REALLy confused

[cdrx4]

Hey Ladies!
I am so confused about what curriculum I should have gotten for my ds. When I did the placement test, he placed into Preparing. I ordered the cirriculum and then had second thoughts because this would be totally new for him ( coming from a private school who did Abeka ) and he wouldnt be used to the dictation, etc. Also partly because I wanted him to do US history. He has touched on it last year in the second grade, but it looked more in depth with HOD. So I wanted him to have US before we started World. so I returned Preparing and ordered Bigger.
Now, I just got his SAT scores back from this past year and he has placed as "advanced" in all his subjects with the exception of Math (which was "proficient") and Spelling (which was "basic"). Now I am thinking I should have kept the Preparing...???
I am in such desprate need of help! Should I return Bigger and get Preparing again or should I order the teachers book for Preparing and just use the History part of Bigger?
Any help would be so greatly appreciated. As you can tell this will be the first time I have homeschooled and I am so stressed about getting the right thing for my children.

Thanks.

[Kathleen]

I think that you'll be just fine with Bigger. I used it this past year with my son who was 8 at the time and ready for "3rd" grade. He also was considered "advanced" in testing and was coming from a text-book style learning. It was the perfect intro to a more CM style learning for us. Don't worry...there is plenty to engage his mind in all of the readings that you'll be doing. I can say with confidence that you will have a wonderful, memory-making year packed with learning and spiritual growth!

For math, if you're planning on switching to Singapore, you'll want to take their placement test as it's much different than Abeka. If you're continuing with Abeka or something else, then you'll just move on on your own. My guess is that your son will be ready for the dictation in Bigger rather than the spelling list. The words in the dictation passages will most likely seem quite easy, but dictation is about way more than just the spelling of the words. THey have to remember capital letters and punctuation, too. The goal is to see them written correctly, so NOT missing them is the point. I know that we were several weeks in before my son had to repeat a passage. I figured that going through the effort of doing it correctly was still excellent practice even though it wasn't very challenging for him yet. We had used Abeka's 2nd grade language, and went into R&S 2 with Bigger. It was also a smooth trasition, and covers things that the Abeka workbook did not.

So, I think you're a-ok with your plan.
Kathleen

[WigglesMom]

My dd8 placed in Preparing also. She was coming out of public school 3rd grade. She is in advanced on everything on the ILEAP. I chose to do BHFHG with her instead. I am so glad that I did. She was not used to the narration, dictation, really thinking through and listening to reading. They had study guides and used rote memory and textbook/workbook and AR reading at public school. She needed this year to learn the HOD format and to get her listening and narrating skills down before moving to more independence in PHFHG.
She had never done poetry, dictation, and had only used textbooks in school.
I am glad that I chose not to place her in PHFHG and went with my gut Mommy instinct to put her in BHFHG. We have 6 weeks under our belt and I can see the difference already in her notebooking and narrating skills. This is also the first time that I have homeschooled also. We are having the best time. I think you will love BHFHG. My dd8 did have a learning curve to going from less workbook/memory style learning to CM style lessons and living books. I heard many a time this isn't the way we did at school the first few weeks. So don't be surprised if you hear that and don't take it as a reflection of the curriculum or your teaching.
I would trust my instincts, start BHFHG, and enjoy the first year of homeschooling.
Val

[asenik]

I am finding HOD to be much richer than it looks at first glance or on the sample pages, so I would stay with Bigger, if I were you. I found out the hard way with my oldest that it is a lot easier to enrich something that is not enough than to back down from something that is too hard. I doubt Bigger will be too easy, since it is so different from what you are used to, but if it is, you can always buy the extension books or add in a foreign language or some other extra to challenge your child. I would start your school year, and go at least the first six weeks and see how it goes.

Best Wishes!

Shelly

[juliekay]

I think that Bigger is an excellent choice! I did Bigger this past year with a 5th and 6th grader. You and your son will be more than challenged, but not so much so that you will miss out on the fun and adventure of U.S. History. If you find that he still needs more add the Extension books! I think you will also find that with the introduction to narration and dictation and if you are also adding DITHR - you'll be plenty busy! We LOVED Bigger! We sure hope you will too!

[cdrx4]

What a blessing this board and you Mom's are! Thank you so much for the feedback, you dont know how much I appreciate them!
I feel so much better hearing from you that have been through this before and I think I will stick with what I have!
I do have another question though, please forgive me!
I am not sure how the extention packs work? What are they and what do they extend?
Thank you for all of your help, you have helped me more than I could express:)

[juliekay]

I am not sure how the extention packs work? What are they and what do they extend?
Thank you for all of your help, you have helped me more than I could express:)

The extension packs are to extend the curriculum for older students - mostly through additional reading. Since you already have the book - Open up to the back of Bigger and you will see an additional schedule for the extension packs. I would wait on ordering these extra books until you actually use the curriculum for a week or two. Enjoy!

[WigglesMom]

Since I had bought BHFHG and she had placed into PHFHG, I thought doing the extensions was the perfect answer to making sure she was getting enough in her learning. I bought the Child's Story of America and Exploring Planet Earth spines, but was going to use the library for the rest. I am glad that I did because 2 weeks into BHFHG with extensions and I realized that the extensions were too much for my dd after transitioning out of ps. BHFHG was plenty all by itself. So I agree with the previous poster about not buying them out right at first. I may pick back up only those 2 spines (the history and science) later, but I don't think I will want to or that she would want to or need to for BHFHG to be a great fit for us.
Val

[threegreatkids]

Sounds like you are all set with your decisions, congratulations! Just wanted to throw in the thought that standardized tests are quite limited in what they can test. It's always super to get great test results back (kind of a confirmation that we're not academically wrecking our dc ) but they are only part of the picture, and you know your son the best!
Was anyone else a straight A student as a kid, but now learning TONS as a homeschool Mom that you never learned in school? From what I've seen so far the type of learning that occurs in HOD is the kind that will produce a truly educated person. I can't wait to see what my 8 and 9 y.o.'s will learn in Bigger...but I'm also so excited that I will learn along with them!

[my3sons]

It sounds like you've settled on a good decision! While normally I'd say go with the placement chart's findings, I think it's also important to consider the other concerns you've mentioned - transitioning from ps, first year of homeschooling, would enjoy American history, ordered PHFHG and it looked too hard - I wouldn't throw out all of these considerations in light of standardized testing scores. I think you've made a very solid decision and will have a wonderfully fulfilling year with Bigger Hearts! I agree that it is a good idea to hold off on the extension pack until you get into Bigger Hearts a bit. I think you'll find it's enough all on its own, and I'm excited for you to start your homeschooling journey with your ds - have fun with it, you've got some terrific days ahead of you!

In Christ,
Julie

[Kathleen]

Was anyone else a straight A student as a kid, but now learning TONS as a homeschool Mom that you never learned in school?

Yep! Me, too! Getting to learn alongside my kids is definitely a perk of homeschooling. You'll have tons of fun learning in Bigger. Now I'm chomping at the bit to dive into Preparing.

Kathleen

[my3sons]

That would fit me as well - who would have thought I could ever learn to love history? That used to bore me to tears in high school. Now, HOD has gotten me so enthused about history that I'm reading historical biographies for FUN - I never would have imagined that. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one!

In Christ,
Julie