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I've looked into HOD almost every night in the last two weeks and wondered ONE.LAST. THING. (yeah, right!) After flip-flopping in every guide choice available (for my ages of kids) I think I've settled on Beyond. My boys are 7 and 5 but I've been schooling the oldest for 3 years. We have a different reading/LA program we've already been using before I found HOD so I'm really thinking, though he's technically "2nd" grade, he's ready for a little more in the grammar way than just once a week short explaination. (I could be wrong about that being how grammar is approached in Beyond? Please correct if I am.) So, would it be unwise to perhaps start R & S from Bigger program while in Beyond and just do it a couple times a week and still work through it slowly??? Silly?? Thoughts appreciated!
Thanks!

(Still haven't spent time on signature!)

Hi!

I think that HOD recommends that ideally you wait until 3rd grade to start R&S 2. I've heard that R&S English in general advances very quickly, so that it's better for your child to be a little older for each level. (If I'm wrong, everyone, please feel free to correct me! )

We're doing Beyond this year and really enjoying it!

Hello! I am currently using Beyond and R and S 2 with my two oldest girls. They were 8, third grade, and just turned 7, second grade when we started in Sept. I bought R&S 2 to use with the oldest but found that my 2nd dd was jumping in whenever we did grammar. She does very well so I think some dc are able to begin in 2nd grade. If at any time I sensed frustration from dc, I would lay it aside until later. So far, we are a little more than halfway through, we have all enjoyed using it. Don't know it this helps at all.

You could definitely do it if the child is ready, just on your own. It won't mess anything up! You can take it slowly though as there is really no need to hurry.

Nancy

I think it would be totally fine. My dd 6 is doing Beyond this year and we're loving the gentle grammar lessons in Beyond. Next year she'll be in Bigger and just turned 7 in July and will be doing R & S English 2.

We did R&S2 while doing Beyond in second grade. We had previously used the Beyond LA so it was the natural progression for us. This year with Bigger for 3rd grade, we're using R&S3.

I asked Carrie this same question about my oldest daughter, who is 7 and will be in Beyond next year as a second grader. Here was her reply:

"If you desire a more rigorous early grammar path for Gracie, more similar to classical education than Charlotte Mason, then you would instead do Rod and Staff 2 along with Beyond and do Rod and Staff 3 along with Bigger Hearts. Then, when you got to Preparing Hearts, you would do English 4 and split English 5 over CTC/RTR. If you followed this path, then you would be off schedule with our guide's options for Rod and Staff in Beyond and Bigger, but would be back on schedule (with the higher level options) in Preparing Hearts on up. So, truly either grammar path would work."

By "either grammar" she is referring to our use of FLL1 for first grade and possibly FLL2 for second grade. The FLL2 she said would have been a gentler approach to grammar, more CM, in second grade with Beyond, but that "either grammar path would work."

Hope that is helpful in some way!