Bible, so you could try these and see how he does. The 1st science book is a One Small Square, which might be at your library. I am planning on trying the 1st unit of Bigger next week - I discovered most of the resources for the 1st week are available online or at my library.
You might be very happy with Preparing, perhaps just modifying the amount of writing. It doesn't really look like that much writing when I made the list, so I can't always tell what is attitude and what is pushing her too much. Also, your son might do better with modifying - if I let mine modify much, suddenly everything is negotiable and it makes things worse. So I am wondering if I would be better off with a guide that I would have to modify except to add a few things (maybe adding reader packs like you have done).
Hopes this helping you, and maybe you can help me!

Kathy

Ladies,

I'll pop in to answer both of you here. First off, I'll qualify my comments by saying that placing your child in a new program can be tough, but once your little sweetie's have the right fit, it will be much smoother sailing.

I had to smile at the totally opposite concerns you have going on here! That just shows the diversity among homeschool families and the challenges in finding the "right fit for your family". There is not one pat answer with HOD, as we look at each individual situation. But, that is also why HOD is different, as we look specifically at each family to get the best recommendation for you.

Meg,

I'd say if you are enjoying your school year and your son isn't ready for a ton of writing, I'd give him a year to grow into the writing skills required in Preparing. That way you won't continually be modifying writing assignments as you go up through the levels of HOD guides. By adding more reading material you are raising the level to meet his areas of strength already. I also think you won't want to jump up to Rod and Staff 4 anytime soon, so I'd just enjoy Rod and Staff 3. If you haven't gotten into DITHR, I would definitely do that (if budget allows). Many of the skills in Bigger will make Preparing easier all around, so you're building great skills too. My own second son was 8 and 1/2 doing Bigger, and we had a ball! Now, he's 9 and 1/2 and heading into Preparing very confidently. So that's what I'd advise, but you'd know best!

Kathy,

With what you've shared, I'd recommend down-sizing to Bigger, if budget allows. Many of the skills in Bigger would be stepping-stones to help your daughter be more successful with Preparing. Also, another year of maturity as a writer would go a long way in helping her with Preparing. If you've never done much of a CM-style education in the past, then the narrating, copywork, dictation, written narration, etc. will feel new, so a year in Bigger would really help cement those skills.

You can return anything that is unused from Preparing to help make the transition to Bigger less expensive. Using HOD is typically a freeing and joyful experience, so if you're running up against daily challenges in quite a few areas, it's a good idea to rethink the placement.

I applaud both of you for being so in tune with your kiddos education and so heartfelt in wanting the very best for them.
Blessings,
Carrie