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I am new to this board and I've just started to research HOD for my 5 yr old. I think I have decided to try the LHFHG program for next year, however, I have a few questions regarding it. My son has been reading independently for 6 months or so now, so I do not think he will require a Phonics program. I looked at the manufacturer's websites to view samples of the textbooks and I do not think they will be helpful to him at this point. So, is it OK to substitute independent reading time in place of the Phonics portion of the day? Will this be a checkbox to mark off that will be missed if we don't use the textbook? What are your thoughts?

Also, I am unsure about the Kindergarten Math book. I have read the scope and sequence as outlined in the teacher's manual, but I know you're in the process of changing textbooks. Will the scope and sequence stay basically the same with the new book? My son is able to write his numbers, count to 100 by 1,5,and 10s and do basic addition and subtraction problems. So, by reading the current scope and sequence, I'm not sure if he fits into the Kindergarten or 1st grade math better. Is it possible to buy the Kindergarten packages, but with the 1st grade Math book if I want? Again, what is your opinion on this?

I am excited about Bible, History and Science aspects of the program. History and Science are two subjects I have not touched on yet and I am not overly interested in, so I am excited to be able to teach this and learn with him. I love how your program is so Biblically integrated, as well.

Welcome to the HOD board! Our 5 yo sons sound so much alike, and we are doing LHFHG and absolutely loving it! You are so right - the Biblical focus of the history is great! The way the Bible, history, science, art, music, dramatic play, thinking games, and rhymes are all interconnected really helps dc make lasting connections. As far as your ds's reading, that is very exciting! If he has not been through at least one year of formal phonics, you will probably want to go through one, just to avoid having to do so later as things get harder. Yes, he'd probably breeze through it, but it would ensure he would have all his bases covered. If he has been through a year of formal phonics, I would get the Emerging Reader's Set (ERS) for him, along with the "Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory" guide. This set of readers takes a new reader from beginning level books to easy chapter books, and it has an easy to follow schedule with comprehension questions to ask orally as well (in the back of the Beyond Little Hearts' guide). The ERS is a blast! They are a great variety of genres, the have excellent questions that teach beginning comprehension skills utilizing Bloom's Taxonomy, and they teach beginning narration skills as well. If ds is finishing out some phonics and finishes in the middle of his LHFHG year, the ERS can be started then. It can be started at any time - it is so flexible.

For math, I think I'd have ds go through the Essentials Math program, just be sure he had everything covered and had no gaps. Singapore Math 1A/1B is considered a year advanced and would be very difficult for even the most gifted 5 yo. If you read through the last post by Carrie at the link below, you'll see how to easily move through the Essentials Math program, and I see no reason you could not have ds move through it even a little more quickly, especially at the beginning as it will be easy at first...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12379

One other option would be to just have ds do Essentials Math program B, if you are quite certain he has covered everything in A well already. Then, when he finishes, you could have him start Singapore 1A/1B, being sure to use the hands-on math lessons in the "Beyond Little Hearts..." guide.

I am so excited for you and your ds to begin LHFHG! I bet you will love it as much as my ds and I do! I like to do a post each week in the Weekly Check-In on the board about each of our son's progress. You can check out some pics from LHFHG through the last check-ins if that would be fun! Looking forward to getting to know you here!

In Christ,
Julie

Julie, Thank you for your helpful comments! I am hoping to attend the Cincy Great Homeschool Convention in April where I will be able to see the HOD curriculum first-hand. I just feel like I need to flip through the books to see the information in them. I saw the first lesson in the preferred Phonics program on the mfgs. website and my son would be bored to tears with it (C is for Cat and the sounds of letters). However, if I could look in the middle of that book and see possibly some Phonics rules beyond sounds of letters and letter combinations that he maybe has not seen so far, I may be more inclined to speed through the beginning to get to parts he does not yet know. He is currently reading the Magic Treehouse books and also reads Berenstain-length books slowly, but without problems.

As for the Math, your comments were very helpful. If the first-grade math is a year advanced, that will definitely be too difficult for him at this point. Now, once again, I'd love to see the two levels of the Essentials books in order to determine if he has a good grasp of everything in Essentials A so we can start with B or if there are things I have missed to where he should run through the first book too. I would love to see a listing of an index or sample problems throughout each book level.

When you mentioned the ERS, you mentioned I should purchase the Beyond Little Hearts guide, as well. I assume you mean, in addition to purchasing and utilizing the entire LHFHG package this year, correct? Would I need the Beyond Little Hearts guide just because it is the guide that goes with the ERS? Is this the same guide I would use next year for the Beyond Little Hearts curriculum, anyway?

I hope my questions are clear. I am very much a visual person and to not be able to see examples and hold the books in my hand, the concepts encased in each book are difficult for me to visualize. I very much appreciate the advice! I am still not sure if I'll be able to attend the Cincy convention, so I'm researching now as if I need to find out everything I can online, which is extremely hard for me!

Well, if he is reading Magic Treehouse Books, perhaps all he needs is to do Explode the Code workbooks, probably books 1-3, a few pages a day. He could begin the ERS right away, using the Explode the Code books as he reads through the ERS. Yes, you'd get the Beyond guide for the ERS schedule and questions, and yes, you would use that guide next year too when doing Beyond as your main guide. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Awesome! Thank you so much! I will look into Explode the Code. I have heard of it, but know nothing about it. So, I will check into it. I've added your blog to my favorites, so I will be following your exploits with HOD!

Oh thanks, and with Explode the Code, just the workbooks (for this purpose) are enough instead of the whole program!
In Christ,
Julie

I have a 10 yr old and 12 yr old. We are studying Creation to Christ in another curriculum. We will hopefully be switching to HOD in the fall. I will be using my own math and language, so I am assuming we can just pick up with Res to Ref. Does anyone have a suggestion to do otherwise? They are both strong readers. We use Abeka for Language.