Placement help for 1st grader

[jahall2000]

My son is currently in Kindergarten and we've been using MFW-K program this year. We're looking for a change because I'd like to be able to personalize my son's reading and math to his level more. He just turned 6 at the end of April, so he'll be going on 6 1/2 when we start first grade. According to the placement charts, it looks like Beyond would be a better fit than Little Hearts. He's been doing Singapore's Essential Math for K this year and doing well with it. His reading is above grade level, probably about a 2nd grade level. I'd like to finish up some phonics with him so that he's been exposed to all of the phonics rules, though he seems to read mostly by sight and using context clues. I don't want him to get bored, and I don't want to feel like I need to add other stuff to the curriculum as it is. I want to give him enough of a challenge, but not too much. I'd still like to keep more of a relaxed pace. I'm concerned that even if I challenge him with Beyond this year, he may not be ready for the challenge of Bigger for 2nd grade. Help please!

[MitchellFamily]

Beyond sounds great! I started it with my avg 1st grader when she was 6 1/2, and she did well. She just started Bigger at 7 1/2 and transitioned fine. The only thing I have done as far as extra is to add in some level 2 phonics because she needed a little more indepth in her decoding of words and usury more review. In saying that though, Bigger is appropriate for her at 7 1/2. So that is my experience. My son was more advanced and had no trouble at all at the same ages. Hope that helps!

[my3sons]

Hi jahall2000, and welcome to the HOD Board! Just like MitchellFamily, we did Beyond Little Hearts with several of our dc at 6 1/2 yo and loved it. For our oldest ds, going full-speed doing a guide a year at the youngest age range has been an exact fit. For our middle ds, we slowed Bigger Hearts to half-speed for him at the start of the year, and then finished full-speed. We have done this pattern of half-speed at the start of a guide, and full-speed next for each subsequent guide, and this has worked well for him. He is now 10 yo and will pick up next school year to finish out CTC. Then, he will be on a guide a year, in the middle of the age range, finishing the last HOD guide his Senior year of high school. This has worked super for him! We are starting Beyond with our 6 1/2 yo ds in Sept., and we will just see how it goes. We always go full-speed if dc are ready for it, and slow to half-speed only when a need has shown itself to do so. HOD is incredibly flexible. From what you've shared, I'd start Beyond with your 6 1/2 yo full-speed, provided he is ready for the writing portion of it (I am not sure where he fits there). HIs reading and math fit in Beyond for sure. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[jahall2000]

My son's writing skills are pretty on track for his age I think. He's able to form all of his upper and lowercase letters. He's able to write words, though he's not attempting to spell words on his own yet. He's able to copy sentences. I had him copy multiple sentences for thank you cards and that got to be a bit much to do in one sitting. He's able to copy spelling words and seems to enjoy figuring out how to spell short CVC words.

[my3sons]

My son's writing skills are pretty on track for his age I think. He's able to form all of his upper and lowercase letters. He's able to write words, though he's not attempting to spell words on his own yet. He's able to copy sentences. I had him copy multiple sentences for thank you cards and that got to be a bit much to do in one sitting. He's able to copy spelling words and seems to enjoy figuring out how to spell short CVC words.

It sounds like he will be ready for Beyond in the area of writing as well. He can do Spelling List 1, along with the LA box of plans for spelling/LA skills (including gentle grammar introduction). He can start with one line of copywork of the poetry, and work up to more as the year progresses, finishing the year being able to copy the entire poem within a week. Sounds like you are set!

In Christ,
Julie

[jahall2000]

I was thinking about using some Explode the Code workbooks to work through the rest of the phonics my son needs exposure to. Do you think it's okay to use the Emerging Reader set at the same time as we do that? My son really doesn't seem to use his phonics knowledge to read currently. He is a very visual reader and I think he's recognizing most words by sight and figuring out more unfamiliar words through context clues.

[MitchellFamily]

I'm doing another reading phonics alongside level 2 DITHOR books just because my daughter needed a bit more after her 1st grade phonics. I should have done it in 1st with ERs but I didn't catch it right away. It's fine. We use All About Reading level 2 with her, but we started with the Reading Lesson and completed that first.

[my3sons]

We are currently using ETC Workbook 1 with our ds as he starts the ERS, and we'll probably finish using ETC Workbook 2. This seems to help him review the phonics he has had, as well as increase his ability with fine motor skills to write short words. I also did this with my 2 older sons, and it worked out well. I think this would be fine, but I do want to clarify that the ETC workbooks are more of a review than a formal phonics program. If ds has not done a year of formal phonics, you may want to get something like "Reading Made Easy" and start where he fits best, finishing that out before starting the ERS. It seems problems decoding creep up around 3rd grade if dc have not had a year of formal phonics, and it is much harder to go back and do it then. The ERS is in both the Beyond... and the Bigger Hearts... Appendices, so he could easily start the ERS at any time, even halfway or 3/4 of the way through Beyond - or, he could even start it with Bigger Hearts if you think that would be better. You will know best here, but I just wanted to mention this because we have tried to figure out what to do later on with older dc who have not had formal phonics, and it is so much harder to find something that fits them then (as everything seems too young content-wise, but is probably right phonics-wise). I hope that makes sense, but you will know best!

In Christ,
Julie

[jahall2000]

He did a full year of phonics with MFW-K and additional work in a MCP Plaid phonics book but this only covered consonant sounds and short vowels for decoding CVC words. If something else would work better than ETC, I'm willing to do that. I do have the next level MCP phonics book which reviews consonants and short vowels, and then works on long vowels, consonant blends, y as a vowel, endings, digraphs, and contractions. Do you think working through this would be better than using ETC? Should I be using something that is more formal reading instruction or do you think this would work? I was considering the Reading made easy set. If I did that, do you think I could skip the lessons from stuff he's already covered? Is this something we can get through at a quicker pace? Would it be wiser to hold off on the Emerging Readers until we've finished? I wasn't going to order the whole set, as our library has the majority of the books. I would just order the ones our library doesn't carry.
Sorry for so many questions. Just trying to get things all sorted out.

[my3sons]

He did a full year of phonics with MFW-K and additional work in a MCP Plaid phonics book but this only covered consonant sounds and short vowels for decoding CVC words. If something else would work better than ETC, I'm willing to do that. I do have the next level MCP phonics book which reviews consonants and short vowels, and then works on long vowels, consonant blends, y as a vowel, endings, digraphs, and contractions. Do you think working through this would be better than using ETC? Should I be using something that is more formal reading instruction or do you think this would work? I was considering the Reading made easy set. If I did that, do you think I could skip the lessons from stuff he's already covered? Is this something we can get through at a quicker pace? Would it be wiser to hold off on the Emerging Readers until we've finished? I wasn't going to order the whole set, as our library has the majority of the books. I would just order the ones our library doesn't carry.
Sorry for so many questions. Just trying to get things all sorted out.

Please don't ever worry about asking too many questions - that's what this board was created for - to help each other out! If your ds can read a book like "Frog and Toad" quite smoothly, only slowing down and sounding out a word or so on a page, then I'd say he can just do ETC Workbooks and start the Emerging Reader's Set, as he's done at least a year of phonics and has had some review. If he is reading slowly and sounding out quite a few words on a page in a book such as "Frog and Toad," then I'd get "Reading Made Easy" and skip what he's already covered, finishing it out at a quicker pace, and then after that, do the Emerging Reader's Set. Does that help?

In Christ,
Julie