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I have a 5 year old DD who will turn 6 this summer. She'll be 6 the entire next school year then obviously. She places in Beyond, but I'm just nervous about her being so young for her grade level. She's done MFW K and 1st, and did great. I can see how if she were older she would have gotten a bit more out of it though, just as far as comprehension of the topics. We're looking at Beyond for her, but thinking about stretching it to two years? Would we get bored? How does that work? If we did school 4 days a week how long would that take us? I don't know, I'm not sure I can see her wanting to go that slow. Are there disadvantages to being on the younger side as we go through the levels with HOD? She's sensitive, so I'm going to have to carefully choose the books I read out loud to her, but thats ok. Are there others of you that have done Beyond with a 6 year old? How did they do? She's copying full verses, reading the MFW Bible reader, etc. I don't know, I guess its more of a question of SHOULD she be at this level, not CAN she be at this level. I know she can, but should I hold her back a little bit? Does that make sense? So... what is it like for a 6 year old to do Beyond? Is it written for 7 year olds, but a 6 year old can get by, lol, or is a 6 year old really ok in Beyond? Sorry for the long post, I've been researching this a ton lately and need input! Thanks!

We did Beyond with our 6 yo (actually 2 of our different dc when they were each respectively 6 yo), and they did fantastic! The target age ranges are accurate for the guides, and 6 yo can do very well with Beyond, just as 7 and 8 yo can. I was certain my oldest ds was accurately placed in Beyond, and he actually has done a guide a year, being on the youngest side of each guide's target range and has flourished. He is accurately placed there and does well.

However, with my middle ds, I initially had the same thought as you going into Beyond, for he was not quite 6 yo when we began Beyond. I went half-speed for a few weeks or a month and realized I was trying to fill his time with other things, and he was just chomping at the bit to do all of Beyond. So we went to full-speed, and had a great year. When he got to BHFHG, we went half-speed, and that was perfect for him. We did this for more than half of the guide, and then I had the same thing happen - I was starting to try to add things to his day because he was finishing so early, he was begging to do more history/science/etc. in Bigger Hearts every day, so we decided to go full-speed. Now that has been the perfect pacing for him.

So, I guess what I am saying is I would just begin Beyond with her, half-speed if you want to, and see how it goes. You can certainly go half-speed for 2 years, with no problems. The guides are not boring at half-speed or any speed , they are incredibly exciting, which may end up causing your dd to want to move more quickly - or then again maybe not, maybe half-speed will be perfect. I think going half-speed a portion of the time, and then full-speed a portion of the time is a great way to approach pacing, and HOD makes it very easy for us to do this, because of how the guides are set up. So, I would not worry one bit about beginning Beyond with a 6 yo as long as that is where the child fits best according to the placement chart. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks Julie. Its good to hear that your 6 year olds did well with it.