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And then we started today and were done with half of Bigger, LHTH, and the circle time stuff we do by 9:30! We just started at 8:00! So... I decided to go ahead and do the right side too. And we were still done by 11:00! She did all but the cursive book since we're still trying to work on being slow and careful with printing. So... I guess we're going to do Bigger full speed. Would you ladies who have done Bigger say that 3 hours is about right? I'm afraid that on the days she does the notebooking page for science or the vocabulary or whatever that it will take longer. We did all the R&S out loud and she LOVED it. Seriously, that took about 5 minutes. So should I keep going at full speed and see what happens? Or was this just beginner's luck? She's only 7 which is why I was going to slow down. I didn't want her in Preparing too early. But I guess if she can handle this..? What do you more experienced Bigger moms think?

I can't say that I'm that experienced since we are just finishing up our third week, but so far most days the right hand side of Bigger is taking us 35 to 45 minutes which I think is about normal. On the days with art or a more difficult notebooking assignment, it might take us a bit more. The right side is what takes us a bit longer. Science usually is 20 to 30 minutes, math is 20 to 30 minutes, storytime 10 to 15 minutes, DITHOR about 30 minutes, grammar is about 15 minutes, dictation and cursive another 10 to 15 minutes. So that is about 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, an average of probably 2 hours. So on the average we are finishing in 2 1/2 to 3 hours each day. I'm so glad that your first day went so well!

You know, I can honestly handle all our school being about 3 hours a day. That seems about right for my oldest. It's a little tough for the younger ones to hang out for so long, even though I give them things to do while the older is working. And she refuses to do independent work while I do LHTH with them because she loves it so much. Which is sweet. But it sure would help them if she could get some of her work out of the way while we do it. But she won't.

Well, today won't be a typical day because I have a dr appt so she's supposed to do independent work with Mimi while I go to the dr (we'll see if it happens though) and then we'll get everything else done this afternoon (I hope).

I'd love to hear some more thoughts about if I should just go on ahead or not. I really was planning to stretch it out some, but if she can handle it I should do it, right?

Also, will it throw things off too much if we wait to start cursive until Preparing? I was planning to wait until we were about halfway through Bigger going half speed and then add in the Cheerful Cursive, but if we're going full speed (only taking a break for the baby to join our family) then I really would like to go ahead and hold off, but that will put us in Preparing. I can always start her on cursive during the baby break or during the summer if we take a summer break I guess.

Well, hooray! Congrats on a good start! A few things to consider - some of the days will be longer than others. I think that dd will have to learn to work independently while you work with your other dc to be ready for the independence in PHFHG. It is good to do some of R & S in writing, even if it's just 1 section of it, or 1/3 of it overall, and that too will help dd as she prepares for the harder R & S English 3 in PHFHG, which requires diagramming which should be written out, at least a portion of it.

For my 7 yo doing BHFHG, I went from doing it half-speed, to doing it full-speed, and back to doing it half-speed. The reason I did this is because I felt like he was rushing, and like I was rushing him. I want his work to be done to its fullest measure, to the best of his ability. For example, I want his vocabulary cards to be neatly written, illustrated with a good drawing, colored neatly, and filed properly. I also want his notebooking to fill the entire page, for him to be able to do it all, and for it to look neat and be colored well.

Anyway, for him, I think since he is 7 yo, he needs longer to do this, and that's why I have him doing half-speed again. His work is better, he never feels rushed, and we won't be getting to PHFHG too soon - he'll be totally ready for it then, I know. While cursive can be held off until PHFHG, it is somewhat of an indicator that a child may not be ready for the writing requirements in PHFHG if he/she is unable to write cursive. Now, for my oldest ds - he did Bigger Hearts when he was 7 1/2, and was ready for all of it. He is not a creative child by nature though, and I did not require of him what I am requiring of my middle ds as far as art projects, notebooking, timeline, etc. go. I think I understand better what to expect now that I've taught the guides, and my expectations have risen. For example, if you scroll down to the vocabulary card pictures in this thread, you'll see that my oldest ds's first vocabulary card was less than stellar - now I wouldn't accept that from my middle ds - but then again, drawing wasn't my oldest ds's thing, so I was happy with ANY drawing he produced at that point :
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I say all this so you can consider the best way to get the most out of Bigger Hearts for this particular child of yours (as I found that to be different for my 2 sons) , and consequently how she can then be the most prepared for PHFHG. I'd say if she cannot write, draw, read, create, etc. everything asked of her to your standards in Bigger Hearts, I'd slow it down for her until she can. If she is doing absolutely every task the guide is asking her to do and finishing in that amount of time, then full-speed is going to be just fine! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

