How should I move forward in Bigger Hearts with my third grader?
We started Bigger Hearts for His Glory (BHFHG) with my 2nd grader last year, but I ended up setting it aside. I feel, like I did last year, that God has led our family to Heart of Dakota (HOD). I prayerfully want to make this work. Although my son was doing fine with BHFHG last year in second grade, I feel like it would still be a good fit for him. Plus, I am familiar with it, so it’s not like I’d be trying to learn something new.
So, I was considering buying the extension package to read aloud during the units that he already covered. He will only be in third grade though. Are the extensions okay as read alouds instead of as independent reading? Just looking for a way to repeat those units (1-15) and change it up a bit, so we aren’t doing exactly what we did this last year. How should I move forward in BHFHG?
Sincerely,
“Ms. Please Help Me Know How to Move Forward with Bigger”
Dear “Ms. Please Help Me Know How to Move Forward with Bigger,”
If you made it partway through BHFHG last year, I would be inclined to just pick BHFHG up where you left off and go forward from there with it as written. For a third grader, I wouldn’t add the Extension Package as a general rule. Instead, I would encourage you to do the Storytime books (either boy, girl, or classic set). The skills in the Storytime box are really important, and the books in the Storytime sets were chosen for their read-aloud quality.
The Extension books were intended to be read independently by the child, and were chosen to extend the study of American history for an older learner. So, the Extension readings will be much longer as read-alouds as they were not intended for that purpose. If you love to read aloud, you can certainly read aloud some of the Extension titles. However, we wouldn’t want that to replace the very needed Storytime read-aloud sessions and skills.
Blessings,
Carrie