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Hi
I am using LHTH for my just turned 4 year old girl. We will start K next fall. My husband really has a desire to have her work on reading, and she has all the readiness signs, including reading simple 3 letter books, can sound out many words, knows her phonics, and can write. I have been hesitant because of messing up our schedule for future school years. Has anyone else started reading with LHTH and how did you adjust the following years.
blessings
wendy

Wendy,

This is SOO easy to do with HOD!! (Now as a disclaimer...there is really no reason to push a 4 yo with reading...but it doesn't sound like you're doing that at all.) If you have a little gal that is wanting to learn to read, I say go for it! My own 4 yo has been asking about learning to read and was so excited when I got The Reading Lesson manual just before Thanksgiving! (She had to "read" for ANY willing relative! ) We're also doing LHTH, and it works great to do some phonics everyday, too. I'm guessing your little 4 yo isn't done with phonics yet, right? If you already have something you've used, I'd say keep it up. HOD has a couple of phonics programs that they reccommend, but you can really use whatever you please.

As your little gal moves through the HOD programs, there will be a "Reading Box" every day. It says to use a phonics program of your choosing...and then the Emerging Readers...and then Drawn Into The Heart of Reading. So, you use whatever fits the level that your child is reading. So, when she finishes phonics, you would move into the emerging readers for a year. You can start them at any point in the year, too. So, for example if you're ready for them next December and happen to be doing LHFHG, you'd just start them then. (You would need to purchase the Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory guide to get the schedule and questions to go with them, since she'd be ready a little early...but it wouldn't mess anything up!)

Have fun!
Kathleen

My oldest started reading at 4 about the same time we started LHTH. He was reading a few sight words and then moved into sounding out simple 3 letter words. We did LHTH that year and just taught him to sound stuff out. We read a lot of Dick and Jane books and used basic wooden blocks to spell out words to sound out. You know, set up c-a-t then b-a-t, etc... It worked well for us.

We moved into the phonics book the next year with LHFHG. He breezed right through the first 5 or 6 chapters then started slowing down a little, but was still done with it before he was done with LHFHG so we moved him into the emerging readers. HOD is VERY flexible, you just keep moving the kids along at THEIR speed. It's wonderful.

Hope that helps.