Anyone teaching CtC & Bigger Hearts??

[DHT1999]

If you are teaching both CtC and Bigger Hearts, I have a question. Do you combine for the read-alouds? If you do, which set are you using?

We love read-alouds and it's hard for me to even imagine having too many to read, so that's not really a concern for me. I don't want to expose my youngest listener to books that may be too much for him. He is a mature listener but I don't want to confuse him with too much talk of false gods and pagan beliefs. I will be using CtC with a 6th grader, so I think the History set will be necessary. I thought about having him read those for himself and using another set for his read-alouds. Then, my youngest wouldn't be getting all the history but could still listen in when he wants to. I think I've decided not to use the Extension books with him (the 6th grader). He is a strong reader and loves to read but he is doing the extensions this year with Preparing and we haven't gotten as far along in DITHOR as I wanted to. I want to spend more time with it next year. And, one of my priorities in homeschooling is to allow him plenty of time to read books of his own choosing.

I'm pretty sure my then 3rd grader will be doing Bigger Hearts.

Both of them LOVE read-alouds. I don't mind reading one set during the day and then maybe another set at bedtime. Not sure. I'm just wondering what some of you may be doing and how it is working.

Thanks for any info.!! I am so looking forward to next year!

[ncmomof5]

I am doing Bigger and CTC, and I am reading the read a louds for both guides. I wanted the kids to be able to enjoy books on their own level. I know that some do combine storytime, but for me, I have enjoyed having them each have their own storytime. Just my 2 cents.

[DHT1999]

Thank you RuthAnn. That's what I'll be doing. I'm just wondering if the History Read Alouds in CtC will be too much for my 3rd grader to overhear, in regards to what he may be exposed to. Because I know he will want to listen in on them even though they aren't "his". I'm teaching two guides now and they both want to do everything that the other child is doing. The read alouds in Preparing have been great for my current 2nd grader. He has loved every one of them. I was just wondering how it would work to have my 6th grader read the History set for himself and then maybe I could read the Boy Interest set out loud. I also have all the Extension books for Bigger Hearts and want to read those, too!!

I think, since I'm using CtC with a 6th grader that Carrie may recommend that he read the History Interest set for himself, since I don't plan to incorporate the Extension Books. Or, maybe I should just do that. Not sure. I want to focus on DITHOR next year as we have only covered five genres this year.

Thank you!

[ncmomof5]

So far, the only thing that I would see that might be difficult with having a 3rd grader listening in is the idol worship. The stories themselves (I'm only on Boy of the Pyramids) are wholesome and enjoyable, but both The Golden Bull and Boy of the Pyramids has a lot of references to the gods that the peoples at that time worshipped. That's perfectly fine for my 10 and 11 year old, but I am not sure how that would go over with an 8 year old. So far, my 8 year old ds has not wanted to sit in on their read a louds. They all seem to enjoy having Mom to themselves for that. Just my experience. Glad to help, and your plan to read the Boy interest aloud and let your 6th grader read his history books to himself sounds good.

[SouthernMrs]

We also are doing both CTC and Bigger Hearts this year. Because my older child is such a great reader, I'm just letting her read her "read-alouds" alone and we read the Bigger storytime books and extension books out loud with my 3rd grader. Though she is not required to, my older dd (6th grader) loves to listen in to the Bigger stories (she used Bigger for her 4th grade year) and often she comes and sits in with us anyway.

This also helps not to "spoil" the books for my younger son when he gets up there. It's working for us.

[my3sons]

I'm doing CTC and Bigger together, and we are doing separate Storytimes, as it sounds like you will be doing. I have a second grader doing Bigger Hearts, and I don't have him listen to the CTC history read-alouds due to the Ancients time period. I think it depends on the age, maturity (in faith as well), and sensitivity of the child doing Bigger Hearts. I'd lean toward having your older child read the CTC history set on his own and read the Boy Interest set to the 2 of them if you are wanting to read aloud a set to the 2 of them from CTC. We are enjoying doing BHFHG and CTC so much - I think you will find this to be a nice combination for you as the teacher, as well as for your dc.

In Christ,
Julie

[DHT1999]

Thank you Julie!

Well, my 2nd grader (will be a 3rd grader by then) is a very mature listener. He is also a Christian and quite mature in that respect (for a little boy!). He loves read alouds and can sit and listen for long periods of time. It really upsets him to not be able to listen in to whatever the rest of us are reading. It's hard for me to tell him no because he literally begs. He is not at all sensitive to anything except the supernatural (my oldest son, at 10, almost 11, is the same way) so, for example, a book like The Summer of the Monkeys would not go over well because of the strange apparition like character that the little girl refers to at times. We didn't finish that book when we started it awhile back (for that reason), so I'm not sure where that was going... but that's just an example. So, I don't know that this will be an issue that is exclusive to the history books that we read.

And, I'm probably going to have my younger son do Beyond instead of Bigger Hearts. I've about decided I want as much time span between guides as possible, considering that my youngest does sit in on so much of his brother's work AND I don't want him to miss out on the history in Beyond, even though he will, again, be "quite old" for the guide. I'm o.k. with that. Little Hearts has been wonderful for him this year even though he is a big 2nd grader.

I went ahead and ordered the CtC TM so I can begin to map some of this out for next year.

[my3sons]

Donna - it sounds like your little guy would probably be alright listening in on the CTC Storytime then, since he has a strong faith, is not overly sensitive, and would have enough time between guides to be ready to listen to it read again. I guess you could just start with them and take on a book by book basis, stopping if something seemed to upset him. Carrie did a good job choosing books that do not glorify pagan worship or mythology, but instead show how these beliefs were prevalent but did not lead to contentment as the gods were false. Our Lord is shown to be the one true living God, and as such, though belief in Him doesn't make life free of problems, it does make life worth living.

I think your ds would enjoy Beyond, and if you are concerned about the age for the guide, once he gets to Bigger, you could always add the extensions if you really wanted to, though Bigger is meaty enough on its own merit already for most. Whether you go with Beyond or Bigger, I think you'll enjoy either combination with CTC. It is easy to do another program with CTC once you've gotten a few weeks or a month under your belt with it. We are loving CTC so much; it is bringing me great joy to see my ds's faith and knowledge of the Lord growing each day. Just the other day we had a near catastrophe thinking my toddler Emmett had taken my medicine and vitamins that were briefly setting on the counter. I was just about losing it, on the phone with poison control, when we found them pushed back on the counter. I told the boys I should have prayed right away, and Wyatt said, "I did Mom, and I knew God would answer my prayer." I hope it's always this natural for him. Anyway, I think you will enjoy it very much! Praying for you as you choose between Beyond and Bigger.

In Christ,
Julie

[DHT1999]

Julie, thanks for the additional information. It helps me very much.

I'm so glad Emmett wasn't in danger!

I've decided we are going to do Beyond. Preparing has been a wonderful 5th grade curriculum for us. I want to aim to hit it again with my little guy at the same age. And, I have all the extension books to use with Bigger Hearts when we get there. I wasn't sure but my youngest really wants to go through American Pioneers & Patriots. We had started it but only did a few stories before I laid it aside to wait until we do all of Beyond. Then, I pre-read Stories of the Pilgrims. That pretty much settled it for me.

Thanks again for the feedback! I'll have more questions later on but this helps me to sort my thoughts. I am really excited that I'll have the CtC manual soon.

Blessings!