Is it ok to substitute Potter for Burgess?

[christina101902]

Hello Again,

We are almost set to embark on our HOD journey. I am taking the advice of others for my 4 year old, to do LHTH combined with the right side of LHFHG. I am concerned in looking over the reading, I think the Burgess books will not interest her, due to lack of color and Illustrations. Would it be okay to substitute with Beatrix Potter stories, I have a fully illustrated set? Then the following year go back to the Burgess books when we do the complete LHFHG for 1st grade. Has anyone else done this, or have any other suggestions for books that will follow nicely with the curriculum?

Thank you,
Christina

[creativemommy]

We have read the Potter books outside of our school time and my kids enjoy them (ds is 6, dd is 3). I think you could easily use those to read out loud to your daughter for the storytime box while you do LHTH. The purpose of storytime (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) is to have the kids listen to good literature, comprehend & recall what's been read, sequence events in the reading, add words to their vocabulary, etc... I know with the Burgess books there are often character lessons woven in by what Carrie has suggested in the LHFHG guide. We have LOVED reading through the Burgess books this year for my son. I will say that my daughter (3 1/2) will often listen in when I'm reading the Burgess books. She doesn't pick up everything, so I think I would wait to read those to your daughter until she's in the LHFHG being 5 or older. (My 3 year old is loving LHTH this year.)

[jenntracy]

i think the Beatrice Potter books would be fine to read. My kids like those books too and they are similar to the Burgess in that they have animals with adventures. I say "go for it".

Jenn D.

[Shawneinfl]

Okay, don't laugh, but when I first read the title of your post I thought, "why would anyone substitute Harry Potter for Burgess"?

[Carrie]

Christina,

I'll link you to a past thread that will help you as you ponder: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=126

Make sure to read it all the way to the end, as the original poster updated it with her experiences. This is not a topic in which you are alone! It's important to note that another focus of the Burgess books (beside the many already listed in the thread I linked and listed in this thread) is to move kiddos away from needing the pictures and getting them to listen to the words to paint the pictures in their minds instead. This will be a necessary skill for kiddos to have as they move into Beyond and up.

When substituting your own reading material at the Little Hearts level, you'll also be left to come up with your own plans for storytime that meet the skills found within the LHFHG guide in that area. Otherwise, it will be just another read-aloud session without the preparatory skills. While I do dearly love the illustrated Beatrix Potter book to which you are referring, and have read it to my own kiddos, it serves a different purpose than the Burgess books do as the Beatrix Potter book is fully illustrated with multiple pictures on every page and is in full-color. It requires less thinking and more looking to follow a fully illustrated book than to follow the storyline within a chapter book.

The Burgess books are meant to be an intermediate stepping stone into the higher level listening required in full-blown chapter books. The Burgess books also have short chapters perfect for short attention spans and work well in bite-sized sessions for learning beginning narration skills. Should you choose to use them, you'll be amazed at how much your child will grow in these areas as you read the books throughout the year. Just some food for thought.

Blessings,
Carrie

[MommyMc]

I haven't done the lower levels of HOD, but Carrie seems to be very wise in these areas.

And, if it helps at all, my 4 yo and my 3 yo LOVE the Burgess books! We have had them since my 10 yo was little and the younger ones REALLY enjoy them.

Once again, we've been using what Carrie does before I found HOD. She just coordinates it so nicely. Seeing the areas of "agreement" that we have in books and curriculum lines, makes me more comfortable to settle here after 7 years of "doing it myself."

[ncmomof5]

Shawne,

I'm sorry, but I laughed right out loud when I read your post. That is too funny.

[ncmomof5]

Carrie,

Thanks for the link back to that post. I, too, have a 5.5 year ds, and I was wondering if it was worth it to keep pressing on with Burgess. He still doesn't seem to get much from it, but from listening to all of you who have had experience in this, I know this is a learning curve that will straighten out as the time goes by.

[Kathleen]

Hello Again,

We are almost set to embark on our HOD journey. I am taking the advice of others for my 4 year old, to do LHTH combined with the right side of LHFHG. I am concerned in looking over the reading, I think the Burgess books will not interest her, due to lack of color and Illustrations. Would it be okay to substitute with Beatrix Potter stories, I have a fully illustrated set? Then the following year go back to the Burgess books when we do the complete LHFHG for 1st grade. Has anyone else done this, or have any other suggestions for books that will follow nicely with the curriculum?

Thank you,
Christina

Hi Christina!

