New LHFHG Guide

[SarahAngeline]

Hi Carrie (or whomever may be able to answer this question ,

I hear that HOD is going to be coming out with a new LHFHG guide in the fall that will contain the new math lessons? I am trying to figure out if I need to order this guide now or if it would be better for me to wait until it comes out containing the corrections? Also, today was my baby's last day of preschool and I'm dealing with some nerves. =) We have decided to homeschool for Kindergarten. I understand that in LHFHG, handwriting is dealt with pretty gently. This will be perfect for my boy who is pretty fine-motor challenged/uninterested. However I worry that in using LHFHG that he won't be on the same level academically as his public/private school friends. He is behind as it is. He doesn't enjoy coloring, writing, etc. I think that in the context of a unit study, he will see the point of handwriting/coloring better. I know I can motivate him better than the schools. But I am very nervous. If there is anything you can say to put my mind at ease, it would be most appreciated and welcome. =-)

Thanks!

[Molly]

I just want to let you know that my 7yr old son is in the last weeks of LHFHG, and despite the fact that he is likely to be behind public schooled peers, he has grown in leaps and bounds and his confidence has increased immensely. He doesn't complain at all about the written work anymore whereas it was such a struggle to start with. He can answer comprehension questions with much more ease. He creates amazing things, he can now memorise verses. He will always struggle with school work, but just the gentle increases in difficulty have helped him grow so much quicker than big leaps. Truly, I can not tell you how much of a blessing this has been for him.

Also having older children doing other guides, shows me that no matter where my boy is in terms of his peers, he is going to have a heart for God, an amazing general knowledge, know how to persevere and just keep going, know how to think for himself, and believe in his abilities.

[SarahAngeline]

Thank you so much for this thoughtful reply. This helps me to realize that my boy can either be frustrated at school or proud of his accomplishments at home... He would likely come out of either scenario with a similar ability, but a very different outlook on learning. Thanks again.

[SarahAngeline]

I would still love to hear any info that might be available regarding the new LHFHG guide... If there is another thread someone could post a link to with the info, anything like that! I just don't know when I should order... If I should wait or if it won't be out soon enough.

[raindrops]

I read here every day and I am pretty sure the release date hasn't been revealed yet. The highschool guide being finished is no doubt top priority.

If you wanted to order now, you could just progress through the book, 1 page at a time and Carrie said the hands on activities IN the workbooks already are great.

If you are not planning on starting LHFHG till fall, it wouldn't hurt to wait. If you wanted to start earlier then you could go ahead and order.

Another change that will likely be made is the fine motor skills box... the book changed to rod and staff for 1st grade.

When again where you going to order?

[Carrie]

Great advice has already been shared in this thread, so I'll just pop-in to clarify a bit more about the revision to the LHFHG guide. Right now, it is appearing that the LHFHG guide will go into a reprint in late August or mid-September. The revised guide will include the updated math plans and the plans for Going on Eagerly/Hearing and Helping (which replace the Thinking Skills).

If you desire to purchase the LHFHG guide before that time, you can easily use the Math Essentials on your own doing it two pages a day and following the hands-on activities included in the math books. It is a very solid math program. If you do choose to use Going on Eagerly and Hearing and Helping, we send you a replacement schedule when you order those books to use with LHFHG. So, you definitely wouldn't need to wait for the reprint to get started, unless you weren't starting until September.

That's our best estimate at this time, however it is only an estimate. We'll know more as the summer progresses!

Blessings,
Carrie

[SarahAngeline]

Thank you so much!! I'll probably just go ahead and order sooner than later in that case. =-)

[SarahAngeline]

Molly, are you finishing up LHFHG with K or 1st grade options? Do you feel your boy is prepared for moving to BLHFHG? I'm trying to decide what to do for Kindergarten. Someone suggested doing right side of LHFHG combined with LHTH for K year, and then for 1st grade do LHFHG with 1st grade options, then start Beyond in 2nd grade. Just wondering about your experience with this.

[Molly]

I've done it with 1st grade options, although have only done Singapore 1A (not that I needed to slow his math down), and halfway through I went back to The World God Made for science. He is definately prepared for BLHFHG and I'm really looking forward to that. He is still learning to read but he is making some great leaps now. He will be 8 in October.

