Keeping kids together

[busybee4]

I have two girls who will both be starting Beyond at the end of August. My oldest dd is 7 (will be 8 in Jan.) and my younger is 5 (will be 6 in Nov.) I'm wanting to keep them together throughout their HOD years but am wondering if my younger dd will not be lost as she will still be younger than the youngest age for each manual. (Granted this is only for a couple of months but it still is a concern). I've read a lot of the posts about going at half speed and that sounds like a plan...but can someone explain to me how exactly to do half speed? And also 4 days a week is great too.

So my first question is will my younger dd get lost in the mix trying to be lumped together with her sis? And my second is if I do slow the manuals down will that make my older dd too old for the age bracket set for each manual?

I don't want to "cater" to one and lose the other in the process so I'm trying to understand how to best work this. Any ideas will be gladly accepted. And I apologize if I'm running an old course here! I know that this has been gone through many times but yet my questions still linger!!

Thank you!!

[Mommamo]

Have you taken a look at the placement chart? If your younger is on target for it, then she should be just fine, regardless of age! Also, I'm assuming that you'll put her in her own level of reading and math, so she should be okay with that.

My daughter is using Beyond right now, and she's not even 6 yet. We're on unit 6. She won't turn 6 until the end of September, and we'll be a good ways into the book by then. But she's on target with the guidelines in the placement chart so it's been a good fit for us.

When people refer to doing it half speed, they mean doing the left side of the plans one day, and the right side the next, and just alternating that way. It will take you two weeks to work through a whole unit. That can be a great way to ease into one of the guides.

Doing it 4 days a week just means doing it M-Th or whatever works best for you and your schedule, and then picking up where you left off the next week. So you usually won't be starting your week with "Day 1" on the guide, but that really doesn't mess up the flow of the guide. And believe me, that kind of thing usually bothers may, but it's no big deal with HOD. That's kind of what we're doing right now, except that I'm just really relaxed and if we do 4 days one week, great! If it's 6 days the next, wonderful! (My dh works 6 days/week so we often do school on Saturdays.) If it's only 3 the next, fine! We school year 'round so that's worked out well for us. But what I'm saying, is that everything flows well and the guide lends nicely to doing 4 days/week. Doing it 4 days/week might be nice for you guys, because it will stretch it out a little longer and give your younger one time to grow.

I wouldn't worry about your older one being too old for the manuals. Everything after Beyond has extension packages anyway if you are concerned about that, but, I know that this curriculum is deceptively rich and as long as you keep both girls in the right level for math and language arts, you should be just fine. Hope all of this rambling helps some!

[busybee4]

Thank you Mommamo for your input!! I had forgotten about the extension packs! That would solve the problem for my oldest dd wouldn't it?!

As far as doing things at half pace, by doing the left side on one day and the right on the other would that mean doing math and phonics/reading only every other day as well or would that just include the HOD activities? I am going to keep them at their own levels for math and phonics and don't want to slow that down, if I can help it anyway.

[sharonb]

I just started Beyond with two of my children. dd turned 7 in Jan, and ds will turn 6 in August. Even though ds is still 5, he is doing great with it. He is even wanting to do the poetry copywork, even though I wasn't going to make him. He listens well to the readings, and of course loves the activities. I'm happy it is going so well, and I am planning on keeping those two combined as long as I can. (They do each have their own level of phonics, math, reading, etc).

[funkmomma71]

In regards to your question about whether to do math and LA daily while going halfspeed with the rest, I will be doing something very similar to that with my dd. I plan on stretching Beyond and Bigger out over 3 years so that my dd will be a little bit older when we get to Perparing. She turns 6 in Oct, so I agree that as long as your dc is academically ready than by all means, go for it. Because I'm not sure if my dd is ready for the poetry copywork, I'm going to have her start with only copying the bible verses every week, so that it is even more gentle. We will then ease into the poetry copywork a little later in the year. Hope that helps.

[Kathleen]

Thank you Mommamo for your input!! I had forgotten about the extension packs! That would solve the problem for my oldest dd wouldn't it?!

As far as doing things at half pace, by doing the left side on one day and the right on the other would that mean doing math and phonics/reading only every other day as well or would that just include the HOD activities? I am going to keep them at their own levels for math and phonics and don't want to slow that down, if I can help it anyway.

Krissy,

I'm going to be trying something like you where I'm slowing the guide down so that my littler one can be combined with his older sister. I'm planning to pull phonics/reading and math out of the picture. I'm thinking I'll keep both of those subjects moving along 4 days per week, and cut what's left in half.

