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I'll be doing Bigger over a 2 year period with my daughter who will be a young 7 in second grade next year. I will be going full speed with literature, grammar, spelling and math, but half speed history and science. My biggest concern is math. My background is as a history and English teacher and I ...

I'm placing my soon to be 7-year-old daughter in Bigger next year as a 2nd grader HOWEVER, I would not be doing this if we had not been through Beyond. After getting the guide for Bigger recently and perusing it I see how pivotal Beyond really is before getting into Bigger. There is a progression of...

Thanks for the encouragement! I do a supplemental book called Math Express (Also singapore) that teaches strategies for mental math. Today was the first day she was able to "get" some of those higher numbers! I keep forgetting learning is a process. I guess that sounds silly, but I find myself just ...

I'm an English teacher in background, so I wanted to chime in a little bit :) I'm actually just finishing up a poetry unit with a group of middle school homeschoolers I teach once a week right now. In older grades we call rhyming patterns, rhyme scheme. It does use the pattern of letters just as the...

Thank you so much for your post! I was considering taking a break and just focusing on math families until my girl was more confident in them. She was disappointed because we are finishing unit 22 this week and about to hit multiplication. She's good until we got to what equals 11-19. Maybe I should...

Leap day was special in our house too I turned "8" yesterday! My oldest, 6, was able to appreciate the specialness of my birthday. We had school, but mostly had fun!

Thanks for the input! I was hoping to get a new idea besides left page 1 day, right page the next day. I also wasn't really excited about only doing math every other day because that is my daughter's most difficult subject. I want to make sure she is solid there. I like your ideas.

I would love some input on doing Bigger Half Speed once we finish Beyond. My daughter will be a 7 in August and is very ready for this guide, but I plan to at least start half speed to help her ease into the greater work load. How does that look for your family? At what point, if at all, do you deci...

We finished that last week and I didn't even notice! I think the Idleness and Mischief poem is correct because it goes along with the Bible study for the week.

My youngest is that age and comes to me saying, "I do lessons!" It's so hard because she really wants to participate with her older sisters. I tried the busy bag ideas and they were good until she realized it wasn't what Sissy was doing :) I printed off some preschool pages and let her just scribble...

Spelling in Beyond and Bigger are listed in the apendix at the back. After these guides spelling is done as dictation practice. There is also a dictation option in Bigger. These passages are taken from an older book called Dictation Day by Day.

I hope this helps!

My 1st grader (6-years-old with an August birthday) ADORES the history in Beyond! I read it aloud to her and she begs for more. It took her some time to really get into it, but now she even asks if she can read ahead. I agree that the ages listed are if it is intended for independent reading. My dau...

I'm in the same boat except for the baby. My girls will be 7,5,and 3 this coming fall. I'm going ahead and doing three guides (Bigger, Littler Hearts, and Little Hands). I know it seems ambitious, but I think it will be easier to work out the kinks now when things are simpler. I already have a chart...

I am using it for my young-end 1st grader and it is perfect for her. I do think it is good to do it prior to Bigger after getting the Bigger guide. There are many elements which are introduced very gently in Beyond that are stepped up a bit in Bigger. I don't think the step will seem as big because ...