Tips for helping wee ones in LHTH

[my3sons]

I'm on my third time doing LHTH, and cherishing it as it will be my last! My little guy is 3 yo, and he is a ball of fire. I am a third of the way through LHTH, and I discovered a few things that help my wee little guy out, as he is younger (slightly in age, but greatly in maturity) than my other 2 were when I did LHTH with them.

One BIG thing that helps him be able to correctly answer the Bible comprehension questions in "The New Bible in Pictures" is for me to point to the corresponding part of the picture as I am reading. So, for example, every time I read "David" I point to David in the picture. Every time I read "Samuel", I point to Samuel in the picture. When I read the part about anointing with oil, I point to the oil and trickle it down David's head in the picture. Maybe everyone is already doing this, and if so, I guess I'm late to the idea! Anyway, doing this while I read has helped him get the answers to the questions right almost 100% of the time.

Another thing that helps him is if I draw dots to connect for his Count on Me pages. So, we just did diamonds, and I made 4 dots for each of them for him to connect. He did really well with it!

One last thing that helped all of my dc do well with Fingerplays is for me to say the line first, and then for them to say it after me. But a new thing that I just figured out helps my 3 yo is for me to first start doing the action before I say anything (and then he does too), and then say the line and have him do it. My other 2 dc didn't need this help, but maybe because Emmett was preemie he couldn't seem to get the actions and the words going together. Now he can!

Anyway, I just thought I'd share how much fun we're having with LHTH, and also a few things that may be fun to try if you have a little ball of fire itty-bitty doing LHTH too!

In Christ,
Julie

[Shimmer]

Thanks for the great ideas. I'll be doing LHTH next year when my middle girls are 5 and 3. I'll plan on doing it 4 times total so its good to store these ideas up!

I must say that LHTH was excellent at helping my now 4 year old learn her letters. We've slowly started 100 EZ lessons for reading since she got those letter sounds down pat after doing LHTH as a 3 year old with her big sister. I couldn't believe how well she retained it and she can still remember some of the fingerplays too.

[4Hispraise]

Thanks for the ideas! I am looking forward to starting LHTH with my 2 yo. and you have given me some great ideas!

[amarie]

Thanks for the tips Julie!

I bought LHTH to do with my little guy who just turned three last month...he is a racing ball of fire and I gave up after the third day. Maybe I'll try some of your tips.

By the way, I'm doing Beyond with my preemie.

Amy

[Kathleen]

Great ideas, Julie! I've done all those things with my little ones here...but never would have thought about how they help them. You're great about noticing that and sharing it!

One little funny thing about pointing to the pictures while reading - when Garret was our tag-along at 2 doing LHTH with Allison, he was SURE that every man with a beard in the Bible was Abraham. They all looked like Abraham, so surely Mom was reading it wrong and it wasn't Issac or Jacob...

Garret is my little kinesthetic guy, so a lot of times I'll have him point to the person in the pictures while we read. (Or the questions in the story lead him to.)

Kathleen

[mamaduke]

Thank you Julie for posting these tips.

May I ask, what will you do next year with your ds3? Meaning, will you start LHFHG?
I've had a hard time decided when to start my two dd4s. I used LHTH for Kindergarten when ds was 5 and moved up from there. It has been a good fit for him. But my girls are very much more ready then he was, and I do spend time with them in other workbooks and lessons. I'm a little bit worried about running two programs with 3 students, so I put it off. But maybe LHTH would be easier than the hodgepodge of workbooks and scatterings I'm trying to do. I just don't know. It's quite the time commitment to add another program. They do tag along quite nicely with what they can in Beyond (art or drama or listening to me read). I was planning to use the K workbooks with the girls next year with LHTH and then use the 1st grade book options in LHFHG.

Anyway, Thanks for the thought stimulation.

[ALB]

Thanks for the tips! My ds is pretty "wee" , so I think these suggestions will help it go more easily.

[my3sons]

Thanks, ladies! I'm glad some of these tips may be fun for some other little ones. Kathleen - that is too funny about the beard! Emmett thinks everyone is Moses. He also names his stuffed animals Bible names, and when he talks on his play phone, they are always people from the Bible too. My dh said, "Did Emmett just say he's talking to Solomon on the phone? Who is Solomon?" I said, "Only the wisest man who ever lived hon'!" with a laugh. Last night he was talking to Saul.

... But maybe LHTH would be easier than the hodgepodge of workbooks and scatterings I'm trying to do.

