Teaching LHTH and LHFHG

[sweetgrace]

We are planning on starting LHFHG for our 6yo in Aug/Sept. I will also have a 4.5 yo and an almost 1yo. My thought was to do both LHFHG and LHTH. Is this going to be possible for me? Should I follow each manual in its entirety? How am I going to keep crafts/art time separate or anything else that they might want to do with each other?

[StephanieU]

Definitely possible to do LHTH and LHFHG. Although we only do LHTH about 2-3 days a week, those days aren't any less busy than the days we don't (which are the two days we have "co-op" type things). LHTH takes 20-30 minutes. The only time it takes longer is when the kids are really into an activity. LHFHG takes under 2 hours. Some days it is under an hour, when the activities and readings are shorter.

[my3sons]

I agree - it will not be hard to do LHTH and LHFHG at the same time! That being said though, have you checked out the placement chart, as your 2 dc are quite close in age? Does the 4.5 yo place squarely in LHTH?

In Christ,
Julie

[sweetgrace]

Definitely possible to do LHTH and LHFHG. Although we only do LHTH about 2-3 days a week, those days aren't any less busy than the days we don't (which are the two days we have "co-op" type things). LHTH takes 20-30 minutes. The only time it takes longer is when the kids are really into an activity. LHFHG takes under 2 hours. Some days it is under an hour, when the activities and readings are shorter.

Thank you for your thoughts. I guess I'm second guess myself being able to work two programs at the same time. When you explain it in terms of time it doesn't seem so scary

[sweetgrace]

I agree - it will not be hard to do LHTH and LHFHG at the same time! That being said though, have you checked out the placement chart, as your 2 dc are quite close in age? Does the 4.5 yo place squarely in LHTH?

In Christ,
Julie

Yes they are 18m apart. My oldest will turn 6 in Sept. and then ds2 turns 4 April 1st. So by the time we hit fall they will be a brand new 6yo and an *almost* 4.5yo. I just looked at the placement chart and am pretty sure he places in lhth. Now he could surprise me in the next 5-6 months and then I would have to reconsider his placement. Right now he does not know letters or their sounds. Although leap frog letter factory has been helping with that lately. He can count to about 15. He doesn't know all the shapes yet. However he loves to trace letters and is now becoming more aware and interested in them. He is a hardcore daydreamer and his attention span is almost zero! I really wish I could combine them. Oh how happy I would be

[StephanieU]

With the way HOD is set up, you might be able to. The left side of the guide and storytime aren't affected by phonics and math skills at this age. You could always start LHFHG with both of them and see how it goes. The 4.5 yo can wait on phonics if necessary for a little bit, as HOD allows through Bigger to complete the Emerging Readers before reading would affect the "left" side of the guide. I plan on starting LHFHG when my younger two are about those same ages and just doing 3-4 days a week. We school year round, so I think we can still complete a guide a year on average.

[sweetgrace]

With the way HOD is set up, you might be able to. The left side of the guide and storytime aren't affected by phonics and math skills at this age. You could always start LHFHG with both of them and see how it goes. The 4.5 yo can wait on phonics if necessary for a little bit, as HOD allows through Bigger to complete the Emerging Readers before reading would affect the "left" side of the guide. I plan on starting LHFHG when my younger two are about those same ages and just doing 3-4 days a week. We school year round, so I think we can still complete a guide a year on average.

So I can use the left hand side of the guide for the 4.5yo along with his big brother? Then add in phonics instruction when he becomes ready? I'm assuming I'll still be working with him on shapes, numbers and letter sounds in the meantime? Sorry, I think I'm still a little confused on how the guides work and how to school two kiddos What happens then next year when the oldest is in Beyond and Ds2 is going to be going into his K year? Will he continue with his older bro or would we then do lhfhg with both sides of the guide for him?

[StephanieU]

I see two options for you if you want to combine (and I would suggest combining since they are only 18 m apart and 1 grade level apart, as you wouldn't want to get to the point of doing Bigger and Preparing together at the tame time).

First, you can start LHTH with both of them now. IN the fall, start phonics, math, and handwriting with the then 6yo. You could buy those items from LHFHG plus the guide if you want to use the hands-on activities Carrie has created as well as pacing ideas for everything else. Then, after LHTH, you could do LHFHG for K and 1st, using the 1st grade options (other than science) for the older son and the K options for the younger.

Second, you could just start LHFHG with both of them at a slower speed. You could work on getting the 4.5yo ready to do LHFHG full speed by doing it 3 days a week for a while. The math in LHFHG is very gentle, so the 4.5yo coudl probably do that. If the handwriting and phonics are too much, maybe look at the Rod and Staff books HOD doesn't use (A, C, and E) until he is. We bought the whole ABC series for our younger two because all of my kids love workbooks. The Rod and Staff ones are so gentle and yet fun while teaching PreK and K skills that we are using them with LHTH to beef it up for my 4.5yo and spread it out to 2 years.

