LHTH slight disappointments, considering LHFHG

[aporthole]

My son is 3 years 9 months and we are currently on week 14 of LHTH. He is fairly advanced in quite a few areas. Other than occasionally mixing up lowercase b and d, he has known upper and lower case letter and their primary sounds since just after 2 years old. He can write his name and count to 30. He has excellent listening comprehension and would love to be read to for hours. He is sounding out CVC words and knows about 20 sight words. Emotionally he is TOTALLY still a moderately strong willed, spirited, and sensitive 3 year old boy.

Here are our disappointments and frustrations with LHTH:
- I hate having to scan/print the required pages and flashcards from the book. It is awkward and poor quality due to having to fold back the pages.
- My son hasn't learned anything academically. The ONLY new concept for him so far has been counting by 2s and recently by 3s.
- The reading time is SO short. Obviously we add in our own books each day, but for something that is supposed to be literature based/Charlotte Mason, I don't understand why there isn't more reading.
- Fingerplays - My son is indifferent at best and rarely participates.
- The Singing Bible songs - My son can't understand the lyrics and doesn't get anything out of it. I don't feel like it adds anything to the lesson.

What I do like:
- Integration of the Bible story into each subject
- Open and go with almost no prep (other than the scanning/printing)
- Art/craft activities are easy to do with common household items.

At this point I feel like we are "doing school" just for the sake of taking up time in the day when it comes to LHTH. Other than one short Bible story each day, he isn't learning anything. We have utilized many outside resources just to provide him with something educational and entertaining. He enjoys playing DreamBox Learning (math games) online, listening to ANYTHING I will read him, we occasionally use the Funnix computer based phonics program, and have recently discovered the Progressive Phonics website and have been getting a lot of use and enjoyment from their resources.

Will my disappointments be continued or resolved with LHFHG? Has anyone jumped into LHFHG with a not-yet-4 year old? I am heavily considering using Sonlight's P4/5 with K level readers and LA added in as well as possibly adding some math (Singapore Essential K). The heavy focus on simply reading to the child is what draws me to this option.

Advice, opinions and encouragement are appreciated!

Thanks!

[raceNzanesmom]

I can't help with LHTH, but I wouldn't move a not yet 5 y/o to LHFHG.

We kept a huge book basket for pre-k and just read, read, read.

[countrymom]

I write this post having a son similar to yours and having made some wrong decisions along the way.

Emotionally he is TOTALLY still a moderately strong willed, spirited, and sensitive 3 year old boy.

This is key. There is so much to our children's growth and development, and education is only one part of that. Up to age 7 education is not the primary concern, even though we begin our child's education before age 7. Based on my own experiences, my advice to you would be to let your 3 yr old be 3. Yes, do LHTH, read lots of books to him, and play with him. I would not start Little Hearts with a child younger than 5. There are many skills built into LIttle Hearts that are important for future guides. This is true for all the guides. It is hard to grasp what is truly in a guide until you actually do it as written. With my two boys, who are totally different, I found the action rhymes in LHTH and Little Hearts are very important. For one son the biggest skill he needs to learn from them is following directions and doing what teacher says. Saying the words while doing the motions incorporates a skill that I found could not be done be either of my children correctly in the beginning. My youngest still is developing this skill, but he can now say the words by the end. The action rhymes help children with coordination, attentiveness, and concentration in a fun way. These are skills that need to be developed fully as the child progresses and begins narration, dictation, art, and so on. Comparing the words to the Bible stories for the week actually begins the skills that will be used in poetry in future guides ( and other subjects as well).

Although some children do fly ahead with the education component, they are usually more at their age level in many other areas and even a mature child will still "hit the wall", so to speak at some point. Story analysis (oral and written), writing styles, oral narration (attentiveness), advanced dictation - these are the skills that are sometimes more "hidden" in the guides and that we often forget about when we look at our children's abilities. My son was like yours and he was mature for his age. I did hold back, but if I had it to do over I would have progressed slower with him. Now we are at a point that even though he is handling the material, I feel it is a bit much to ask of him and we will take a bit of a break when we finish Bigger before we go on to Preparing. Have fun with LHTH and you won't regret it.

[HappyMama]

I can't imagine doing Little Hearts with a 3 or 4 year old. If LHTH isn't working, I would do something else in the meantime and wait to do LHFHG until he is 5 or 6. I don't really have any other advice except I wouldn't start LHFHG yet.

