placement for my sons

[cindydanleo]

Hi Everyone,

I have 2 sons who will be 4 1/2 and almost 8 when I start the new school year in July. Right now my youngest goes to a preschool and my oldest is using CLE for phonics, math and LA ...with Sonlight added in. We want to make the switch to HOD for both of them.

I've decided on Beyond for my oldest because he is still struggling to read (hoping will be better when he finishes CLE LTR) and has no dictation skills.

I an confused about what to use for the younger. He knows his alphabet and letter sounds, can count to 20, knows shapes, colors and can do simple math problems. However he has the attention span of a gnat and has started to imitate his brothers bad attitude of doing school...so whatever I do....it has to be fun for him.

So should I just ease him into "school" with lhth even though he is past it or go slowly through Lhfhg? Or should I use MFW K and then put him in lhfhg? I'm so confused. I don't want to spend $$$ on my youngest like I did with my oldest trying to figure out what works for us.

I need something open and go, simple and organized or my ADD brain can't make it happen. Everyone says AAR is open and go...but i couldnt even make that happen. I love workbooks but ...they aren't fun. I like the idea of Sonlight but I'm tired of the focus on missionaries, dying kids, violence etc. My oldest son can't take it anymore either.

Please help me figure things out. I don't want to curriculum hop any more. I'm seeing the effects of that on my oldest son.

Thank you

Cindy

[Kristen]

Hi Cindy,
Welcome to the HOD boards! I think you will really love the "open and go" ease of HOD. I used HOD with my two older boys when they were young and then did other things (like remediation work with one who is dyslexic) and am now coming back to HOD with them and my two youngest! I've tried lots of other things (including AAS) and really have found HOD to be the easiest as far as "open and go." So don't feel overwhelmed. It sounds like you have things figured out for your oldest. You looked at the placement chart, right?

I an confused about what to use for the younger. He knows his alphabet and letter sounds, can count to 20, knows shapes, colors and can do simple math problems. However he has the attention span of a gnat and has started to imitate his brothers bad attitude of doing school...so whatever I do....it has to be fun for him.

For your youngest, I can't say for sure which might be best but I can mention some things to get you thinking. I am doing LHFHG right now with my ds6. I started when he was just turned 5, then we did some other things for about 1/2 school year, and have now come back to it. When we started at 5, he was about where your little guy is now, but reading some words as well. The thing is, even though my ds6 can read pretty well his attention span is short too. Things your son would need more attention and skill for in LHFHG would be storytime where you would read a short chapter to him each day (with no pictures), cutting and pasting, handwriting instruction, listening to a short history reading, memorizing a scripture verse, hands-on projects. There are gentle phonics choices, rhymes to act out and music to listen to. Sometimes there are activities included with storytime where he would write a few words (or you could just write them for him).
Have you printed out the week sample lessons for each level? That might give you a good idea as well. Although keep in mind that the activities build skills so even though the program might seem "easy" in the first lessons, they build on each other and your child will grow and mature through it. Does that make sense? If he seems in between, you can always start LHFHG and do it slowly, at half-pace, until he is ready to go faster or keep doing it that way over 2 years. Or even if he does LHTH now, he will only be 5 1/2 when he goes to LHFHG, which is still on the lower end of the guide age range. There are lots of ways to do it. Hope that helps. I'm sure some other ladies will chime in with more wisdom.
Kristen

[cindydanleo]

Thank you so much for your input. After pondering and praying. I have made a decision. It also helped putting my problem into words while writing this post.

I just ordered LHTH for my son and am going to start it now. He only goes to preschool twice a week so I may or may not pull him. He hates to go but it's easier to school my oldest when he is gone. My oldest is a slow developer and has vision issues which slows him down....so he needs a lot of help from me and my little doesn't like that.

I also ordered Beyond to start now instead of next school year and I'll just sell Sonlight to make up for the extra expenditure.

I feel so at peace now. I hope it all works out.

Thanks again

Cindy

[StephanieU]

And if you find LHTH isn't enough, buy the LHFHG guide and do the right side of that with LHTH. That will add in fine motor skills, phonics, math, and possibly storytime (it is on the right side - up to you if you start it or not of course). Many families do this for a K4/K5 year.

[MelInKansas]

I was going to suggest something similar. Either LHFHG 1/2 speed, which would maybe help your little guy with attention. You could even maybe split up the readings in the storytime books in 1/2. If he's not ready for the history and storytime readings though, LHTH might be better anyway. You can certainly add in phonics, reading practice, at his own speed if you think that would be helpful. If not, there's no hurry. My 2nd born learned her letters before she was 4, but when I tried to add in phonics or reading it was too much. They have to be able to hold several pieces of information in their head at once and repeat them in order to be able to read. And it is almost better to wait than it is to start something when they are not ready, for some kids. My daughter would cry and it made her dislike it.

[cindydanleo]

Thanks for all the tips. I had thought about doing lhfhg 1/2 speed or only part of it with lhth but I'm just gonna go slow with him. I pushed my older son so hard in reading when he was younger that he hates it now. It was like I had to prove to all the naysayers that I could home school and the way to do it was to have an early reader. (Sigh) I didn't know it but he had vision problems as well as being a slower learner and it was torture for him. It took a year of "De-schooling" him and helping him to like learning again. Poor guy!

Even though I think my second son could handle it...I'm not going to take any chances. I learned my lesson.