Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

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tnahid
Posts: 531
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:51 am
Location: Texas

Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by tnahid » Thu May 26, 2011 10:19 pm

I am really thinking about skipping Bigger next year and going straight into Preparing for my sons. After reading the placement chart, I really think that they will both be ready for it. My youngest son will be turning 8 in August, but he is pretty advanced for his age. My oldest will be turning 11 in Feb., but I think Preparing would be a perfect fit for him without extensions. If I use Preparing for both of them, I would not need to buy extensions, as I would need to if we used Bigger next year. That would save me some money as well, which I need to do! :D

From looking at the chart, the only thing my youngest isn't doing now is cursive writing. He will just be starting cursive at that time. I don't really see that as a problem. He is currently in R&S 2 over half way done and is breezing through it. My oldest is in R&S 3 currently and has halfway more to go in that. He is also doing very well with it.

Would this be a do-able scenario, or would I be missing out on something in Bigger by doing that? I really like the fact that there is more independent work for them to do in Preparing, as I feel they are both more ready for that than they were at the beginning of this year. But I still get a lot of reading time and teaching time with them as well. Any thoughts on this? Has anyone else skipped a guide before? Thanks for your thoughts!

P.S. I plan to use DITHOR for both of them next year as well. Only my oldest did it this year (2/3 level), but my youngest will be very ready for the 2/3 level in Aug.

Blessings for your insights.
Tina
ds 11 -- DITHOR 4/5 and other curriculum
ds 9 -- Preparing and DITHOR
dd 5 -- 1st grade variety of curriculum
Wife of a loving DH 12 years
starting our 4th year of home education, 3rd year of HOD and DITHOR, so blessed...what a journey!

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by my3sons » Mon May 30, 2011 4:37 pm

Bigger Hearts is such an important teaching year, that I don't think I'd skip it. :? It is the later part of American history, and Beyond only does the first part. It also transitions dc into doing more writing. Here is a link that may be helpful...

Amount of writing in Bigger vs. PHFHG:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3602

I wonder if instead of skipping Bigger, you could just up the level of independence in Bigger? Here is a good link where Carrie describes doing this...

Carrie explains how to up independence in Bigger Hearts:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6502&p=47428

HTH as you ponder this!
In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

tnahid
Posts: 531
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:51 am
Location: Texas

Re: Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by tnahid » Mon May 30, 2011 11:01 pm

Thanks, Julie. Upping the independence would be a good thing. Yes, I agree. But what about my youngest son (will be 8 in Aug.). He will also be in the Bigger guide. If I am reading aloud to him, then I KNOW my oldest will want me to read aloud to him too. They are in the same guide and did the left side of the guide together this year...so, how would I work that out? I guess another possibility is that I could still do the read alouds and everything on left side as is, and just get the extensions and have my oldest do those on top of the guide as is? He could do all those independently. Since I am combining them, that would probably be best for us this year wouldn't you say? Unless I have both of my sons do their history/science readings on their own? I guess I could have my 8 year old do his by himself too?

Thanks!
Tina
ds 11 -- DITHOR 4/5 and other curriculum
ds 9 -- Preparing and DITHOR
dd 5 -- 1st grade variety of curriculum
Wife of a loving DH 12 years
starting our 4th year of home education, 3rd year of HOD and DITHOR, so blessed...what a journey!

pjdobro
Posts: 1491
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:45 pm

Re: Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by pjdobro » Tue May 31, 2011 8:14 am

I don't think I would have your 8 year old doing his history readings in Bigger, at least I wouldn't have wanted my dc reading them this year. They are just a bit more difficult books being in the older style. I could see possibly having him read the science himself especially the One Small Square books. I'm thinking your plan to have your older ds read the extensions himself though might be plenty for this year and will keep you from feeling like you have to advance your 8 year old to reading his own history and science as well. :D
Patty in NC

b/g twins '02 Rev2Rev 2014/15
previously enjoyed LHFHG, BLHFHG, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, RTR
******
Nisi Dominus Frusta (Without God, frustration)
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Psalm 127:1

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by my3sons » Tue May 31, 2011 9:00 am

I'd hold onto the history readings, as you have an 8 yo too, but I think both your dc can do the science readings if the youngest is able to do so, and then you can just help with the science follow-ups. :D We had Riley take over his science readings for BHFHG halfway through the year, and that worked well. :D I'd have your oldest do the extensions independently. He can just use the Appendix to check off his readings as he goes. HTH! :D

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

sw1ssm1ss
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 9:06 pm

Re: Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by sw1ssm1ss » Tue May 31, 2011 9:14 am

Just a thought--what if your 11 y.o. read the history in Bigger to your 8 y.o.? You could be there with them as they did this, and possibly even alternate reading paragraphs with him. That would solve the problem of the little brother getting time with mom while the big brother is being sent off to do the history readings.