[raindrops]

I don't like the music either. It was a good idea, bible stories as music, but the music is too loud and the voices get drowned out or something. It is hard to tell what is being said, to me. The music cd for LHFHG is wonderful though!

Your little guy knows a lot! Is he your only child? If you want to stick with LHTH, you could add in Rod and Staff workbooks, work on cutting, pasting and following directions and maybe the early singapore (or whatever) mathbooks. My almost 3 yr old enjoys manipulating those Tangram puzzles (wooden shapes) and learning to use lacing cards.

You're probably doing plenty, just with normal everyday life. Lots of activity, learning to play on his own, use his imagination, learning manners... there are so many things to learn at this age that just comes by living. Hehe. Let him help you cook, do chores. Enjoy each other.

I wouldn't want to skip ahead in guides because, while he is intellectually smart, he will lack the skills to be successful in the older guides. The writing for one would be a lot. I think it would just be frustrating.

[aporthole]

Thanks for all the insight. Sounds like we will definitely wait before thinking about starting LHFHG.

We do enjoy the Bible portion (albeit short) and the crafts so we plan to continue using LHTH until complete later this spring. I will just keep adding in supplementals like we've already been doing as he desires. Not exactly sure what we will do once finished with LHTH.

We have lots of consumable workbooks like cutting/pasting, tracing, beginning handwriting that he has done exceptionally well with and loves. The Progressive Phonics stuff has been really enjoyable as well for him and includes cutting/pasting, letter formation, phonetic awareness, coloring, and interactive reading.

He is the oldest. I also have a 10 month old daughter, so he gets tons of one on one.

[my3sons]

I think this is the first post I have read by you, so first, I wanted to just welcome you to the HOD Board! The ladies here are very encouraging, Christian ladies, that are gracious with their time - I think you will enjoy them so much. Thank you for describing your 3 1/2 yo ds's skills, that is very helpful. The skills you describe your ds has at age 3 1/2 are skills all of our sons had at 3 1/2 years old as well. We still enjoyed doing "Little Hands to Heaven" with each of them so much for many reasons. The Bible focus of LHTH gave each of our dc a love for the Bible stories, and the focus on Biblical history, with that being the theme of each unit, really helped our dc connect it all together. With my first ds especially, I focused on academics more than on Biblical content. Poor child - I had him doing SO MUCH at even 3 yo. Ironically, with our last ds, though I have focused much less on academic prowess and more on heart issues, he is still my best reader of the 3 of them - and better yet, his faith is stronger earlier on. LHTH really gets to dc's hearts, as well as their minds. I am so thankful for that. It taught each of them our homeschool would be based on Christ - that He is the center of knowledge - and worthy of praise!

LHTH also taught our sons the routine of doing each subject of school each day, though in a mini school day context. This seems like a little thing, but it really made the transition to LHFHG easier, as each subject is then taught in a deeper way. LHTH's music is actually a place that provides more of a challenge. I guess I love music that praises the Lord, and Focus on the Family's Singing Bible surely does that. I sang the songs with lyrics in hand, and then we talked about them after singing. This may be something you'd enjoy, as it provides more of a challenge in thinking for ds and gives a great way to discuss the Bible in a new, fun way.

The math skills in LHTH begin at an easy level, but go so much further than counting, and I bet you will enjoy getting to some of these concepts in the future...

1 - patterns and colors
2 - patterns and counting
3 - sequencing letters and numbers (names and phone numbers)
4 - general measurement: comparing distances
5 - money: coin recognition
6 - counting steps
7 - comparing: few/many, once/more than once, tall/short
8 - ordinal numbers: first, second, third
9 - counting to 10: one to one correspondance
10 - patterns, shapes, counting
11 - general weight measurement: light/heavy
12 - auditory patterns
13 - comparing sizes: smallest/largest
14 - general length measurement: ordering longest to shortest
15 - matching and ordering by size: smallest to largest
16 - sorting and classifying
17 - counting, early addition/subtraction, zero
18 - counting, spatial terms, inside/outside
19 - duplicating patterns, spatial terms: away from
20 - counting and making sets
21 - tracing or copying designs and finding shapes
22 - counting: one to one correspondance
23 - comparing numbers: more than/less than/equal to
24 - counting and addition combinations that equal 5
25 - general measurement: area
26 - nonstandard measurement: “feet”
27 - sorting, counting, and graphing sets
28 - money: coin recognition, value, counting
29 - general time: yesterday, today, tomorrow
30 - number sense: more than 1 and counting forward/backward
31 - counting forward/backward and early addition
32 - general fractions: whole vs. part
33 - sorting and classifying: color, size, and shape

