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I haven't been on here in a long time. My 13 month old has some medical problems that has me traveling from Japan to Hawaii every 6 months. Anyway, to tell about us again, I am Rebecca. I have 3 girl, they are 7, 4, and 13 months. My 7 year old does Bigger Hearts for His Glory. We have only completed through to unit 4 and we've been working on it since the middle of October. We are taking our time because my dd is young, but I think it may be too much work for her. The work isn't hard for her, there is just a lot of it. She struggles a lot in handwriting and so I think the amount of work overwhelms her. So anyway, do you think it would be ok to bring her back a level? When I was ordering the curriculum initially, I couldn't figure out grade level, so I went by what she knew and based my descion on that.

We just started Little Hands to Heaven with my 4 year old and she loves it. She is having so much fun. My 13 month old likes to watch.

Thanks,
Rebecca

Hi Rebecca! Welcome back! Wow! It sounds like you have a lot going on. As far as bringing dd back a level, I think it is a great idea. Although I have never completed the lower guides (we began with Preparing), my experience is that one guide prepares the children for the next. So, if she is really struggling and overwhelmed, then perhaps the placement isn't exactly right. DC should be challenged moving from one guide to the next, but not overwhelmed. Also, placement is KEY to a successful homeschool year. Slowing down or stepping back a level now will enable her to acquire the skills that she needs for future success. Just my opinion, hope that helps!

Will be praying for wisdom for you as you make the best decision for your dd. And, for health for your littlest!

Thank you Shelly. I think I have decided to step her back. This may be the last time I can check my post for a few days/weeks. We live in Japan near all the earthquake/nuclear stuff going on. They offering a voluntary evacuation from the area and so I'll be getting ready for that. I'll to get back on tomorrow to see more opinions, but I'm not sure.

Will be praying for you daily, Rebecca. Wondered when I read your original post. Thankful that He has kept you in safety. May the Lord rise up and guard you and your dear children, may He guide you to safety and cause you to experience His peace today and in the days to come! May He give you the focus and strength to accomplish the necessary tasks for the evacuation. Entrusting your family to His loving care.

I think stepping back is a great idea. Bigger is a big step up in work load from Beyond. If you have tried Bigger at a slower speed and it still just seems like too much, then Beyond is probably a great place to be. The writing demands are much less in Beyond, but the content is still fabulous. My dc did Beyond when they were 7 and thrived. I'll be praying for you and your family too Rebecca. It does sound like some really tough times for you now.

First just want to say praying for your baby's health and your family as well. I think you made a good decision to step back to Beyond. It's so important to be on target with the guides. Being a little over the guides works but being under the guides can be tough. HOD is set up so different than the other unit studies out there and placement is the key to having it bless your family. Praying for your family and the people who you know that may have been affected also by the tragedy in Japan. And praying those who do not know the Lord there will see your peace and grace in this time and come to know Him.

Hi Rebecca!

I am Rebecca too.

I am sorry for your baby's medical issues and will be praying for her health and the safe travels of your family as you go through this. *hugs*

As for going back a level - ABSOLUTELY! I have a 7 year old who is finishing up an amazing year with Beyond. He is now ready to move in to Bigger Hearts and I have no doubts of him being able to do the work. When we started with HOD, I initially tried to use Beyond for his 1st grade year (he was a young 6 year old at the time). By about Unit 8, it was very obvious to me that I had wrongly placed him. After much advice and encouragement from the board here, I dropped him back a level to Little Hearts. BEST decision I ever made. He had a great year with Little Hearts and was more than ready to start Beyond this year. If you know, in your gut, that your placement is wrong right now, then you definitely should follow that gut instinct and drop bacl a guide. Trust me, when you hit the harder guides in the future, you will be so glad you did!

OK, new question. Since we are voluntarily evacuating, I am not sure if I will be able to order a new guide and all the books that go with it. We are not sure what our pay will be like once we leave. Is there a way to lighten the load a bit on her and keep her in Bigger?

Thank you all for your prayers for our family and the people of Japan.

Rebecca

Rebecca,

First of all my family will keep yours specifically in prayer. We have been praying for the people in Japan and also for grace and supernatural strength for the Christians in Japan!

My ds started Bigger when he was 7 and we did it at half pace for about 3/4 of the guide. We did 1 unit in 2 weeks, dividing the days according to the amount of writing needed. It is very helpful that way and I am thrilled to see how he has grown into it. He is able to do some of the work either semi-independent or independent and he can do it at full pace (we only split up 1 day, because of co-op and piano lessons on two different days).

You may want to do the math daily! If you do DITHOR you can go to a 3/wk schedule.

I don't know if you do R&S 2 with your dd and if you have read the advise to do it orally There is a post that Julie wrote on how to do this! I can't find it right now.

If you need a more detailed description of how to do Bigger at half pace, please keep asking until you understand it and feel comfortable. I am sure more Mom's will chime in.

Success may the Lord bring you and your family peace, provision, protection, and comfort during these times of trial!

If you can't go back to Beyond running Bigger at half paced would be a great compromise. When I ran a program at half paced I used the extra time to reinforce the LA and math skills we needed. Worked very well. So sorry for all you are going through. I am praying that you get where you need to be. I think either way with HOD you can make it work. It might have been easier to go back to Beyond. But you have some of the tools there in Bigger with the spelling list. If you slow it down you can use the extra time to work on the skills you feel your child will need to be able to do it full time. Bigger is a very full program. It could easily be stretched out.

Praying you get some peace in all the rest in your life. Please let us know when you are safely relocated.

Praying for your family, Rebecca.

Perhaps for a while you can do a few things like only do 1 vocabulary word each week, write some of the notebook writing for her, require less objects to be drawn in a notebooking assignment, etc. You can take the writing down a bit by doing those things and hopefully help her adjust to the extra writing gradually. You can then slowly add it back. Taking a slower pace and adjusting the writing will hopefully be enough to make Bigger workable for her. I'll continue to keep you in my prayers.

We already do the work at a very slow pace. We're just now finishing up unit 4 and we've been going at it since October. Granted we have had to take weeks off due to my travels with my youngest. I'll just keep plugging away at it like we've been doing, and ask questions as I can. Thank you all for your help and prayers.

Praying for you in this move and with your little one right now...