Left-brained child?

[catbeth]

My 7yo is doing a trial run of Bigger this week to see if it will be a fit for next year. (Why the trial run this week? Long story lol.) She enjoyed starting cursive, spelling and grammar came easily, and she complained that there wasn't enough math (she loves her long Saxon worksheets from school!). She's reading the emerging readers easily. She followed along in the book to sing the hymn. She like the globe activity but got bored with it quickly.

The problem came in the more abstract boxes. The history reading, the poem, the story of the hymnwriter - she had no interest and it went over her head. She did pick up a few things from the science reading, but getting a narration from her was impossible. I just asked her a few specific questions to make sure she was listening.

I know it's conventional wisdom in the homeschooling world that children are able to listen to more advanced language and process more advanced concepts before they're ready to read and write about them. But this child isn't really there. Her reading and listening level are both around Magic Treehouse level.

Am I going to have to work out of 2 guides at once with her? Or do I just hope she'll mature a lot by August?

[StephanieU]

If you choose to do mostly Beyond, you might find that you don't really need the Bigger guide. It is easy to do the grammar and cursive from Bigger without the guide, just don't a lesson a day. Math would be the only question, and it depends on if your daughter wants the hands on activities. It sounds like she might be the kind that wouldn't enjoy them as much. We did Rod and Staff English 2 with Beyond all year and Cheerful Cursive half the year (started in January) without issue.

[Nealewill]

If she has never done a narration before, then I would say it takes a bit of practice and time. My son wasn't very good at it at the beginning of the year. But I also agree that if this seems to be too challenging, she would probably enjoy her year much more with Beyond. As for math, you don't have to switch. If you prefer the math you were using, just keep going at that level and continue on. Saxon does add a lot to the day. So I probably would switch. But I am just encouraging you, in that, if you prefer Saxon, you can continue on with that.

I see that you mentioned you have a 9 year old doing a trial of R2R. I am guessing that that particular child will be 10 by next year. How is that going?

As for Beyond vs Bigger, my kids younger kids loved Beyond. My oldest never completed because we only found HOD last year. And you can see from R2R, that there is a quite a jump in abilities. If this middle child is reading well already, then placing her in Bigger is probably fine also because she will be ready for all of the reading Preparing has. If her reading isn't quite as strong, then I would consider placing her in Beyond. That would give you another year to mature until you get to Preparing.

[bethelmommy]

If the read alouds really seem over her head, it is probably wise to switch to Beyond since she is new to HOD. Her listening and narration skills will improve with practice and time, but Beyond will approach those skills in a slightly more gentle manner as age appropriate. The spelling list 2 and ER schedule are both listed in the appendix of Beyond so you will be fine there. You can continue with grammar if you wish at a lesson a day. You would really only need the Bigger guide if you want to use the hands on activities for Math. I did do that for my oldest ds and did not find it a problem to keep a sticky tab in the Bigger guide for Math but use Beyond for everything else. This year he is using the math schedule in the back of the Bigger guide as he goes through Bigger since textbooks are now used instead of hands on activities.

One thing that is important to understand about HOD is that the students are not supposed to be able to perfectly perform every skill scheduled at the beginning of the guide. The goal is for them to work to improve those skills over the course of the year so that they are easily able to complete everything asked of them by the end of the guide. Then they are prepared to move on to the increased requirements of the following guide. Also, it usually takes several weeks for a student (and parent) to become comfortable with the flow and expectations of a new guide. We are on our third guide and I have found this to be true every year. HTH and welcome to HOD!

[MomtoJGJE]

Did you check the placement chart before starting them? Did they fit in those guides?

Just based on their ages and assuming they/you are new to HOD I'd start them in Beyond for your youngest and either Preparing or CTC for your oldest. I wouldn't put a new to HOD 10yo in R2R.

For reference, we have done HOD from the beginning. We have to test yearly and my kids are always above grade level. My current 10yo is doing Preparing and my current 8yo (who is also very advanced) is doing Bigger. They get their "more" outside of school time if they desire it. We have science experiment kits and read other books, watch documentary type shows, etc.

One thing I had to figure out at the beginning is if they fit in between guides on the placement chart, then you need to go down to the lower guide. So for instance if a child was in Bigger for half of the placement areas and Beyond for half then you'd need to use Beyond.

And I promise you it really is enough

[Gwenny]

I just posted about this on another comment. I agree with MomtoJGJE. I had suggested looking at CTC, but Preparing would be great also. It was a favorite year. The books are fantastic and right on level with that age. You want to really look at the boxes labeled T, S and I. They need to be able to do the I boxes independently. Each guide is more independent after Preparing and if they can't, it will only get harder and harder and you will have to help them with everything. The days get longer with each also. It's nice when they are young to have a shorter day for them to still play and explore other things.

