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I just recieved LHFHG in the mail for my dd for next Fall. It looks great, but I am a little concerned that it may be too much for her. She will be 5 in June, so she will be a young Kindy next Fall. I am wondering if I should do this with her for 1st grade instead? I know the TM says for ages 5-7, but it seems like a lot of things will be over her head. Maybe I am wrong and I am going to pray about it some more, but I just wondered if there were others who have used LHFHG for 1st grade instead of Kindergarten?

I am using it for 1st grade this coming fall.

I don't have much experience with HOD yet. (we are just going through LHTH with my preschooler right now) I know there are lots of other families here with loads of experience.

I'll be using it for my 1st grader in the fall. He's already 6 and will turn 7 in December. We're doing a little here and there now, but will start full force with 1st grade options in Aug/Sept. I think it's great for 1st grade! And it lands them in Bigger at 3rd, which I find to be just right.

We used LHFHG for 1st grade last year with 1st grade options for Math and it worked great for us. DS has a June birthday, too, so he was a young K.
We really loved LHGHG, are loving Beyond and looking forward to Bigger. I hope you enjoy your HOD journey as much as we do!

Amanda

Kids develop a lot in 6 months... I looked at Bigger for my son 6 months ago and it seemed like he wouldn't be able to do it in the fall. Looking at it again, I know it will be perfect for him this coming up fall.

You could also do LHFHG at 1/2 speed. I plan on using it for my 5 1/2 year old DD this fall, and I will just do it at her pace. Whenever you do it~ You will love it! we did!

I used it for 1st and I used it for K. I think it works for both so long as your child places pretty solidly for it on the placement chart. http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php That is the biggest thing getting them settled where they fit best on the chart. Then if you need to slow things down you can do it at half paced until you feel your child can do more if you need to do that. I had one that started early with LHFHG and we slowed it down for her while I added more from the appendix for my older child. So we were able to do K and 1st really at the same time. It is really very flexible. I think sometimes starting out slow is good even if they are well placed just because the way HOD teaches is different and it can take a bit for children getting used to being read to etc. anyway. So I think if you have a good fit on the placement chart you can be confident you have the right program. I hope that helps a bit. Just know that it is flexible and you can run it at your own pace if you need to do that by doing the left side one day and the right the next. Your going to love LHFHG!

I have used LHFHG for a Kindergartener and 3 1st graders. I agree with water2wine, that whether it is right for 1st or K will depend on the child. One child is fitting perfectly in it this year as a Kindergartener. But, 3 of the other kiddos needed it for first grade. And, even as 1st graders, for them, comprehension of the history book and storybooks were still a challenge. For my 1st grader doing LHFHG now, we had tried it for his K year with the 2 first graders, but had to drop him out of it because he was absolutely not ready. We dropped him back into LHTH with the K options from LHFHG, and now this year he is doing LHFHG with 1st grade options. LHTH with K options from LHFHG might be an option for you too. It worked perfectly for us.

I have also used LHFHG for 1st grade and for Kindergarten. My dd did just fine with LHFHG for K, but my son used if for 1st grade. I agree with the other ladies about looking at the placement guide for your dd. You are already doing the most important thing - praying! If you think she places in LHFHG you can always take 2 years to finish it if you wanted. Or you can do LHTH for this fall and wait!! The options are endless!! HOD is so flexible!!

I agree with the ladies so far. By fall your child may be ready for it and if not you could do half-speed and gradually go full-speed when ready for it.It all depends on the child.
We are using it for my son and taking 2 yrs to do it for "K".He is 6.5 right now. He has b-day in October. He was ready for something at that age (even though he wouldn't have gone to K that year b/c of b-day date) so we just took it slow and went full-speed when ready. We ended up picking our own story-time this year and just moving him right along in the math, phonics while adding the History side that we previously didn't do. It worked out great.

My daughter will be 5.5 in fall for "K" and having finished up LHTH she will be ready for LHFHG. i plan to do phonics with her over the summer and maybe some math.

JEnn D.

ditto to jenntracy
I did LHFHG as kindergarden, and first grade with my china girl, I started out as 1/2 speed and built up as she gained momentum. then I move into beyond as first grade I'll be using bigger as 2nd/3rd cause some where in here she is going to have to "catch up" to her age/grade lvl. But I'm not worried about which grade etc.. This child helps her 10 year old sister in 3rd grade math! Is reading at a second grade lvl. Doing first grade spelling.

I sometimes wonder What grade is she in!!!

When I found HOD and decided that I would use it, I thought, according to the placement chart, dd would do fine with Beyond. But, after hearing what others said about how the levels change in difficulty, I decided to put dd back to LHFHG. She will be in 1st and is turning 7 next month. When I received my guide for LHFHG, I was so glad I put her back. It does depend on the child like many have stated. If you feel Little Hearts will be too much for K, even though I haven't used it, I ditto the LHTH with some K options. If I would have known about HOD when dd was a little younger, I definitely would have used it. I have heard so much good about it. Just my opinion