Hi Julie! This is exactly why I started LHTH. Here's my post from last October...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5049&p=37004

What we've been doing is going half-speed with LHTH. We are very relaxed about it. I always read the Bible story each day, and we usually sing each day because he loves the songs. We often do the Fingerplay every day too, just because he loves it and needs to m-o-v-e. The other things we spread out over two days. On very busy days, we may just do the Bible, Fingerplay, Music, and flashcards, so sometimes we spend 3 days on a page. We like to repeat things. I guess I'm really drawing it out for a few reasons. Partly because I'm wanting to really cherish this as it's my last time I get to do it, and partly because I don't want to get to LHFHG too soon. We are in Unit 14 right now. He turns 4 in March. I'm thinking we'll get to LHFHG around the right time this way. If we get there too soon, I'll just do LHFHG half-speed. I'm sooooooo working on being flexible in our pacing of school - NOT easy for me. I just felt such pressure to homeschool at the start - to try to be ahead to show relatives our dc were not only doing okay but were "advanced". I'm past that now for the most part. I'm trying to just stop and smell the roses along the way now. It's working - I'm very happy with our days. I hope something here helps as you ponder what to do with your littles.

In Christ,
Julie

[mamaduke]

Wow. Thank you for this link to the previous discussion. I had missed that one.

I am really wondering what to do. This is sparking something in me that I'm not sure how to handle. I start thinking about the future and wondering what program each will be in. If I start LHTH this year, that would put the twins two books behind ds. Since I used LHTH as K for ds, I thought it would be easiest to do the same with all the following syblings, just to keep track of what grade they are in..... Maybe I'm doing them an injustice.

I was planning on beefing up the LHTH with the K workbooks from LHFHG.

This seems to be really hard for me to figure out. What if LHFHG is too easy for them at 6? It seems like LHTH is designed more for preschool than K. It was a prefect fit for my ds5 for K, because he was so wiggly. But maybe it would be better for preschool for my girls who are much more studious.

Thanks for any ideas.

[Shimmer]

My oldest was 5 last year doing LHTH with the math from LHFHG, 100 EZ, and a 1st grade LA program. It was a great fit. What I loved about LHTH with her was that the Bible stories were really on her level and she seemed to get a lot more out of it. Now this year she is about to turn six and doing the left part of LHFHG and right side of Beyond, it seems to be right on track for her as well. I love how easy it is to tweak HOD to fit your child's level. I imagine my second daughter will be "ahead" in reading as well, but maybe not the math. Anyway, all that to say that my experience is that LHFHG is going well with a 6 yo for whatever it's worth.

Good luck on finding your fit.

[GinainMD]

Julie, I'm doing LHTH with my dd3 who will also be 4 in March. We are also going quite slowly and treasuring this time together. I've found that my dd3 does best at half speed and she enjoys the repitition. Thank you for the tips to help these young ones get the most out of LHTH and to feel successful in this first step in their homeschooling journey.

[my3sons]

mamaduke - There are so many different kinds of pacing that work well with HOD, that it does truly depend so much upon what you would most enjoy. I think you could hold off on LHTH or start LHTH, and either way have a great fit for your kiddos. I made the decision to start half-speed because I was not spending enough time with my little one. It seemed like all of those things I planned to do with him (i.e. puzzles, coloring, Lakeshore boxes, games, songs, etc.) never got done. I'm not a good "player" with my dc. I wish I was, but I am not. The guilt of that was weighing me down and making me sad. I do get "school" done though. So, just starting LHTH half-speed alleviated that guilt and sadness for me. I felt like a burden had been lifted when we began! Now, other moms may feel stress at the thought of starting LHTH at a young age with their wee dc because maybe they have older dc in other HOD programs and aren't sure about adding another guide yet. In that case, it may be better to hold off until their older dc are more independent and then start LHTH at that point with the little one. I love the flexibility of HOD - it makes both of these decisions a success! I enjoyed reading both Shimmer's and Gina's posts, as they show this flexibility so nicely! So, I hope that helps as you ponder what fits your situation the best, as there isn't really one right thing to do.

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. Gina - that's fun we both have 3 yo doing LHTH with March b-days! This is such a time of growth for our little ones - it's exhausting and exciting all at once. I don't know what we'll do for comic relief when we don't have a toddler in the house anymore.

[my3sons]

I did think of one more tip too. We enjoy doing the prayer in the Bible together by having me say one phrase at a time while he repeats it. It seems to make the prayer "stick" more! Plus, I just love to hear him pray.

In Christ,
Julie