heartofdakota.com

Hello,
I am home schooling my 7 & 11 year old with MFW and I babysit a 2 & 3 year old as well. The 2 year old's grandmother has been asking if I would be willing to do 'pre-school' with him. I talked to the 3 year old's mom and she is going to give me an answer soon, but the 2 year old's grandmother is bringing me a check to order LHTH tomorrow - she is really excited about it. (Honestly - so am I - I LOVE teaching pre-schoolers and I've been really wanting to give HOD a try too.) Therefore - here are my questions...

Edited to say I found answers to question 1 & 2 in the FAQ & in the sample provided of the guide. Should've kept looking till I found the answer!! Just still have questions 3 & 4!!

If the 3 year old is unwilling to split the expense of the full pkg of LHTH...about $79.00 plus shipping, then my other option is to purchase the manual only, since I told the grandmother I could buy the program for about $45.00 each if they would split the cost. However - if they will not - I can only afford the manual. I have about 3 different toddler and pre-school bibles around here already and I have "Hide em in your heart" CD, plus another bible song CD & book called "100 Bible Stories, 100 Bible Songs" by Stephen Elkins / Integrity Publishers. I have some pre-school devotional type books as well. My preference is to order the books that are available from HOD so I can easily follow the guide, since I still have to have time for school with my older children; however here is my question: If I can only afford the manual, does it work well without the additional items that come in the package?

Question 2 (really important for me to know): Does this need to be done on a 5 day format? I do not have the pre-schoolers everyday. I have the 3 year old M/W/F & I have the 2 year old 3-4 days a week. So is this program one that I can do with them on the day they come and just extend it out until I complete, since we probably will only do it 3 days per week?

Question 3: The manual appears to include master copies for any consumable materials needed...is that correct? I didn't see a place to purchase consumable materials for children, and the sample shows 2 items that can be copied and used (which are listed in the lesson plans). Therefore I am assuming I can make copies on my copier of any consumables needed for the lessons.

Last one - I promise! As far as I can tell, I can re-use this guide for 2 years with them, since they will be so young that they probably won't remember everything. I would like to do it for 2 years and then graduate them up to the next level, especially since the 2 year old will only be 4 after 2 years (he just turned 2 in March - and the 3 yr old actually won't be 3 till next month, in May.) Is that the best way to use this with them, and maybe just 'graduate' the first set of books next year and buy the books for the older pre-schooler?

Hope I am not too overwhelming with these questions...but the grandmother of the 2 year old wants me to begin soon and I'm excited to do this with him.

Hi!

I believe that the book has everything in it you need as far as the pages to copy there is nothing else to purchase -- I haven't actually used the book or purchased it. --- I am planning on using it with my dd2 who will be 3 in the fall shortly after we would begin and I plan to use it for a two year period and I have read about different ways people do this and I was going to go through it and then just do it again - but I am thinking now that I am going to go at it at half speed - which means every unit will take us 2 weeks instead of 1 - if that makes sense.

Hope this helps
Elisa

I don't have a newer guide.... my guide is 4 years old I think... maybe 3. So I'm not sure if anything has changed. Everything (page wise) that you need is in the book. You just make copies.

To spread the guide out you could do it half speed, or you could do the "younger" version now and "older" version later. That's what I'm going to do with my just turned 3 year old. She just started LHTH this week. We are doing the younger activities now, and will do the older version next year, and add in the K level fine motor skills books from LHFHG... MAYBE the K level handwriting, depending on her interest. It's so short and sweet... and the lessons are Bible truths that they need to hear over and over anyway. My older kids LOVE hearing those little verses and stories again, and love joining in on the fingerplays.

edsnyder wrote:Hi!

I believe that the book has everything in it you need as far as the pages to copy there is nothing else to purchase -- I haven't actually used the book or purchased it. --- I am planning on using it with my dd2 who will be 3 in the fall shortly after we would begin and I plan to use it for a two year period and I have read about different ways people do this and I was going to go through it and then just do it again - but I am thinking now that I am going to go at it at half speed - which means every unit will take us 2 weeks instead of 1 - if that makes sense.

Hope this helps
Elisa

Thanks Elisa...that does help. I haven't been on the message board enough to see how others have used it. But I have seen some supe cute pics of some as they have gone along & those that finished. It looks fantastic.

Actually - My doing it about 3 days a week will also put us at close to 1/2 speed, especially given that sometimes we do a field trip on Fridays so those weeks we will only do 2 days. This may mean it will take us 2 years to complete as well. I guess that means I'm to wonder, if I can get both mom's I babysit for to pitch in, should I buy the supplemental materials for the younger age or the older age?? I absolutely loved the pics in the bible for the older ages, but the bible for the younger is really cute too! And as far as the devotion, I'm not which would be better. Hmmmm...choices, choices!! Maybe I can afford to buy the extra materials next year, because I am also hoping that in a few years I can use this with my grandbaby if they still live nearby...my son is in the military, so we never know - but I hope she can stay close!!

