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Could someone make a comparison in regards to the length and frequency of writing in these two programs? Thanks!

I'm thinking you're talking about "any writing", and not just the area of "writing" instruction. I hope I got that right!
Bigger Hearts:
Copywork of the poem (1 per week)
a Cursive program (daily)
R & S grammar (we wrote about 1/3 of it, doing the other portion orally, or on markerboard; daily; about 1/2 a page skipping lines)
Dictation OR spelling words (daily)
DITHOR Student Book (Level 2/3, approximately 2-3 workbook pages a week)
Science Notebooking (1 per week; approximately 2-4 sentences)
History Notebooking (1 per week; approximately 2-4 sentences)
Science Lab report (1 paper, 1 per week, not much writing - maybe 3-5 sentences with picture)
1-3 vocab. cards for history (1 time a week)
Bible Memory Verse copied (1 time a week)
*I'm pretty sure that's everything - I did it last year, but afraid to rely just on my memory (I'm getting older, you know ), I did double-check looking at the plans. If I forgot something, someone please post it.

Preparing Hearts:
R & S Grammar (we write about 1/3 of it, same as I said above, only more like 3/4 a page or so of writing, skipping lines)
Dictation (3 x a week)
DITHOR Student Book (if you do Level 4/5, approximately 3 workbook pages a week, with more writing on a page)
Science Notebooking (2 times a week, approx. 4-6 sentences)
History Notebooking (2 times a week, approx. 4-6 sentences)
Science lab report (same as above)
3-5 vocab. cards for history (1 time a week)
Common Place book (copy Bible verse, quotations, special things from reading, probably 3-5 sentences, 1-2 times a week)
Creative Writing of a poem using RLS's poetry as a model (approx. 4 stanzas, 1 time per week)
Written Narration with history (5 sentences, 1 x a week)
Science short answer (answer 5 questions, 1 x a week)
*I am hoping I didn't forget anything, but if I did ladies - please add in what I did. I am doing PHFHG now, so I think I have it all. I guess I didn't say "timeline" for both BHFHG and PHFHG, but that comes up 1 x a week and has very minimal writing, like a label.

HTH!
In Christ,
Julie

Thank you very much for your detailed comparison. I know that must of took some time to think and type out. My dh gave me the go-ahead with my older dd (11)(I had stated on this board in the past that he was hesitant to stop using Abeka DVD's with her) and ds (9, but going into 3rd grade) to use HOD or some similar program with both of them. I really wanted to combine them. Preparing would work the best for combining both of them. Individually, though, ds would place in the higher side of Bigger, and dd would place in CTC. I really thought that we would use Preparing and tweak it some for ds, but kept on hearing that there was so much writing in it. That is the reason I asked this question. I needed to see in a more detailed fashion, the difference in the writing between the two programs. Thanks! I still need to figure this one out. Although I know my ds could handle the writing in Preparing, he would do better with the writing in Bigger. I love both programs, but do not know if I could tweak things enough to challenge dd who will be in 6th grade if I use Bigger. Yet, if I go with Preparing I feel like I will be missing out on Bigger, and my dd will not get far in her history cycle before high school. Sorry, I am rambling on. Thanks again for your help!

Hi playschool,

I came to a similar conclusion as far as placement and still really wanted to combine some areas.

Here is a link to a previous post about what we decided: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3529#p26084

Disclaimer: (Of course) this decision was made after much thought and prayer as well as sound advice from Carrie, Julie, and the other lovely mamas here. However, I did want to share with you another possible option. I know when God laid it on my heart to use HOD, that was the first step. *What* to use required a little more time.

In Him,

Playschool,
I think Angela's link to that post is really helpful. I know all families are different in their goals and approach to weighing placement options, but if you are thinking that PHFHG's writing requirements look like a lot for your younger ds, then maybe you should just go with BHFHG. I agree that it's easier to beef up a program than to simplify it, not to mention - HOD already does the beefing up part so well, in a way that still manages to link history and science together across the ages. Like Angela, you could add in the right side of either PHFHG or CTC for your older. Hmmm, just pray about it, and I have prayed about this just now for you as well. I think if we're in prayer about something, and a thought keeps coming up, like "this may just be too much for my ds", then that gives guidance about what to do. On the other hand, let's say you get BHFHG, and think you wanted something harder, you could always still get PHFHG and use BHFHG's right side of the plans for your younger ds. If you haven't done so yet, you may want to consider printing the first week of both of the guides, and laying them side by side, day by day, to see which seems to fit your wants and needs better. Here's a link to each of those first weeks' plans:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/BHFHG-first-week.pdf
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-sample-week.pdf
In Christ,
Julie

Thanks ladies. You have some very good suggestions. I printed out the first week of plans for all 3 of them, Bigger, Preparing, and CTC, a while back but am still having a difficult time deciding. In a way, I think that the amount of writing in Bigger seems too little for him, but the amount in Preparing seems a little too much for him. He falls right in between. I like the idea of using CTC science in Bigger for my older dd, but I have also thought of using 2 of Apologia's textbooks and just alternating between the two during the year, or using the age appropriate Abeka Science and getting it from CLP. I have also thought of possibly using Abeka's New World History and Geography book that my dd would be using next year if she were to continue with Abeka to beef up the history (just using the textbook and answering the chapter questions), but it covers all of the Americas including South and Central as well. SOTW also sounded like a good idea, if I were not to use Abeka to beef up history. I will just have to keep praying about it. Thanks for all of your suggestions. You have been very helpful.