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My 9 yo began Bigger Hearts in the fall. It was slow. We went half pace, if that. He didn't like the writing - could/would do very little. He was finishing up the emerging readers and learning cursive. The dictation assignments were a bust at best. Now at the beginning of March, he is on week 14 and WOW. The improvement. His print is lovely. His cursive is coming along nicely. He is reading his own history assignments and science. He can do his notebook entries, set up his experiments, copy scripture verses and keep track of his work. He does a dictation assignment with ease. It usually takes him 2 days to master one. And he is on his second genre in DITHOR. He is highly motivated and finishes a his work - a full load , no more half pace - every day in a timely manner. And he's gone from being an emerging reader to reading the extensions. I didn't plan for him to do extensions, but he needed just a little more work! Can you believe it? I'm so excited for him! He is doing so well. In the fall, I couldn't imagine that he would ever be ready for Preparing, but now I know by the time he finishes Bigger he will be. We'll continue on with where we are, take a break in the summer, wrap things up in the fall and then begin Preparing. What a joy to see a child come so far!

I am celebrating with you. What a joy indeed!

That is awesome! What a huge amount of progress in such a short time. You should be so very proud. It sounds like he will be more than ready to move into Preparing!

Yeah, for him and you. Thanks for sharing.

That's terrific! Aren't you glad you stuck with it?

That's wonderful to hear!!!

Rejoicing with you! We have experienced something similar this year with our oldest dd. I was tempted to push my dd to have her "catch up" to where I thought she should be but I am so glad that I didn't because she did it on her own. HOD has allowed my dd to feel successful and challanged at the same time and has helped me to give her the room that she needs to grow. Hurray! Gina

That's so wonderful and encouraging!!

That's so encouraging. Congratulations on your successful school year.

Thank you for sharing this! As moms it is an encouragement to hear how dc really do become better and better at skills that once we despaired they may not learn. So many times, with just some perseverance dc can come around, if we can only be patient as moms and diligently move forward a little at a time. I forget this some times. I have found especially with new skills with my older ds, and especially with skills my middle ds is new to and may have a harder time with than my older ds had back when I taught him - I forget this. Patience - diligence - perseverance - oh how the Lord lovingly teaches me these things as I homeschool my dc! For moms who have dc struggling with a particular skill, keep pressing on - it's a marathon and not a race when we homeschool. Time IS on our side. We WILL get to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow if we just keep moving steadily ahead, even it if it's just one step at a time.

In Christ,
Julie

Florence,

It IS pure joy to see a child develop so much, and sometimes it can happen so gradually that the progress truly sneaks up on us! I am doing Bigger Hearts with my third little guy right now, and I am already amazed at how much he has progressed since Christmas. Bigger Hearts is guide that is full of so many opportunities for academic and spiritual growth, and it blesses my heart to hear about your sweet little guy's progress too! Thanks for sharing!

Blessings,
Carrie

This is an old post of mine from March of 2011, but I wanted to bump it up to simply share with everyone that the journey continues and it is such a joy. Only 2 years ago I had a 4th grade son working slowly through Bigger using the emerging readers. He was completely dependent on me. He's now in 6th grade and we're in Week 22 of PHFHG. He does all of his work independently, reads the extensions, is organized, diligent and such.a.joy. to work with. The best part is he makes sure I check in with him and see his work. He finds everything so engaging. I really love how he looks ahead and makes out the supply list for his science and history projects and lets me know if we need something for him to complete his project. He sees the guides his older brothers are working in and talks about how old he'll be when he starts working in that guide. HOD has been EXTRAORDINARY for him. Thank you Carrie Austin. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "You rock!"

Thank you for sharing, Florence. You're story is inspiring. I'm rejoicing with you.

Thank you so much for sharing this update, deltagal! It is really nice to hear how things are going now - updates are often so encouraging. This was a wonderful way to start my Sat.!

In Christ,
Julie

Florence,

I'm so glad to hear this! We do have to take time to celebrate our kiddos' progress, or we can actually miss it in the push forward each day! So, thanks for reminding me to take a moment to notice the progress my own children have made.

Blessings,
Carrie