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What a huge leap it is going from Beyond to Bigger! We started school today at 8:30 and didn't get finished for 6 hours!! Oi vey!! What a huge leap today was!!! I'm definitely hoping it gets quicker as we get more used to it!!

We've experienced that so far, as well! We're in week three now, and last week we were already working through things more quickly. Today (after being off for Labor Day yesterday) was another slow one, unfortunately! I'm thinking that within a couple of weeks we'll be settled in to a good routine that doesn't take up our entire day. I keep laughing now that before school started back up, I was worried about not logging enough hours for my state's requirements -- Ha!

tiffanieh wrote:What a huge leap it is going from Beyond to Bigger! We started school today at 8:30 and didn't get finished for 6 hours!! Oi vey!! What a huge leap today was!!! I'm definitely hoping it gets quicker as we get more used to it!!

Ha! We're having this issue between Bigger and Preparing! And just so you know....

It is getting better.

I am thinking you are doing Bigger with your 7 and 8 yo? Please correct me if I am wrong. When I began Bigger Hearts with my 7 yo last school year, we needed to start half-speed. I cannot tell you what that time did for my little sweetie! We did about 12-14 weeks of half-speed Bigger Hearts, took the summer off and did absolutely nothing academic, and now are in the second week of full-speed Bigger Hearts, and it could not be going better! I think, for a 7 yo, Bigger Hearts can take longer to ease into. There's no need to rush into it - the target age range is for 7-9 yo's with extensions for 10-12 yo's - so you have plenty of time here. Just disregard this if you're not interested, but here's a link to how we did half-speed BHFHG:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5600&p=41232#p41232

Of course, full-speed could be the perfect fit for your dc, as you're not very far into it - it can take us a month to hit our stride sometimes. I hope something here helps!

In Christ,
Julie

We are at 4 weeks right now with CTC and we are getting to where our days last from about 8:30 till 1:30 with a few breaks in between for a 6th grader. It is WONDERFUL! My little fella eased right into Beyond and his days are about 2.5-3 hours. I think you will see a big difference in a few days/weeks. It just takes time to get the routine down.

Tiffanie,

I agree that it can take some time to get into the routine of the guide. Bigger is such a key guide as it has many new skills, but along with its multiple new skills it takes a bit of settling in! Have no fear though that as you continue with your routine it will get MUCH quicker and MUCH smoother! Our days in Bigger took us 2 and 1/2 hours to 3 hours once we hit our stride. For us, the 4 week mark seems to be a major one. At the end of that time, the kiddos seem to get into a rhythm with the new guide and the time truly falls off of our schedule. But for the first 4 weeks I feel like I am training... training.... training...

I must admit it was like this in my classroom during my public school teaching days too. We spent much time simply training the kiddos in the routine of EVERYTHING, which did pay off huge dividends later. I spent many years teaching third grade in the public school, and it was a huge growing year for the students. The kiddos changed so much and learned so many new things during that year. As you head into Preparing Hearts next year, you will really be glad for your time in Bigger Hearts as it sets the kiddos up well for the skills to come in that guide.

If you do need to go half-speed for awhile, make sure to give yourself permission to do so. Getting the skills is more important than just getting through the guide.

A few things I also check when my day goes way too long are as follows:
What time did I actually start teaching in the morning? Was I ready to start when my kids were ready for me?
Were the kiddos spending much time waiting on me throughout the day as I did non-related school tasks?
Did I answer phone calls, do email, post on the board, etc. during the school day? (This is a huge day lengthener for me.)
Did I bake or do major cooking within the school time? (If so, this lengthens my day more than I think as the kiddos wait for me and tend to dawdle through their tasks knowing I'm not really watching.)
Did I keep the day moving along by keeping track of my kiddos and who was supposed to be doing what?
Did I allow the kiddos to have an extra long recess or extra long lunch? (It's hard to get them back to finish after this for me!)
Did I make sure my toddler/preschooler was not causing my older kiddos to run behind by constantly interrupting them?
Did I add to the plans or draw out the lessons by adding additional work or lengthy discussions?

Anyway, you get the gist of it. It would be a good idea to see where your time stealers were. Last year, I was extremely diligent in only doing school during school hours, and it made our day finish so much earlier! I honestly couldn't believe the difference. Before, I'd often allowed myself to do many of the above things even though I knew this lengthened my day.

Blessings,
Carrie