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Ok, I know I want to get Bigger for then 8yr old and Little Hearts for then 5.5yr old BUT I am not sure if I should get Little Hands for then 3yr old. I was contemplating using Letter of the Week BUT I JUST found (well..a few hours ago) out I am pregnant and due at the end of September. I am thinking (as much as I can right now) that it will be too much prep for LOTW but that Little Hands would help me A LOT! Someone help me! Thanks!

Peridot,

Oh my gosh, congratulations!!! That is such wonderful news!

Anyway, do you have specific questions about Little Hands or just wondering if it is low prep? For sure it is low prep and easy to accomplish in a short period of time. I have never done LOTW so, I cannot compare. But, if you have some specific questions about LHTH I can try to answer.

Candice

I don't have any help to offer, I just wanted to say Congratulations!!

Wow! Congratulations!! And, as I understand it, Little Hands is designed to take only 30 minutes or less per day (as I read on the sample pages of the introduction for Little Hands), so I'm sure you can squeeze it in

You know what? I need to go look at Little Hands (sample week). I have been so busy looking at LHFHG, Beyond and Bigger that I didn't look at Little Hands. Thanks for the congrats! What is cool is that I am due 9 days after my sister.

I'm so happy for you! That's very exciting news and I hope you have an easy pregnancy.

You're a brave woman for even contemplating doing 3 programs! I would just do the older two and let the 3yo play for another year. You will have a very full plate (or quiver I should say ) come next school year!

Congrats!

Hey...just had a thought there was a post not too long ago about having older children help teach the younger. Do you think your then 8yo would enjoy doing LIttle Hands with your 3yo?

Ooooh! Maybe the babies will be born on the same day! THAT would be cool-"twin" cousins

Congratulations! How EXCITING! A new baby!

I have to say though that I would not attempt 3 programs. Sometimes more is not better, it's just more.(said w/ an understanding, been there, smile)

I understand. This pregnancy was planned...just not by us! I created a binder when my oldest was 2.5 with letters and numbers, colors, shapes, etc and she just practiced writing on a magna doodle. I will just see how it goes. She will be 3 in June. Things are just spinning in my head!

How exciting! Congratulations! You will be glad you have it all planned out and HOD is so easy to follow. You'll be great!

Congratulations:) I am slowly starting Little Hands with my almost 3 year old. Basically I pull it out when he asks to do school. It will take a while to get through this way but it is so easy to open and go that I like having it on the shelf just so he can have his own "school" when he asks. Little Hands is defenatly less prep than LOTW. He also joins us when he chooses to for Little Hearts. He does most of the art, science and some of the read alouds.

Congrats! My sil and I had our babies 6 weeks apart and it was so much fun to go through it together. We call them "our twins".
As far as LHTH - it is very low prep, as in a couple of minutes a day just to make sure everything is gathered in one place. And it takes us about 20 minutes to do. Both of my boys love it (2 and 4). I've also done LOTW with my (then) 3 yr. old and it took me SO much time each week for prep. That's why I went looking for something else this past fall. I agree that with a newborn coming you want to be careful about overloading yourself. You could always get LHTH and then just take it very slowly. Do a few lessons a week and stretch it out longer. It's really wonderful.

How wonderful and exciting to have another child on the way! I hope you can find what will work best for you and make your day as easy as possible.

Whether or not you decide to use a formal program or not, there are other things you can do to help your 3yo learn. If you have any objects to use for sorting, put those in baggies or tupperware and let her sort by color, shape, etc. You could make some flash cards (www.beginningreading.com) and have those available for her to "play" with. Print 2 sets and it could be a matching game. You could do the same with numbers, matching the number word to the number or just being able to find the numbers to match. Have papers, assorted pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, glue sticks, envelopes, scrapbook paper, etc. available for her own artistic creations. Legos for building, blocks, cars, little people or farm animals, dolls, books-these can all be used to keep her busy and learning. She could string beads, cheerios, buttons onto yarn. You can have her glue cheerios, or place stickers on letters of the alphabet (that you've written on paper in LARGE print). Stamps are great fun, and if you don't mind a mess, a painting easel or table. A tub of some sort with rice, cornmeal, confetti, or water is a great 'sensory' experience. Use cars, boats, shovels, water toys, etc. to play in this. Educational videos are even helpful for those times when you really need her occupied and can't sit right with her. We've utilized all of these things at some point since we began homeschooling, and even my 8yo daughter has asked to join in! We just have my youngest ( now 4.5) do these at our LR coffee table so I can see and hear him. So, I hope these are helpful suggestions. In fact, now that I've listed all those activities, we may incorporate some of them into our school day again!