As far as the Fingerplays, ours sons enjoyed them very much - I really got into them with them, and they thought watching me was half the fun (and I'm sure they were right!). Every student has areas of school they find more interesting, but I have found in the last decade of doing HOD (and the near decade before that teaching other dc - showing my age here ), that it is key to look at those areas dc find less interesting or more of a challenge as the areas to be sure to do. They are usually areas the student needs to grow in, and learning that the expectation is to do all of what is expected whether it is a favorite part of the day or not, is a skill to be learned in itself. So, doing all of LHTH consistently and expecting cheerful participation laid the groundwork for each of our dc to approach their school that way every subsequent year. Doing "Missions to Modern Marvels" now with my teenager, he has the capacity to find something to enjoy about each part of his school. We truly enjoy our time together, though we are both doing things that may not be our natural bent.

I had a few ideas that you may enjoy! If you are not using "The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes" as your Bible, you may want to switch to that, as it is harder than "A Child's First Bible." It was and remains one of our dc's favorite first Bibles, and it still (with barely hanging on cover) makes the trek to church most Sundays with our 5 yo, and now he reads it himself. The comprehension questions at the end of each reading were so good too. I'm not sure which devotional you are using, but both are excellent. If you are looking for more of a challenge, why not do both? We bought both, and "My ABC Bible Verses" especially will offer a challenge and some wonderful Godly character traits to teach. You can choose the "older" options when they are offered for math too.

It is quite possible your little guy is ready to begin phonics. If he knows all of the sounds LHTH introduces, he may be ready to begin a phonics program such as "The Reading Lesson." Likewise, if he is writing his letters, he can begin "A Reason for Handwriting K." If he is cutting, gluing, and beginning to write, he can do the K fine motor skill books from LHFHG, "Do It Carefully/Finding the Answers." If he knows the math concepts in LHTH and can write his numbers fairly well, he can begin "Essential Math Kindergarten A." If he is needing a challenge in any of these areas, these K level resources usually used in LHFHG will be sure to challenge him, and any/all can be used any time during LHTH. These things are easy to add, and when ds is doing LHFHG as his core program, he can just finish out these resources and then begin using the First Grade LA/math options in LHFHG.

If you add some of these things, and still feel you want a quicker pace, I see no reason you cannot do 2 LHTH lessons a day. When done with LHTH, you would then just begin LHFHG, probably half-speed. We started LHFHG at 4 1/2 yo with several of our dc half-speed, and enjoyed it immensely. I hope some of these ideas can help, and I look forward to making your acquaintance more here on the board.

In Christ,
Julie

[aporthole]

Thank you Julie! Sounds like your experiences are well suited for what were going through right now.

We are using the New Bible in Pictures. He is quick to answer the discussion questions at the end of each passage. His comprehension is great so he knows the answers about 90% of the time without assistance. We also love reading the Jesus Storybook Bible every night before bed which has led to some wonderful discussions about our salvation and God's "Secret Rescue Plan". We also have and use both devotional books. Some of the vocabulary in the ABC Bible Verses is just beyond him so that has actually been good for learning and discussing words and ideas that he isn't familiar with. We definitely have been making use of the "older options" for the math. He cannot write his numbers yet except 0, 1, and 10. He mixes up 6 and 9 fairly often, so that is something we can work on.

Maybe I will bribe him to get into the Fingerplays and try to make them more exciting and dramatic. He loves to be goofy, so it may partially be lack of enthusiasm on my part causing his indifference. Regarding the Singing Bible, maybe I will try reading the lyrics to him before even listening to the songs so he is able to understand before the music is added.

It is good to hear that you were able to start LHFHG at 4.5 and had success with that. Going half speed with that sounds like an excellent option. He will be 4 years 5 months at the beginning of the next school year in September.

Thanks for the suggestions. They are greatly appreciated!

[my3sons]

So glad to be of any assistance! Have a good evening and great start to your week tomorrow!
In Christ,
Julie