Needing Some Help

[glperky]

Ok ladies, I need some help thinking this through. I have a DS who will be 7 in Nov. If I was to place him in HOD he would fall into Beyond except for reading and math. Meaning he can sit and listen to me read until the cows come home, he can comprehend what is being read, and narrate back to me. But he isn't even beggining to read, he doesn't even rememebr but a few letter sounds. He can add and subtract but doesn't remember what numbers are past 19. So, I say all of that to ask this, does a child that is struggling like this really need History, Science, poetry, etc., at this point? Or would YOU just spend the time focusing on the reading and math? I have had a hard time asking these questions, so I hope I made it clear what I am asking. Thanks for any input you have.

[Nealewill]

I think if it were me, I might slow Beyond down to half speed and try and get his reading and math caught up. My kids would be devastated if I didn't include the fun stuff and only had them do the hard stuff. But I think that if he is going to be ready for Preparing, he will need to get caught up with his reading and to be ready for the WG guide, he will need math. So I think if it were me, I would take Beyond maybe half speed and then work double time on reading and math.

[MelInKansas]

I agree. First of all you can't push him ahead in either of those areas, he will have to progress at his own pace. I only assume you've been working on them with him and he just really struggles to get it. At some point you may need to stop all else to focus on those things, but if you take away the parts of learning he enjoys in order to spend more time on the things that are really hard you may just lose him entirely. Which doesn't mean you have to keep going with Beyond (have you already been doing it?). Living books, storytime, writing are all things you can continue in other ways if you wish, lighter than a HOD guide.

Have you done a lot of math in everyday life (with writing down the numbers you use so he can see them repeatedly)? Have you had him tested or do you suspect any learning disabilities? Not that a 6 year old child who can't read has learning disabilities, which is why I ask if you suspect. If he just seems like a normal boy who isn't interested then I guess you don't have to push him too hard yet. But I would slow down on HOD because you don't want to get to the next guides too quickly. They do allow for Emerging Readers in Bigger and the child is not expected to do any independent reading until Preparing, but they need to be reading pretty well at that point to do the work independently. I don't think you need to hold him back in the areas he is good at in order to do the others, but just maybe slow down or divert from HOD for a little while to give him some time to grow.

[Rice]

If I was to place him in HOD he would call into Beyond except for reading and math. . .

Does this mean he hasn't done LHFHG yet? If not, I, personally would put him in there. Then the course load would likely be light enough that you could spend some extra time on reading, plus he'd have another year to learn, mature and catch on to reading. After all, it's the reading and math (that first section of the placement chart) that they say is most important for deciding placement. . .

. . . but I'm just starting HOD this year myself, so maybe someone else could confirm if my 2 cents is on the right track. . .

Blessings,

[nena3927]

This is just my second year with HOD but I agree 100% with what Rice said. If it were me, I'd place him in Little Hearts (which is so fun by the way!) and work on his reading and math skills and give him another year before heading into Beyond. I think the easier work load in History, Science, and Bible (which is still definitely meaty enough for a 7 yr old) would give you the extra time you need without overwhelming your son. I would not take the fun stuff out if at all possible. Just my 2 cents

[Nealewill]

I agree too - I would do Little Hearts as well if you haven't already. I thought from looking at your signature in you posting that maybe you had already completed Little Hearts. But if not, I would do that full speed. That way you can easily have plenty of time work on the reading and math.

[Kims]

I have a 7yo I am doing LHFHG with because he is not reading yet. I love little hearts and it would be fun and easy while you work on those other areas.

[TrueGRIT]

I would do LHFHG or Beyond half-speed. The focus does need to be on the trouble spots, but you can't forget the other things totally. My oldest struggled with reading and I did Beyond with him slowly while focusing on phonics/reading. I didn't want him to get behind in history etc although we had to lay aside spelling for awhile. Now we are working on catching up in spelling & grammar, but I waited until he was reading well and ready and it has made all the difference! My child was about the same age as yours. I don't know is if this helps any, but hopefully it at least lets you know others have gone that way before - and it eventually comes together.

[StephanieU]

I agree with these ladies. We are on Unit 5 of Beyond and did LHFHG last year. The history and storytime are not too different in skill levels between those two. So, doing LHFHG full speed would definitely be "more" than Beyond half speed. So don't think of it as a step back to do LHFHG. If he is ready for copywork instead of a handwriting workbook, you can just have him copy the memory verse, the rhyme in motion, or a section of any of the reading for the week. Time wise, if you do LHFHG full speed it would be about 1-2 hours a day. If you do Beyond half speed with reading and math daily, it would be about 1-1.5 hours a day I bet But I think the spelling and grammar in Beyond might be hard if he isn't starting to read at all. So, doing LHFHG might be better in that sense too.

