for those of you that have used LHTH and LHFHG

[mommy3]

I need some help from those of you who are familiar with LHTH and LHFHG. I'll ask the main question first and then give you the background information. I am trying to decide whether I should spread LHTH over two years and then do LHFHG in one year or do LHTH in one year and spread LHFHG over two years.

We have three girls. Our oldest is 7 years old/first grade this year and has Down Syndrome. Then we have twins who will be three in April. Currently, our oldest is doing Math U See Primer (kindergarten level) and Primary Phonics at the first grade level. My plan is to have our oldest always doing her own language arts and math but to combine them for Bible/history/science down the road. Being that my oldest daughter has DS, her language skills are delayed and I don't think she'll be ready for the history part of LHFHG this next school year. So, I decided that I would do LHTH this next year with all three but I would have to add in some science and maybe some social studies (or just use the Bible history in LHTH as her history?) for the oldest. If I do that, does anyone have a suggestion for what to add?

If I spread LHTH over two years I would need to add in some science and social studies for the older for both of those years and if I spread LHFHG over two years than the first year the twins would be only 4 years and 4 months old when they start and we'd use it for their Pre-K and K years. (just an idea of where the twins are at -- they can already recognize their ABCs - all capitals and most lower case- and can count to at least 10 and they are quite verbal).

So, just to recap - my quetsions are:
1) which one should I spread over 2 years - LHTH or LHFHG?
and
2) any suggestions for what I can add for my oldest daughter for science and social studies while we are doing LHTH?

Thank you so much!

[Mom2Monkeys]

I would do LHTH in one year if you're 3 year olds can handle it, then do LHFHG over two years. It would add very little more time to your day when you transition to LHFHG from LHTH. My3sons and some others have started LHFHG with 4.5 year olds at half pace and they've done well!

As for what to add to LHTH for the oldest...I'd use the Bible history in LHFH as her history. I'd do the older child activities if she's ready for them (LHTH guide shows older and younger choices for some of the activities), and phonics and math on her level. You might be ready to do the Singapore Earlybird K with the awesome activities from LHFHG with her. Or you could wait a year to do that when you start LHFHG with all of them. If she's ready, you could also add in the handwriting book from LHFHG or one of your choice.
So that's just adding phonics, math, handwriting and doing the rest as is.

If I were in your shoes, that's what I'd do anyway. But I'm sure other options would work as well. You know your children best!

[Samuel'sMommy]

I would do LHTH in one year and then take two years to do LHFHG. We are currently doing LHFHG and this is what I'm doing to stretch it over 2 years. We're taking the left side of the plans and the storytime box at half speed. So we do the history reading & rotating box one day and then do the bible study & storytime the next. We do review the rhyme and music every day. Then we do the right side of the plans (math, phonics, fine motor skills) as written. We are currently doing the K options for math, phonics, and fine motor skills. When we finish those, we will do the 1st grade options. So we will finish LHFHG in 2 years using both the K and 1st options. To me, it just seemed easier to stretch out then LHTH. Also, in the appendix of LHFHG Carrie has listed lots of books that you can check out from the library that add on to the history. We check out as many of those as we can find and read them as we can over the 2 weeks that we cover each unit. We also usually check out books on whatever science topic is in the unit. This has been working great for us and DS and I both enjoy it a lot.

[krismoose]

My inclination is to do LHTH over the next year, then spread LHFHG over 1.5-2 years as needed. You know your girls best and will be able to tell how much they are understanding of the history you present. My 3 yo loves LHTH, but when we tried it with my ds at 4.5, he was ready for more than LHTH. The first half of LHFHG refers to the bible, which will be familiar to them anyhow. The more challenging part for my ds at first was getting the hang of listening to stories with few/no pictures (the Burgess storytime books), but the sections for each day are very short, which helps . For science for all the girls, you might look at The Big Book of God's Amazing Creation: Science and Nature Activities for Ages 3 to 12. You can preview it at CBD's website, but it's cheaper on Amazon. It goes through the 7 days of creation and organizes the activities by age, and they're simple and fun. HTH

[jenntracy]

i would do LHTH in one year and then spread LHFHG over two years. Both my kids did LHTH in one year starting when they turned 3.5 yrs old. We did LHFHG over two years for my son since his b-dy is in October. We did the right side the year he turned 5 in October and this past fall we started the left side and added the next level of reading, math, and our own storytime selections, handwriting and phonics book. My daughter will be 5 .5 when we start LHFHG in fall so we will do LHFHG in probably one year.

i don't have any other expertise than that.

Jenn D.

[mommy3]

Thank you everyone! I was also leaning in that direction (starting LHFHG when my twins are 4) so I really aprreciate everyone's advice on what's worked for them. I looked at The Big Book of God's Amazing Creation online and it looks as though that would be a great book for science until all 3 girls are ready for LHFHG. Thank you so much or the suggestion!

[my3sons]

Well, it looks like you have it all figured out and have a good plan already in place, so I'll just welcome you to the HOD Board. Thanks for telling us about your dc - they sound precious. I think you'll enjoy doing LHTH with them, and Mom2Monkeys had some wonderful ideas for extending LHTH if you desire to do so. When you get to LHFHG, we have all sorts of ideas for going half-speed and would love to help you with that when that time comes. I am my3sons and did LHFHG half-speed and really enjoyed it. We look forward to getting to know you here, and you made an excellent choice when you chose HOD! It has blessed our family immeasurably.

In Christ,
Julie