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We use Bigger for 2nd. My 7.5 year old just started and does fine. I don't think she is advanced, but the biggest change in my opinion would be the amount of writing. Where is you child for reading? If she looks like she can handle the sample 1st week from Bigger, then that's where you start right? ...

I find the guides unnecessary, although if HOD recommended it I would get it. I'm not sure on the sequencing either -sorry!

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 Lesso...

I guess you could always add your own scripture as copywork. My kids have done better with a more natural approach to handwriting (ie Italics or HWT) so even though I miss the verses from A Reason for Handwriting, their handwriting is looking better with the other options. But at your son's age mayb...

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 us...

Oh I am so right here as we write! My son transitioned easily. My daughter finished ERs and would probably have been fine to wait but she does love the DITHOR book. So I've gone back and forth. Ultimately we've decided to have her narrate most of her answers to me and we do it together. I will maybe...

I have done LHTH two years in a row just for kids who want school and special time with mama! It's such a blessing for this. I've beefed it up the following year with more advanced Bible stories and phonics, but this has worked well for us.

I am doing Bigger Hearts right now with my avg 7 year old. I would think you would be ok with extensions for your older one. It has a cursive program in the schedule that your son could do, but my daughter I felt needed a bit more printing, so we are holding off on the cursive and doing printing a t...

Just looking through Little Hearts today and remembering that history does come back around. The Bible history book is really cool, but he could always sit in on that part with you and your other child if you were concerned. And you are right, we're doing a lot of that same history, only of course m...

You haven't said where your five year old is - just assuming beginning K with no reading /math. If you put them together then you would do learning through history page together and the other page (Basics) separate? You definitely could, especially if you feel it would be a good fit for your year. I...

I think I was here at one point. I wanted to go back to HOD after taking a year to try something that I realized was a good fit for us. I worried about having a gap and it was in the k to 1st grade time frame. What I did is used the appropriate guide for the next year (for example it had the math ac...

For my last two in LHTH I've often wondered if it would be a better choice for some at 5, like the age range suggests. The last two I've taken through the next step over a year and a half or so just to give extra time for work and keep it lighter and fun. I think for the next I'll do LHTH for P and ...

I was a public school teacher for 5 + years in 2nd-6th grade. I actually felt that HOD matched my teaching style very much. I have my master's degree in integrating the arts into the curriculum, so that might be why. But I taught in a very small district that focused on teaching the whole child and ...

I have done both. Beyond can be used with one or the other and I would make absolutely sure his reading instruction is solid before moving to emerging reader books. Or doing a continuing phonics program alongside the books if he just has some things to still learn. I have had a reader who just picke...

It sounds like you really want them together. If the guide your younger one fits into has extensions for your older, do that. I would not try to put him up into something he isn't ready for and might end up dreading school time. Or do it separately just to try. I really enjoy it and have several dif...