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...to stick with Beyond for dd (6.5) next year.

But now that leads to another question....what do I do with ds (12)? He on his own would probably place quite nicely into Bigger. However, then I would be doing FOUR guides. I don't even want to find out if that's humanly possible so I need to figure out what to do with him instead.

He has cerebral palsy (which doesn't greatly affect his school work except some fine motor) and Asperger's Syndrome (which DOES greatly affect his school work.) He reads ok, has a photographic memory, and is gifted at anything that involves rote skills, concrete facts, etc. He totally struggles with anything abstract, reasoning skills, etc.

I'm thinking I might put him in Beyond with dd (6.5)---in some ways it will be an OK fit, but in other ways I will need to beef it up. I *can not* beef it up with higher level books. Although his reading skills are ok, and his recall of facts is amazing, his comprehension is pretty poor. He just doesn't "get" the themes and meanings of books much beyond a 2nd-3rd grade level. For example, recently he was about 150 pages into a book about the Nazis in WW2. He looks up and says, "Mom, I'm beginning to get the feeling that one of the characters in this book is a Nazi." Really?!?! And yet, he can tell you about the fall of the Roman Empire, who was president in any given year, the characteristics of a mammal, etc.....it's a wierd combination and makes it so hard to choose curriculum.

Ok, this got long. Here is my question. He will be doing his own math and LA. But otherwise, how can I beef up Beyond so that he even feels like he's doing something a bit "bigger" than his little sister???

Thanks for all of your help with this!!

Jen in MI
homeschooling my four: dd (12), ds (12- cerebral palsy and Asperger's), ds (10), and dd (6)

I will probably be no help.

I know you said he has some fine motor issues, but could he maybe make a notebook? Do some written or typed narrations of the history readings? Maybe some illustrations? If not, could he record lengthier oral narrations and maybe make a taped or videoed (that word just does not look right ) notebook?

I'm sure there are 2nd-3rd grade short chapter books on American History that he could maybe read independently to help him feel he has his own things. Maybe some of the titles from Bigger's extensions?

Other than that, I'm drawing a blank. I'm sure others will chime in.

I agree, perhaps you could pick a couple of the Bigger extension books or even a few of the Beyond storytime books (ones that you have not chosen to read aloud, like maybe Squanto, A Lion to Guard Us, If You Lived 100 Years Ago or If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon) or look at the HOD Sample Book List in the level 2/3 areas for the different genres. My ds is really enjoying reading A Viking Adventure by Bulla right now. Maybe you could use the questions in Beyond's storytime box for whatever the book's genre, to help with his comprehension.

krismoose wrote:even a few of the Beyond storytime books (ones that you have not chosen to read aloud, like maybe Squanto, A Lion to Guard Us, If You Lived 100 Years Ago or If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon) or look at the HOD Sample Book List in the level 2/3 areas for the different genres.

She has a great idea here! There are so many storytime book choices in Beyond's Appendix, more than what you see offered in the Classic, Boy and Girl Interest packs. You could easily assign some of the other titles as an "extension program" for your older child.

Thanks for the great ideas!

I picked through a bunch of HOD books at the 2nd-3rd grade level and chose ones I thought he would do well with. I am going to pair these with some kind of 2nd grade American history textbook (because he does great with nonfiction) that he can read independently and do notebooking pages with. This way he will feel like he has his "own" history....but I'll still have him do Beyond with dd, which is what I "really" want him to be doing !

Thanks for your help!

Jenni

Hi Jenni - I'll paste this here as I answered you in another thread about this and it might help in some way...
Nope - I don't think you ordered the wrong guide! I think there is no need to second guess yourself. I think that Beyond is a good placement for dd as well as all of these wise ladies who have already responded. I am also thinking ds can do Beyond. Here are the comments I think are key...

jcmi wrote:...She has done no formal school except Singapore math and handwriting. I've always been pretty laid back in the early years, so I don't want to push her...but I do want her to be challenged.

Beyond will have dd doing her own work and being responsible for follow-ups for each skill learned. This is much different than tagging along with older siblings, as the books and learning were geared more toward their abilities and they were more responsible for the material. Beyond will have her learning so well in all school subjects and being personally responsible for every single subject's body of knowledge - I think she is ready for it and will soar!

Likewise, these words make me think ds will do well with Beyond and LA/math on his own level...

jcmi wrote:And I'd still have to do something else with ds 12 next year, because he won't be ready for Preparing yet.

When dc finish one HOD guide, if they were accurately placed in it and truly did it all, they should be ready for the next guide. If you are already seeing ds will need to take a year off after Bigger Hearts before doing PHFHG, then I think Beyond will be a better placement now as well as for the future. By doing Beyond this year, you could have him do Bigger Hearts the following year, and PHFHG the next year, and so on. This would be such a nice progression, and it will have you only doing 3 guides instead of 4!

I would like to chat about LA/math though. It sounds like dd can do Spelling List 2 and one time a week grammar, plus Drawn into the Heart of Reading Level 2/3. She can use the 2A/2B math schedule in the Appendix of Bigger Hearts. She's probably set with that. But what about ds? What do you think he needs?

HTH - and I'd love to hear your thoughts about this! We do 3 HOD guides, and when dc are placed right, it's not hard to do. We enjoy our HOD days together so much - I think you will too.

In Christ,
Julie