Doing LHFHG for two years when to switch to 1st grade stuff?

[yayadaisy]

Hi ladies- It has been a little while since I last posted. Always busy here as I am sure with all of you too! I will be doing LHFHG with my six year old, who has developmental delays, at half speed next fall. We may not start excalty in the fall. We are going to finish LHTH first and are just starting now, and doing well with that! I am wondering if we do LHFHG at half speed we would do left side on day and right side the next. We will probably do phonics and math everyday though. But when would I switch to the first grade science and handwriting stuff? If we only do half speed we would not get through the whole K part until two years? What would I do then when we are ready to move on to 1st grade. Just start with BLHFHG program then and not even worry about the 1st grade options with LHFHG? Has anyone done this before? I don't want to overwhelm myself as I have two older kids who I will be teaching together, with Sonlight Core 1+2. I wish I could do HOD with them, but we already have it and I can not afford to buy Bigger for them next year But we are enjoying BLHFHG with them this year!!
I am also expecting a new little one almost any day now. They are going to induce me on April 9th if I do not have the baby by then!!! So I am really liking the idea of only doing LHFHG at half speed, hoping that will keep things in some kind of order for me. I have two toddlers who will probably just follow along for fun and maybe will do some LHTH with them a few times a week we will just see how crazy it gets! I am just looking for thoughts and idea's here. Here are the ages of my kids if you have any suggestions I would love them. DS-9, DD-7,DS-5, DS-3, DS-2 and new one due soon!

Sheila mom to five great kids, one angel and one on the way due very soon!!!!

[Mom2Monkeys]

If you are doing math and phonics everyday, you'd just switch to the 1st grade math when you're done with K math and continue on in phonics until you're ready for the emerging readers. I think many do handwriting more often as well but I'm sure many just do it halfspeed as well-- depends on what your dc is ready for , so you'd just do the 1st grade book after the K book is done. Or if you don't think your dc needs the 1st grade handwriting book or is ready for copywork, you don't have to do the 1st grade handwriting (IMHO). I think with the science, you could just move into it when ever you think your dc is ready for it. Or if you find the K science book to be enough, stick to that. The meat of the science is in the guide and within the activity as far as I'm concerned, so don't worry about that.

HTH!

[Carrie]

Sheila,

When we did LHFHG at half-speed last year, the only thing we did daily was phonics (and I even did that at half-speed for awhile until I decided I wasn't getting the retention in that area that I was wanting from my little guy). We did keep our math at half-speed and our handwriting too and found that worked just fine. We did LHFHG at half-speed for the whole year last year, doing the left side one day and the right side the next. This year I found we were ready to go full-speed with it. You may find the same to be true for you.

With my first little guy to go through LHFHG, we didn't do any of the first grade options as he was in K. When we were done with LHFHG, we just moved into Beyond. With my next little guy whose currently finishing LHFHG, we are also only using the K options. We will do A Reason for Writing A along with Beyond, because I can tell he's not ready for the copywork in Beyond.

Blessings,
Carrie

[moedertje]

Carrie,

What did you use with your son that you did LHFHG at half speed for Phonics? I used Abeka with my older one and I think it will be too much for my other son. I can tell that he will get too overwhelmed with Abeka, it's very time consuming, he is a cuddler, he's a perfectionist and he wants to quit if he thinks he can't do it. I love Abeka, but I know there are other things out there and I am considering RME or TRL for K. I just want to make sure that they will be solid enough and teach him enough to be able to be a good speller. I have read the posts on CM spelling (dictation) and feel confident that at the older age he will get enough practice.

Of course I am praying about it and I know that with some practical help and with the Lord's guidance we will choose the right thing!

If anyone else has ideas let me know also. Thank you!

[yayadaisy]

Great idea's thanks. I am just trying to plan things out some before next year hits. I had never thought to do one side one day and the other the next for a year and then go to full speed the next if they are ready! Makes sense to me if they need a slow start but start picking it up later easier. Pregnant brain working here Ithink. I also know things will change before then too. We will have a newborn in the house and two toddlers. Although I would say the toddlers are harder to keep busy while doing school with the others are!

About the phonics question. I am using TRL with my 9 and 7 yr. old we got a late start with this and my 9 has a learning disability in reading, which makes it very hard for him. We are about half way through and I have to say I really like it. It is very simple to do a few pages a day and they are learning how to spell better also. I have seen their spelling improve since we started TRL and just the way Carrie has you work on spelling in Beyond has made a difference!!!! I can imange if you do TRL from the start(my kids had gone to ps for awhile) it would fit right in and give them an edge on sounding out words for spelling. I plan on using it with my 6 yr. old next year and he is developmentally delayed, but the way it is laid out I think he will be able to do it.

Sheila