Stuck Between LHTH & LHFHG

[mrsrandolph]

My daughter who just turned 5 seems to be stuck. We completed LHTH, but she is not ready for LHFHG. I don't feel she is mature enough for the History concepts. She does not know all of her letter names yet and almost none of their sounds.

So, I am sitting here wondering what to do with her now.

It is like she needs a Kindergarten program, but LHFHG is too advanced for her.

Suggestions?

She is VERY ready for school everyday!

[HappyMama]

Hi, I am in the exact same situation this year with my youngest ds... he did LHTH when was 4, but I just didn't feel he was ready for LHFHG this year (at the age of 5). Well, except for the math part...he is doing the Singapore Earlybird books with the activities in the LHFHG guide and that is going great. So what I decided to do was just focus on the 3 R's with him this year. He's doing the math as I mentioned, some light phonics, and the K options for fine motor skills in the LHFHG guide. Next year he'll do LHGHG as written along with the 1st grade options for fine motor skills and The Reading Lesson. Clear as mud? Oh, and I guess next year he'll be doing the math out of the Beyond guide. It's working out just fine and I'm enjoying having a "light" year with him.

ETA: Oh, and I'm reading tons and tons of books to him. He should be more than ready for the Storytime part of LHGHG next year.

[mrsrandolph]

I am thinking of doing "The Ordinary Parents Guide To Teaching Reading" with her. With math, we have been doing a workbook with number formation and counting. I am also doing HWOT with her for HW. She definitely gets plenty of books! I think I will have her start on that Doing It Carefully series, and then she can do the 1st grade book when we go in to LHFHG. Sounds Pretty Good : )

Thanks for that!

[HappyMama]

That sounds like a great plan! I'd be interested in hearing how the Ordinary Parents Guide goes when you start, I've heard lots of good things about that program. Definitely start the Rod & Staff books soon... my son is LOVING those, they're his favorite part of "school" so far.

[mommadonna]

One thing we recently added to lhfhg is the Explode the Code workbooks. My ds is really enjoying it and it is easy for him right now, so I feel like it is helping to build his confidence. We have started with Book 1, but they offer a set of Primers also that introduce the letters and their sounds.

Also, I recently read a post of Julie's that listed some things that she does with her dc to get them ready, but I don't exactly remember if she did these things before or after lhth. A couple of the things that I remember her mentioning are the Leapfrog DVDs and Kumon workbooks. I am sure there were more suggestions there if you can find the thread. Sorry I can't link you to it...haven't figured that out just yet.

Hope that helps!

[Happy2bMommyof3]

Hey Shannon,

My Noah was struggling with LHFHG so after trying to tweak this way and that way, I shut it down completely. I am reading books to him that hold his interest and I am doing the Christian Liberty Press Liberty Mathematics for K, Adventures in Phonics and Hearts and Hands. It is classical, but it is giving him the foundation he needs before moving into LHFHG. The struggle with LHFHG was not worth it for him.

Hope this Helps!

[my3sons]

Shannon - that's a good question! I am wondering if she did LHTH with the older resource options? If not, I think I'd go through it again, with a focus on really working on letter recognition and sounds. LHTH teaches dc their letters and at least one sound for each letter, so if dc finish it and don't have those skills intact, they probably could use another year of it with more difficult materials. The actions and flashcards really helped my dc learn one sound for each letter, and I used them all of the time when they began formal phonics for a cueing system. The letter activities helped my dc recognize the capital letters too, and since they use all of the learning styles, they usually cement letter recognition fairly well. Maybe you could do a modified trip through LHTH again? Doing the harder Bible and devotional, and just the fingerplays, letter flashcards/actions/ounds, and letter activities to really hone in on letter recognition and sounds? Then you could move pretty quickly through it, and probably start LHFHG then. You could add the R & S K option Workbooks now too, as pp's suggested. We also really enjoyed "The Leap Frog Letter Factoring" DVD and "Leap Frog Making Words" DVD. They are inexpensive, really fun to watch, and help dc learn their letter sounds in an easy way. HTH - LHFHG is for ages 5-7 yo, so your little sweetie has some time to get there.

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. I just noticed I have some PM's from you. I have not been checking that very regularly - sorry! I am just trying to keep up on the board, homeschooling, and holiday to-do-lists right now, but I definitely am heading over there to read and get back to you now! Sorry for the delay!

[tjswaine]

My 5 year old has a December birthday. I knew he wasn't ready for LHFHG yet, so I started LHTH, The Reading Lesson and listening in on big brother's LHFHG storytime with him in January of this year. He did wonderfully, although phonics is a bit of a struggle so we are taking it slow. After our summer break, I registered him in our province as a Kindergartener and added in the Rod and Staff workbooks, handwriting and Math from LHFHG. He also listens in on big brother's Beyond storytime. We are still taking it slow with The Reading Lesson and are on Lesson 10. We will finish LHTH in two weeks and jump into LHFHG half-speed taking 1.5 years to complete.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that IMHO not every child is ready for Kindergarten material at newly turned 5. My son wasn't. He's turning 6 soon, and has matured and progressed greatly this past year, but I am curious to see how he'll adjust with the jump from LHTH to LHFHG.

Julie's suggestions sound wonderful -- as usual!

Peace and blessings to you!