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I was all set to finish up Little Hearts with my 6 year-old this year. We have Unit 17-34 left to do. I wanted to take it easy and not have her hit Bigger until 3rd grade...but I'm suddenly second-guessing. I am also newly expecting #5 and am expecting morning sickness to probably be here by next week. I am also doing Bigger & Preparing this year.

So, with all fo that into consideration...What do you think I should do?

1. Finish Little Hearts with her, do Emerging Readers, continue in her 1st grade Math, have her do a little extra writing to get better at it.

2. Do Beyond half-speed taking 2 years to complete?

Option 1 . I'd finish out LHFHG full speed, beginning Beyond half speed mid-year, and working into full speed by the end of that guide so that she's all ready to handle the bigger workload of Bigger Hearts.
1. Little Hearts is a wonderful 1st grade year (we're at the same place as you-around the middle of the guide and gearing up for 1st grade!) They're getting all they need for first grade, and you don't want to miss the rest of the fun stuff packed into the guide!
2. I agree with your original thought that I like to hit Bigger by 3rd grade. You still have plenty of time to get Beyond in there.
3. With all the other guides in your house and morning sickness looming on the horizon, you definitely don't need more school time added into your day . In fact, on some rough days I think you'd be perfectly fine to do LHFHG half speed. You'd still have plenty of time in the next 2 years for 1 1/2 guides.

I would think you would want to finish up LHFHG, full speed. I think that will be just as much work as Beyond 1/2 speed. Plus you will definitely miss some skills/knowledge if you just skip over 1/2 of LHFHG like that. Are you finishing the math book? That is one area where there will be some holes if you don't finish (I skipped the last 4 weeks of LHFHG with my oldest and she was missing days of the week, months of the year, and a lot of practice with counting by 5's, 2 digit numbers, etc). Beyond takes longer so I think you would still spend just as much time, and it might be harder for you because it's not as familiar.

I would definitely suggest, if you plan to move ahead to Beyond, that you read through the rest of LHFHG and note some things that may need working on. Also is your daughter ready to do narration? The storytime in Beyond has them doing a lot more narration on their own, which the practice in LHFHG is really critical to get them ready for that.

Now I am guessing you already finished the K math? You said do 1st grade math with her. If she's ready with math to move up a level, then what you are missing by skipping 1/2 of LHFHG is the overview of history, the rhymes (which my DD loves!), the easy build-up to narration and fun stories in storytime, and if she's not ready for the copywork or narration in Beyond then that will probably be frustrating for her. I guess if she places solidly in Beyond, and you've already done it before, you'll just have a few weeks of her getting used to it but you could go ahead.

She is half-way through Christian Light Education 1st grade math.

She has never really liked the rhymes in Little Hearts, but that's okay.

I think we will just finish up Little Hearts this year. We actually started school today and I had planned to do that, then she said something about really wanting to move on, but after reading to her the first reading from American Patriots I could tell she wasn't listening or absorbing it! lol

So it is probably best to wait on Beyond for her.

Thank you for all of your quick replies and opinions.

And remember if she does want something new, you can add in something from the right side of Beyond. You already mentioned ER, so that might be enough if she gets the "itch" for something new again. Or maybe start the spelling. I am planning on doing those two with LHFHG this year with my 1st grader.

I would finish Little Hearts and start Beyond whenever you finish. I would also do both 4 days a week instead of half speed.

Congrats on the new little one on the way BTW! One more beautiful LO to bless your family!

thank you all!

twoxcell wrote:I would finish Little Hearts and start Beyond whenever you finish. I would also do both 4 days a week instead of half speed.

Really good idea! Thanks!

I should stay tuned for what your 5th LO is - since your family looks a lot like mine!

As far as the rhymes go, my 3rd didn't really get into the rhymes until the last 10 units. She really liked those. She was 6.5 for those units, so it might be part age.

I also planned on starting Beyond half speed with her, but she didn't let that happen She wanted to keep on doing math, handwriting, and ERs every day... we already are combining the oldest two with storytime reading through a biography right now, so I'm just using that with her too... so the only thing to add from the right side was spelling... and she grabbed it, read the instructions, and did it

So, that's all to say, when they are ready for Beyond, then they are READY for Beyond Half speed is nice for the ones not quite ready (I've done that too) or not quite as eager, but when they are READY I don't think you can hold them back.