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I think at this point I am going to combine my 2yo. and 4yo. for LHTH. Do any of you do this??? The 4yo. just isn't ready for Little Hearts yet. The 2yo. loves to read and do all kinds of things....and is "ahead" for his age in several ways just from being around his older siblings all of the time. I could do LHTH and make it as "light" as need be for the 2yo. I would use The Bible in New Pictures for LIttle Eyes( i think that is the title) for the 4yo. and the Childs First Bible(i think that is the title) for the 2yo.


Anyway, do any of you do this??

Yes, I did this exact thing, the year my oldest was 4 turning 5 and my middle was 2 turning 3 (and my youngest was just born...). It sounds like a very similar situation. My 2nd is ahead verbally, learned her letters that year, is better at memorizing scripture and the references that go with them, all kinds of things. My oldest, while very smart, is a bit dreamy and more of a kinesthetic kid.

It was great because many of the activities have a slightly different twist for 2 and 3s than for 4 and 5s so I felt like I could tailor it to each of them, while still doing it together. Now this year we are doing LHFHG with my 5 (allllmost 6) YO and the 3YO really participates in a lot of it, especially the scripture memory, story time, rhyme in motion, worship, and the science/math activities. The 5YO does reading and workbooks while the 3YO is napping. It's been really fun to have them doing it together.

HTH.

I didn't combine those ages within our family, but I did for our church. I taught LHTH for 2-4 yo dc during our women's Bible study. There were some things the 2 yo dc couldn't do as well or understand as much, but it seemed to work well overall. I guess I'd think through how you'll feel about doing LHTH again with your little one, as he won't be ready for LHFHG for sure after completing LHTH. Maybe doing the first year with the 2 of them with the 2-3 yo resources would be a good idea? Then doing it again with your then 3 yo, you could use the older resources and it would feel fresh. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Liz,

The ladies have already given you such good advice. I'll just pop-in to say that you may wish to think of your 2 year old as just being along for as much as he/she can take in, but the focus of the program would be on getting the 4 year old ready for Kindergarten. So with that in mind, you could read the New Bible in Pictures to both of them as it would suit the 4 year old better (or you could instead read The Child's First Bible to both and then at the end of the session read the New Bible in Pictures story just for the older one). For the devotional, you could use Teach Them to Your Children to fit in the middle of both your children's ages, or use the youngest devotional Big Thoughts for Little People instead. All the devotionals are great for allowing even older kiddos to take something away from them!

As the year progresses, if you ever feel that your 4 year old is ready for a bit more, you could consider adding one of the phonics programs, one of the handwriting workbooks, and possibly the Rod and Staff workbooks from LHFHG (if your child seems ready in any of these areas for a bit more). In that way, you can keep the two kiddos together, yet be sure to focus most on the 4 year old's needs and preparation, just letting the two year old join in on whatever he/she can. Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Carrie