heartofdakota.com

Hi everyone!
When I looked at the first week samples for each program they seemed to teach the same things, but Beyond had a more active and playful approach, while Bigger seemed to do more "telling" to the child. Is this approach consistent through both programs (Beyond-more play oriented and Bigger more telling oriented)? I think both my almost 9yo ds and my newly turned 7yo ds would both enjoy the more active approach to learning, but I don't want to keep my older from doing the academics that are geared more to his level.

For those of you who have done Beyond or Bigger or both, what do you think? Should I combine both programs and take the best of both?

FYI: We just did a year of American History via biographies with Beautiful Feet Early Amer. Primary. Both my boys have done some copywork, no grammer, no writing, great handwriting, no dictation, and Rightstart Math B & C. Both are finished with reading instruction, and can read well. I am looking to include my 4yo a bit and my 2yo in some of our studies. I'm looking to integrate them all at their own levels. I am also looking to have a playful and fun year. Relationship, character and discipline are actually higher goals for us than academics this coming year. However, I don't want ds 9 to be bored or understimulated. I love all I've seen of HOD and want to make it work without stressing myself or the kids like I have before.

Thanks for any advice!
Julia

Julia,

Hi! I've done Bigger (not Beyond yet as we found HOD last year). My son and I had a wonderful time this year!!! I would say that Bigger is very active, too. I'll give you a few links of the week-in-review posts that show some of the "action" we had this year.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1855
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2068
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3097&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

There are tons more posts on the week-in-review threads that show the learning in both Beyond and Bigger. I can tell you that in Bigger, you'll be reading aloud to your child daily from the history and science book. These readings are short...like 5-10 min each daily. For history, there is a activity weekly, artistic expression weekly, geography weekly. Those are all hands-on things that go with the history reading. In science you do one notebooking page weekly, and 2 experiments weekly. I can tell you that there's plenty of activity here. My personal favorite part of it is that it's purposeful activity, it's something that my son can do (not watch me do), and it's EASY to pull off and quick!! I know that Carrie put a lot of effort into making the activities truly use items that I have on hand. My son has LOVED all the activities that we've done this year...most likely because we've actually done them. I was one who always thought that hands-on things sounded good, but then never got around to actually doing them because I either didn't have what I needed, thought it was a project that would take more time than we had, etc... This year I've had no excuse, and we've made wonderful memories! I'm so thankful for this part of HOD.

I'm sure that your boys would love Bigger. But I know Beyond is great, too. If I were you, I'd check out the placement chart link on the home page and see where they fit best and start there. Either guide will meet your fun and active and Biblically based learning criteria. Carrie has done great with this!! (Maybe because God has given her 4 boys. )

My little 2 who were ages 4 and 2 this past year, joined in on several of our fun things this year. Jumping contests, making "pop", watching the reaction on baking soda and vinegar, mining for gold... I was also using Little Hands to Heaven with them. It is a wonderful program for their ages. My kids and I LOVED it! You can "see" a sampling of our learning on the threads above, too. It only takes 20-30 min per day, and was very doable for me to add to Bigger. You might want to give that a try along with whichever program you choose for the boys.

Kathleen

I am just finishing up Beyond, it was also our first year with HOD. My ds turned 8 this month and dd is 4 1/2, she did all the art and activities with us.

We'll be moving on to Bigger and LHTH.

Yes, look at the placement chart and see where they fall.

Thank you for your responses! I have checked the placement chart, but still felt unsure. This has been very helpful! I will look at those links and see what I can find.

I'm also curious about the grammar instruction in Beyond. How much and how explicit? Do they learn the grammar terms, or just gain expeience by working wiht the concepts? I know I am asking a lot of questions...I'm just looking for more specifics.

Thank you for taking your time!
Julia

rjperez1 wrote:Thank you for your responses! I have checked the placement chart, but still felt unsure. This has been very helpful! I will look at those links and see what I can find.

I'm also curious about the grammar instruction in Beyond. How much and how explicit? Do they learn the grammar terms, or just gain expeience by working wiht the concepts? I know I am asking a lot of questions...I'm just looking for more specifics.

Thank you for taking your time!
Julia

Julia,

The ladies are doing such a great job of helping you out here! We have done both Beyond and Bigger Hearts, and they are both wonderful programs with very different approaches. Beyond teaches American history (1500's - 1800's) primarily through famous historical events, and Bigger Hearts teaches American history (up through the 1970's) primarily biographically. We LOVED both of these guides and learned so much from them.

Your dc's ages are 7 and 9, and from the skills that you've described they have, Bigger Hearts sounds like the best placement, especially since you mentioned being worried about challenging your older child enough. Bigger Hearts will definitely do that! Neither program is in any way boring - exactly the opposite - incredibly exciting! You are in for so much fun!

I would not try to combine 2 programs, as you will lose all of the continuity and flow of each of them. Combining your 2 dc in Bigger Hearts should be a great fit. There are several LA and math choices to customize Bigger further for each of your dc. I've listed the easier of each choice first which would more than likely fit your 7 yo, and the harder choice last, which would more than likely fit your 9 yo.
Choices: spelling lists or dictation; math 2A/2B or 3A/3B; Emerging Reader's Set or DITHOR.

You could also choose to have your 9 yo copy the poetry and your 7 yo copy only part of the poetry or do a handwriting book, like A Reason for Handwriting A.

In Bigger Hearts, the grammar is R & S English Level 2 done daily. It is excellent, and I think you could do it with the 2 of them. In Beyond, the grammar is done once a week in a gentle way through activities. It introduces the parts of speech. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Julia,

I would also lean toward doing Bigger Hearts with your kiddos. You may need to ease your 7 year old son into some of the writing, however your kiddos would fit well in the target age range for that guide. If you've also just completed BF Early American history, then a repeat of Stories of the Pilgrims and Boys and Girls of Colonial Days wouldn't be your best choice at this point (as those books are used in Beyond as the core read-alouds for history).

If you have other questions, ask away. We love to help!

Blessings,
Carrie