LHTH for Kindergarten year?

[ihvnangel]

I have already started my little girl on LHFHG this past week. However, after asking a question about combining her with my younger son, someone recommended using LHTH for both of them now, but adding in math and phonics for her. This sounds like a good idea, but she has really enjoyed what she has been doing... Well, almost all of it, she isn't real interested in the Burgess book yet. She starts asking all sorts of questions, that quickly lead away from the book. It would seem to be a gentler, quicker K year if I used LHTH. Then I could use LHFHG for her first grade year, and if my son were ready add in him there as well for his K year. I would love to hear from others who have used LHTH for their childs K year.. What did you like? Did you have to add anything extra besides phonics/math? I have "The Reading Lesson" and also using SIngapore K book. She LOVES doing school work and when we were using MFW K she was so upset because there wasn't enough to it. I also did buy the extra R&S preschool books, not the 3&4 year old books, there is one that has the Rain Forest and one that has the Arctic.. She is loving those, so guess we could add those in daily as well. Any input would be great. Thank you. Sorry for so many questions!

[Bramble]

I was trying to use LHTH w/ my 5 yr. old boy (along w/ his 3 yr. old sister), but it just wasn't enough for him even with adding phonics, math, handwriting, and stories. He is much happier since I moved him up to LHFHG. He loves it!! and hates when Reddy Fox ends for the day.

I'm sure someone here will be able to help you!

[mommadonna]

Hi Chandra...first let me say that this is not the path I took for my son for K. BUT..had I found hod earlier in our journey I would have! My ds has a late b day (will be 6 on 9/30) so I would have done this last year for K (when he was just about 5) if I had started then, but I did not know about Hod! So after discovering it this year, I felt that doing lhfhg full speed was best for us for k now. I can see even now, for my son that doing lhth as you described would be great too. He is not as interested in the science readings and some of the history, but he seems to be growing into it. He loved the Burgess book right from the start as he is a very outdoorsy boy, so those are great fit for him! I could see doing it to combine if my middle child were closer in age to him, but she is just not ready for anything formal yet. We did do a few days of lhth with her when we began, but she quickly lost interest. So, I am saving it for her K year and doing it with the added phonics, math, and handwriting/fine motor workbook when she is five or that is my plan, we shall see how it goes?!

Sorry for rambling on about us...........

I would just add The Reading Lesson and the Singapore Earlybird Math, if those are working well for you, and also a handwriting program and some fine motor skills workbooks. From what I have done of lhth, it looks incredibly fun and a very gentle introduction to schooling. (I wish my little guy would have had the chance to do it!) The only thing that makes me hesitate to suggest this in your situation, with your dd asking for more, is that it only takes 30 minutes as written, but with all that you would be adding in, it would probably take about an hour. That is how long it usually takes us to do lhfhg as written, so you will know what is best there, but I just thought I would point that out in case you didn't already know that.

I hope this is of help to you and I truly hope that you are able to find the best fit for your family. HOD has been such a tremendous blessing to my family! It is so easy for me to go on and on!

[grandsophy]

I wish I'd done that. I tried it when I had two preschoolers and it was too soon and I was too busy with my then-second grader to give it my full attention.

Last year I tried to use My Father's World for Kindergarten and preschool, and it was not a good fit for us. We pieced together other things to make a Kindergarten curriculum.

Now I'm using the book listed in my signature for Kindergarten and first grade (minus the Old Mother West Wind book) and it's working really well.

[ShariCA]

I am doing LHTH for my son's K year and it is plenty for him. But I think your daughter sounds like she might be ready for more. You might want to look at it from your younger son's ability since you would be changing for him. If you combine them in LHTH this year, would he be ready for LHFHG next year? He would only be 4? I would be inclined to continue LHFHG and not try to combine them during the younger years.

[eachlee]

Hi,
We're doing LHTH for my son's K year. We have added in MUS Primer, a reason for handwriting K, the Rod and Staff books and Reading Made Easy. We also read aloud each day, I am currently reading The House at Pooh Corner and he's loving it. I looked at the Sonlight read aloud list for K5 and am going to read those books as I can get them from our library. I think that my son could likely handle all of LHFHG but for us it was more important to keep the older two together. I know many ladies on here do multiple guides without trouble, but for me, just starting out, the thought of multiple guides is overwhelming. I realize that eventually I'll be using at least two guides but hopefully by then I'll be more comfortable schooling and I won't be as intimidated by that idea.

[ihvnangel]

Thank you all so much for your input, it has given me a lot to think and pray about. I like the idea of combining, but in a way I am worried about that too, because I don't want to hold one back to let the other catch up or vise versa, make the other go too faster... So many things to think about! Still welcome any other opinions, and feel free to share stories of what has worked with you.
Thank you so much!!

