Placement and Combining Question

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eachlee
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:30 am

Placement and Combining Question

Post by eachlee » Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:56 pm

Hi,
I have a three year old, a four year old and a 1.5 year old. My two older kids will be 4 and 5 in the fall. I am wondering where you would place them. We have started LHTH with the older two and they both really enjoy it. Do you think I would be better off trying to draw out LHTH for an extra half a year to be able to combine them both in Little Hearts the following year (a 6 and 5 year old)? Or should I just go ahead and do all of Little Hearts with my son this coming year with a prayer that I don't get overwhelmed running two, and down the road three programs? I'm just not sure what to do with my five year old this coming year if I do combine them. Only doing Little Hands doesn't seem like it would be enough even adding in math and phonics. But my desire to combine them is strong. What would you do? I want learning time to be fun... I hate making decisions like this!! :?
Thanks!! Nancy
Nancy, mom to 3
DS6 - LHFHG, ER and BLHFHG Spelling
DD5 - LHFHG
DS3 - My little climber

We have also loved using LHTH!

Mom2Monkeys
Posts: 1410
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Placement and Combining Question

Post by Mom2Monkeys » Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:37 pm

I'm glsd you're enjoying LHTH! :D It's such a great program.

My thoughts would be to stretch it out sice your kids are so close in age. In the fall, if you add in the right side of Little Hearts (minus the storytime plans) for your oldest, it should go quite smoothly. Don't worry about it not being enough as long as you are doing phonics, math, and handwriting on level. They are so young and learning should be fun! HOD is sweet, gentle, and effective in these early years. Bigger has been quite a jump in skills for my oldest and it only gets more challenging each year, as it should! So, no need to rush ahead. Easy years with steady progress are great for little ones.

If you do choose to separate them, it is doable to have more than one guide going. I have it going now and will have 4 at once eventually!
~~Tamara~~
Enjoying HOD since 2008

DD15 long-time HODie finding her own new path
DS12 PHFHG {dysgraphia, APD, SID}
DS9 PHFHG
DS6 LHFHG
DD new nursling

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

Re: Placement and Combining Question

Post by MomtoJGJE » Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:17 am

I was doing three different manuals at the beginning of this school year, and while the KIDS were doing fine with it, I was overwhelmed. Carrie suggested that I combine DOWN (I was thinking, my 3yo is NOT ready for LHFHG and didn't know what to do) So, the 5 and 3yo are combined with LHTH and doing the right side of LHFHG minus Storytime. I'm using the K level. Then After we finish, I'll start them in LHFHG half speed and do the 1st grade options for my 5yo (close to 6 by then) and K options for my then 4yo.

I had never thought about combining down.... it had never entered my mind out of ALL the different combinations I had thought of. But it's working great. It's not too much for the 3yo (because it's JUST LHTH and the occasional workbook page for motor skills) and it's not too little for the 5yo because it has the added in K level basics. And it's not too much for me because if I'm getting overwhelmed I can just do the manual and save the workbook stuff for a different time because I have the rest of this year (2010) to finish half the basics in LHFHG.

Benelli
Posts: 121
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 6:04 pm
Location: Northern VA

Re: Placement and Combining Question

Post by Benelli » Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:07 am

I will second what Lora Beth said. I think for Kindergarten, LHTH is fine along with doing Phonics and K Math. I have that combining situation, and this year both boys are in LHFHG with one boy doing 1st grade options and one boy doing K options. Last year before I joined these two, the older one was combined with his then 1st grade siblings for LHFHG as Kinder, but he just wasn't ready for those readings. Moving him down a level worked perfectly. And, he is doing very well as a 1st grader in LHFHG - a year made a big difference. Really, for Kindergarten, school should be grounded in learning reading and math, just the basics, and enjoying themselves! At least, that's what I think. And if it lessons your burden to combine them, it will work out for the best in the long run as well. If you really wanted to enrich LHTH for your K child, you could just read a few extra books each week from the library in his area of interest and ask him some comprehension questions, or just let him tell you what he learned.
Lisa, Mama to 7 -