Let us know what you think.

[MomtoJGJE]

Another thing is if they are super good readers, or if they are on the older end of the age range, you can have them start reading their own history or story time. We do story time at bedtime, but my Preparing child reads about 85% of her history reading as well as what is designated independent in the guide.... mainly because she doesn't like waiting on me to be able to get to it. My bigger child (like I said, she's pretty advanced) reads either history or science about 4 out of 5 days per week, and sometimes both if it's an easy book for science, like one small square.

Basically, the reading level of the history books is higher in preparing because it's supposed to be the teacher reading it to the kids.... but CM says that after age 9, if a child can read their own history they should. So that's what I go by.... I generally have them prepared to read their own history in Preparing. Not that they always do, but they CAN.

[Mumkins]

The writing is A LOT in CTC and up. Does your 9yo like writing? My 9yo, 3rd grade, is just finishing up Bigger. Preparing has them start reading more and CTC has a big increase in writing.

I wouldn't worry about Bigger seeming over her head in just the first week. Narration also takes time to get into. I'd say, the biggest thing is being able to handle the amount of writing and reading in each guide.

The key to enjoying HOD is proper placement. I learned my lesson with my 2nd child. I had him placed young in a guide. So, when he started Bigger, it was a month before he turned 7. Beyond was fine (started mid year), Bigger was ok, Preparing, I knew I was dragging him a bit, by CTC, I had to scale back. He couldn't handle it. He's brilliant and a very good reader, but the writing was weigh him down.

Another reason not to place too high is the finish line. A child doing Bigger in grade 3, which is RTR in grade 6, will finish the last guide in grade 12.

[Gwenny]

I think Mumkins meant to say RTR in 6th grade.

[MomtoJGJE]

Yes Preparing in 4th grade and doing a guide a year would put you graduating your child in 12th grade.

[Mumkins]

I think Mumkins meant to say RTR in 6th grade.

Yes I did. Good catch. Thank you. (I'll go fix that)

[catbeth]

I addressed the issue of my 9yo in the thread about delaying Beautiful Girlhood. She's good, really. She practically inhales books and writes well.

Back to 7yo. She will be almost 8 in the fall when we start, an older second grader because of her birthday. It has always been in the back of my mind that she may want the option of graduating early after 11th grade, since her summer birthday siblings will graduate at 17. So I'm hesitant to hinder that just because she isn't fascinated by Eggleston, you know? She is a worker bee. She charged right through her math, cursive, grammar, and science notebooking. She sang the hymn, practiced the Bible verse, and I managed to get some answers from her in the Bible study. She asked to save history till last, and so we haven't gotten to it yet (I work on Tuesdays).

It's really hard to tell with her. She may just need to get used to the higher level readings. Poor middle child never got as much read-aloud time as my oldest.

[mom23]

Eggleston is an acquired taste in our house. I feel that if your child solidly places in Bigger, I would not put her in Beyond because of the Eggleston alone. Especially if she's not listened to read alouds above the Magic Treehouse level before, the language in those will take some getting used to! My oldest dd never really did learn to enjoy them, but my son did. I think it depends on the kid.

There are a couple of pieces of advice I've read on here that helped. First, although it seems counter-intuitive to me, try not to stop the readings to explain things or put it into "plain English". That stretches out the time they're required to sit still and try to concentrate on it. They'll adapt much more quickly if you read as interestingly as possible and straight through. Keep discussions to the end of the reading, perhaps modeling narrations for a few weeks until they get the hang of it. Secondly, try to remember that the goal isn't really to have them thouroughly understand and remember every detail presented in American History. Right now you're exposing them to these facts, hoping to give some familiarity, so they'll have "hooks" in their brains to hang new facts onto in the coming years. Don't worry too much if they don't seem to click with it; it will come around again in a few years and they will have built a solid base to begin to recognize similar information and grow their knowledge.

[Nealewill]

I agree with Becky, I wouldn't move down to Beyond just because of the history book. If she is doing well with everything else, the history book will come too. As I mentioned above, my son struggled a little bit at the beginning of the year but a few months in and he was set to go. He is to the point now that he can even read it himself and tell me what he read about. He has had a wonderful growth year.

[Nealewill]

And for me - this is totally not CM - but for my son, I will actually stop and explain things. My son though - he does have some language delays so I need to make sure he actually understood what something meant. But it hasn't been a big deal. And he is now to the point that I no longer have to do this. I would just go a little slow in the beginning of the year if you need to.