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We are so excited! We are within a few short weeks of finishing LHFHG and I just ordered Beyond Little Hearts for my 5 yo. And...so, now of course I have a few questions:

1. DS has loved A Reason for Handwriting. I don't see a handwriting program scheduled for BLHFHG. Yet, ds has asked to continue it. Having no experience with BLHFHG, I am wondering how much copy work and writing will be involved daily. Will including the handwriting program totally overwhelm him? I know you can't answer this, but if you could tell me how much written work to expect daily, I can determine for myself.

2. Ds is also completing The Reading Lesson. Am I correct that we do not begin Emerging Readers until he is completely finished with this? We are not supposed to do both of these at the same time, right? I know that we need to finish our phonics, but I am not sure if I should be adding to it?? I have read two different things about this, and have somehow become confused.

For copywork in Beyond you are mainly copying from the poetry for the day. This is the only handwriting you are doing per se. There is also a few writing activities each week. You are writing your spelling words. You are writing a sentence or two for the weekly grammar lesson. You may do some writing on a map you create but I can't remember. My kids usually do the writing on their own but at times I write words or examples on a white board and then they will copy it down if need be. As for copywork itself, I believe you have them start off small. They only copy things for a minute or two max. They work up to doing 5+ minutes a day. It is mainly to build their hand muscles. I think my kids are copying about 4 lines each day from a poem and they take about 5-7 minutes a day. Plus they are writing the weekly grammar lesson activities.

As for the Emerging Readers, yes, you want to finish the Reading Lesson before you start the ER books.

There is writing each day in the form of poetry copywork, as well as spelling words/activities. We did ARFH A with our oldest ds when he did Beyond, and he enjoyed it. If ds wouldn't be overwhelmed, you could easily have him do ARFH A. However, as he's only 5 yo, maybe that would be way too much! You could start without it, and add it if you feel he'd enjoy it.

For phonics, dc do phonics 1-3 years. If ds finished TRL and can read Level 1 or 2 books fairly smoothly with only a few words he needs to sound out each page or two, he is ready for the ERS. So, for example, if he could read "Frog and Toad" only needing to slow down and sound out a word or two on a page or so, he's ready for the ERS. If he can't, he should do another phonics program, but a different one than TRL. I'd suggest "Reading Made Easy" in this case. I bet ds will love Beyond - can't wait for you to start! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you both for such thorough answers. And thanks for clarifying the ER question for me!

my3sons wrote:However, as he's only 5 yo, maybe that would be way too much! You could start without it, and add it if you feel he'd enjoy it.

Thanks for this suggestion! Our box should be here tomorrow, and we will be starting it in three short weeks, Lord willing! He is super excited and I think I will follow your advice. I want school to be joy and not drudgery...one of the reasons that I LOVE HOD...we enjoy what we are doing and reading...and everything has a purpose....no drudgery or busywork - no complaints that it is boring! So blessed.