LHFHG 1st grade options or Right side of Beyond?

[nena3927]

My ds (just turned 6) finished up LHTH with his younger sister (4) the beginning of May along with the right side of LHFHG. I am planning to combine them in LHFHG in July and wanted to get opinions on whether to do the right side of Beyond with my ds or do the 1st grade options with LHFHG. This year he did the K fine motor workbooks and A Reason for Handwriting K and did great with both. So should I move him to do the entire right side of Beyond this year including copywork and spelling lists or let him do the 1st grade options including the remaining fine motor workbooks and A Reason For Handwriting A? He will be using Beyond's hands-on activities to accompany Singapore 1a/1b regardless. I know either way would be fine, just looking for your opinions. I do think the copywork might have more meaning if we were actually studying it, which we wouldn't do till next year when both dc are combined for the left side of Beyond. Other than that, there is no difference to me, so I need help deciding which route to take. What would you do? Thanks so much!

[MomtoJGJE]

Did you do the Burgess books or JUST the FMS and handwriting? Did you do math?

If you did the right side completely I would be tempted to move up to Beyond, but maybe keep doing ARFH A instead of copy work.

If you JUST did the FMS/handwriting, then I'd do LHFHG as written with first grade options for those sections.

I just saw where you said he'd be doing SM 1A regardless...

I think if you did the burgess books and questions/activities that go along with them, then move up... if you did not, then keep LHFHG

[StephanieU]

So, last year (2013-2014), I planned on doing the right side of Beyond with the left side of LHFHG (plus the LHFHG storytime). But, by Unit 5, I had dropped the spelling/grammar from Beyond and was basically just doing the 1st grade options for LHFHG. The reason was that although my daughter could do those things, they just weren't sticking. Also, we were using a different phonics program, and it had some grammar and spelling type things in it, so I didn't want to require more writing. About half way through, we did add in the Emerging Readers from Beyond. Then, int he last month or so we added in some of the grammar from Beyond because she was ready for it, and we started some copy work of verses. She had finished all of her 1st grand handwriting/FMS things, so it wasn't hard to add in a little more writing at that point.
So, my advice would be to buy the Beyond guide but don't start the things in there other than math at the beginning. If you find that your oldest is ready for more school work, then add in spelling or grammar (or both). I wouldn't do the poetry copywork from Beyond though. If you finish the 1st grade ARFW book, then copy the verse or a portion of the story time book (there are cute little poem-type things in there). Or maybe copy part of the hymn that is in the devotion for the week.

[nena3927]

Thank you for the replies. We did everything on the right side of LHFHG last year except for the storytime box. I saved that for this year so both dc could do that together. I think my ds is ready for the spelling portion but I also add in explode the code and I don't want to overload him with writing. His handwriting is really beautiful but he does not like handwriting. In Beyond it looks like the Language Arts box replaces the FM/Handwriting box from LHFHG so I definitely don't won't to have him do both. I guess I could do ARFH and the FM books and just add in the spelling if I think he will be ok with it. Then start the copywork portion next year when both dc are doing Beyond.

[MelInKansas]

The spelling in Beyond is not a lot of writing IMO though with ETC it would be a lot for a typical first grader. I guess it is up to you. If you think he is ready for spelling but the writing is an issue maybe he could spell orally? But really, he writes the 10 words on day 1, 2, and 4 of spelling, and on day 3 writes sentences with the words (which you can do as many or as few, as long or as short of sentences as you want to come up with). Spelling has never been a writing issue with my kids, just the copywork portion. Maybe this is also because we do spelling on the white board, which they love to write on the white board, and unless it is just totally unreadable I do not fuss over how neat it is. So it is easier, writing wise.

If you did the FMS books in LHFHG already you could drop those in favor of spelling if you want. They are pretty good but my kids seem to get tired of them by the end of LHFHG.

[nena3927]

Thanks Melissa. Yes he did finish the Kindergarten FM workbooks this year. After looking at ARFH A, I think he actually might do better with copywork instead. It looked like a LOT of repetition and I had to really push him this year to complete the K handwriting workbook so I don't have a good feeling about trying the first grade book this year. I was only going to have him copy a sentence or two from the poem a day if we went that route. Are they supposed to have the entire poem in Beyond copied by the end of the week? I might just let him copy something from LHFHG instead this year like Stephanie suggested, and next year both dc can copy the poem from Beyond since we will be in that guide and actually studying the poems then. He is ready for spelling I believe as he is always writing any 3 letter words he can remember and always asking me how to spell words so he can give "letters" to our family. Its funny because he writes ALL the time in his spare time but when it comes to writing in "school" its like pulling teeth lol. And he has beautiful handwriting too.....

