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Well, this is the last day of our first week and I must say, I have struggled alot this week. Monday was stressful, but we got through it. Tuesday we didn't get finished until 8:30, Wednesday it was 6:30 and yesterday it was 4:30. Maybe today it will be 2:30 I had tried my son, who will be 6 in 2 months, with Little Hearts and figured we'd go half speed, then I read of other boys the same age who went full speed just fine...so I figured we could do it too Well, not so much. Then I backed down to half speed and it is still a struggle. He wants to do the Kindergarten handwriting, Do it Carefully and Early Bird Math...but getting him to sit still through History and Storytime and anything else not hands-on is pretty much impossible. Bigger is going well with my 3rd grader...she is challenged but not too much. I really like the program itself, but I think my stress comes in when I am struggling with my son. My 4year old girl is liking the Rod and Staff Pre-K program which was super cheap...so I wondered if I should back off the Little Hearts for ds and do that program with him...but I think it is a little below his level and he would be bored.,, So I need some feedback. I was thinking maybe I'll just do the Kindergarten parts of Little Hearts (i.e. The World God Made, Kindergarten Math and Handwriting , The Reading Lesson- leaving off History) and then next year when we do 1st grade, I'll go through Little Hearts again, but bump it up to the 1st grade Science, Math and Handwriting books and do history then. Has anyone done that with their Kindergartener? Does any one think it's a bad idea? I think I just need some encouragement. My husband has been traveling so much lately for work, my quiet time has been non-existent so I feel drained spiritually and every other way. I think I'm too tired to try to figure this out on my own. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!

First off, (((hugs))) It sounds like you have had a really stressful week! I don't think it would be a problem at all to just do the kindergarten options of LHFHG this year and wait on doing the full LHFHG program until next year. It sounds like maybe your son isn't quite ready for everything yet and that is fine. We used LHFHG as a first grade program. The only thing I'm not for sure about is whether or not you would want to do the science this year as well. Though it would be a different book choice for kindergarten and first grade, the explorations would be the same both years. I'm not for sure if that repetition would be too much or not and the explorations are loosely linked to the history so they would be better done when doing the history, I think. We didn't use LHTH, but that might be an option for your son. From what I've read on here, it is very hands on and the dc really love it. Maybe that would be a better fit? Just trying to brainstorm a little with you.

Happy2bMommyof3 wrote:but getting him to sit still through History and Storytime and anything else not hands-on is pretty much impossible.

Might I suggest you give him Puzzle bits or legos, k-nects or a squishy ball for him to fiddle with while you read to him. Allow him to fidget and or roll around on floor, walk up an down while you read to him, and see how he does. If he's a kinetic learner making him sit still for the reading is shutting off his brain . he wants to learn so he wiggles. He is only 6, sitting still can come later. When I was little and I had to sit still to learn. All I was thinking about is I must sit still *fidget* no No I must sit still *wigggle* No No sit still sit still. The words being read to me just went in one ear and out the other. My inner monologue was to loud.

I would do sitting still training as a separate entity I'm going to set the time for 2 min and you need to sit still for that time. Then we will have snack...

hope that helps.
Tansy

Heather,

First off, I'm so glad that your daughter is doing well in Bigger Hearts! Getting her correctly placed is actually very important. So, you have a great start with her! Next, if you're new to HOD it can take a bit of time to get a couple of programs going, so it's good to allow yourself some grace there. It does sound like from what you've shared that your 6 year old is not quite ready for all of the meat of LHFGH, so there's nothing wrong with just doing the phonics, math, handwriting, and Rod and Staff workbooks with him this year. Then, next year, he could head into all of LHFHG with the first grade options.

In all honesty, the Bigger Hearts year is an important teaching year that will really pay off big dividends in independence in later HOD years. So from my perspective, that's a good place to put your focus this year. Then, you'll also have your 6 year old's most important bases covered with the phonics, math, handwriting, and fine motor skills workbooks.

I'm wondering if you are using one of the phonics programs recommended in LHFHG or are using your own? While you can easily use your own phonics, many phonics programs add quite a bit of time to your day. If you're going too long with your 6 year old, you may wish to give The Reading Lesson a look. It is short and sweet and gets the job done, taking about 15 minutes a day. It is also open and go. Just a thought.

I'm also wondering if you are using the Singapore math that goes with LHFHG? While you can again use your own math, it often adds time to your day. The Singapore math that goes with LHFHG takes 15 minutes a day. So, if you do go the HOD route in phonics, math, handwriting, and fine motor skills, you can expect all of those areas to add about 40 minutes total to your day for your 6 year old, which is very doable.

One last thing you could consider would be to do LHTH with both your younger child while having your 6 year old be the helper. LHTH takes 30 minutes a day and would give your 6 year old a healthy dose of the Scripture. So, by doing LHTH and the recommendations I listed above, your 6 year old's school day would last 70-75 min. total, and you'd also have your preschooler done during that time.

