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My first ever HOD guide, LHTH, should be arriving later today via mail. According to usps.com it arrived this morning at my local sort facility. But I have this bad feeling that it won't actually be delivered today, and that would mean I wouldn't get it until Tuesday afternoon! I will be starting LHTH this Monday or Tuesday, depending on when the guide arrives. Pray that it comes today, or if it doesn't, that I can remain peaceful about the disappointment.

I hope it arrives today! But I know that sometimes packages go through the sort facility one day, and then arrive at your local PO the next day to go out for delivery. I guess it depends on how busy your sort facility is and what their schedule is. You never know though!

I hope you have your guide in hand, so we can celebrate with you! We're excited for you and pray you will enjoy LHTH as much as we are right now with our fourth little guy!

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks Carrie, I do have it hand, actually! I did come Saturday and I spent the rest of that day and my free time on Sunday poring over the guide to see all there was to see. DH and I were practically giddy with the excitement of having an HOD guide in our house, and that we're just starting on what looks to be a long, but very fun journey through our son's education.

And today was our first day! I'm trying it full speed because even though DS is not quite 3.5, I think he can handle it. He already knows all his letters, the sounds they make, and two to three letter blending. And looking through the math scope and sequence I'd say he knows 90% of it. But LHTH is so much more than pre-reading and math, and it's for all the other skills taught in the program that I purchased it. DS is not by nature a participator; he is an observer. He becomes self-conscious and, I think, unwilling to put himself in the position of making mistakes or feeling embarrassed when certain activities, like many of those scheduled in LHTH, are asked of him. But he needs to get over that, and I think LHTH will help tremendously. He did put up a bit of a fight this morning, but we kept pushing through, and when he stopped feeling uncomfortable he really did enjoy what we were doing. As the days continue, he will see that LHTH is just plain fun, and that nothing too hard, or tedious, or potentionally embarrassing is asked of him.

Oh how excited you must be! Have fun. With littles that are unsure of doing the"best", which I have two, I have found I must break up the words, actions and music into three parts. And model, model, model with mistakes and then model again, encouraging them to stand and watch nothing else is done. It took my dd (5) three weeks to decide moving was ok, and she loves to act (and her main learning style is kinetic) and my ds (7) , perfectionist, two days. Remember have fun and encourage good behavior! Isn't school fun?!

Thanks, Karen, that's great advice. I'm just focusing on just modeling the physical activities for DS, in a very animated, "Oh this is fun!" manner. I also require him to watch and not run out the room, as he is inclined to do. From time to time he'll join in, and that's good enough for me for now.

Today was our third day, and it's going better every day. DS flapped like an albatross during the fingerplay, which was new, and didn't resist at all when it was time to glue Cheerios on the letter A (and DS usually does NOT particularly enjoy art projects). He sat and listened attentively to both The New Bible in Pictures and Big Thoughts for Little People, and had no problem answering the questions. When we first opened the Bible and DS saw Adam and Eve in the picture he pointed and said, "God made people!", which I thought was cute. DH and I read another child's Bible every night with DS, and have always talked about God with DS, but DS has talked more about God and Bible things in the past three days than I think he has in his whole life.

The last two days have only taken a little over 20 minutes each, but I'm amazed at how "full" each day has felt, and how complete and satisfying, without feeling in any way long or "too much". We're so blessed here by HOD, and I pray that continues for the many schooling years to come.

Deanna,

I'm so glad to hear about your son's progress. He sounds like he is settling in and doing great! We're enjoying LHTH so much with my little guy too! He loves his special time with me when he gets mommy all to himself.

Blessings,
Carrie

I loved reading this thread! My DD (3 in Sept.) is also doing LHTH full-speed. I just love how much she talks about God, too, and how real all the Bible stories have become to her. She re-tells them to anyone who will listen. I have looked high and low, but cannot find another program like LHTH that takes so little time but is so incredibly rich. (I should add the only reason I have looked is because I am not particularly fond of repeating anything so am hesitant to use LHTH again with her as a 4 yr. old even though we do love it so much!) ENJOY!