If money isn't tight, then you could always buy both LHFHG and LHTH and see which would work best for both boys too.

[my3sons]

I think this would be the best option after you've described your 4.5 yo...

...First, you can start LHTH with both of them now. IN the fall, start phonics, math, and handwriting with the then 6yo. You could buy those items from LHFHG plus the guide if you want to use the hands-on activities Carrie has created as well as pacing ideas for everything else. Then, after LHTH, you could do LHFHG for K and 1st, using the 1st grade options (other than science) for the older son and the K options for the younger...

Starting now is a good idea! HOD recommends combining in the younger of the 2 guides when pondering 2 guide choices. This thread by Carrie helps explain why...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9339

Looking down the road, this is why according to Carrie stretching the youngest to too much of a challenge level may cause separating to be necessary...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9341

Because HOD wants for each child to get the most out of each guide, it makes good sense to combine so that the youngest can fully participate and extensions can later be added if needed for the older student...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9342

And finally, here are some thoughts about combining in general...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7019

HTH! But please do keep asking questions until you have a plan you are excited about!
In Christ,
Julie

[gardenmama28]

I just thought I would post what we did, since our situation is very similar to yours. This fall when we started, my oldest had just turned 6 and my second was 4. I combined them into LHFHG. My 6 year old did grade 1 math, started on phonics and did a the reason for handwriting K book. Both girls listened to the Bible stories, did memory verses and activities (the LH side of the guide). My 4 yr old did one page a day in extra rod and staff workbooks that I ordered for her. She started on the earliest workbooks (About three, Bigger Steps, Doing my Best) and is now on to Adventures in Books. She worked on this, one page a day, for part of the time that my 6 yr old did her math. I also had a 2 yr old who scribbled in coloring books and played or watched a movie while we did the RH side of the guide.

For this coming year, I am planning to put my oldest (she'll be 7) in Beyond, and combine the younger 2 ( who will be 5 and 3) in LHTH. I may add some extra phonics and handwriting instruction for my 5 yr old, but I don't want to push her too fast as she is a daydreamer and not very advanced at fine motor skills. Maybe by this fall though, she will be ready for more printing practice.... we'll see when the time comes. Kids can change so fast in 6 months!!!

Hopefully this gives some idea of what can work!!

[sweetgrace]

I see two options for you if you want to combine (and I would suggest combining since they are only 18 m apart and 1 grade level apart, as you wouldn't want to get to the point of doing Bigger and Preparing together at the tame time).

First, you can start LHTH with both of them now. IN the fall, start phonics, math, and handwriting with the then 6yo. You could buy those items from LHFHG plus the guide if you want to use the hands-on activities Carrie has created as well as pacing ideas for everything else. Then, after LHTH, you could do LHFHG for K and 1st, using the 1st grade options (other than science) for the older son and the K options for the younger.

Second, you could just start LHFHG with both of them at a slower speed. You could work on getting the 4.5yo ready to do LHFHG full speed by doing it 3 days a week for a while. The math in LHFHG is very gentle, so the 4.5yo coudl probably do that. If the handwriting and phonics are too much, maybe look at the Rod and Staff books HOD doesn't use (A, C, and E) until he is. We bought the whole ABC series for our younger two because all of my kids love workbooks. The Rod and Staff ones are so gentle and yet fun while teaching PreK and K skills that we are using them with LHTH to beef it up for my 4.5yo and spread it out to 2 years.

If money isn't tight, then you could always buy both LHFHG and LHTH and see which would work best for both boys too.

Thank you for the ideas. Boy, I'm really going to need to pray about this, lol. I already have LHTH but have not used the whole guide before. My oldest has already been through a couple of letter of the week type curriculums. I think he may get tired of LHTH. We are halfway through MFWK with him and halfway through AAR1 as well. I think I understand better know how the manuals work though. I can use it as the core bible/history and then beef it up for my oldest. That makes a lot of sense! If we choose LHTH for both of them maybe I could also add in some science for my oldest. Thank you!

[sweetgrace]

I think this would be the best option after you've described your 4.5 yo...

...First, you can start LHTH with both of them now. IN the fall, start phonics, math, and handwriting with the then 6yo. You could buy those items from LHFHG plus the guide if you want to use the hands-on activities Carrie has created as well as pacing ideas for everything else. Then, after LHTH, you could do LHFHG for K and 1st, using the 1st grade options (other than science) for the older son and the K options for the younger...