Just a thought! I wouldn't pull your 6 year old through LHFHG, as there is much to enjoy within it. Just let him grow up a bit, and I think you'll find a year of maturity does wonders!


Blessings,
Carrie

Thank you, Patty, Tansy and Carrie for your help, encouragement and insight. Providentially, after my first post, the Lord caused my smaller children to suddenly decide to play quietly in their rooms while my older wourks on some independent things in my room and I was able to spend about 30 minutes uninterrupted with HIM!!! I feel so much better and with the perspective that He gave me in those short minutes, added with the wisdom I've just read on here, I have some clarity now. To answer some questions, I am using the Kindergarten HOD recommendations, i.e. Singapore, Handwriting...and The Reading Lesson should be here next week for us to start. I did try LHTH for 2 years straight with the younger ones, but for some reason it didn't click well with my kiddos, so I don't have it anymore.

I do feel confident with what to do now. With the 5 y.o. I will do EarlyBird Singapore, Kindergarten Handwriting, The World God made for exploration, The Reading Lesson and Rod and Staff Workbooks as a daily Routine. My 4 y.o. has a weekly Memory Verse with her Rod and Staff which they can both memorize, plus we also study the shorter catechism. I'm just going to leave the other things off until next year and try to do Little Hearts for 1st Grade full speed.

Thank you all again so much...now I can welcome my husband home this evening without loading him down with all of these problems and we can enjoy our weekend together as a family before he leaves again on Monday.

Thank you again so much!!

Oh wow, how you sound like me! I worried and fussed for weeks about what to do with my ds...he's in the same boat. I am so glad that you found some peace. I think that you will enjoy TRL, it's going well for us. The lessons go very quickly, so ds gets a sense of accomplishment and he understands that we will be moving right along to something else soon, so he doesn't give me such a fuss.

One thing I have found about myself is I have a tendency to think of my Noah as "almost 6", instead of letting him be 5. I know this may sound silly, but I think that it has profound effect on my expectations of him. With his late birthday, I am always feeling like he is behind his peers, most of whom started K last year. This is something that I am really working to overcome. I do not want to compare him to the others around, bc he is really doing great! All that to say that I encourage you in what you are doing and you are not alone in your struggles. Praise the Lord for helping you figure it out! Have a great weekend with your family.

My younger son could not have done Little Hearts as a Kindergartener, either. We didn't even know about HOD then, so it wasn't an issue for us. We started him in Little Hearts at the age of 6 (a young 6) in 1st grade and he soared with it! He loved every second of it. And the progress we made in Little Hearts has prepared us well for Beyond. We just finished week two today and he is still loving every second of his time with Beyond! (me too). Your plan sounds great. Getting him started with the Kindergarten options (Singapore math, the reading lesson, God's Wonderful Works, etc) gets him ready to use the wonderful materials later on when he does Little Hearts as a 1st grader!

Wow, Donna, my "almost 6" year old is a Noah too! I think you're right. The age thing has me losing my contentment with letting him be who he is since he's behind most of his peers too. Thank you for your encouragement and for bringing that to my attention. I wasn't fully conscious that I was struggling with that. Here's to letting them be "just 5"!!

Thanks!

Heather,

Your plan sounds great! In fact, it is what we have done/are doing. This past year I just had my ds do the Fine Motor Skills box, Math box and phonics from LHFHG. It usually took about 30 minutes a day and he really enjoyed it! This year we are going to be starting LHFHG as written (1/2 speed) with the first grade options...and we are only 1/2 through The Reading Lesson, so we will continue with that. This schedule has worked out perfectly for us (so far), and he likes school and is ready to add more. If I had done everything last year with him, before he was ready, I don't think he would like school...and that would be a whole other set of problems!

Here's to a great year!

I'm doing LHTH with my 5.5 yo (girl who is perfectly able to sit still) with the K-level basics from the right side of LHFHG to have her combined with my 3.5yo who is just doing LHTH.

We will be starting LHFHG half speed in January with 1st grade options for my then 6yo and K options for my then 4 yo (except science will likely be 1st grade)

Hi again Heather...just had your family on my mind as I was catching up here. How did your week go?

Thank you all for your encouragement. MommaDonna, my week was so much better. You're advice really helped me. When I started viewing my son as "just 5" instead of "almost 6". My whole perspective changed! The Lord is good! We are doing the science page by page from the beginning at his pace, started TRL and he read the word "at" by himself yesterday. He said "What?? I just read a word!!!" We are doing the rod and staff, handwriting and math and he is loving it! I was able to add in shorter catechism and start him memorizing the beattitudes instead of the planned memory work. He loves the memory work so much he'll come up to me and ask me to ask him what his memory verse is!!

I hope to go through the guide as written next year with the 1st grade books and just enjoy this year with him as he enjoys it as well. Things are great. Thanks again for talking me down from the cliff!!