Bigger questions

jg_puppy · Post by **jg_puppy** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:51 pm

I really think we are going to start Bigger in the fall with my dd who will be a young third grader. We already use Singapore for math and just started 2A. I know Bigger has a schedule in the back for using 3A and 3B. Has anyone else used Bigger with the 3A/3B schedule? Did you just skip the activities in the manual or did you find they were good review? I wish that we could go ahead and start Bigger now, but I have changed my mind about programs so many times and I have finally said enough we are staying with what we are doing this year and changing in the fall.

I am also curious about Rod and Staff. I don't think my dd would have a problem using the program. I want to make sure grammar is covered, but I was thinking about waiting until fourth to start grammar and use something like JAG. Does anyone have any advise about grammar?

Jan

joyfulheart · Post by **joyfulheart** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:06 pm

Has your dd had any grammar yet?

My son in public school didnt get much, if any. After researching lots of grammar curriculum, I decided on www.growingwithgrammar.com . It is great! I REALLY like it! So does my son!

Even though he is in 3rd grade, we started him on the 1st/2nd grade level, but he had no knowledge, not even knowing what a noun was.

When researching products, I really picked this one because it was written by a homeschooling mom who was frustrated by the lack of good christian grammar programs, so she made her own! And it's very thorough.

I like that the format works well for my son that is dyslexic right brained child, yet also works well for my younger left brained son too.

blessedmomof4 · Post by **blessedmomof4** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:39 pm

jg_puppy wrote:I really think we are going to start Bigger in the fall with my dd who will be a young third grader. We already use Singapore for math and just started 2A. I know Bigger has a schedule in the back for using 3A and 3B. Has anyone else used Bigger with the 3A/3B schedule? Did you just skip the activities in the manual or did you find they were good review? I wish that we could go ahead and start Bigger now, but I have changed my mind about programs so many times and I have finally said enough we are staying with what we are doing this year and changing in the fall.

I am also curious about Rod and Staff. I don't think my dd would have a problem using the program. I want to make sure grammar is covered, but I was thinking about waiting until fourth to start grammar and use something like JAG. Does anyone have any advise about grammar?

Jan

Hi Jan,
I am using Bigger with Singapore 2A and 2B with my youngest daughter, and when you use the activities in the Bigger manual, you don't even need the Singapore 2A and B textbooks! The daily math activities take the place of the textbooks for 2A and 2B, and give a great way to present the material. She loves it, and is learning very well-makes our lesson time nice and short

My middle daughter is using 3A ans 3B, but for this, Carrie has a schedule in the appendix of Bigger with daily assignments in the textbooks and workbooks, so you need both at this level-there are no hands-on activities scheduled. It works great-it is tempting to assign too much with Singapore because the books look so friendly, but Carrie's schedule keeps me on track

We are also using Rod and Staff 2 with both girls (3rd and 4th grade) because neither of them has had any formal grammar before, and it is woring out as a painless introduction. For my youngest, I started out doing most of the work orally or on a white board because her hands were just not ready to write that much. I had also cut down her copywork assignments to 1 line at a time. We are now on week 15 and she is doing more written without a problem.
My 4th grader loves to copy, so Rod and Staff 2 and the rest of the language arts in Bigger is just right for her.
I hope that gives you an idea of what it's like!

jg_puppy · Post by **jg_puppy** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:35 pm

Thank you for all of the answers.

My dd went through most of an Evan Moor Grammar book, 1st grade Growing with Grammar (finished all of the first grade part), and Queen's Language Lessons for Young Children all in first grade. She can complete the work very easily, but she has no comprehension a few weeks later. We are using Critical Thinking Language Smarts this year for second grade.

I taught second grade for several years and I saw the same thing in my classroom as well. Many of the kids would understand the concept perfectly, but two weeks later you ask them "what is a noun?" Many of them would have no clue. I finally decided that for my dd at this time all the grammar work was just busywork so we put it aside. I was just wondering what others that have older children thought.

