Sneaky Snake - LHTH

[mrskturner]

I just recently decided to go ahead and start Little Hands to Heaven with my 2 year old. I honestly did not think he would be able to really grasp it at this age, I was wrong! He will point out the letter A everywhere he sees them out in public or at home, he loves singing A-A-Adam, he thinks he is such a big boy using safety scissors to cut out his pictures for his number book, and I was shocked that he could circle the letters in the Hide and Seek A page and connect the line from big A to little a.

But the thing that really melted my heart was when he told his Grana ( my mom) on the phone tonight " God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit on that tree. That sneaky snake tricked them. They were suppose to listen to God." ( Yes, my two year old talks A LOT!!!) It was the sweetest thing I have ever heard, a toddler telling a Bible story to his grandmother. Oh, and he also told our doggy about Jesus the other day.

Before starting HOD he would say his prayers with us, but that was it. Now my two year old actively talks about God and the Bible and that is all thanks to HOD!!! It is truly amazing that they can learn at such a young age.

So now I have a question....what HOD guide am I suppose to use with him next year???

[John'smom]

How very sweet!!!

[south5]

My 2yo is very similar. She knows all the letters and the sounds. She can count to 10 in English and Spanish. She can count to 3 in French, German and Mandarin. She knows all the colors, shapes and spells her name. I have been having the same debate about what to do next year. I know that you could do LHTH again using the different books. It would depend on whether I feel she is ready to read or not. If my daughter is ready to read I think I will go ahead and do LHFHG. I am doing it with my son, and she already participates in most of his work. If she is not ready to read, I think I will get the books for older kids doing LHTH.

I am not at all pushing her, but I also refuse to hold her back. She is just bright and has a desire to learn. She is always asking "What's this?"
I waited until AShton turned 6 this year to start phonics because he wasn't ready last year. We read a lot of good books and he excels in math, but he wasn't ready to read. I think each child is different and you just need to follow their pace.

[my3sons]

That's too cute! That snake is still sneaky - so I'm glad your ds is learning more and more about God every day as it will help him guard his heart from that sly sneaky snake. I'd just do LHTH again with the harder books when your ds is 3 yo. It's great fun, and fast forwarding through guides too quickly when dc do well with early learning skills can make learning skills they are not ready for creep up way too soon (i.e. writing skills, comprehending too difficult books, deeper discussion questions, maturity/sensitivity of history text, etc.). If you wanted to increase the difficulty of LHTH the second time through, another way is to do the K fine motor/phonics/math options of LHFHG alongside it. However, homeschooling is a journey, not a race, so why not just enjoy it upon the way! For now, I'd keep on having fun with LHTH with your sweetie! There are many happy days ahead of you with your little pumpkin.

In Christ,
Julie

[Mommamo]

I would do LHTH for a 2nd year with the more difficult options. That's sort of what I'm doing with my 2 littles, sort of, except we're doing it half speed doing the easier options the first day, more challenging the 2nd. But same thing. (We also did LHTH all the way through last year at church, so they're getting it for 3 full years! )

I too had a really advanced child, but I agree with not rushing. You can get to a point where you're kind of stuck because the skills (fine motor especially) got too hard. Have a lot of fun with it!! It sure is neat to see them really get it. I'm sure it just warmed your heart when you heard him telling the Bible to grandma! Enjoy LHTH! We sure have!