holding off on K

[ninipelley]

My busy, very active ds just turned 5yrs old. I registered him for a Transitional K program M-F at the church.
He is so distracting and NOT ready for math, or handwriting yet. He does sit still for most chapter books though.
I actually need a bit of a break from him as well.
Has anyone ever held off on K until age 6yr? Or I could also do LHFHG over 2 yrs/half speed? That'll leave him at the upper age range for the guides...

[jenntracy]

I think half-speed sounds great for you son, being that he is late 5yr old.
Basically, when you have a late fall b-day it seems as though you have waited for the kid to be 6 yrs before doing "K" . My son turned 6 this past October but when he turned 5 the previous year we started half-speed b/c he was so ready for something , but not all.
You can always go full-speed if your son can handle it later in the year or just do half-speed all the way thru.

[LeAnna]

I started LHFHG together with my 4.5 and 5.5 year old. Both were girls and both did great, but it did take a little bit for them to adjust to learning to sit through the Thorton Burgess books and the history readings. This fall, my son will be 5 in August and we are going to wait another year to start LHFHG, when he turns 6. I think a year will make a huge difference for him and he will be able to enjoy the program more. I think too, it all depends on the child, and how you think he will do. I know for me, knowing what I know now about the program, my son would do better to wait a year. But, you could always go half pace, meaning doing the left side one day and the right side another. A lot of moms do that and stretch it a year and a half to two years. You could always start out too at that pace and speed up when he grew into it.

LeAnna

[jenntracy]

I should mention that when we started out we did the left side then right side , back and forth pacing. But then i just did the right side. We did do the storytime and this year since we did all storytime the first year, i added in our own storytime with more Thorton Burgess books and another book my son really liked and me too.
We would add in anything interesting like science of our own, if my son was interested, but nothing scheduled.
So actually we did Storytime, Math, Phonics and the Do it Carefully wkbk the first year. We didn't do formal handwriting.

This year we did all of left side of LHFHG (history side, progressed with math and reading at our level, added own storytime and we did the finding the answer workbook. We added more science as we wanted because we love science here.
That is another way of pacing. My son just didn't seem interested in the listening to history the first year and that is why we went to just the right side.It has worked out really well. I did get the Beyond guide so that i could have the emerging readers part this year.

JEnn D.

[mamayi]

We had a similar situation in our family when my oldest son was the right age to start K. I tried to do LHFHG when he just turned five and he was NOT ready. So for about six months we just read books and did some more pre-school type activities and then when he was five and a half I tried with Little Hearts again and then he was ready to do the "right side with the K options." (from Jan-May) Then when we started school again in Sept we added in the "left side" with the 1st grade options from the right side. So it took us basically a year and a half to do the guide. I am so thankful for the flexible pacing of HOD. We did Beyond regular speed this past year but will take Bigger half-pace for a while when we start school up again in the fall.
As you've experienced with your own children, each child's readiness is unique and the blessing of homeschooling is that you can meet your child right where they are and don't have to make them fit a mold that they are not ready for!
HTH!

[Mommamo]

My little guy granted is only 4 1/2 at the moment but I'm planning on not starting him in kinder until about the time he turns 6. Maybe even 6 1/2. He just needs more time to play and be a boy. He has plenty of time ahead of him to do school. We're doing LHTH right now and that is PLENTY for him. My daughter started LHFHG at 4 1/2 and it was perfect for her! So I'm so thankful that HOD is so flexible!

[girlboygirlboy]

I have 2 kids w/Fall b-days. My oldest dd, I stretched K out over 2 years(she didn't even know; we just kept going:). My youngest will be turning 5 this September. I am using another very light curriculum that I already owned for him this year that just kind of goes over letters, sounds and a little math. Next year I plan to use LHFHG with him as I will also be doing Preparing with my middle two - that way they will all kind of be going thru world history together.

I have never heard of a mom who regretted holding off for a late b-day, but have heard plenty of stories of moms who regretted starting too early(some didn't even realize it until their kids were older). So feel free to go at a slow pace or just wait another 6 mths to a year to start. Remember that you have 13 YEARS to teach him all that he needs to know and you won't scar him for life by giving him some time to grow:)

[psreit]

My dd has a May b-day. I started her in K work the fall after she turned 5. She learned her letter sounds, but other than that, there was not much progress. She does have some attention and processing difficulties. When she was six, after hs for a few weeks (and she was just beginning to sound out one vowel words) I ended up putting her in our Christian school for K. She has made a lot of progress. She will be a 7yo first grader, but I think she is right where she needs to be. We are starting out with LHFHG. I was going to use Beyond, but later chose a step down. The year in school gave me time to really evaluate what dd's capabilities really were. Now I can look forward to doing HOD on the level that she can handle full speed. Waiting is okay.

[ninipelley]

Thank you all so much for your advice. This board is so reaffirming & honest. LOVE IT!
And it seems to me that HOD is SO flexible on pacing. I just knew in my heart that HOD was the
program for our family as soon as I found it!
Thanks for the sounding board ladies!

[my3sons]

We also did LHFHG half-speed and enjoyed it very much with one of our ds. We did do daily phonics, but other than that we just alternated left side, right side. Has your ds done LHTH? If he hasn't, that is so much fun to do and a great low-key to start homeschooling with dc, especially wiggly boys (whom I have a few of)! I'm not sure if he has done LHTH or not, but if he hasn't, you could definitely get the older selections of "The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes" and "My ABC Bible Verses" to go along with the LHTH guide and "The Singing Bible". Our sons have all loved LHTH, and it helped them first learn to do school with me for a shorter segment of time before doing the longer times in LHFHG. Otherwise, half-speed LHFHG is a great option too!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[mommadonna]

Hi there...i am new to hod so i don't know how much advice i can really give, however i do have a squirmy little boy who will be 6 on the last day of september. We have waited to start k until this fall. Last fall we tried hs with a k4 dvd program..that was not a good choice for us. He was not ready to sit still that long and the program was just not the right one for us. That being said, I wish i had discovered hod then, if i had it to do again, I would do lhth when he was 4 going on 5. I would definitely be more confident in my choice to start lhfhg this fall. That would give him a gentle start and ease him into doing a little school, now i find myself wanting to do lhth with him, but he will be 6 and I am afraid he will need more. So, I think that lhth would be a great choice for your little guy. Sorry to be so scattered...as I am facing the same problem only a year later. Good luck and God Bless....