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Hi all,
We're enjoying LHTH at our house right now, and are set to start LHFHG in the fall. DD4 was pestering me to teach her to read so we're progressing through The Reading Lesson now. It's still early, and she's mostly on CVC at this point (we're on lesson 5), but she's excited about learning (and being able to read primary readers to her little sister age 2) and moving right along. So my question is that when we start Little Hearts, do I just go ahead and buy the ER book set, or would it be best to do a little more phonics with her (like Explode The Code or Phonics Pathways or something else) because of her young age, for more practice? Has anyone done additional phonics after TRL or is it overkill?

Also, if the consensus is to move along with the emerging reader set to go along with Little Hearts, do I need to also purchase the Beyond guide for a reading schedule? Or is there a reading schedule in Little Hearts somewhere for those who are using it for 1st?

Thanks! Even though we're only on Unit 11 in LHTH we are excited about what's up next in LHFHG!
HTH,
Kristin

When you finish TRL you will be perfectly ready for the Emerging Readers. I would definitely go right into them. You need either Beyond or Bigger for the Emerging Reader schedule. