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I thought I was all about keeping everyone combined for a time of family learning, but it's been chaotic trying to accomplish that lately, so I'm rethinking all that! I'm already doing Little Hearts with my K'er (with the older siblings tagging along for fun for the readings). I'm thinking that my rising 2nd grader can stick with him for now (until he is able to read a little better), and I'll let my rising 3rd grader do Bigger by herself. But, I really want to get my 3rd grader more independent, and I know that Bigger has the parent still doing the history, etc reading to the child. My rising 3rd grader is an excellent reader, so I think she could handle doing Bigger mostly independently. Does anyone do this? I'm trying to lighten my load a bit because my 6.5yo and 5yo will still require quite a bit of my time (not to mention the preschooler, toddler, and new baby due in Nov!) So, getting children working independently as soon as they are fluent readers is starting to have a great appeal! I would either give dd the Bigger guide and teach her how to use it, or just type up lesson plans for her.

Thoughts?

BTW, we would still do Bible and storytime together as a family.

My son couldn't do it. He is reading well now but he wouldn't be able to sort out the directions for all the notebooking. I am sure he could read the books himself but the writing would be too much for him to sort out on his own. Sometimes they have to look up particular portions of text in a book and either copy that or come up with their own sentences that communicate the basic info. in that passage of text. He could not do that on his own.

DHT1999 wrote:My son couldn't do it. He is reading well now but he wouldn't be able to sort out the directions for all the notebooking. I am sure he could read the books himself but the writing would be too much for him to sort out on his own. Sometimes they have to look up particular portions of text in a book and either copy that or come up with their own sentences that communicate the basic info. in that passage of text. He could not do that on his own.

That's the part that concerns me. I just had my dd read part of one of the Eggleston books and she did fine. So, she can definitely handle the reading. I guess it's time to take a closer look at the notebooking instructions and see what I think.

How old is your son? My dd turned 8 in January.

I don't know about the read aloud portion of the program but my kids did very well with the science independently. It is a little different with the read alouds than say Preparing or CTC would be if your child were ready. But you know your child best. I would just slowly ease into things and see how it goes maybe.

sharonb wrote:

DHT1999 wrote: I guess it's time to take a closer look at the notebooking instructions and see what I think.
How old is your son? My dd turned 8 in January.

My little guy will be 8 later this month. He is very smart and learns quickly and he is learning to enjoy school. He really loves HOD and he wants to do well with the work but he would not have the maturity to follow through on some of the assignments if I didn't sit right with him and do it with him. I don't think that will be true for everything. There are things he will be able to do on his own. I think little girls tend to be a little more mature at this age, so it may work out fine for your daughter. I have just finished up going through Bigger Hearts with a "fine toothed comb" to get a better feel for it. It really is very rich and there are alot of important skills being developed in the lessons. The notebooking probably isn't as complicated as I thought it was going to be. I think if I sit with him and really explain what he is supposed to do that he can then do much of it while I tend to other things but only in short snatches of time.

You could try it and ease into it and see how it goes!

Does anyone else have any opinions on this?

I have gradually just over the last few weeks "assigned" some of the readings to DS. We are towards the end of Bigger, but he is just finishing up 2nd grade.

I would say that if your DD is a great reader, then she should be able to do it on her own. You may want to start off the year reading to her from First Book of American History b/c that book has a little bit more difficult language/wording than Journeys through Time, Stories of Great Americans, and some of the others in my opinion, so it may take some getting used to for her.

Usually when DS reads on his own, I still have him tell me about what he read in his own words to me, which has actually been excellent narration practice for him too! He is pretty much doing the majority of history and science notebooking on his own and LOVES having something he gets to do without me directing him! I am trying to prepare him for more independent work b/c he will start Preparing sometime in October in addition to a new baby joining our family. Hope that helps a little!

Thanks Jessica!

My dd read a few pages of A 1st Book of American History to me the other day, and she did very well. She needs help with names of people and places sometimes, but other than that she's fine. I showed her how there are definitions of difficult words at the end of the chapter. She really seems eager to be allowed to work alone on more subjects. Thanks for your post. It's very reassuring that this can work!

If your dd is able to easily handle the reading, I think that is probably just fine I would still go over the follow-up things with her after the reading, as that's a key part of teaching the skills necessary for that age level. You can certainly just have her give a summary narration of what she's read, and then proceed to read through the plans with her to be sure she knows what to do for her assignment. The more repetitive boxes will become easier for her to know what to do (i.e. timeline, vocabulary, oral narration), but the Geography, Artistic Expression, Notebooking, and History Activity boxes change and will require more instruction at the start of each session.

In Christ,
Julie

Sharon,

This past thread may be of help to you as you ponder: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4632

In the thread, I mention how we moved my child toward more independence in Bigger as he showed readiness for that.

Blessings,
Carrie

I used Bigger awhile ago and by the time we finished using it my 3rd grader was reading the books independently and doing some of the work independently. I did try keep history together because I personally enjoyed listening to it.