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We are still going back in forth between using Bigger or Preparing next year for dd (11) and ds (9). I saw on a previous post that Carrie recommends H.E. Marshall's book This Country of Ours. I noticed that it has 99 chapters. Would it be necessary to read the entire book in one school year to beef up the history for the 6th grader? I am afraid my dd would be anxious just seeing the length of such a book. How would you schedule this? Is there any other book that Carrie would recommend for a 6th grader in Bigger who is a more reluctant reader? Do you think that Exploring American History from CLP or Abeka New World History and Geography would work? They are a little shorter and this kind of reading she could handle better. Also, I have an added question. To beef up the Science for her, what does Carrie recommend? Would an Apologia Elementary Science book be sufficient for this? I know that is one of her recommendations to beef up science in Preparing. Thanks!

playschool,

If you have a 6th grader whose a reluctant reader then I'd most likely just stay with the Extension Package of Bigger Hearts "as is" and use A Child's Story of America as scheduled as your beefing up the program for her. Cathy Duffy actually lists A Child's Story of America as being a terrific American history spine for a variety of ages in her Top 100 Picks, so you'd be fine with that route. The "beefing up through extra independent readings" (on top of the Extension Pack) works well for strong, independent readers as it doesn't add any additional time to the teacher's day. However, we definitely don't want Bigger to become a negative experience, so I'd go the Extension Pack alone route instead. The Extension Pack actually is very solid in its content and does a good job of raising the level of history in Bigger Hearts.

Blessings,
Carrie