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If you really want to combine them, I don't think I would place them in Bigger. I had a struggling reader and still tried Bigger for 2nd grade. I did drag her through some of the program before resorting to just doing the basics with her, but then once we would have hit Preparing it was impossible t...

Just giving this thread a well deserved bump up since we have a lot of new people coming asking questions about combining. Julie gave us some great things to consider in this thread.

Lynn, thanks for taking time to write that out. I know DH will be happy to see this.

Somewhere I got a wonderful list that I printed a few years ago that had many of the topics and people that are studied in Bigger Hearts. It was really helpful for my DH to see this overview of the year. Seeing a list like that makes it easier for him to defend our choice to homeschool and the curri...

Very cute! That's great that he remembered.

Welcome to HOD!
I think that Little Hearts would easily provide all the skills an average K student would need. We live in PA which is very highly regulated and I've never had a problem with the school district questioning my curriculum choice.

Welcome to the HOD board! I think that Kims had some good advice for you. So I'll second that. I am by far no expert here and there are ladies that are much better at this than me but I would place your 9yo in Beyond. It is not a hard guide and he might enjoy having his own guide. With Beyond you ca...

Just as a side note, we don't use the tests, but we do use the worksheets. My DD struggled with writing for a long time due to some dyslexia, so having the worksheets allowed her to complete her grammar without adding in the writing struggles.

I think this is when it gets really tough to wait for the next fun year to start! We too will be doing CTC.

I know 2 guides seems overwhelming, but it's really doable. I'm working with Bigger and Little Hearts this year with a baby in the house. It was so much more work when I tried to combine them because I was always adjusting to fit one or the other. Unless they are close in skills, I think you'll find...

Welcome to HOD! I can't help much with CTC since we aren't there, but some other ladies will certainly be able to chime in to answer your questions. I would suggest looking at the placement chart to see where your children place in their skills. This will then give people an idea of how to best guid...

As a mom of a 7 year old boy, I can say that Bigger as written would be too much for my ds to handle. He does enjoy listening to some of the stories for history. But as a whole Bigger is too long and too much for him. It would be helpful for you to look at the placement chart and figure out where ea...

I too am uncertain about this sort of thing. I have a friend who suggested pointing out one item that you find your child struggling with and work on that. For example, if you find that spelling is an issue use that as your one item for a few days. Start with a praise. "I think your handwriting is v...

We have used a timeline book to help show how things we study fit into history. It was so fun when DD realized that the Roman Empire was the same Roman soldiers who arrested Jesus. We had a bunch of great discussions during that time in history.

We used Seton this year for the CAT test. I understand that some want all the information the other tests give, but I just wanted to get the requirement met since I know what DD knows and doesn't know. Seton was reasonably priced and gave us a quick turn around time. The test was very easy for my mo...