Thanks for the pointers, I'll keep watching the board for sure. I think the grandmother of the little boy is going to bring about $45 today for the curriculum, so if the mom of the little girl doesn't want to pitch in, I'll just have to buy the manual and use my own children's bibles & bible song cd's I already have...but the bible is so cute I'd love to get those as well. I'm just so excited to start, I sang the A-A song that shows in the online sample and the little 3 year old was laughing out loud, which is truly a blessing, because she is SUPER quiet and barely talks! Her mom works really long hours and she misses her so I think this will be very good for her, especially since it is so beautifully God-focused. I keep her from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. everyday, but then she goes to her grandmother's until about 9:00 p.m. - so to have her singing the song and laughing was truly delightful to me. She is very gradually coming out of her shell with us, but it has really taken her some time because she is such a shy little girl. Everything I have heard and seen about this curriculum seems to be exactly what I was looking for her and the outgoing little boy I watch too! Thanks, ashley

To be honest I just use our regular Bible in all the guides, so I really don't know what to say other than you have a 2 and 3 yo, so if I were to get one or the other I'd go with the younger one.

MomtoJGJE wrote:To be honest I just use our regular Bible in all the guides, so I really don't know what to say other than you have a 2 and 3 yo, so if I were to get one or the other I'd go with the younger one.

Thanks...that may be the case since my 3 year old's mom hasn't given me an answer in the past few months about whether she's willing to contribute for me to teach her daughter a pre-k curriculum. I have numerous children's bibles around here so I should just use them so I can afford the guide (I don't exactly make much babysitting).

I have another plan for the songs in that I have several bible song cd's, like "Hide em in my heart" and another that is a bible with songs to accompany each story. However, my devotions for children would really not be suitable unless the child was writing independently a little, probably kinder and up; so I guess I just need to decide if I really want the devotion book or not. Thanks for all of the tips. ashley

If you are holding on to the curriculum after you use it for these two is it possible to use the cost of the curriculum as a business expense tax deduction for your day care rather that having the parents pay for what you'll keep possesion of? Maybe I'm missing something from what you've shared and I apologize if that's the case. Since it really isn't a consumable curriculum as far as most are (just copies being made) it would be a great business investment that isn't as expensive as many traditional supplies.

If you happen to have the Egermeier story bible, it is an excellent one or the Beginner's Bible. You just need a bible to tell the stories from, you could also just use a regular bible.

For the music though, my opinion is The Singing Bible is so worth getting. The songs cover the bible in order from genesis to revelation. My 9yo still enjoys listening to it regularly, and frankly I use the song about the books of the bible to remember the order (I sing it in my head). The songs are scripturally sound and even speak to us grownups. There was something in the sunday school class I go to that was confusing people that was clarified by the words of one of the songs. I wouldn't pass it up. You may find it used somewhere. Our original set was tapes that we wore out and we've already been through one set of CDs and I need to replace them for my youngest as they have been played so much they are scratched.

Hi Ashley!

You've already had some great help in answer to your questions, but I thought I'd pop in here, too. We have LOVED Little Hands to Heaven at our house!! You definitely need the guide, and we have really enjoyed reading from the New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes. You'll use it for absolutely every lesson in the guide, so I found that it was worth having. (And my little ones have loved having their own Bible to "read" and look through. ) The Devotional will be used once each unit, so if you can't afford it all maybe that's something to wait on. My kids have remembered and learned from the stories in them as we've used them though. MASKING TAPE needs to be on the top of your supply list for the guide. It's a frequently reccommended tool in the guide, and Tape Day with the alphabet became a weekly holiday at our house.

You will be copying the pages within the guide to use each unit. For the number pages in the 1st 10 units and the color pages in the last few units, we used a folder with prongs inside to make a "book" of their work.

I'm so glad that I get to go through LHTH again with my little boys!! It is absolutely the BEST preschool curriculum that I've ever seen! We have fun with it, I get special time with my little ones, they get to learn important developmental and motor skills, and their HEARTS are turned toward the Lord and His Word!! Nothing better.

Kathleen

leimarie wrote:If you are holding on to the curriculum after you use it for these two is it possible to use the cost of the curriculum as a business expense tax deduction for your day care rather that having the parents pay for what you'll keep possesion of? Maybe I'm missing something from what you've shared and I apologize if that's the case. Since it really isn't a consumable curriculum as far as most are (just copies being made) it would be a great business investment that isn't as expensive as many traditional supplies.

Yes...I really could use it as a tax deduction if they don't pay for it, I may just have to wait a few months to order it & start in September (summer electric bills are coming...yuck!!) One of the grandmother's is just really wanting me to start now and I've been writing my own curriculum to use with them - which has been SO fun...wonderful memories of the things I did with my kids...but with homeschooling my older children it would be great to have the program laid out and I've loved what I've seen of HOD online & at the convention I go to every May. The parents I sit for pay me far below a typical daycare rate, since the moms are daughters of church member friends and really couldn't afford daycare for their children, so I was trying to let them pay for it as I don't have much left after I pay taxes on the income and buy food for the kiddos...but what I've been doing with the 3 year old so far has been SO rewarding...she LOVES 'doing her schoolwork'...and now she even cries when she gets picked up cause she's having so much fun here she doesn't want to leave! I'll just have to see what happens...if nothing else - I can just get the guide and use the bibles and song cd's I already have (I'm just having the puppy dog eyes for the adorable books that are recommended you know!! Always wanting more than we need!!)

Thanks for all the wonderful pointers. I really can't wait to be able to order it and get started with the kids - the materials I have created on my own have brought so many smiles to their faces that I hate to have a really heavy school day and not have something planned for them! Oh well - we do a light school schedule in summer so it shouldn't be too tough for summer and if I can't order till Sept then I will get it then. Truly - probably the tax write-off will be more beneficial - especially since I couldn't give them each 1/2 the guide when I finish with it!

Thanks for the great suggestions..and, Kathleen, thanks for the heads up on masking tape!!