[MelInKansas]

They don't have to copy the whole poem in Beyond and at the beginning most kids usually don't. You could do something like have him copy the weekly memory verse in LHFHG, then other things, maybe even sentences he makes up or do one sentence with the spelling words each day instead of only doing that on day 3. One sentence at the beginning and working up to 2 would work really well.

ARFH would give him similar practice though, but if he already doesn't like that maybe he would think copywork was more grown up and enjoy it more. If he knows how to form all the letters copywork will help him build up his writing chops and it helps with spelling learning too.

[queenireneof3]

I combined my children (5 and 7) in LHFHG this past year. This is what I would recommend based on what we did: I would stick with the right side of LHFHG for both of them and use the Beyond guide for math only and possibly spelling list 1. For the FMS, my oldest (7) did the 1st grade option for the cutting pasting book (he LOVES this kind of activity so it was not a struggle) which is scheduled 3 days a week. On the other two days where the handwriting books are scheduled, we alternated with a handwriting book at his level (HWT 2nd grade book), copying the verse of the week, or a Draw, Write, Now book which your son might enjoy if he likes to draw. I bought a HWT tears writing journal that had lines for copywork and spaces to draw pictures for him to do his writing in.

If he is ready for spelling, go ahead and start list 1. The following year when both of your kids are in Beyond, it will be easy to do list 2 with him and list 1 for your daughter. I would just wait to do the LA instructions scheduled on day 5 of each week for next year when you are officially going through Beyond with both of them to keep it simple. The reading box is obviously customizable to his level, as is the math.

That way you are not stretching yourself too much between two guides. I imagine the copywork/L.A. for Beyond would be better when you are officially going through the guide with both of your kids to keep it less complicated and coherent.

[nena3927]

Thank you Melissa and Sarah for your comments! I'm still deciding what to do but you have given me alot to think about. Thank you very much!

[The2youngs]

We did LHFHG with my K'er and 1st'er this year. For my older so who has excellent penmanship and was very ready for copywork, we did daily copywork that rotated. He did not do any of the FMS books, FYI. So, it looked something like:

Monday - Literature (usually from Burgess, but sometimes from a readaloud we were doing together)
Tuesday - Poetry (we read one each day just for exposure's sake - we LOVED AA Milne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Louis Carroll)
Wednesday - Memory Verse (from LHFHG)
Thursday - Famous Quote (it's especially fun once you get past the Bible portion of LHFHG's history to find quotes from the people we're reading about - Luther, Washington, etc.)

I set my phone timer for 7 minutes and just told him to do excellent work and pay attention to each letter and punctuation. Afterwards, I might ask him if he sees anything that needs correcting and put a small dot under one or two letters that needed to be fixed. Overall, I tried to keep it short, sweet, and positive.

Copywork is a foundational CM method that's especially helpful for learning spelling (by seeing words spelled correctly), grammar (seeing proper grammar), and excellent language. Penmanship and diligence are also bonus benefits!

Enjoy this next year- we certainly have!

[my3sons]

I like this plan...

... I would stick with the right side of LHFHG for both of them and use the Beyond guide for math only and possibly spelling list 1. For the FMS, my oldest (7) did the 1st grade option for the cutting pasting book (he LOVES this kind of activity so it was not a struggle) which is scheduled 3 days a week. On the other two days...

I'd have him do ARHW A as scheduled in the LHFHG guide on the other days. He can copy his Bible verse each week as well, if you would like. I'd not do the poetry copywork from Beyond, as it matches the history theme in Beyond and is better saved for next year. I'd do Spelling List 1 if he is ready for it, following the plans for it in Days 1-4 LA box of Beyond. I'd do this in lieu of ETC, or reduce ETC to just 1 page a day. If he is not ready for Spelling List 1, I'd continue with more pages per day of Explode the Code. 1A/1B math will be super to do along with Beyond's hands-on plans this year. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie