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We will be using Preparing next year. My ds will be in 5th grade, but is a little behind as far as reading level goes, maybe about 6 months behind or something like that. I know it says to use the extension pack for 5th and 6th graders, but most of those would be too hard for him. I decided to go with just the regularly scheduled readers after looking at The Bronze Bow and Adam of the Road and feeling they were too advanced for him. Some of the other ones in the extension pack however, would work for him. I think he would like the reading in the Usborne Ancient World book and the Marco Polo book. Has anyone added just some of the reading from the extension pack in addition to the regularly scheduled readers?

That's what I'm doing in Bigger with my dd and I don't think it's a problem at all! You certainly aren't taking away from the program by not adding in the extras! You might consider them as read alouds though as another option, until he builds his reading skills. Or just add those you know he can do independently. If there are some in there he finds interesting, you might find he can read them since he has interest...maybe let him choose a couple above his comfort level and just let him loose with them during the units in which they fit. (assigning the scheduled pages would just make it lose its appeal I'm sure

That's what I'm planning to do with ds when we start Bigger later this year. There are a few of the extension books that I don't think he's ready for quite yet (although maybe by then ). I'm planning on doing those as bedtime read alouds.

That wouldn't be a problem at all. I would say just look at the extension reading as a nice extra when the books are right for him. The extensions for Preparing have a separate schedule in the appendix, so you can just pencil that in on your weekly plan only for the books you want to cover. None of your weekly lessons are tied to the extension books, so there are no assignments he'll miss if he skips some of the extensions.

Also, just doing a few extensions will prevent each week from being too full for someone his age, I think. I have my son doing all the extensions but he is 12 and a strong reader. If he were younger or intimidated by the books in the extension package, we wouldn't do them. Preparing is plenty without them for the target age level of the program.

Another option to consider is requesting a few of the books (such as Bronze Bow) on audio through inter-library loan and listening to them as a family. That way it can enrich your studies without his struggling through it or making more work for mom as a read-aloud.

I like the idea of seeing if the library has some of them on audiobook. We will have about an hour in the car to and from co-op so that would work nicely.

Here are a couple of them on audio:

The Bronze Bow
http://www.amazon.com/Bronze-Bow-Elizab ... 047&sr=8-1

I know that Jim Weiss has a cd of some of Aesop's Fables. My daughter and I met him at our state homeschool convention last week. She wanted his King Arthur cd and even asked him to autograph it. His presentations were amazing!
http://www.greathall.com/products/1124-007.html

Adam of the Road
http://www.audible.com/adbl/entry/offer ... ENG_000575

Shakespeare Stealer
http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/produc ... Cookie=Yes

Hope that helps!