[shaffer96]

I wrestled with this decision all summer! My son is just about to turn 3 and my daughter just turned 5, so she is starting Kindergarten. I bought LHFHG and LHTH and I just couldn't decide what to do. I really thought all of the read alouds in LHFHG would be too much for my dd, but I decided to give it a try anyway because I really thought she would need more than LHTH offered, even with doing the right side of LHFHG. So, I gave it a try, and decided to do both guides. It has been wonderful! My dd LOVES everything about LHFHG, except for the handwriting, which she struggles with. I started doing LHTH with my ds this week and he LOVES it too! His favorite part is the rhymes! I thought it would be so much easier to combine, but they both really enjoy having their own school time with Mom. My ds gets so excited when it is his time to come to the table! Then my dd goes to play with my 14 month old. They also both enjoy it because the work is on their level and I am not trying to make it easier or harder for one of them. We do some things together, like the daily calendar, and I add in some science unit studies that we do together, because I LOVE science! So, each day we spend about 15 minutes doing fun science experiments/projects around a certain theme, like this week it was apples. We also do the Bible songs from both programs together, because my kids love dancing around to the music together! For my dd I knew LHTH would not be enough for her Kindergarten year, but each child is different. I just love all the history from LHFHG and I like how the science and Bible all center around the biblical topic. I'm not sure if this helps at all, but I just thought I would share my experience as I wrestled for ages with the same question! I will pray that God gives you peace about your decision!

[Tmisek]

Chandra,

Hi! I have a similar situation, except my older child is a boy and younger is a girl, which I think can make a difference. Also, I consider this year to be my son's Kindergarten year (according to the paperwork I sent to the State, anyway ) even though he turned 6 this summer. I will try to explain what we are doing, and hope it won't be too confusing!

Last year my ds was 5, and my dd was 3. I had my ds do just the right side of LHFHG every day (except storytime) using the Kindergarten options: The Reading Lesson, Singapore Earlybird K math, A Reason for Handwriting K, Rod and Staff workbooks. DD did LHTH half speed and we got half way through that. It worked out very well.

Now this year (they are 6 and 4), I am doing LHFHG half-speed using the first grade options for ds6. One day we do the left side, the next day the right side. DD4 is joining him for the left side of the plans (which is every other day). The days that he is doing the right side, she does LHTH, and they listen to the Burgess Storytime books together. Using this schedule, we will be half-way done with LHFHG and done with LHTH at the end of the year...

So next year (when they are 7 and 5) we will do the second half of LHFHG (again at half speed). DS will just continue as written using his first grade options. I will add Phonics, Math, Handwriting, R&S workbooks for dd...doing them every day. That means, she will be doing the left side of LHFHG half-speed with brother, and will be doing the right side (except Storytime, of course) full-speed so that she will have completed them by the end of the school year.

So then ...The following year they will both be the proper ages to move into Beyond full-speed, but will still be at their own level of math and reading... and they will move through the guides together from then on.

At least that is my plan, and I am open to a change of plans if it is necessary . So far is has been right on because we are moving at a pace that seems to be appropriate for both children.

So that is what is working for us...and I pray you will find a plan that fits your family!

[MomtoJGJE]

We have been doing LHTH with Grace (5) and Julianna (3) this year. We started their year in January and called it Grace's K year (she would have started K in August) and Julianna's PS year. Julianna has been doing LHTH as written with extra fine motor skills books from the dollar store because she wants workbooks like her sisters. Grace we did LHTH as written and added in memory work (different verses or poems or other random things) and all the K level right side (minus story time) from LHFHG. We have also done the K level science from LHFHG with both of them. They'll finish in December.

When they finish, I will re-evaluate Julianna's abilities, but I really don't see any reason as of now why she'd not be able to move on up. We'll start LHFHG in January and go half speed until I feel Julianna is mature enough to go full speed. Also until I feel that *I* am ready with doing Bigger and LHFHG full speed At that point Grace will be 6 and Julianna will be 4... Grace will do the 1st grade options on the right side and Julianna will do the K options... we will do 1st grade science and also do the Burgess books.

[Happy2bMommyof3]

Hi Chandra,

I have a 4 year old and 5 year old. LHTH was not a good fit for us for some reason when I tried it last year for them. This year I had hoped my 5 yo ds would do LHFHG for K, but it was too much for him. He enjoyed the hands on math, handwriting, etc, but not so much the history and storytime. I have the 4yo ds in the R & S preschool and she loves that, and with my ds we do "Do it Carefully", TRL, Handwriting K, Earlybird Math and one page of science every other day. He is loving it. For storytime read alouds, we go to the library and he picks the books so they hold his interest more. Next year I hope to do the LHFHG program with 1st grade supplements. I hope this helps! I was at my wits end a couple of weeks ago and the ladies and Carrie talked me off the "bridge" so to speak. I learned to slow it down and not worry so much and let the Lord bring it together for us. He is doing that and we are enjoying the journey so much more!!