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Hi, I'm new to posting although I have been "lurking" trying to find the answer to my question. My son is 7 and almost finished with LHFHG as a first grader. I am thinking ahead to next year and am considering doing this program again, but as a 2nd grader. I know there are second grade spelling lists, the Singapore 2 books, and I could probably do a different book pack for Phonics and the ideas for other books for Storytime. My question is what could I do for History? I love how the History is usually tied into the Science and Art, so I am struggling in what I could do here that would be comparable. He is an excellent reader, so we could maybe even go into DITHOR. But after looking over the curriculum for BHFHG, I think we may do better with repeating LHFHG on the second grade level. Any ideas for History and Science? (Oh, I should add that I will have a 5 year old beginning Kindergarten and a newborn by then, so I am thinking a lighter year may be better for us all...as in doing what we know, just stepping it up a little.) Thanks for your help!

Jen,

I just wanted to say hello and welcome! I am sorry, I am no help here (I know, not what you wanted to hear) however, I know as soon as others view your post you will be given many suggetions.

Candice

Hi Jen. If you really think repeating is best I have a suggestion because we are stretching it out over two years here in our family. Not quite repeating it but stretching instead. But have you looked in that appendix? There are some awesome suggestions.

Here is what I did to stretch it out. About 99% of it comes from the appendix which has awesome suggestions! And some books I just plain wanted on my shelf as well as some very economical things and some things we already had. If you email me privately I will tell you what we did if you are interested. I do not want to list it here because it really gives out her book list publicly and that is not right to do. However very happy to share what I came up with if you are interested. Otherwise honestly there is a whole extra program in that appendix alone. Carrie suggests stretching it out over tow years rather than doing it twice. We are doing it that way but if I were in your shoes having already pretty much completed it I would not hesitate to do it again and use what is in the appendix. Our focus in extending the history and doing a Chronological Bible story study using the Egermeier's and some other sources she suggests.

Hi! If he's almost finished with Little Hearts For His Glory, I think he'll be ready to move on to Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory, as it is targeted for first and second graders. Carrie's programs have a nice way of preparing your kids for the next level. You could always move more slowly through Beyond if you felt he needed that.
Did you say you were looking at Bigger Hearts for his Glory?? That would actually be skipping-Beyond Little Hearts is probably just perfect!

Sorry, I wrote my curriculum wrong....He is finishing Beyond Little Hearts as a 1st grader and I am considering doing this again as a 2nd grader. I don't know that he will be ready for Bigger Hearts. Sorry for the confusion!!

Jen wrote:Sorry, I wrote my curriculum wrong....He is finishing Beyond Little Hearts as a 1st grader and I am considering doing this again as a 2nd grader. I don't know that he will be ready for Bigger Hearts. Sorry for the confusion!!

Oh! ok
In that case, I still think if he is almost finished with Beyond, he will be fine moving up to the next level. I am using Bigger Hearts with a 3rd and 4th grader, but we never used HOD before this year, so it was nice to ease into Carrie's style. If he has gone through Beyond, I don't think Bigger will be too hard-you can move more slowly with Bigger if you felt he needed it, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised-I know there are some moms on here that are using Bigger with a 2nd grader and it is working well. It covers a lot, but is not overwhelming-everything is still in "bite-sized" pieces. I think it really is written with 2nd to 3rd grade in mind.
A word on English-if the Rod and Staff 2 is too much writing, you can certainly do some of the work orally or on a white board, which work well for my younger girl who really could not write more than a sentence when we first started-just because her hands were not ready! She's doing much more written now as we approach week 15.
Also-if he's not ready for cursive, just don't do it.
I hope that helps

Hi Jen! Great to have you here!

blessedmomof4 wrote: I know there are some moms on here that are using Bigger with a 2nd grader and it is working well. It covers a lot, but is not overwhelming-everything is still in "bite-sized" pieces.

I agree with Lourdes' advice here 100%! I am one of these moms. We're in Week 19 of Bigger..., and my son just turned 8 in Dec. Like you, we did Beyond... before starting Bigger... It really was excellent preparation for Bigger, and I think your son will do just fine. The target ages for Bigger... (without the extension pack) are ages 7-9, so your son fits that just right. That does give you a bit of play, which I have always loved about HOD's programs. If you want, you could begin with doing just the left side of the plans one day, and then the right side of the plans the next day. We did that for about a week or two, just to get our feet wet, and the transition was a smooth one. You could continue that as long as you feel you need to - however, I am confident your son will make the transition just fine.

As far as the writing, I also agree with Lourdes about the R & S. We always do all but 10 or fewer problems orally, and my ds is doing very well with it. I just let him pick which part he wants to do in the notebook, and he of course is very savvy about choosing the least amount to write - which is fine with me because he's still getting it all correct orally with me as well as with whatever little part he writes. Also, cursive can wait if need be. I do think Cheerful Cursive is a gentle start to cursive, and it really is pretty much pressure-free, but I'm sure you know your ds best!

I also think you and your ds would really enjoy doing DITHOR, but you could always begin that a little later if you wanted. We do it just 3 days a week and have loved it.

Jen wrote: I should add that I will have a 5 year old beginning Kindergarten and a newborn by then

I have that now! We could be twins! My almost 5 year old is doing LHFHG, and I have a 10 mo. old baby! We also did the half of the plans thing first with LHFHG, left side one day, right side next day, to begin with. We actually did that for quite awhile until ds began begging for all of it each day - a small hint we were ready for it all, I guess. So, now we're doing it all. Since we have the same situation for the most part, I feel very happy assuring you that you can do these 2 programs together.

Well, I hope that helps somewhat! If anything else comes to mind, just give a shout! It'll be great to get to know you - welcome to the board!

Thanks so much for all your help and ideas. I am already feeling more confident about moving forward and going with Bigger. It's good to hear of your success with the same age children and also some that sound just like mine (choosing the smallest portion to write is my son exactly!)

Jen,

There are actually quite a few moms using "Bigger..." with second graders out there! When coming up from "Beyond...", we usually find those little ones are ready. They sometimes need just a little nudge. The moms gave you great advice about feeling free to start slowly and just ease into "Bigger...". Then, you can speed up when you hit your stride!

Blessings,
Carrie

my3sons wrote:

blessedmomof4 wrote: I should add that I will have a 5 year old beginning Kindergarten and a newborn by then

Hey, I didn't say that-must have been my alter ego

I'm so sorry! My quoting issues have surfaced yet again here! I'll attempt to fix it!

WHEW! It's fixed... I almost had you having a kindergartner in LHFHG along with all of the rest you've got going on - probably a bit too much, hmmmm (not to mention just not right)! Sorry about that!

Can I ask, what is the advantage of stretching this for a two year program? I have a DD who will be 5 when we start LHFHG and just assumed we would do one program a year. At that rate will she not be ready for some of the other programs? Sorry I'm a little confused.

crlacey wrote:Can I ask, what is the advantage of stretching this for a two year program? I have a DD who will be 5 when we start LHFHG and just assumed we would do one program a year. At that rate will she not be ready for some of the other programs? Sorry I'm a little confused.

The programs themselves are typically a year each, although many times we moms stretch them out a bit longer due to busy seasons in our lives or to give our kids time to mature a little before moving on, or just because we enjoy chasing down rabbit trails with our kids.

Some people do a program 5 days a week every week till its done, some stretch it a bit due to 4 day weeks, some stretch it even longer. That's the beauty of homeschooling, you do what fits your family.

Did that help at all?