Beyond or Bigger?

[momtomygirls]

Hi I am trying to decide what program to fit my 8yr dd in for next year. She is currently in 1st grade in a Charter school. She should be finishing 2nd grade by age. I chose to put her back in K last year when we moved here. She had done half a year of K at school and half at home. But she was really struggling with reading at the time. Even though I taught my oldest to read, I was not as sucessful with this dd. She is above average in math and is on 2nd grade level in first She was tested and had a non specific learning difference in reading, but had a great K teacher and extra help. She started reading last year in K and is doing well with it. She is reading Frog and Toad ect. Even though it took a while to get her read, she has always liked to write. She would just copy whatever she could until she learned her letters and to read. Her speliing is still a work in progress, But she will sit down and write a story or poem for fun. She loves to draw as well. She is also pretty mature when it comes to her understanding of things such as the bible and salvation. She has more insight into things often than my 11yr old 6th grader

I was thinking from looking at the chart, the content and her older age, that she would fit in bigger. But I have saw that a lot of people think Bigger is too much for a second grader. I have looked at Beyond and it just seems too light for her. Especially in the Science and History. She loves science and I think she would like the notebooking etc in Science and history. I do not see any of that in Beyond. So now I am not sure what program would best fit her.

My oldest will still be in school and my 3rd dd will be in K at the charter school. I also have a 1yr old at home. So my 8yr old will be the only one I am homeschooling for now.

thanks for reading all this and your help.

Brandie in NC

[blessedmomof4]

Hi-based on what you are saying, she might be able to tackle Bigger Hearts. Have you looked at the placement chart? http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php In Bigger Hearts, you would choose the Emerging Readers to strengthen her reading (you will notice a Frog and Toad title is included, and the books get progressively more difficult-there is a schedule and discussion questions in the appendix of both Beyond and Bigger). In Bigger, she will study spelling words. She will have grammar daily with Rod and Staff 2 (recommended by HOD to be done mostly orally, with only one portion done in writing, to keep lessons short and sweet). She will learn cursive, or you can choose to do manuscript copywork with the poetry instead of the cursive program if you wanted to wait a year for cursive. She will have history notebooking once a week, science notebooking once a week, and will make a basic lab sheet once a week. History and Science are covered daily, and you read aloud the material to her. She will make a timeline for history, have a geography activity each week, and a history-related art project. She will do oral narration for history, science, and Storytime. Storytime will introduce her to 9 genres of literature, and the activities and discussions will build important skills. She will have vocabulary words to write once a week. For math, to be sure of placement, have her take the Singapore Math placement test, which she should do without help, even for reading the questions http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_s/12.htm Most students coming from American programs test a grade or so lower in Singapore Math, because it is an advanced program. If she is up to this challenge, go for it! If this is too much, Beyond will still be a great start into homeschooling, and will build all the skills necessary to succeed in Bigger Hearts the following year. It depends on if you want to ease into this new way of doing things, or if you think you are both ready to jump in with both feet and not be overwhelmed In Beyond, she would be doing many of the same things at a slower pace, but without the notebooking or vocabulary, and using poetry for copywork to help master manuscript rather than doing a cursive program.
You know your child best, and where you see her placing solidly on the Placement chart will be the best guide in placing her. Placement in the right level according to skill is the key to success with HOD

[momtomygirls]

Thanks for your insight. I have looked at the placement chart a bunch.lol I think she fits bigger better, but still not sure.lol I looked at the placement chart for Singapore. I think she could do 2A, but think we should start with 1B to make sure we do not miss anything. She likes math and I want her to continue liking it. My oldest hates it. How would I schedule 1B with Bigger? I am thinking of getting it now and slowly working on it through the Summer. But I wouldn't have Carrie's activities to go with it. Still not sure. I have thought about doing Winter Promise Animal Worlds with her too. She loves animals. But I do not like the LA that comes with it. Decisions Decisions.

[blessedmomof4]

You said you looked at Singapore's placement chart-I would really recommend actually printing out the placement test-have her take the 1A test. If she does weell, try the 1B, and go from there. If she does place in 1B. you could get the Beyond guide for the activities, or just buy the 1B textbook to go along with the workbook...
Just tossing around ideas.
Another consideration is that you have a toddler around-Bigger is VERY teacher intensive...Perhaps starting with Beyond is a better idea all around. She will have a chance to strengthen her reading and math skills without the pressure of being expected to do all that is required in Bigger, and it may work better to go easier with a toddler running around. You could always add more science by way of the library or other sources if what is included in Beyond isn't enough for her. She could make her own informal notebooking pages or lapbooks if she was really excited about a topic, but you wouldn't have to require it of her. It seems to me that working on her 3 R's is the most important thing right now, and that may be easier done with less required in other areas...In Beyond you have a gentle intro to Language Arts, and a choice of 2 spelling lists (the 2nd one is the same one offered in Bigger-Bigger offers a choice of spelling list 2 or beginning studied dictation).