question - repeating guides with younger child?

[ckhunt]

We are using Little Hearts For Glory 8 yr old) and Bigger Hearts for Glory (10 yr old) My youngest has been sitting in on all of the history/science lessons. What do I do when it comes time for her to do Bigger? Will the books be the same and repeat them or other suggestions?

Thanks, Kristie

[psreit]

I know this isn't exactly what you asking about, but hopefully will help. My daughter did LHFHG and BLHFHG. She then did about half of Bigger until the struggles began, as I have mentioned in other threads. So, we stopped Bigger and for 2 years used other curricula among searching for answers to her difficulties. We just came back to HOD and we are in the second week in Bigger. Yes, my daughter did half of that guide 2 years ago, but there are skills within that guide that I know she has not attained. So, we are reading the same books we read 2 years ago, and she is doing fine. She actually remembered a little about Christopher Columbus's voyage, but it excited her when she could tell me about the problems he had before I read it. I don't expect her to remember much in the history (Columbus is a common topic:), but rereading will not be a bad thing. You younger daughter will have matured in two years and will glean so much more from the same readings. I'm assuming she is not doing the written work, which will be very significant when she gets to Bigger. Just listening to you read them now is getting her familiar with the people/topics, but when she is actually doing Bigger, she will gain so much more from it by doing the hands-on activities and the notebooking. You can't really replace the history and science books, or you may as well not use the guide. In two years, your daughter will not mind hearing you read those books again.

[luv2homeschool]

Yes, you would use all the same books except the storytime selections. I did Little Hearts and Bigger together. My daughter listened in on most of the readings in Bigger, though she was usually playing at the same time so not giving it her full attention. She is halfway through Bigger right now and it has been just fine. She has never said a word about hearing it all again.

[Nealewill]

I also say yes. My youngest is doing Little Hearts this year and her brother is doing Bigger. She will repeat all the books next year actually (we started with my youngest doing Beyond with her brother so I went down a level for her for this year and modified it a little to make it more like Beyond and Bigger). And that is okay She loves the books and loves listening to things. The activities she does will be a little different though because currently she isn't doing any of the notebooking, art activities or science experiments. I will also be changing up the story time books. I also do allow my youngest to listen to her brother but try to encourage her to do something else during that time if I can. But she always listens to story time no matter what and she really likes to listen to science too. So if she wants to listen, I am okay with it. But yes, she will hear it all again last year.

On a side note, before finding HOD, I used another company MFW and my kids has all listened to the American Patriots & Pioneers book with the level I did with that other company. The last year I started HOD with Beyond for my younger 2. That same book was used in that level. My younger loved that book the second time as much as they loved it the first time. So your child will have a 2 year gap between hearing it again, mine have only had a 1 year gap. My kids have loved having books repeated and I don't think your youngest will mind either. For me, I do feel like the scheduled activities that HOD completes are what will make it fresh and by Preparing, your kids will be reading a lot by themselves.

[MelInKansas]

This happened to me too. My 2nd born loved to sit and listen into her older sister's school and I would say she was doing that up until this year, where I have too many things going at once and I also needed her help entertaining her little brother while I read to my oldest. So now my 2nd does not hear her older sister's books unless I am reading them at breakfast or lunch which happens occasionally. But she heard Beyond and Bigger when my oldest went through them, and now she is in Bigger. With 2 years between them, and with the amount she grew and matured in those 2 years, it was absolutely not a problem. I chose some different storytime books just for my own variety, not because she would have needed them to be different, but otherwise everything is the same. But it is different going through it with a different child, and I get to interact with her about the material in her own way. I do things a little differently too. So it is nice, I see no problem with doing what you are doing.

[my3sons]

Excellent advice here I'll second! Keep in mind that by listening to BHFHG's readings, your child didn't actually 'do' the guide. Listening to books being read is a very tiny part of all of the skills taught in BHFHG! So, in no way would your dd be 'repeating' the guide. Rather she'd be doing it for the first time, but merely hearing books read aloud a second time. It would be akin to rereading "Charlotte's Web" a few years after hearing it read in the past. No big deal, as nothing was really done with it! So, no worries! BHFHG will be brand new to your dd in almost every regard because she hasn't done any of the multiple follow-up assignments, discussions, projects, activities, experiments, art projects, narrations, vocabulary work, timeline entries, etc. that account for a far larger portion of the day of plans in BHFHG's than the 15-20 minutes it takes to read the history books. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[ckhunt]

Good point Julie. I don't think she'd mind reading the books again. We just finished reading about James Audubon. She loved that book!

[Nealewill]

That James Audubon books was a fan with ALL my kids. ALL of them flocked to me when I read it

[my3sons]

James Audubon was a favorite here too! It started our sons on a quest to be able to properly name each of the birds we see in our yard. Red-winged blackbirds, song sparrows, barn swallows, killdeer, house wrens, blue jays, common grackles, downy woodpeckers, hummingbirds, mourning doves, and chickadees are some of the birds they've identified over the past years, and that passion for birds all came from reading about James Audubon and HIS passion for birds!

In Christ,
Julie

[psreit]

I had thought about skipping the James Audubon book because, as I mentioned, we did half of Bigger 2 years ago. But, as I was looking through the guide and looking over the Audubon unit, I believe my daughter will enjoy hearing that one again. So will I. We have both come to love observing and listening to birds. Last year, for Christmas, I bought my daughter a book w/ CDs with more than 100 pictures and sounds of Pennsylvania birds. She bought me a clock with bird sounds (I think it is wearing out already ) I love to hear birds singing. For Christmas, we are getting my daughter a parakeet, raised locally, so this should be an exciting thing for her (and me!). Won't have it until the end of January, as that is when they are hatched. Sorry, I got off track a little , but was making a point again that hearing a story more than once is okay. We did not read the very first science book, which was okay, but I'm sure my daughter would not have minded doing it again. I have decided to just go ahead with everything else, even though some of it will be repeating.