I think 3 hours sounds about right...but you definitely can't judge every day by the first day. I would get a week in and take the average. When my son did Bigger, it took longer, but I am very picky about the quality of his work. Because HOD is so easy to use, the lessons are broken down in such small chunks, I think it makes me want his absolute best. He was 10 at the time he did (some of) Bigger and he was also doing the extensions. His days were taking about 4-5 hours to complete with the addition of the extensions and with my standards. However, I can tell you that now that he is doing CTC and is in 6th grade (long story about how we ended up from Bigger to CTC - he was older, we had to stop Bigger and finish Am History with another program because he was poorly placed in the guide, we came back this year and went straight to CTC where he is properly placed and is thriving like crazy!) my standards are even higher for him...but he is really stepping up to the plate and doing his work well.

I would definitely give it time and see how she moves through the next week or so before officially deciding on half-speed or full-speed. Whichever way you do it, you want to make sure she is ready for Preparing next year.

Well today was good again. I had to go to the dr so she did the right side of the day with Mimi (minus science notebooking) and then the left side (and notebooking) with me when I got home. Still about 3 hours. She's capable of doing the writing and all that, but I just wanted to hold off on cursive until she felt more comfortable with this level of writing. She just FINALLY has started really having control when she writes. She also writes a page in ETC and also her Draw, Write, Now book that she loves (she really needed some help with the drawing and this was a good way to help her), all in addition to copying the poem (which is FINALLY going super well).

I didn't mean to imply that she doesn't work independently at all-she does all her handwriting and her math (after I explain it) independently. Also her spelling words (on the first day when she looks at the cards and all that). She just won't do it while her siblings do LHTH since she hates being left out. But she will do it while they do R&S, play, or I fold laundry nearby.

Her reading skills have shot through the roof. We're still doing the ER's and double checking a couple of phonics things with ETC (I jumped her around too much in that subject) but she's capable of reading Encyclopedia Brown books independently and conversing with me about them, so I think she's going to do okay. We're going to finish up the week and then I'll reevaluate, but I think that on so many levels it'd be better to continue with her. I can always slow down a bit when we get to Preparing if I need to, and the breaks with the baby will take up a lot of our time, but intellectually I think this is what she needs, and at this pace. She loves the R&S grammar book, is flying through the Singapore 2A, and we've really had some great discussions (you know, these past 2 days lol) about the Bible and the History. She is a super smart cookie, just a little slow on the fine motor, and the gross motor too.

Thanks SO MUCH for the feedback though. I certainly don't want to rush her, but we're hsing so that we can do things at her level in the first place. I'll reevaluate after we finish the 1st unit (which will be on Monday) and we'll see how it's going then. I'll keep you all posted!

Sounds like she's doing great with full-speed BHFHG! Hooray - full-speed ahead then!
In Christ,
Julie

Mommamo,

I think if a child is handling the pacing of full-speed and can do what is required well, then full-speed is the best option. So, as long as you're happy and your sweet daughter is happy, keep going! You always have the half-speed option in your back pocket.

Bigger is a great teaching year and so much learning takes place during that time. If you have the time now to spend with her one-on-one doing that teaching, I would seize the moment! Not all years allow for momma to be right there helping as needed, and when I see one of those times in my life where I have time available I grab it!

Enjoy Bigger at full-speed. It sounds like she's set. I find our best laid plans are always in flex as kiddos grow and change and surprise us. Praise the Lord for progress. It makes school do-able in the long run!

My oldest thrived on doing everything younger than he was supposed to. He was just born ready!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks SO MUCH to all who responded. It is going incredibly well. And I agree with Carrie that this is such a year for teaching skills that if I can go ahead and do it full speed ahead, that I might as well. Baby 4 is due in April so I'm really wanting to cement some of these skills with her now so that she can work more independently after baby is born.

Anyway, we're on Unit 2 Day 2 today and even with a field trip (to a corn maze!) this morning, we still got everything done. I'm loving, loving Bigger. Caroline is loving Bigger even more than Beyond. She's just really thriving with it. I still feel a little nervous that we're going to get to Preparing too quickly, but we really "should" have gotten to Bigger before we did, but fortunately life got in the way, so I'm just going to keep going and try not to plan too much.

Sounds like a great plan! Don't worry about Preparing Hearts. Once your daughter goes through Bigger Hearts, you'll be surprised how well-prepared she is for Preparing Hearts. One guide builds so well upon the foundation laid in the previous guide.

Blessings,
Carrie