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I am new to HOD, and I will be starting Beyond soon with my first grader. I have a question about next year though. I have 4 year old who will be in k5 next year. Should I start him in Little Hearts or should I spread out Beyond for my oldest this year so they can be doing the same thing next year? I don't want to give either too much or too little, but would love for them to be doing the same thing.

Hi, and welcome to HOD!

This probably isn't what you want to hear since you're ready to start Beyond, but if you're interested in combining then I would recommend starting with LHFHG. It has K and 1st grade options. I used it for my children when they were ages 5-7, and they LOVED it. It's a great program and a wonderful introduction to CM.

Just my 2 cents.

Julie

I agree with Julie, and that's because I DID start Beyond with my 1st grader and realized on the 2nd day that it was going to be too much for him. We've now switched to Little Hearts and are loving it. I also have a 4.5 year old. At this point I'm not planning to combine the two because my daughter is just not ready to sit still for all the reading yet, nor is she ready for the handwriting so she is doing Little Hands. But if that's your plan eventually, I would do Little Hearts with your 1st grader now.

I agree that if you want to eventually combine I would do Little Hearts this year with your first grader, maybe even half speed, then next year your K'er could do it full speed.. by the end of the year both would be going full speed together.

I've got my 5 and 3yos combined... my 5yo would be starting K this fall... they are doing LHTH right now through December (we started in January) and in January of next year we'll be starting LHFHG and go half speed until my then 4yo is ready for full speed.... I'm planning right now to go half speed for about 20 units, which should take us about a full 12 months with the different breaks we take, and then do the rest full speed 4 days a week, which should put both of them in the age range (roughly) for Beyond when we get through with Little Hearts.