Using Beyond w/almost 8yo

[HSMom03]

Hi all! I am just wondering... if I want to use Beyond next year with a 2nd grader who will turn 8 a quarter way into the year (so late fall b-day and older for his grade), would I just add the right side of Bigger and be pretty much good to go? Instead of the right side of Beyond? Thanks!!

[StephanieU]

We are using Beyond currently for a younger 2nd grader. We are doing two things differently. First, we are adding in Rod and Staff 2 English. This is because we had already covered all of the grammar in Beyond. I checked what we had done in a 1st grade workbook with what was in Beyond, and I confirmed we had done everything already. If you haven't done any grammar already, you could just do the grammar in Beyond as written. Or, you can go faster than one day a week with the grammar (in Beyond) and then start Rod and Staff 2 when you are done. But, you will not be behind if you don't start Rod and Staff 2 until 3rd grade, as the goal is to complete Rod and Staff 6 by the end of 8th grade and then Rod and Staff 8 by the end of high school.
Second, we are doing 2nd grade math. We actually are using another program (Horizons) because we started it before finding HOD, and switching would cause problems due to variations in the scope and sequence. So, if you are going to change to Singapore, I would check the placement tests on their website first. Again, the goal is only to complete Singapore 6 by the end of 8th grade, so doing Singapore 1 in Beyond is perfectly fine if that is where you child places. If your child places into Singapore 2, then you can either use the textbook or the plans in Bigger - the choice is up to you.
You would not need to switch out the spelling, reading, or storytime. The reading is basically identical in both Beyond and Bigger. Beyond has two spelling lists, and the second set is enough for 2nd grade (the first few units are often easy, but by Unit 10, it really picks up). Storytime is similar in both as well, so switching that out isn't adding much. That leaves copywork/cursive. You could start cursive in Beyond, but again waiting until Bigger is not an issue at all either. And this would also be something you wouldn't need the Bigger guide for. We bought Cheerful Cursive, and I am just waiting until my daughter is interested in it OR we start Bigger.

Hopefully that helps.

[bethelmommy]

Hi all! I am just wondering... if I want to use Beyond next year with a 2nd grader who will turn 8 a quarter way into the year (so late fall b-day and older for his grade), would I just add the right side of Bigger and be pretty much good to go? Instead of the right side of Beyond? Thanks!!

That's pretty much what we did for my 7 1/2 - 8 1/2 year old Ds and it worked great. We did Beyond as written on the left side with spelling list 2. We did Beyond grammar daily and then added Rod and Staff 2 from Bigger. We also did the math from Bigger and DITHOR since my ds had already completed Beyond math and Emerging Readers. We did not add cursive as ds needed the poetry copy work to improve the neatness of his printing. It was a wonderful year.

You will just want to make sure you have your ds placed at the right level for his 3 R's, and then any combination of the 2 guides for the right side should be fine .

[MelInKansas]

I kind of differ from these other ladies (perhaps) in that I think when you get to Bigger doing R side of one guide and L side of another no longer works. Because the R side isn't just the 3R's anymore in Bigger, storytime and daily science are also in there. I guess you could just not do the daily science listed in the Bigger guide and then it would work. If you DID the science listed in Bigger with Beyond I have no idea what you would use for science when you got to Bigger. There are connections between the history in Bigger and Preparing and the science so I don't think I would recommend doing science from a different guide.

The add-ons that are easy to do in Beyond that come from Bigger are cursive and R&S 2. Also obviously reading and math you can do any level, though to use the hands-on activities in the guide you would want the Bigger guide if you are doing 2A/2B. But DITHOR/ER would both work with Beyond and I assume you will use one of those options. The poetry copywork and drawing will work those skills up and the 2 spelling lists are in Beyond, if you wanted to start dictation then you would need the Bigger guide.

I hope this is all making sense.

[Nealewill]

I agree with Melissa. I don't think I would substitute the entire sides of the guide. Just curious, have you checked the placement chart? I am not sure if you are trying to use this guide for multiple children or not. But if you aren't, you will probably be much happier placing the child at the level they place at versus adjusting a guide for only one student.

[StephanieU]

I just wanted to make it clear that I don't think with a 2nd grader that you necessarily need to change anything in Beyond. And if you do, the three areas would be math, English, and copywork/cursive. And all three of those can be done without buying the Bigger guide. The only reasons you would want/need the Bigger guide is for pacing of Rod and Staff English and cursive (it is basically 1 lesson a day, so not a huge help to have the next guide) and for the math activities if you want to use those over the textbook. Information about DITHOR is in the Beyond guide just like it is in the Bigger guide.

[Nealewill]

Now that you mention it Stephanie.......I used Beyond as is for my 2nd grader and it was perfect as is

[bethelmommy]

I kind of differ from these other ladies (perhaps) in that I think when you get to Bigger doing R side of one guide and L side of another no longer works. Because the R side isn't just the 3R's anymore in Bigger, storytime and daily science are also in there. I guess you could just not do the daily science listed in the Bigger guide and then it would work. If you DID the science listed in Bigger with Beyond I have no idea what you would use for science when you got to Bigger. There are connections between the history in Bigger and Preparing and the science so I don't think I would recommend doing science from a different guide.

The add-ons that are easy to do in Beyond that come from Bigger are cursive and R&S 2. Also obviously reading and math you can do any level, though to use the hands-on activities in the guide you would want the Bigger guide if you are doing 2A/2B. But DITHOR/ER would both work with Beyond and I assume you will use one of those options. The poetry copywork and drawing will work those skills up and the 2 spelling lists are in Beyond, if you wanted to start dictation then you would need the Bigger guide.

I hope this is all making sense.

Sorry, I always think of the right side as the 3 R's and forgot Bigger has Science and Storytime on the right side. We used Bigger for the 3 R's last year - most especially for Math. Otherwise, everything else was from Beyond. What I meant to suggest was that any combination of the 3 R's from either guide would work .

[HSMom03]

Wow, what an active and helpful board! I can't thank you all enough for your replies. I read them immediately on my phone but prefer to respond on my computer. Phew, it is hard to get to the computer!

Anyway, sounds like Beyond 'as is' will work great for him next year. Great news! I know what you mean about science being on the right side of some of the guides, I did notice that! I definitely just meant the 3Rs . As far as combining, my 2 oldest will be almost 6 and 8 by the time we get to Beyond so that might work out nicely. I love seeing them together.

We are currently using a 1st grade curriculum from another publisher. I love it but I'm not sure if it is working for our family right now. I was thinking that Little Hearts w/1st grade options might have worked well for us this year.

[StillJulie]

Beyond is my guide of choice for second grade.

[MomtoJGJE]

The only thing I'd suggest doing, because it sounds like placing your kids together would work well for you guys, is to go ahead and get R&S2 and if you are using Singapore math I'd get the Bigger guide for the hands on if you are doing 2A/B. That way you won't have to worry about shipping for just one book (R&S2) and HOD will honor their discount price for the following year if you order the Bigger guide this year for the hands on stuff. I know my kids when they were on the older end needed more grammar work than what is in Beyond. However if you don't want to add more you aren't losing anything.