Beyond Little Hearts

[Marsha]

Has anyone stretched this for a couple of year?
I would like to add some Ambleside books and some other things. This is for a 2nd and Ker.
Should I do three days of Beyond each?

[Mom2Monkeys]

You could do full days, 2-3 days each week and add in the AO books on the off days. Or you could do half speed 5 days per week, doing half the boxes one day, other half the next day. Then add a bit of AO books each day.

[mamayi]

I am glad you asked this question as we are needing to stretch out Beyond also.
So far I've switched from doing the guide every day to just 3x's per week. I've added a weekly trip to the library and a reading time when we get home. (although my dd usually checks out craft books so we end up doing a lot of art on those days!)
The other day of the week I focus on one or two areas that my dc need a little help in (usually math for my dd and handwriting for my ds) and that day they also get a longer storytime or we play board games. It's nice to have the time to "teach" them in that way.
I'd like to hear what other families have done to stretch out a guide.

[SunshineKB]

So is Beyond designed to be 3 days a week, so it wouldn't last all year long? I am going to be using Beyond come August, so I don't know how it works quite yet! I am planning on doing a 4 day school week, by the way. Sorry for not being able to answer your question and only adding more *blush*

[Kathleen]

Sunshine -
Beyond is actually written in 34, 5-day units. So if you were to use it 5 days a week, it would fill a typical fall-spring school year. But, HOD is super-flexible! So there are A LOT of ways that the guides can be used and work well. If you want to school 4 days every week, you will have 42 weeks of plans with Beyond. Some families like to stop school for the summer, some just keep on going. So, you could go to the point when you're ready to take a break, and then pick it back up when you start again. Does that make sense??

Our family likes to take summer breaks. We operate a dairy farm and garden and love EVERYTHING that has to do with being outside!!!! So, we are done in May and typically start school back up when the pool in town closes (2nd week of Aug). I've been slowing down LHFHG so that it will last 2 years so that I can keep my younger 2 together as we move along. There are a lot of ideas about going "half-speed" on this thread. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5600&p=41233 We'll probably start Beyond slowly, too.

My oldest fits right in the middle of the target age-range of the guides, and has been able to cruise along completing a guide per year with HOD. Anyway, because the HOD guides aren't meant to be a certain "grade", they can easily span the typical grade change. You just move your child along, learning skills at their pace and start the next guide when you're ready. They build right on each other and it works beautifully!!

Marsha -
There are some great ideas here about slowing Beyond down. Are you thinking you want to add more for the 2nd grader...and move more slowly for the K'er? Maybe there are some more ideas on that half-speed thread that will spark an idea for you, too.


Kathleen

[SunshineKB]

Thank you so much for that info, Kathleen! That really helps AND excites me! LOL