I am not concerned with her actually doing the work. I know she will do just fine. I would rather spend time reading and then focus on grammar when she is older and will remember it better. I am just not sure if third which would be next year or 4th will be a better time to reintroduce grammar.

Jan

blessedmomof4 · Post by **blessedmomof4** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:12 am

You know your child best-I remember using a similar program to the Queen one when my oldest 2 were younger-they also did the work, but there was no retention!
I am finding with my two younger ones that they are comprehending and retaining with the Rod and Staff. I make sure to read the lessons aloud to them before assigning oral or written practice. The no-frills, steady practice approach really seems to work for them.
Another thing that has helped (because I'm a singer, I gravitate toward this kind of stuff) is the Schoolhouse Rock DVD, which I play every so often, depending on what they are studying-Schoolhouse Rock made catchy cartoons and songs for parts of speech, math facts, history, science...it's fun review

My two youngest really do know nouns, verbs and pronouns, both singular and plural, which is as far as we've gotten as of now.
Then again, I have a pretty advanced 3rd grader and an average 4th grader, which may account for their retention-they're just ready now

All in all, you are your child's teacher, and you know if she is just not ready for formal grammar study.

MamaMary · Post by **MamaMary** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 6:10 am

Hi Jan,

I don't remember saying "welcome"!

If you are feeling a hesitancy to start the programs before 4th grade I would wait. This is one of the things I LOVE about HOD. If I use it GREAT and if I don't it still works GREAT! We are really loving Time4Learning for our Math and LA and Spellingtime.com for spelling. By using these other programs It frees us up to have FUN Hx/Science/Art/Copywork/Bible and all the other fun stuff.

I love though that if at anytime I find Time4Learning NOT working, I can easily switch over to HOD's suggestions. The only exception to that rule right now is that I did switch my younger boys over to HOD math and left the olders in what was working.

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:34 am

Hi Jan! I'm doing 2A/2B with Bigger, and I think it is going very well. I do really like the hands-on math activities in the guide, and I think they help cement the skill in my ds's mind. When doing 3A/3B, I think you could decide to begin doing the activities along with the workbook, and see if you think you want to continue them after say a month or so of trying them. I think it will become apparent within that time if your dc need the activities - either skill wise or just for hands-on enjoyment - or if they don't. The activities are short and well-planned, and they add an element of fun to math.

As far as English, we really enjoy R & S. We do most of it orally. We only write a portion of it. It is a great introduction to grammar, and I think a totally stress-free, enjoyable way to learn it. HTH!

jg_puppy · Post by **jg_puppy** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:02 pm

MamaMary wrote: This is one of the things I LOVE about HOD. If I use it GREAT and if I don't it still works GREAT! We are really loving Time4Learning for our Math and LA and Spellingtime.com for spelling. By using these other programs It frees us up to have FUN Hx/Science/Art/Copywork/Bible and all the other fun stuff.

Thank you. That answers one of my questions. Part of the beauty of HOD is having everything planned, and I was wondering if I didn't use all that was planned how well would HOD work. I was thinking it would still be work well, but it is nice to hear from someone else that it is working well for them.

We have the School House Rock DVD and the School House Rock grammar leapster game. My dd doesn't like them at all. I think my ds will love them when he is older since he loves everything set to music.

Jan

Post by **Carrie** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 5:28 pm

Jan,

The ladies have done a great job of answering your questions, so I'll just point you to a previous thread where we discussed why Rod and Staff was chosen to use with "Bigger...".

Whether or not you eventually use Rod and Staff, I think the thread is an interesting read as I've had some of the same grammar experiences you have! Here's the link:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=113

Blessings,
Carrie

jg_puppy · Post by **jg_puppy** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 5:48 pm

Thank you. I was pretty certain I was going to use something else for grammar starting in 4th grade. After I read your post I was thinking that Rod and Staff might work well for us. I still think that my dd would benefit from starting later, but I think Rod and Staff will work when we do start a formal grammar program.

Jan

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