Wanting to skip bigger

[Mumkins]

We're in unit 8 in beyond. I really don't want to do bigger. I feel for us, one year of US hsitory is enough. I'm hesitant to skip bigger though as I've already placed my son in beyond a bit early. He'd be not quite 7 when we started preparing. I have skipped him ahead in math, but I'm not sure he's ready for a jump in other subjects. I've thought of doing bigger and adding Canadian stuff. But we're doing that this year too. I've thought of skipping doing Canadian stuff with beyond, skipping history with bigger and following the Canadian 3+4 schedule from Sonlight and doing the rest of bigger. I've thought of skipping doing HOD altogther and giving MFW a shot for one year. I'm just not sure what will be best for our family.

[sted]

Sorry, can't help. I'm assuming you're Canadian. I am too. We actually did Canadian History this year and while we did okay, I just put together my own stuff but felt like it was "structured" enough for my liking. I'm really excited about learning American History next year because in many ways they are parallel. I think it will help reinforce the concepts we may have missed this year. Just curious, I've never heard of the Canadian 3+4 schedule from Sonlight?

Shannon

[my3sons]

Oh my, it would be very sad indeed to skip Bigger! I really would not advise it in any situation. It is a fantastic program! Especially as a follow-up to Beyond - it just makes the people that were important to the events learned in Beyond come alive in Bigger! Plus, all of those fantastic skills would be super hard to replace:

History Notebooking
Geography Lessons
Timeline Entries
Vocabulary Study
Art projects
Narration Practice
History Activities
Classic Poetry: reading, study & copywork
Bible Study
Biblical Character Trait Focus
Devotions
Bible Memory Work from Proverbs
Gross Motor Skills
Classic Hymns
Spelling: word lists/dictation
Grammar and Writing Lessons using the text Preparing to Build: English 2
Cursive Handwriting Choices
Reading Choices
Storytime Genre Studies
Guided Literature Discussion
Story Element Lessons
Godly Character Lessons
Math Exploration
Biographical and Living Book Science Readings
Science Experiments
Science Notebooking

I can see you may have some other things you'd like to teach, with your being Canadian I just read water2wine's response at the same time I was revising this, and I think she has some great ideas to consider.

In Christ,
Julie

[water2wine]

I could see where being a Canadian you may not hold the same passion we do. But there is more to it than American History really. A thought though that comes to mind is what about substituting some of the Story Time with Canadian themed books. There must be some great books out there that are Canadian based. The hard part about skipping is HOD is not like other programs in that it is by more of a skill based level than just a topic so more than Just American Hist is accomplished and there is a lot there that would certainly apply to your family as well. Another thing that comes to mind is perhaps some of the Geography could easily be substituted to match some of the geography in a Canadian story book. I really think if you picked different story time books (and it is set up so you can) you could really change the history flavor of it quite a bit.

Anyway we all have to do what is best for our own families and only you can know what that is. Just a few things that come to mind as we are just now finishing up Bigger ourselves. Hope there is something suggested that might be helpful to you.

[Mumkins]

I guess I was just looking for a pep talk to go though with bigger, which you ladies supplied I'm thinking I'll just do the SL core along with bigger as it's just history, reader and read aloud. Just to clairify, Sonlight does not produce the core. Canadian Sonlighters have put it together themselves.

[my3sons]

I guess I was just looking for a pep talk to go though with bigger, which you ladies supplied I'm thinking I'll just do the SL core along with bigger as it's just history, reader and read aloud. Just to clairify, Sonlight does not produce the core. Canadian Sonlighters have put it together themselves.

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that you'll be doing Bigger Hearts, Mumkins! I do think the plan you shared makes sense with your being Canadian - just be sure you don't get your plate too full (I know the SL pace is over the top at times ), but I bet the Canadian Sonlighters have got that all figured out, and if you view that as "extra" that you can get in as time allows, you should be just fine. Your plan sounds like a good idea - I just got so sad at the thought of you and your little ones missing out on Bigger Hearts. It was such a turning point for my ds, it was like watching him grow up so much that year - he just bloomed. He and I started to have such deeper talks, he had more appreciation for people's character and beliefs and how that affects what they do in life, and he began to take on more independence with his learning. It was a growing closer - yet letting go a bit - all together kind of year. I was wanting that for you too - and now I can rest easy you'll have it. Thanks for posting!

In Christ,
Julie

[water2wine]

Just want to second what Julie said about Bigger. We have seen our children blossom in being able to apply the Word to real life circumstances in terms of character that I know come directly from doing Bigger. I would also say that of course it is American but it is not overly so. It is about a lot of things that will apply to you especially being in Canada. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I am glad you have a good list of Canadian books to choose from and I would definitely look at placing as many of them in the story time genres as you can. That will allow you to sort of have your cake and eat it too by getting the material but not adding a burden on you with having too much to do. I think it will be worth the little bit of effort in planning. You don't want to miss Bigger! It is way more than just the history!