Starting now is a good idea! HOD recommends combining in the younger of the 2 guides when pondering 2 guide choices. This thread by Carrie helps explain why...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9339

Looking down the road, this is why according to Carrie stretching the youngest to too much of a challenge level may cause separating to be necessary...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9341

Because HOD wants for each child to get the most out of each guide, it makes good sense to combine so that the youngest can fully participate and extensions can later be added if needed for the older student...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9342

And finally, here are some thoughts about combining in general...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7019

HTH! But please do keep asking questions until you have a plan you are excited about!
In Christ,
Julie

Whoa, thank you so much for the links! This helps tremendously. Although, I still don't know which direction to take, lol. We are much like the family example in the last link. Our two boys may be close in age but they are worlds apart academically. I know that HOD stresses the importance of having each child placed correctly in a guide, but I read where one may not want a child in bigger and a child in preparing at the same time? Is this something I should worry about at this point? I don't mind working two guides but it sounds like those two at once might be a hit much fir most moms?

[sweetgrace]

I just thought I would post what we did, since our situation is very similar to yours. This fall when we started, my oldest had just turned 6 and my second was 4. I combined them into LHFHG. My 6 year old did grade 1 math, started on phonics and did a the reason for handwriting K book. Both girls listened to the Bible stories, did memory verses and activities (the LH side of the guide). My 4 yr old did one page a day in extra rod and staff workbooks that I ordered for her. She started on the earliest workbooks (About three, Bigger Steps, Doing my Best) and is now on to Adventures in Books. She worked on this, one page a day, for part of the time that my 6 yr old did her math. I also had a 2 yr old who scribbled in coloring books and played or watched a movie while we did the RH side of the guide.

For this coming year, I am planning to put my oldest (she'll be 7) in Beyond, and combine the younger 2 ( who will be 5 and 3) in LHTH. I may add some extra phonics and handwriting instruction for my 5 yr old, but I don't want to push her too fast as she is a daydreamer and not very advanced at fine motor skills. Maybe by this fall though, she will be ready for more printing practice.... we'll see when the time comes. Kids can change so fast in 6 months!!!

Hopefully this gives some idea of what can work!!

This helps a lot! It gave me the idea that I might be able to combine this year at least and then have my oldest move on to Beyond the following year and have my then 5yo move into LHTH or use another K curriculum we already have for that year. Therefore avoiding having one child in Bigger and one in Preparing in the same year.

I really appreciate all the suggestions!

[MelInKansas]

Yes it is not recommended to teach Bigger and Preparing at the same time. Both of those guides require a lot of time from the teacher in order to make sure the child is doing what they need to. But, it is not impossible, depending on the rest of your family dynamic (like if you were teaching a lot more littles in addition to Bigger and Preparing, it would be very difficult, but if not, maybe more possible). But I guess my thought right now, especially in you saying that your children are really far apart in terms of their skills, interest, attention span, etc, is to go ahead and start it with LHTH and LHFHG. I think you will see what needs to happen in the next 2-3 years, whether you can move toward combining them, or maybe move them a little farther apart so you aren't in back-to-back guides. LHTH you could take more slowly than LHFHG, doing it 2-3 days a week instead of every day. If the older one is really ready for LHFHG, ready for more meat, then you will want to give it to him!

My oldest 2 are 24 months apart. I wanted to combine them very badly when we first started but I also found that their skills and abilities were just too far apart. Now I am so glad they are in separate guides (though being 2 years apart they do place 2 guides apart, though my 2nd born could maybe have moved ahead more quickly and I have taken it easy with her). It works so smoothly to do the guide with a child who is well placed and doesn't require any tweaking. Open and go, one of HOD's best features I think. I pray God gives you wisdom in what you and your kiddos really need.

[sweetgrace]

Yes it is not recommended to teach Bigger and Preparing at the same time. Both of those guides require a lot of time from the teacher in order to make sure the child is doing what they need to. But, it is not impossible, depending on the rest of your family dynamic (like if you were teaching a lot more littles in addition to Bigger and Preparing, it would be very difficult, but if not, maybe more possible). But I guess my thought right now, especially in you saying that your children are really far apart in terms of their skills, interest, attention span, etc, is to go ahead and start it with LHTH and LHFHG. I think you will see what needs to happen in the next 2-3 years, whether you can move toward combining them, or maybe move them a little farther apart so you aren't in back-to-back guides. LHTH you could take more slowly than LHFHG, doing it 2-3 days a week instead of every day. If the older one is really ready for LHFHG, ready for more meat, then you will want to give it to him!

My oldest 2 are 24 months apart. I wanted to combine them very badly when we first started but I also found that their skills and abilities were just too far apart. Now I am so glad they are in separate guides (though being 2 years apart they do place 2 guides apart, though my 2nd born could maybe have moved ahead more quickly and I have taken it easy with her). It works so smoothly to do the guide with a child who is well placed and doesn't require any tweaking. Open and go, one of HOD's best features I think. I pray God gives you wisdom in what you and your kiddos really need.

Very good points to consider! Yes, I will have a third child that I will be teaching by the time the two older boys would reach preparing and bigger if I separate them. I really hope I choose the right direction! Can someone just make the decision for me please? Lol!