Laura in MI Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 (edited) We're looking at Bigger for dss's 7 & 9, I really like the looks of it and so does dh. I have a couple questions though. How much hands on activities are there really? Are there science experiments? Dss9 has really shown and interest in science. Would you use extensions for a dyslexic 10yo in 4th grade? I think that's it.. for now :tongue_smilie: Edited January 17, 2012 by Laura in MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I'm doing Bigger right now with my 8 year old ds! Each week there is generally 1 Geography activity, 1 History activity, 1 Vocab lesson, 1 art/craft, 1 timeline entry, and 1 history notebook entry. Some of these each week are hands on. As far as Science in general there is 1 Science notebook entry, 1 experiment, and 1 science experiment accompanied by a notebook entry. If your 10 year old is not a big reader and struggles with reading, then I think you can get by just fine without the extensions. Bigger Hearts is a full program. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in MI Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 I'm doing Bigger right now with my 8 year old ds!Each week there is generally 1 Geography activity, 1 History activity, 1 Vocab lesson, 1 art/craft, 1 timeline entry, and 1 history notebook entry. Some of these each week are hands on. As far as Science in general there is 1 Science notebook entry, 1 experiment, and 1 science experiment accompanied by a notebook entry. If your 10 year old is not a big reader and struggles with reading, then I think you can get by just fine without the extensions. Bigger Hearts is a full program. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me.:001_smile: Thank you! Thought of some other questions.. About how long does it take each day? Would it be to much to do an experiment kit each week too? I thought of another idea for the extension package, dss could read them a loud to me (we're working on his reading fluency) and maybe do some activities with them? Is there anything scheduled in the guide for the Extensions or is it just to read them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thought of some other questions..About how long does it take each day? You know it would be hard for me to answer this because I'm schooling 2 other children as well as adding in Spanish, and one extra subject daily(composer study, artist study, nature study, music etc.) We try to keep school between the hours of 9-3ish, but that includes all school that we do and some breaks such as lunch. Also the time for Bigger Hearts varies by day. If I were to guess I would say we spend about 1-1.5 hrs doing the basics, and another 1-1.5 doing the read alouds and activities. My ds also spends 20-30 minutes reading to himself from the DITHR book list. We aren't doing the actual DITHR right now though. I can time him tomorrow to give you a better idea if you like. Would it be to much to do an experiment kit each week too? That depends on you I suppose and how much time you want to spend on school each week. I add in several other things so for us it would be fine. I thought of another idea for the extension package, dss could read them a loud to me (we're working on his reading fluency) and maybe do some activities with them? I think that would be fine. Is there anything scheduled in the guide for the Extensions or is it just to read them? We are not using the extensions but there is a schedule for them in the back of the guide and as far as I can tell just contains what pages to read on each unit day. Answers in red! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in MI Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thank you! I'm pretty sure we'll be using it! It sounds like exactly what we're looking for :001_smile: I'm excited! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Ok, so I timed my ds today for all of his Bigger work, and it took a total of 2hrs 20 minutes. That includes every box listed in the guide. I would say this was on the short end for days and a safe daily average would be about 2.5-3hrs daily.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 That time does not include breaks or any added subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 If you go on over to the HOD board and do a search for approximate time for each guide, you should find one where somebody (Julie, perhaps, or others) posted about how long each box takes in each Guide once you get in the groove. :D I don't have my 10yo do the extensions b/c it is a pain in the you-know-what already to get him to finish ANY school. :glare: If your child is very interested in science (especially the hands-on part), the science in Bigger might not be his cup of tea. There ARE experiments, but we don't find them to be very "meaty" if that makes sense. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in MI Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Ok, so I timed my ds today for all of his Bigger work, and it took a total of 2hrs 20 minutes. That includes every box listed in the guide. I would say this was on the short end for days and a safe daily average would be about 2.5-3hrs daily.:001_smile: Thank you! I think that is a perfect amount of time for school :001_smile: If you go on over to the HOD board and do a search for approximate time for each guide, you should find one where somebody (Julie, perhaps, or others) posted about how long each box takes in each Guide once you get in the groove. :D I don't have my 10yo do the extensions b/c it is a pain in the you-know-what already to get him to finish ANY school. :glare: If your child is very interested in science (especially the hands-on part), the science in Bigger might not be his cup of tea. There ARE experiments, but we don't find them to be very "meaty" if that makes sense. HTH Thanks, I think I'm going to add some science experiments. I'm going to find experiment kits that go along with the science in Bigger. What science is studied? I know I found this before, but now I can't and I don't remember! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thanks, I think I'm going to add some science experiments. I'm going to find experiment kits that go along with the science in Bigger. Let me know what you find. We'll be using Bigger in the next year or two as well. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 What science is studied? I know I found this before, but now I can't and I don't remember! :tongue_smilie: The science in Bigger is kind of a hodgepodge of things that loosely tie in with the History study. For example when you begin Bigger, you learn about different North American explorers, so for science you go through the One Small Square: Seashore book. You will cover the tides, waves, seashore animals, animal classification, etc. Then you move on to the Science in Colonial America book where we've learned about germs and antibodies so far. What I've done to add science to Bigger is we are going through the Zoology 1 book by Apologia along with a lapbook I bought from Currclick. We are doing it on a very slow schedule that 3Blessings4Me shared on here. We only do it two days a week and it takes three weeks to finish one Lesson in the book. It adds in just enough science to make my science loving girl happy, but she really enjoys the science in HOD as well. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeriJ Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 As far as I know, we will be using it for my soon to be 7 year old and 9 year old dd's next year! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Would you use extensions for a dyslexic 10yo in 4th grade? It depends on reading skills. IF he is a strong reader, then yes. If not, then I'd probably just try Pedro's Journal and see how it goes. I wouldn't buy the full set until testing the waters, so to speak. If he needs for them to be a slightly lower level, check the read aloud lists in Beyond. There's some really good books listed. Or, just find books he loves and have him read them to you. We'll be using Bigger in the fall too. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in MI Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thank you! I'm looking forward to the fall :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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