Little Hands w/5yo?

This is where new posts begin. All questions or discussions about any of Heart of Dakota's curriculums start here. If you wish to share a one-time post about your family's experience with our curriculum, you may post under the specific curriculum title (found beneath this "Main Board" heading).
Post Reply
HSMom03
Posts: 54
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 8:13 am

Little Hands w/5yo?

Post by HSMom03 » Tue Mar 17, 2015 12:22 pm

I'm hoping to order Beyond for my 7.25 yr old in the next couple of days. I'm wondering if I should consider Little Hands for my 5.25 yr old (and possibly my 3yo). My 5yo is also doing K phonics, math, and handwriting + whatever he can get in on w/big brother. Would Little Hands be a nice addition for him or is he too old for that guide? Thanks!

StephanieU
Posts: 1652
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 7:10 pm

Re: Little Hands w/5yo?

Post by StephanieU » Tue Mar 17, 2015 12:27 pm

He wouldn't be too old for the older Bible or either devotional. Some of the worksheet-type activities he would be beyond (since he is doing K level work) as they focus on the letters, numbers, and colors plus fine motor skills. I would think it would depend on what you want your day to look like. We have had LHTH for 2 years and yet we never get to it regularly for a long period of time. Life just gets in the way and we have Bible study in other forms already. But, I am going to try again in late April/May when my oldest starts Bigger. My 5yo will start LHFHG in January probably, but he will do LHTH with the 3yo until then. We will focus on the Bible and devotional and anything that is directly tied to those (rhymes, art, science, and dramatic play). We will skip the rest until my 3yo goes through it again for "real" as her PreK/K year.
Mom to
DD15 US1 (completed LHFHG-WH)
DS13 MtMM (completed LHFHG-Rev2Rev plus some of LHTH)
DD12 Rev2Rev (completed LHTH-RtR)
DS7 Beyond (completed LHTH-LHFHG)

Rice
Posts: 526
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2013 10:00 am

Re: Little Hands w/5yo?

Post by Rice » Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:15 pm

My 9yo is just starting to slowly do LHTH (whenever he's done his work early) with my newly-turned-5yo and 3yo. They are loving it, with obviously different engagement, skill levels and attention levels, lol. I have yet to decide whether I will keep on with it come fall or if I will start my then-5 1/2yo in LHFHG at that point. I'll have to see where he's at in his readiness to start some phonics, I guess, but I'm strongly considering continuing LHFHG, but on a more regular/scheduled basis, then switching to LHFHG whenever we are done LHTH. Whatever I choose, next year will be "Kindergarten". :wink:

Blessings,
Rice

DS 21 - GRAD '20: after WG
DD 19 - GRAD '21: after WH
DS 17 - GRAD '22; did CTC-WH + 2yrs non-HOD (🇨🇦)
DS 15 not using a guide this year (DONE: LHFHG-MTMM)
DS 13 MTMM (DONE: Prep-Rev2Rev)
DS 11 +
DD 9 CTC (DONE: Prep)
6yo DS phonics

MomtoJGJE
Posts: 1534
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:20 pm
Location: Gastonia, NC

Re: Little Hands w/5yo?

Post by MomtoJGJE » Wed Mar 18, 2015 6:32 am

I have found with my kids that by the time they are really ready for LHTH and excelling in it, it's only a matter of a couple of months before they are ready for LHFHG. This happened with all three of my kids I've done LHTH with.

So basically, if you already have LHTH then by all means go for it! Add in K level math and FMS if necessary! But don't get frustrated if your 5yo quickly moves past it. It is a wonderful program that does prepare them well for LHFHG!

gardenmama28
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:27 am

Re: Little Hands w/5yo?

Post by gardenmama28 » Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:25 pm

This past year I planned to do Little Hands with my 3 year old and 5 year old. As it turned out, the activities were too simple for the five year old, and too advanced for my 3 year old! Oh well! We ended up using the Bible Story book (New Bible in Pictures of Little Eyes) which they both do enjoy. We just read a couple of stories a day from that and do not follow the guide..... We also read the Bible ABC book - and we are learning a different letter each week as the guide would have you do.

I will possibly just repeat this guide next year for my younger daughter who I think will place in it very squarely as a 4 year old. But each kid is so different and it will all depend on your child's development and skills.

For my five year old this year, here is what I ended up doing. I used some of the Rod and Staff workbooks which are part of the Little Hearts guide (about 2 pages per week). We are also doing A Reason for Handwriting K (1 letter per day), and the Explode the Code workbooks A, B, and C (where they learn their letter sounds) two pages per day . Rather than using the poems in the guide, I used a different finger play book I have that has different poems for each letter. When I write this all down I guess it is pretty obvious we really didn't follow the guide, but we did use the books we bought, and supplemented as needed.

I feel that if your child is already working on phonics, math, and printing skills, Little Hands is not enough to interest and challenge them, and Little Hearts is more their level. What could work well is to do LHFHG half speed - then you would keep the shorter class day, but still interest and challenge your child. That is probably what I should have done when I look back at my year.

Post Reply