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Hi all! I am struggling on what to do (again) with my kids. They are ages almost-9 and 10 1/2. We have not done much American History at all - just up through the Pilgrims.

I'm struggling on whether to do Bigger or Preparing. If we go on to Preparing, they won't get any American History until the new Exploration book is available. If we do Bigger, then my oldest would finish the last book (Geography) when he's in 11th grade.

I have a couple of questions, too.

* About Bigger - Bigger is more biographical, right? I'm just wondering if it would give the chronological flow of Am. History, since it's done biographically. I want to make sure they understand the events and flow, too, not just the famous people. Would reading "A Child's Story of America" to them help to fill in the gaps?

* About Preparing - Can Preparing be done if the child does not know cursive yet? My oldest is learning right now, and my youngest hasn't started yet. Will that matter? And my youngest is not a strong reader yet, either. We are working on it, but she would probably be at the level to do the Emerging Readers. There's no way she can read on her own in Preparing. Would Preparing still work?

Does anyone have any advice? I'm really confused. It doesn't help that I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant, either, so my brain is not working great either. LOL! My due date is Sept 12, so that is a factor, too, in what to do.

Thanks for any answers and insight you can give!!!

Blessings,
Jacquelyn

Hi Jacquelyn!

I think if I were you, I'd look less at what history time period you want to study, and more at what skills your kids need too work on right now to determine what to use. Have you already used Bigger? Or Beyond and were thinking you'd move on to Bigger? (I'm just wondering from looking at your signature.) If you completed Beyond, I'd move on to Bigger. Without knowing more about how they place on the placement chart (like how they do with writing and copying bigger passages), my instinct would be to say go with Bigger. If you've already started that program this past year, you could just begin where you left off, too.

Bigger is chrnological, as well as being biographical. So, you study the important people as they enter American History. (We used Bigger when my son was 8/9 and did not do any of the extension books. It was our 1st HOD year, and I feel like we got a great coverage of Am. History!)

You could have a child learning cursive in Preparing, but I think it would be harder to not have a fluent reader in that program. I really think going through Bigger will make all your school years to follow much more smooth. It covers a lot of skills that the child is going to keep building on and doing more independently through the years. Oral narration will lead to specific kinds of oral narration as well as written narration (in Preparing). All the skills involved in vocabulary in the guide - finding the word in the text, guessing the meaning from context, using a dictionary, copying the appropriate definition, using it in a sentence, illustrating the word meaning, alphabetizing the card in the box/book. (This is begun in Bigger and just keeps building in the guides to follow.) The amount of copywork and writing grows from Bigger to Preparing - in the form of notebooking pages, copying Bible verses/passages and poetry, in Preparing creative writing is added as well as written narrations and written answers to questions in science.

Kathleen

Thank you, Kathleen, for answering!

Yes, we some of Beyond and then quit. And then we did a little of Bigger and then quit. (I am a recovering curriculum-junkie!)

I don't have the catalog right here with me, but my youngest (almost 9) would place more in Bigger, going by the writing/reading column. My oldest (10) is learning cursive and can read great. He could place in Preparing, I think. But with a new baby coming in September, I don't think I can do two programs at once. I do think Bigger would help in preparing them for all of the writing in Preparing. I am just concerned that if we did all of the manuals, my oldest would be in 11th grade for the last planned one (Geography). But that is a looong way down the road, so I probably shouldn't be worrying about that right now, right?

I do need to change my signature! LOL!! That is probably confusing everyone!!!

Hi there, Jacquelin! Thanks for sharing about each of your dc - that really helps! We have done both BHFHG and PHFHG, and enjoyed them both very much. After reading about each of your dc, I do think Bigger Hearts would be a good placement for combining them. I look at Bigger Hearts as a somewhat foundational year, and I agree it is nice to get in on that modeling part for writing and reading earlier on. I think if you did PHFHG your younger child would always be stretched too far in not only PHFHG but also the subsequent guides. I would not want to do PHFHG with a child that was not ready to do the independent reading for science. Not that it would be a big deal to read the science out loud myself for a year, but that I would fear I'd be reading everything out loud from CTC on up, as the reading becomes more and more independent, and a higher and higher reading level each year. The number of pages being read increases, and the thought of reading that much out loud makes me overwhelmed. Now, them reading it independently is another story entirely, as reading silently takes much less time and is appropriate for that age. I wouldn't worry right now about the Geography guide, high school, etc. I would just do what is best for this year and go from there. So much can change! I know it is difficult not to try to plan so far ahead as I like to do it myself, but I would truly rather have our dc properly placed and enjoy homeschooling year after year than be stretching them too far and feeling tense year after year. I think BHFHG would meet your dc's needs nicely and provide a great homeschooling year for you. BHFHG was a huge year of growth for my oldest ds, and I can see it will continue to be for our middle ds too - just stick with it - and you'll truly be amazed at their growth over the year! HTH as you weigh these 2 options!

In Christ,
Julie