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Ok, we have been doing Bigger and Little Hearts. I am continuing Little Hearts with my 4, almost 5 year old. I have everything for Bigger, but am thinking about dropping it for now and doing Preparing (which I just bought) for my boys who will be 8, 10 and 11 when I start. The only reason I decided to drop Bigger was because I will be doing it again in two years and two kids will fall in that age range, or there abouts (7 and 10) and I didn't want to get burned out doing three programs each year.

So... my question revolves around DITHOR and the the self-study package and extention package. I have DITHOR. Do I have to do the self-study and extentions in Preparing if my kids all do DITHOR on their level or higher? I have COPIOUS amounts of books around here and extra self-study material would be nice to follow the guide exactly, but not too justifiable in light of my home library. Oh, I am having my older boys read through some of the extention material from Bigger too, like A Child's History of America and Pedro's Journal. I have it, they have started it, and will finish it.

I am looking for "permission" to drop the Preparing Extentions to save money. I do have a couple of those books already like the Shakespears Stealer and Bronze Bow for my oldest to do with DITHOR.

friendly bump

Carrie,

I think I'm confused about what you're asking. As far as deciding between Bigger Hearts and Preparing Hearts goes, you'll want to check the placement chart (paying the most attention to the first page of the chart) to see where each of your kiddos fits individually (all combining scenarios aside). Then, you can take a look at possible combining scenarios to see whether Bigger or Preparing would be a better fit for your older kiddos.

As far as Preparing Hearts goes, if your 3 older kiddos fit well within that program on the placement chart, you would want to consider the Deluxe Package for the 8 year old (and possibly the 10 year old) and then the Extension Package for the 11 year old. The 11 year old would most likely need the Extension Pack to extend the learning for that child's age level, unless your 11 year old is not a strong reader.

Blessings,
Carrie