Have you considered doing LHFHG a little slower to spread it out a little? I'm talking doing three or four days a week or even spreading that much over five days. You could then do the same thing with BLHFHG and BHFHG. You could easily spread the guides out over four rather than five years. The only reason I would opt for LHTH would be if he doesn't have good recognition of the alphabet and the basic sounds. The great thing about HOD is you can tailor it to fit your child in terms of basic skills, reading, LA and math. I love that aspect of it.

I just saw your other post, and gather there are handwriting issues. LHFHG brings them through so gradually they don't even notice. There is only handwriting twice a week and if you were really struggling with that, I would probably spread it out over four days. They do a little bit once a week with regard to the storytime book. It certainly is considerably less than what I know they do in public school, but the small and gradual steps make it easy. Hope that helps some.

[SarahAngeline]

He knows all the letters, numbers, he is good academically as far as that goes. It's just that his fine motor skills need a bit more time to develop. I've heard some folks say that it's better for your child to be in the upper age range of these guides. I do believe that he could successfully complete LHFHG as written this year, but when I look at how they will be copying sentences in Beyond, I'm just not sure if he will be there by 1st grade. Thus the reason I was considering the suggestion of Kindergarten- right side LHFHG with LHTH (for fine motor practice), then 1st grade- LHFHG as written with first grade options so he'll be really well prepared for Beyond. I have a thread asking for help with placement on here... I think I titled it "Help with placement for a 5 year old" or something like that. My son will be 6 in October. Thanks for any input! =-)

[Molly]

I'm not sure if you have seen my edit but I added some about the handwriting. You realise that the poetry copywork in Beyond is not necessarily the whole poem. Carrie does suggest that you only have them doing their best handwriting for five minutes. What you could do when you get to Beyond, is start with five minutes and once he is comfortable with that length of time, add an extra 30 seconds. If he is able to do copywork for 7 or so minutes by the end of Beyond, I would think he would be fine.

Another suggestion would be to search out ideas to strengthen his fine motor muscles that will also help.

[SarahAngeline]

I really appreciate that input Molly, thank you! If I feel that he can handle LHFHG I probably shouldn't plan on him not being prepared for Beyond... I believe that in Jesus' name he do spectacularly and be well prepared by the time he gets to 1st grade! I have taught him to say "I have the mind of Christ" and Philipians 4:13. I have also taught him to say "I do all things with excellence!" Lol so it's probably not good for me to plan on him not being where he needs to be in a year. If he's not, we'll work with that, but I truly am so excited to use LHFHG and see the best come out of him. I just wanted to make sure I had him placed properly. That is really good to know about the copy work. As far as the fine motor stuff, I am working on making some "sensory boxes" that I learned about in MOPS to help with the fine motor stuff this summer. I'm going to get some tracing books and stuff from Dollar Tree, too.

[SCStxRN]

I'm looking at LHFHG for my 7 year old - honestly, barring some amazing transformation, it's a given.

I was talking to my husband about how worried I was that he was behind his peers in public school. He reminded me he was behind when he started, and he's grown considerably.

I think LHFHG will only help him grow.

If, at 35, he is two years behind his age mates - he'll be just fine. If, at 20, he is two years behind - I'm still ok.

[Molly]

SCStxRN, I totally understand what you mean. But you know, the great thing about HOD that takes all my worry and concern away, is the fact that it is all so interrelated, so they have a greater chance of remembering it. I'm quite certain that in public school in our country, they certainly wouldn't have the wide knowledge base that these children are getting from HOD. The other thing is that because our children get the one on one attention they have a far greater chance of catching up. My DS will always be who he is, but I can see this is just the best thing for him to prepare him to go out in the world as an adult. HOD deals with the whole child, rather than just the academic child. I thank God each day for bringing this curriculum to my attention.

[SarahAngeline]

You guys, certainly HOD really isn't behind grade level... Right?? Someone chime in on this if you can. I understand that in homeschooling you have a different scope and sequence than the schools so your kids might not test as well as other kids because they haven't studied the same stuff that year, but I can't believe that they would be seriously BEHIND, right? I thought that I had read on here somewhere that the curriculum is written with national and state standards in mind...