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Okay...I know you ladies can help me. My ds is turning 7 in September. I consider him 2nd grade because his reading level is way high and he is on par for 2nd grade. However, he is a VERY YOUNG 2nd grader (as in, by State standards, he made the cut by 1 day...his b-day is the end of Sept!). We are doing and loving Beyond this year and we did and loved Little Hearts last year. I had planned to do R&S English 2 with him because we love R&S as much as we love HOD when it comes to English and because he did the R&S Grade 1 Phonics and such last year (we are not continuing with that this year).

I am finding that our schedule is only allowing for us to do R&S English 2 one day a week right now and I am starting to feel like maybe I am cramming it in. Please tell me that it is okay to follow Beyond as written (conveniently with one day of English type study each week!) and drop English 2 until we do Bigger Hearts! I am so goofy and apparently I need to get permission. Moreso, I am looking for a reason "why" a second grader would wait until "3rd grade" to start R&S English, I guess.

Thanks!

I would go with what your heart is telling you.
I think sometimes our mistake is to try to do it all, or too much too soon. It's good to relax a bit in my opinion.
God bless.

Rebecca,

I did Beyond last year with my dd (who was 7yo and 2nd grade at the time), and we just enjoyed it as written. This year we are doing Bigger and R&S English 2 as scheduled in the guide and it is going great! I would not hesitate to wait until next year for R&S 2, as it is an advanced program overall. My dd is very strong at reading and writing and certainly could have done R&S last year, but I have been very comfortable with our decision to wait. She really loves school, but when our days go too long, we both tend to get grumpy...so doing the guides as written (plus DITHOR) has been perfect for us.

We started HOD with Bigger & R&S 2 with Grant when he was a "3rd grader". He's also pretty bright and catches on to all academics quickly. I feel like we are absolutely a-ok with where we're at in English with R&S. He's right on track to finish level 6 in "8th grade" with HOD. Enjoy your year, and feel free to wait with R&S til next year! (If you already love R&S, you know that while level 2 is pretty simple, the books pick up pace quickly.)

Kathleen

Thanks to everyone who replied. I put the book away last night. I was doing R&S Spelling too (which I don't "love" but am using with my older son because he still needs spelling instruction...bless his heart! LOL) and I decided to just stop that and do the spelling in Beyond. I love the way the words are practiced each day and my son enjoys the white board activities. I do this each year...I try to add to HOD and then, within just a few units, I realize that no adding is really necessary and the program is wonderful as written! You'd think I would learn by now... LOL