PHFHG with Ben (9) and Ellie (11) with extensions
BLHFHG half-speed with Sophie (8) and Anthony (7) with Emerging Readers and Draw*Write*Now
LHFHG with Thomas (7) and Nicholas (5) with Emerging Readers
and Lily Jane (2) tagging along

Carrie
Site Admin
Posts: 8125
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Re: Placement and Combining Question

Post by Carrie » Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:06 am

Nancy,

I think the ladies have shared some terrific options with you! :D I agree that since your oldest two kiddest are so close in age, it will be a good idea to combine them as much as possible down the road. So, with that in mind, I'd continue with Little Hands to Heaven (possibly 3-4 days a week for this year). Then, next year, I would pick it back up and finish LHTH.

When your 4 year old is close to 5 (or seems ready), you can easily begin to add any K options from Little Hearts that she's ready to do. Possible options would include a phonics program, the first handwriting workbook (A Reason for Writing K or Italic A or your own choice), the Do It Carefully/Finding the Answers Rod and Staff Workbooks, and/or the Earlybird Kindergarten Math with hands-on activities from the LHFHG guide. By adding the pieces you feel your oldest is ready to utilize when she's ready, you won't be holding her back in any way but will also get a chance to steep her in the Bible through LHTH and keep her with your younger one. :D

If you do happen to go through Little Hands to Heaven faster that is fine too, as you could always slow LHFHG down to half-speed when you get there. So, don't feel like you must draw LHTH out more than you'd like. Simply do what your kiddos are ready for, and you won't go wrong. :D

Blessings,
Carrie

Kathleen
Posts: 1980
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:23 pm
Location: NE Kansas

Re: Placement and Combining Question

Post by Kathleen » Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:10 pm

Carrie wrote:If you do happen to go through Little Hands to Heaven faster that is fine too, as you could always slow LHFHG down to half-speed when you get there. So, don't feel like you must draw LHTH out more than you'd like. Simply do what your kiddos are ready for, and you won't go wrong. :D
Nancy,

I was going to mention this, too. I went through LHTH last year with Allison & Garret, and we didn't quite finish. My plan of finishing it up during this summer totally didn't happen...so we started out this fall by finishing LHTH for about 5 units. It was great!! I'm so glad I didn't skip those units as when we were talking about Jesus death and resurrection for us Allison realized her need of a Savior! :D

So, I'd just take LHTH at your pace adding in the K things your K'er is ready for and when you finish, you finish. :wink: Then move into LHFHG. We've been doing it half-speed this year by doing the Reading About History box & the corresponding box right under it one day, followed by the Bible Story box and Storytime box the next day. We do the Rhyme & Corresponding Music every day. And Allison, my 5 yo, does math, phonics & fine motor skills every day. This takes us almost exactly the same amount of time as LHTH with the basics added on.

HOD's younger programs work great by just starting them when you're ready and taking a break mid-guide. (And I only say that because I haven't stopped one of the older programs. :wink: ) I plan to have my younger ones working to match the school days my oldest needs to finish his guide and then we'll stop. So this works for us.


:D Kathleen
Homeschooling mom to 6:
Grant - 19 Kansas State University
Allison - 15 World Geography
Garret - 13 Res2Ref
Asa - 8 Bigger
Quinn - 7 Bigger

Halle - 4 LHTH

eachlee
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:30 am

Re: Placement and Combining Question

Post by eachlee » Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:35 pm

Thank you all for your thoughtful answers. :D

Right now we are only doing school three or so days each week, but I was thinking that I'd try doing every day in the fall. I never really considered that I could do math and phonics each day and still only do our LHTH every other day or so. I was thinking that if we ran out of weeks we could start over and redo some of them. My kids are just loving doing the stuff with LHTH, I don't think they'd mind doing it again. Has anyone every redone part of a guide?

Thank you all again, you've been so helpful as we begin our homeschool adventure!

Nancy
Nancy, mom to 3
DS6 - LHFHG, ER and BLHFHG Spelling
DD5 - LHFHG
DS3 - My little climber

We have also loved using LHTH!

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