Need Advice for Phonics Program in Beyond

[hugsathome]

Hi Everyone,

Please help me decide what to do with my daughter. She is going to be entering the 2nd grade in the fall, but she is very weak in reading. I'm planning to work with her over the summer with 100 Easy Lessons. If we are successful with 100 Easy Lessons, she should be reading at a 2nd grade level by the end of October.

Here's the Different Situations:
I am planning to order Beyond for second grade, but I'm not sure what to do about Phonics.

1. If she finishes 100 Easy Lessons over the summer and partly through October, would Reading Made Easy...or...The Reading Lesson be too easy for her?

2. Or, should I not bother with 100 Easy Lessons and wait until I get Beyond and just start the program for 2nd grade with Reading Made Easy...or...The Reading Lesson?

3. Or, should I work with 100 Easy Lessons over the summer and through the fall and then switch to Rod and Staff 1 or 2 and skip Reading Made Easy...or...The Reading Lesson altogether?

Oh boy. My head is spinning. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[crlacey]

If you use 100 Easy Lessons you won't need to use either of the phonics programs HOD lists. We used 100 Easy Lessons and DD is a perfect fit for the emerging readers now.

[hugsathome]

So, does that mean you would suggest just ordering the Rod and Staff 2??

[crlacey]

If you use Beyond, Carrie has written in some gentle grammar lessons and then used Rod and Staff 2 in Bigger Hearts. So if you are choosing Beyond, you would need to order a package which included the basic history set, the science book, math level (or program) of your choice, the emerging readers set, a storytime set and the devotional.
So basically the only thing you order for LA is the phonics or emerging readers depending which of your plans you choose to go with. The rest is included in the Beyond manual.

[Jen in Va]

Are you referring to the R&S 2 reading program or grammar? If it's grammar, the pp took care of that. If you are talking about their reading program, you wouldn't really need that. Carrie has an excellent emerging reader schedule in the Beyond guide. it uses The Beginner's Bible (or another choice for Bible) and then a series of Easy Readers. I would think your child would be a perfect fit with that once finishing 100 Easy Lessons.

Beyond is a great program. My ds will be 7 in the fall, and we are working our way slowly through Beyond with the goal to finish it close to his 8th birthday in 2010. I want him as close to 8 as we can get before starting Bigger that year. We are moving ahead in math--since that is his main love--but going slowly through the rest.

[hugsathome]

Do you think Beyond is too easy for a 7 year old, 2nd grader?

I was thinking of doing Beyond instead of Bigger because her reading skills are not great. I was afraid the reading in Bigger could be too much. But...perhaps I should just do Bigger with R&S 2 and just take it slow. After doing 100 Easy Lessons over the summer, I assume she would be ready for R&S 2 in the Bigger program.

[my3sons]

Do you think Beyond is too easy for a 7 year old, 2nd grader?

I was thinking of doing Beyond instead of Bigger because her reading skills are not great. I was afraid the reading in Bigger could be too much. But...perhaps I should just do Bigger with R&S 2 and just take it slow. After doing 100 Easy Lessons over the summer, I assume she would be ready for R&S 2 in the Bigger program.

Have you looked at the placement chart? That would help you determine your dd's best placement. Here's a link to it:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php
Beyond's target age range is 6-8 years old, so your child would fit perfectly in Beyond. It is definitely not too easy for 7 yo's, and is a fantastic program! Bigger Hearts target age range is 7-9 years old, so your child would be on the very young age range for Bigger Hearts. I think it is a good idea for a child on the young end of BHFHG to be a good independent reader. I think Beyond would probably be the better choice for your dd because she would have time to grow in her reading skills, as well as have the 1 x a week grammar lessons in Beyond before beginning R & S English 2, which lays a great foundation for grammar.

I think it sounds like a super idea to do 100 Easy Lessons over the summer. When you finish 100 Easy Lessons, if your dd did well and is ready to read books like Frog and Toad, Owl at Home, Amelia Bedelia, etc., then she is ready to start the Emerging Reader's Set. If she is still having difficulty reading these books well, then you would do 1 more phonics program with her at that point - either The Reading Lesson or Reading Made Easy are both great.

We've used Beyond with 2 of our dc, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Beyond is perfect for that age, and it does a good job of preparing dc for Bigger Hearts. Have fun with it!

In Christ,
Julie

[crlacey]

I don't know about your daughter and all of her skills. But just from the reading skills you mentioned, she'd be a perfect fit for Beyond with the emerging readers set. We just finished 100 Easy Lessons and DD has done the first 2 days of the emerging readers and it seems to be a perfect fit. So if that is the only skill you are looking at, Beyond is a great fit. Though you'd really need to look at the other skills including has she had any grammar yet? What are her writing skills? How about her listening skills or her math skills? Bigger also includes the emerging readers schedule, so if she places into Bigger with her other skills, you could still have the readers scheduled for you.