[glperky]

Thank you for the input ladies. We did do Kindergarten LHFHG the school year of 12/13. This year (13/14) we really worked on phonics, math, handwriting, and he listened in on Beyond. So do y'all recommend doing the 1st grade LHFHG? If so, can we just do Storytime with his brother in Bigger? I don't think I could read any more of the Burgess books.

[StephanieU]

Since he hasn't heard LHFHG as recently as Beyond, i would go with LHFHG. And I think listening in on the Bigger storytime should be fine, as he does fit in that age-wise. Or, if you had time, you could do some of the Beyond storytime books with him (since there are at least 4 options per genre). That would all depend on his interest and your energy though, as from what i have read, Bigger and Beyond storytime are similar.

[my3sons]

Thank you for the input ladies. We did do Kindergarten LHFHG the school year of 12/13. This year (13/14) we really worked on phonics, math, handwriting, and he listened in on Beyond. So do y'all recommend doing the 1st grade LHFHG? If so, can we just do Storytime with his brother in Bigger? I don't think I could read any more of the Burgess books.

I think you make a good point to want to have time to work on phonics and math with ds, and yet as Nealewill said, it's a blessing to have the rest of the 'fun' of a guide's varied and exciting other subject areas (such as history readings, science experiments, hands-on activities, etc.) to be an inspiring part of the day too. How old was this ds when you did LHFHG? As it was a few years' back, I am thinking from your signature that he may have been 4 yo or a little older, and that it was probably more of a placement for your older ds than for him at that time? If that is the case, I'd do LHFHG with the 1st grade options and have him listen in on older brother's read alouds from BHFHG. Now that he is older and doing LHFHG more as a placement for him, I think he'd take so much more from it, and doing LHFHG daily would still give you ample time to work on his phonics and reading while maintaining the other 'inspirational' (as Charlotte Mason would have said) subjects as well. I think the two of you would love this trip together through LHFHG! I also think the day would be shorter and give you more time to focus on his phonics/math. We did LHFHG and BHFHG at the same time many years back and enjoyed that combination. It's nice moving forward too... Beyond and PHFHG... BHFHG and CTC..., etc. It helps you balance your time as a teacher between dc very, very nicely as the older child successfully takes on more independence as the younger child needs you a bit more each year until reaching PHFHG. What do you think though?

In Christ,
Julie

[glperky]

Thank you for the input ladies. We did do Kindergarten LHFHG the school year of 12/13. This year (13/14) we really worked on phonics, math, handwriting, and he listened in on Beyond. So do y'all recommend doing the 1st grade LHFHG? If so, can we just do Storytime with his brother in Bigger? I don't think I could read any more of the Burgess books.

I think you make a good point to want to have time to work on phonics and math with ds, and yet as Nealewill said, it's a blessing to have the rest of the 'fun' of a guide's varied and exciting other subject areas (such as history readings, science experiments, hands-on activities, etc.) to be an inspiring part of the day too. How old was this ds when you did LHFHG? As it was a few years' back, I am thinking from your signature that he may have been 4 yo or a little older, and that it was probably more of a placement for your older ds than for him at that time? If that is the case, I'd do LHFHG with the 1st grade options and have him listen in on older brother's read alouds from BHFHG. Now that he is older and doing LHFHG more as a placement for him, I think he'd take so much more from it, and doing LHFHG daily would still give you ample time to work on his phonics and reading while maintaining the other 'inspirational' (as Charlotte Mason would have said) subjects as well. I think the two of you would love this trip together through LHFHG! I also think the day would be shorter and give you more time to focus on his phonics/math. We did LHFHG and BHFHG at the same time many years back and enjoyed that combination. It's nice moving forward too... Beyond and PHFHG... BHFHG and CTC..., etc. It helps you balance your time as a teacher between dc very, very nicely as the older child successfully takes on more independence as the younger child needs you a bit more each year until reaching PHFHG. What do you think though?

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you for your reply Julie. My son was 5 when we did Little Hearts. He thought much of it was "for babies" then so really think he would feel like that now. I think if he could get his reading going and then down he would really fly academic wise. I really just don't know what to do with him or how to help him. He wants to learn, he wants to have school daily, and he really wants to read. I just don't know.