Combining an older child with dc in Beyond...

[inHistiming]

Here I am again ladies. After speaking with my husband regarding money available, the discipline issues with dd, and her language arts abilities, he suggested that I combine my dd with my younger ds. This way we would not have to worry bout her doing work independently but not following through, we would save money, and would have more time to tend to the toddler and baby once she arrives. Initially, I dismissed the idea because dd is 10 and going into the 5th grade. However, this morning I was thinking of the plan I had actually settled on and am not completely happy with it. (was planning to combine the two middle kids in Learning Adventures) So, I found a thread here concerning beefing up Beyond... and I think I could use the advice there for my daughter. She just seems to need a little more time with Mom and is not quite ready to work independently. Though she is strong academically in some areas, her spelling still needs work. She also doesn't seem to remember information very well and I think she could benefit from the review she will get of American History through Beyond.....Plus, beginning in Bigger....we have the option to combine with extensions and that may work out very well....cutting my guides down to two instead of three for the older kids. We are already planning to add something else to 'up' her writing instruction. She absolutely LOVES to read about other science topics, so it should be fairly easy to have her do that and follow Carrie's advice to create a science page for her notebook. I will add DITHOR for her as well, using the sample book list that I already bought to choose appropriate books for her to read on her level. So what I'm really looking for here are other suggestions that weren't mentioned in the other thread (for beefing up Beyond) or that I have not thought about. She's gong into 5th....but is already listening in on the readings I do with DS in Beyond... anyway (noticed this over the past week). What do you all think?

[inHistiming]

Anyone?

[crlacey]

I'm sorry you haven't gotten any replies yet. I can't be of any help since my DD in Beyond is 7 and she's my oldest, so I have no idea what kind of work is expected out of older children yet. Hope that you can find a way to make your plan work. As far as writing instruction, I was under the impression that Rod and Staff English already had this included in the text books, though I could be wrong about that.

[inHistiming]

Just bumping this to try and get a few suggestions. Thanks so much.

[proud2bmykswife]

I'll try to help, but not sure how much since I haven't started HOD yet; though I do have my books. I couldn't figure out whether to put my 10dd in Beyond or Bigger; had initially thought Beyond, then decided on Bigger, and now, after seeing posts about the amount of writing in Bigger, am thinking Beyond is a better fit. She loves to read, but has difficulty with copywork, writing, and spelling, and like your dd has difficulty remember information and seems to need more of my time. I think I will have her try notebooking for science and history, just to get her worked into that. I wonder if there would be a way to expand the history with some independent reading?

Sorry, I'm guessing I wasn't much help. I think I need to find the post on beefing up Beyond. But I did want you to know that I have a 10dd who will more than likely be using Beyond. I think the important thing is to place her according to her ability.

Laurie

[Kathleen]

I don't feel qualified to help you out with this one at all. I'm wondering how she would feel about this though since she has already done Beyond - and really enjoyed it. She's been through Beyond & Bigger, right?

Hopefully Carrie or Julie will be able to pop in and share what they think sometime.
Kathleen

[inHistiming]

Yes, she has been through Beyond...and Bigger...I know she does not remember much at all about Beyond...except that she recognizes the books we are using. For Bigger....I'm not sure. We would have to just wait and see next year on that. We've been back and forth on so many things I finally just had to settle on what I knew would work for us this year. I started Monday and have been having her do extra reading on the topics in History and extra reading of her choosing for science....and I have also found some different worksheets online having to do with the Pilgrims, etc. that she's worked on some. I have had her answer some of the questions in American Pioneers and Patriots (I happened to have the answer key, so that was convenient) on a couple different days. The situation is just really tough. Of course, I want to be able to allow her to work independently as much as possible, both for my convenience and to boost her confidence and allow her some freedom in her schooling. However, each time we do that, we find that she is doing the minimum possible (or even nothing at all) in at least one area. So this is really the main reason we decided to have her combined with her brother....although the other things I mentioned are also valid. I need to know exactly what she is working on when so I can look at it immediately and there is no room for loop holes and doing the minimum. I'm hoping and praying that with my close supervision she will realize the work is simply required and soon we can 'loosen the reigns' so to speak and allow her a bit more unsupervised time, both in her schoolwork and otherwise. Anyway, just looking for ideas for the 'extras' for her, as this is what we have decided on and we will not be changing the plan, at least for this year. Thanks.