Little hearts slow???

[Starla]

Ok. This is probably already covered somewhere. If so, could someone direct me to the right thread? I have a 5 year old dd who will be ready to start kindergarten this summer/fall. She is "special needs", VERY active, and has major sensory issues. She's ready to start phonics and wants to learn how to read but she doesn't seem to be ready for writing. (Although she loves to write big on a dry erase board, or in cornmeal on a cookie sheet, or in shaving cream on a mirror, etc.) But her fine motor skills are not yet developed enough to really be able to write small. She gets so mad when she can't get it right (Miss Perfectionist) and then wants to give it up. I really don't want her to be in Bigger until third grade. She is currently going through LHTH and I have a son who is presently doing Bigger now and will be ready for Preparing next year.

Question: I don't want to hold her eagerness back in reading, but she just is really struggling with writing. So it's either two years in LHFHG or two years in Beyond. (Because of not wanting to get to Bigger before she is really ready for it) One of those years, the history would have to be done 1/2 pace. I'm just not sure which year to do it that way. Either year, I would make sure she had lots of books, and try to make the phonics/math/handwriting part appropriate to her ability. Anybody have any suggestions as to which year (LHFHG or Beyond) would be best to have her do 1/2 speed in the history part? The other option would be to do something completely different for one year.... Anybody willing to share your thoughts on this???
Thanks!!!!!
Starla

[Starla]

Okay...I see a post was put up just about a month ago about this.... For anyone else interested there were some good ideas given in a post by Melissamomof3girls. (a Jan. 12, 2012 post) I just don't know how to paste a link to it...but it has been a very helpful read to me....thank you!

[MomtoJGJE]

I know you saw another post and probably know what you want to do, but what I'm doing with my current 5yo is I"m going half speed through half of LHFHG, full speed through half, half speed through half of Beyond, and then full speed through half. (at least that's the plan right now... she's typical though and loves learning and doesn't get frustrated with any of it)

[netpea]

If you don't think she is ready for Little Hearts, you might do Little Hands and add in whatever she's ready for. I've seen posts from others on here that do that.

[Robbi]

I see you will also be doing Preparing next year which is a 4 day a week program. How about stretch Little & Beyond out doing them 4 days a week also!!! That would add a few weeks plus if you go half speed at the beginning of each for awhile you could do each guide in a year and half to be where you want to!! Good luck!

[Starla]

How I appreciate all your replies and responses Yes, I have been giving some thought to the fact that my boy will be doing Preparing as a fourth grader next year. Until yesterday when I had read a post of Julie's, I had never even thought of the idea of having my girl work 4 days a week too, (maybe at first doing it 1/2 speed) so as to be finishing up Beyond in time for her to start Bigger for 3rd grade. She is such a wiggler and am thinking saving that extra day for other things would be good for all of us. I really like that idea and probably will run with it.... Again, THANK you all for sharing!

[my3sons]

Good morning, Starla! I may have said this already in the post you mentioned, but you could do LHFHG, Beyond, and Bigger Hearts all just 4 days a week, and start any of them half-speed you wanted to, stretching these 3 guides nicely over 4 years. Each guide is about 35 weeks long, 5 days a week, resulting in 175 days of plans each year. If you did all 3 guides 4 days a week for 35 weeks instead, you would get through 140 days of plans each year. So, you could do all of them 4 days a week AND have some wiggle room to do the starts of the guides half-speed. This would have you on a nice plan to match your older child doing PHFHG.

To do the math, and to be exact, the wiggle room would be...
525 days of plans for 3 guides (35 weeks x 5 days x 3 guides)
140 x 3 = 420 days of plans taught in 3 years, doing school 35 weeks, 4 days a week for 3 years
105 days of plans to finish the last guide in the 4th year
35 days of wiggle room to go half-speed whenever you want

I am so hoping I am not being confusing here, but I personally LOVE this plan and am planning on using it myself with my little guy! I enjoy having all of the dc on the 4 day a week schedule. I'd not advise doing any guide other than LHTH half-speed for 2 entire years. It gets too long, IMO, and if a child truly needs to go half-speed in a guide for 2 entire years, he/she probably should have been placed in the guide below that guide instead. I hope something here helps as you consider what you'd like to do for your dd! FWIW, two of my three dc have definitely always taken to reading well before taking to writing. They still learned to write well - just later! I agree with you, no need to hold back the reading due to the writing. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[Heidi in AK]

Starla, we are doing what Julie suggested. And, to schedule it, just use post-it notes to mark your place. Or, you could pull out the workbook pages you want to get done in a week. Spill over into the 5th day if you want to, or take the day off totally! It's a great plan!

[Starla]

So funny - because you figured out the math for me, Julie, and that's exactly what I did about 3 evenings ago. I think it does make sense. I really like this idea. It also encourages me, Heidi that you are actually implementing this idea and it's working. I am going to try and run with it....can't hardly wait to start actually. Thanks each one for sharing!!!
Starla

[Heidi in AK]

Starla, I made a check sheet for myself that will help me plan ahead to make sure I know what I'm going to cover in a gvej week. If you want, you can check my blog for what it looks like and make your own. Essentially, I listed out each day, LH and RH, so I can check off each side as I do it. I can also set goals in the margin.

I'm on my phone so I can't easily go to my entry and list it here, but I can tell you it starts with "Major Changes" or something like that and showsva picture of my check sheet. HTH!