I think that you would be fine to add in just the math, phonics, & fine motor skills to LHTH this year. (That's what you're asking right? ) I think most moms wait to do the storytime plans in LHFHG until they really do LHFHG with their child. And, choosing to read some other good books to your child would be a great thing to do, too! I don't think you'll find anything that really "matches" the storytime box as it has questions and ideas for acting things out that are straight from the Burgess books...but you'll get to them the following year, right?

I think that when Carrie responded to your question she was thinking you were planning on skipping the Burgess books entirely. We are really loving them at our house!
Kathleen

[my3sons]

Yes, I agree with Kathleen. Carrie is so swamped right now, I think she read this quickly and thought you were opting out of doing the LHFHG Storytime plans forever. I think as long as when you do LHFHG as your core program you do the Burgess books along with it, you'll be fine. I definitely would do them then though. This part in the Introduction explains it well:

Each book is ideal for reading aloud because it centers on one main
character and the many different problems the character encounters.
Children will get to know the characters on a deeper level and will
eagerly anticipate what might happen next. Each unit includes the
following language activities in coordination with the read-aloud assignments:
*Day 1: basic comprehension discussion questions
*Day 2: retelling the story in a variety of ways
*Day 3: critical thinking questions including some vocabulary discussion
*Day 4: early writing practice emphasizing names and simple words
*Day 5: moral connection questions with personal application

It is pretty tough to recreate the learning of all of these skills on our own, which is why using the HOD Storytime books for LHFHG is so important. These skills were a huge help to the harder skills taught in Beyond. HTH for anyone else who may be doing LHFHG as a core and wondering about the Burgess books. They are wonderful, BTW, and learning to listen attentively to books with fewer pictures is a very important skill as dc age.

In Christ,
Julie

[christina101902]

Thank you Kathleen and Julie for clarifying. I was a little confused by what Carrie had written. Kathleen, I think your right just boycott the storytime box til we do it again in first grade, then we will read the Burgess books. Right now, we read several books a day and will just continue to do so. So right now the plan is to do LHTH fully, with the addition of the right side of LHFHG excluding "storytime", and just read storybooks throughout our day. I believe that this plan will work for her, if not Ill be back to the message board with more questions.

Christina

[jenntracy]

yes, i guess i should have clarified that i didnt mean to skip the Burgess books because they are great. Just that if you wanted something like them to read to your kids now, the Potter books are great stories and since they are on your shelf, you might as well read them, right? So have fun having a different storytime at this age.

JEnn d.

[christina101902]

ty Jenn D. I have my own lil library going, I have been buying childrens books before I even conceived my daughter so we have lots to choose from to fill our storytime, she loves goldilocks and the three bears and the little red hen, atm. So we will enjoy the next 33 weeks of LHTH filled with family favorites and then move on to Thornton Burgess which begins her 1st grade learning with LHFHG .

[Tansy]

I started my adoptee out at age 6 on little hands to heaven, took us about 3 months, then I took her to Little hearts, her english was poor and we were still doing math in Chinese at that time. But even when her comprehension was low she got the stories even at the very beginning, I didn't even make her do much narration (language barrier) but I would let her act out what she remembered. As the year progressed she developed a wonderful habit. Asking Mom "What does that word mean?" by 12 months people/social workers were astonished at her grasp of the english language, she was extremely articulate and loves to use big words, Is never afraid to ask Mom I don't get it. I'm sure this is a direct result of Literature poured into her ears.

In the beginning she didn't get the books but by our one year anniversary we had purchased Sammy Skunk and a few extra burgess books for her own pleasure since she loved the characters in the stories so much. My suggestion would be to take them in small bites and give them a try. You maybe surprised at how your daughter responds.

A few weeks/month ago I needed a mystery for the read aloud portion I forgot my book list *gasp* so I ended up asking the librarian for a book for this read aloud. She kept directing my feet to the 3rd grade lvl stuff. She didn't want too go to far over my child's head. So we got one of those books.. My kid liked it but was quite bored with it as it was "not interesting enough". So I switched back over to a mystery at a 6th grade lvl She was much happier. And we had a blast with it.

[Carrie]

Christina,

As it's a new day now, and I'm checking the board over lunch, I have realized (to my chagrin) that I mis-read the question found within your post. Thank you, ladies, for graciously clarifying for me. I aplogize for the confusion.

I'm beyond sleep-deprived right now as we're still battling bronchitis with my little guy, which has turned toward pneumonia, and still have the rest of the kiddos coughing with ear or sinus infections. I've been sick myself and should have waited to respond until my head was a bit clearer.

Anyway, the ladies have done a terrific job of helping you! Thank goodness! For your time in LHTH, the Beatrix Potter book will be a treasure as a read-aloud.

Blessings,
Carrie