Kathleen

[Mommamo]

I would do math and phonics daily as well. Something you could do is do a phonics and math lesson on the right side day, and then on the left side day, you can play a math card game or computer game or play with math manipulatives, and read a simple book (like a Bob book) or do flash cards or a phonics workbook. That way you could stay on track with the days if that was important to you. We did something like that when we were trying to do it at half speed, that way the left side days didn't get too overwhelming, and she still practiced math and reading daily.

[my3sons]

I have two girls who will both be starting Beyond at the end of August. My oldest dd is 7 (will be 8 in Jan.) and my younger is 5 (will be 6 in Nov.) I'm wanting to keep them together throughout their HOD years but am wondering if my younger dd will not be lost as she will still be younger than the youngest age for each manual. (Granted this is only for a couple of months but it still is a concern). I've read a lot of the posts about going at half speed and that sounds like a plan...but can someone explain to me how exactly to do half speed? And also 4 days a week is great too.

So my first question is will my younger dd get lost in the mix trying to be lumped together with her sis? And my second is if I do slow the manuals down will that make my older dd too old for the age bracket set for each manual?

I don't want to "cater" to one and lose the other in the process so I'm trying to understand how to best work this. Any ideas will be gladly accepted. And I apologize if I'm running an old course here! I know that this has been gone through many times but yet my questions still linger!!

Thank you!!

The ladies have done such a super job of answering your questions here! I think your plan to use Beyond with the 2 of them and keep them together for the years to come makes total sense. They are close enough in age and there are enough ways to customize HOD guides written right in them that make it easy to modify as needed.

I'd suggest going half-speed in Beyond for the first 2 weeks to get a feel for what your little one can do. You would do the left side of the plans one day, and the right side of the plans the next day, so in 2 weeks, you'd get through 1 week of plans. I'd do this for the first 2 weeks. Then, if this seems like a good pace for the 2 of them, I'd keep going with that, but still do phonics/reading daily (also math if you'd like).

However,if it seems like younger child would do fine going full-speed, I'd do both sides of plans each day then, and maybe do school 4 days a week, taking another 9 weeks to finish Beyond than usual. Remember to think of the plans as just doing them consecutively, so no matter what day of the week you are on, if you did Day 1 yesterday, you'd do Day 2 next, etc. I think you'll be going full-speed at some point in the year, whether it's a few weeks in or 6 months in - we've found this when we've done guides half-speed, at some point, it just becomes obvious they are ready and wanting more.

We started Beyond when our ds was 5 1/2 yo, and he did great with it. I gave him time to grow into the poetry copywork, but otherwise, he did great with the rest from the start. So, I want to encourage you that if it looks like your little one fits (or is close to fitting) in Beyond according to the placement chart, it should go great! Once your dc get to Bigger Hearts the extension pack makes it easy to extend for your older as well.

My ds has been having such fun with Beyond, and I know your dc will too! It is neat to read about how America was founded, and all of the amazing events God's hand was in through time. Enjoy - and HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[busybee4]

I want to thank ALL of you ladies who have replied to my questions!!! You have been a trumendous blessing!!! I now have a good understanding as to how to do the manuals at "half speed" and think that it is an awesome idea!! I'm also glad that HOD is flexible enough to be able to work in that way!!

That is probably what I'll do! And Julie your idea of going at it half speed for the first couple of weeks is a great one! At least then I'll be able to see what they can and cannot handle!! The copywork might be the biggest issue for her because she is still so little. She loves to write but doesn't like to do it when she "has to." I guess in her mind writing on her own and when she has to are two seperate things?!

One last question...would that mean that I do no spelling for her? We are just starting her out in RME this year for her first steps in phonics. She can actually read three letter words and some sight words (she's taught herself somehow!) but I know that she won't be ready for spelling at all. Would I just incorperate the lists next year?

[Mommamo]

I would hold off on the spelling until next year, or whenever you think she's ready. You'd just start with the Unit 1, Spelling list 1, list whenever you felt she was ready for it.

[my3sons]

I think I'd wait with the spelling too, for sure until she is reading fairly confidently. There are 2 spelling lists in Beyond; the first list being easier than the second list. The same second list that is in Beyond is also included in Bigger Hearts, along with a beginning level of dictation (which would be harder than Spelling List 2). Children can either do both of the spelling lists or just the second one before doing the dictation. You can move through that progression at any pace suitable for your dc - for example, starting in the middle of a guide if that seems best, and then just finishing it the first half of the next year. One of your dc may only do Spelling List 2, while the other may do both spelling lists - the first list one year, and the second list the next - before doing dictation. It is very flexible this way! I hope that makes sense!

In Christ,
Julie