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My youngest daughter will turn 3 next month, and I am thinking about what to do with her this year. I was planning to just let her play, but I wonder if I should actually do lessons with her? I did not do lessons with my oldest when she was that age, but she didn't have an older sibling either. Little Hands looks wonderful! But I wonder whether we should hold off for a year, or start it this year at a slower pace, that will take up most of 2 years. I plan to go at the pace she needs to go, but if we are able to finish before she's ready for Little Hearts, should I repeat with the age appropriate add one? Little kids like to repeat things, right? LOL!

Thank you!

HI there! Sorry you have not received any answers yet - I have been away at book fairs, and the ladies must be busy wrapping up their school years. I think I'd go ahead and start "Little Hands to Heaven" slowly, maybe doing half the boxes on a page of plans one day, and the other half the next day. I'd probably plan to take around 1 1/2 years or more to go through it. You don't want to get to "Little Hearts for His Glory" before 4 1/2 to 5 yo. We started LHTH half-speed like this with our little guy, and he began "Little Hearts for His Glory" half-speed when he was 4 1/2 yo. We have loved this pacing because I got my mommy time in with my wee one, he loved his bite-sized amount of school, he felt so big-boyish doing school with me like his older brothers do, he read very early as phonics was super easy to do after "Little Hands to Heaven" did such a super job of teaching letters/sounds/actions, he kept doing some of the "Little Hands..." activities long after we were done with them which freed up time for me to teach the olders, and we had/have some wiggle room with the pacing of the future guides as he is on the young side. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Hi! Not sure how I missed your post--very odd! We're in the exact same position. My little guy will be 3 this month and I've been debating whether to get started with LHTH or wait. We started LHTH with my older son when he was 4, but I was thinking that it would be nice to have some special school time with my younger son. But I still go back and forth. He's much more active than my older one was and I'm not sure if he's really interested in doing school yet. I think, after reading all the good reasons to get started that Julie mentioned, I'll probably just get started going half speed, and if it works, we'll keep going, and if he just doesn't seem ready, we'll wait. How fun!!!

I remembered a few old posts I wrote when I was literally in your shoes I thought I'd share...

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5049&p=37004

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7619&p=55564

Just thought these might be fun!
In Christ,
Julie

Weeeeeeeeeell... I JUST started LHTH (again) with my 3 yr 4 month old daughter. She is really really into it! I DO plan on repeating the program. So if she seems not ready for a certain box I will skip it and get it next year.

She is singing A A Adam with her little tiny hands on her fat chubby cheeks. Oh my. The cuteness factor is running high.

Yes, they do love repitition!

Hi there!

I didn't start any formal school with my oldest until she was 4.5 years old. We did LHTH that year. It was a good year, she learned and grew a lot, and really for me it was just the year to try to get used to doing school. But LHTH has a lot of good things for a 3YO to learn and I think in many ways it is ideal at that age. My 2nd born did LHTH with us when my oldest did it, she was 2.5 when we started, 3.5 when we finished. She learned her letters and letter sounds and grew a lot also. I would think you could do it 2 years in a row if your little one is ready to do LHTH full speed. Last year when my 3rd born was 3 I started LHTH half speed, but gave up on it after doing about 8 units. Now we are starting again and there is more richness to what she can get out of it at an older age.

I guess I would say, look at what your 3YO seems to be ready for. Is she interested in doing school work? Is she starting to try things like cutting or writing? Is she learning letters and letter sounds? If you sit down with her and try to have her color or do a workbook page does she enjoy it or does she not seem to want to do it? There's no reason to push ahead with a child of that age (you probably know that already), but if they are ready and want to do it it can be a great thing to do. I realized with my 3YO the downside to not doing formal school with her is that she gets way too much free time, and she doesn't get the positive reinforcement of the praise when she does a good job with something, or me giving her something positive to do with her time instead of getting in trouble.

Don't worry about finishing it before she's ready for LHFHG. With my 2nd born, she tagged along on some stuff with her older sister, her K-4 year she did some workbooks, started The Reading Lesson when she turned 5, I was able to find things for her to do. Really there were 2 years between when she did LHTH and when she started LHFHG, but with an older sib it was easy for me to integrate her into some of the activities her sister was doing - especially crafts, projects, rhyme or poem, math (snack) activity, things like that.

She is singing A A Adam with her little tiny hands on her fat chubby cheeks. Oh my. The cuteness factor is running high.

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Ha! My fondest moment from that year too! My dh and I still say, "A A Adam" when we hear the "a" sound being said!

I am in the same boat . My dd will be 3 in July and we are beginning Little Hands in August. I plan to go regular speed unless dd needs to slow down. She is motivated to learn, as she is the youngest of four dc. In the case we go reg. speed, she will do "Five in a Row" (or "Before Five in a Row" depending on readiness) when she turns 4. This will give us some time as she matures and gets ready for Little Hearts. If we determine dd needs to go half pace in Little Hands, it should take around 1 1/2 years to finish it at that speed. Then we will begin Little Hearts when she is 4 1/2. If she needs a little more time, we will do "Five in a Row" until she is ready.

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