I tutor in ESL and whenever I read anything other than emerging reader-type books with my students, we alternate reading aloud. This helps them not get as tired with it and also helps move things at a quicker speed. It also gives me a chance to model what engaging reading aloud sounds like.
Married to beloved dh for 11 years
DD7 - Beyond
DS4.5 - all boy :)
DD2 - sweet, petite toddler fun

Carrie
Site Admin
Posts: 8125
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Re: Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by Carrie » Tue May 31, 2011 1:04 pm

Tina,

The ladies are doing a great job of helping you talk through your options! :D I agree that the jump from Beyond to Preparing Hearts is very large, and it wouldn't be something we would normally recommend, unless you were thinking about only skipping a guide with your oldest to get him more accurately placed if that was needed. :D That is an option you could consider, which would mean placing your 10 year old in Preparing and your next child in Bigger Hearts.

If you don't desire to do 2 guides, then it is a better option to place both in BIgger Hearts and use the extensions. :D I agree that it is a good idea to have your older son read his own history and science, just doing it in a different place and earlier in the day than where and when you are doing the reading aloud of those same areas for your younger child. I wouldn't recommend having your older child read aloud the texts to your youngers, as he will then lose out on the benefit of reading his own material silently, which requires a whole different set of skills than reading aloud requires. The skill of silently reading to oneself and comprehending what is read is the skill we are wanting an older child to get. It is also much more difficult to read a history or science book than it is to read for pleasure. The vocabulary, sentence structure, and reading level is much higher in history and science books, and these types of books also require a higher level of comprehension to understand what is being read. :D With his age level in mind, it is likely time for him to move toward doing this on his own, if he hasn't already. :D

Another needed skill to cultivate with an older child is the skill of reading and following lengthy written directions. This is another skill that your older child can work on as he reads and follows as many of his own directions from the guide as possible. Then, you could do any follow-ups that require the teacher together. :D

I would definitely work to cultivate these skills in your older son this upcoming year, and the thread on how to make Bigger more independent will be of help to you as you do this. :D Otherwise, you could ponder moving only your oldest up to Preparing Hearts and having him do his own history and science readings there instead, but this would require running two guides. With the ages of your children, and with what you've shared so far, I'd lean more toward combining in Bigger Hearts. I think you will be pleasantly surprised about the depth and level of rigor within Bigger! :D

Blessings,
Carrie

tnahid
Posts: 531
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:51 am
Location: Texas

Re: Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by tnahid » Tue May 31, 2011 3:23 pm

Thank you very much for your thoughts, Carrie. I agree with what you are saying. I would probably need to buy my oldest son his own Bigger guide for next year as well. Correct?

If I go that route, next year I would need: 2 Bigger guides plus book pkg., the extension pkg, 2 DITHOR workbooks, 2 boy sets of books, and LHFHG for my daughter.

The only thing I am thinking is that it might be more beneficial to put them in two separate guides so they are each doing their "own" thing and feel a bit more independent of each other, and won't try to compare with one another as much. My oldest has that problem of wanting to compete with his brother. That is a thought also. If I went that route, I would do a Bigger guide, 2 Preparing guides (one for me), DITHOR for both, and a LHFHG guide probably half speed.

I need to pray about that some more. Ask the Holy Spirit which option would be best. He knows best what my children need!

Thank you for the wonderful advice and blessings!
Tina
ds 11 -- DITHOR 4/5 and other curriculum
ds 9 -- Preparing and DITHOR
dd 5 -- 1st grade variety of curriculum
Wife of a loving DH 12 years
starting our 4th year of home education, 3rd year of HOD and DITHOR, so blessed...what a journey!

Carrie
Site Admin
Posts: 8125
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Re: Thinking of Skipping to Preparing for Next Year

Post by Carrie » Wed Jun 01, 2011 12:48 pm

Tina,

If you did end up going with Preparing for your son, I think you could do it with only one Preparing guide. We did it that way, sharing the guide, and it worked fine. We've always used only one guide, and it becomes more and more the child's planner than mine as they get older. I am more just borrowing it to teach my parts and go over their work each day. :D

Anyway, I just thought I'd pop in and mention that. If you did have your son in Preparing, you'd want to be sure he could do the history and science readings on his own. Otherwise, you'll have too much reading aloud in two back-to-back guides and too much teacher time. So that is something to weigh as you ponder your options. :D

You could always begin with them together in Bigger Hearts and move your older son up to Preparing if needed later. That is another option.

Blessings,
Carrie

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