Switching to Beyond; stick with LHFHG

[Jen in Va]

After a long hiatus from the board, I'm back. During my absence ds and I have continued to work through Little Hearts. We are a little more than halfway through the guide--right to the end of the readings from the Bible story book. During the past six months or so we've continued with phonics and math every day, but have averaged doing LHFHG 3-4 days a week. Because of getting ahead in math/reading, he is now more than ready to do the math scheduled in Beyond, and is definitely ready for the emerging readers schedule, also in Beyond. My preference would be to stick with what Carrie has scheduled in the guide we are using--I love the math activities she has written, as does ds, and definitely want to continue to use those as long as they are available. However, I don't want to be in two guides at once. The thing that initially led me to put him in Little Hearts over Beyond was the lack of ability/practice to sit and listen to stories and answer questions. He has improved greatly in both these areas. So, what do you think? Continue with Little Hearts until we are finished, or start with Beyond? I'm still just in the thinking about it stages, but wanted to get some input from you ladies. One decision I have reached is to implement a 4 day week. Friday is my errand running day, and more often than not, this is the day on which school is not done with him. I'll just double up one or two boxes a day in order to finish a unit in 4 days.

Thanks in advance!

[netpea]

OK, I know you said you don't want to do two guides at the same time. But, let me say that is what we do. My daughter is on Unit 15 of LHFHG but she is halfway through Singapore 1A. I will admit that we don't do all of the math activities from Beyond. But if she seems to need the reinforcement, I pull out Beyond and we do the corresponding activities. She seems to do well without the activities anyway, but they help. When my oldest was doing LHFHG, Beyond wasn't out yet and he was doing 1A/1B just fine without the activities. When he moved into Beyond, we were doing 2A/B without the activities just fine.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't let the math dictate which program you use but let the rest of his skill level determine it. If you don't want to do two guides at once, then you could just skip the activities or create your own.

I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts and experiences too.

[my3sons]

My ds was ready for the Emerging Reader's set in the middle of LHFHG. We got the Beyond guide with the Emerging Reader's Set. The Emerging Reader's Set has a choice of 2 Bibles. We bought them both, and began with The Early Reader's Bible (which is easier than The Beginner's Bible), using the pacing and the comprehension questions in the Beyond Appendix. Usually moms just pick 1 of the 2 Bibles along with the set, but since we were starting early, I wanted to extend the set by going through both. My ds could have read harder books than that at that point, but I knew I needed to get his comprehension and listening skills to improve before we could begin Beyond - and I wanted to finish LHFHG. It worked really well for us. One of my ds's could have started the math in Beyond earlier too - but I decided to just finish the math in LHFHG because I loved the activities and the fact that my ds LOVED math - something I wanted to ensure continued since many adults even don't like math. That worked well for us. If you dislike the idea of working out of 2 manuals, you could just photocopy the pages referring to the Emerging Reader's Set in the Appendix of Beyond, and use that as a check-off? Then, you'd just be working out of your LHFHG manual but easily be "upping" the reading level to match your ds's growth. We do a 4-day week and LOVE it - I do make sure we get school in those 4 days - but then Friday is a super day for errands or exploring personal interests the dc (and me to ) may have. I have prayed for you that God will lead you to the best decision for your ds!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Jen,

The ladies are giving you excellent advice. I agree that I'd continue working through LHFHG with him and just bump up the math and Emerging Reader's Set. The rest of LHFHG is great preparation for the skills in Beyond. It's always better to give those little learners every chance for success. The learning gets tougher soon enough, so enjoy this time with your little guy. By the way, it's wonderful to hear how much your son has grown in all areas! Way to go mom!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Jen in Va]

Thanks!

I appreciate all the wonderful advice and will just get over using two guides at once We're at the end of EBK 2B, but I have a book on counting money that I will use to supplement what is covered in EB 2B. I went ahead and looked at 1A/1B and saw that there isn't much practice in that one either, so I'll use the supplement book from Kumon, and that will stretch out the math a little longer, so I won't have to cross over to 1A and the Beyond guide as soon. In reading I'll keep using easy readers that aren't in the emerging readers schedule, and switch to them at the same time as I switch the math. It's great to see the progress he is making. Still need to work on the listening comprehension a bit, but he's way better than 6 months ago.

Thanks Carrie for the wonderful curriculum!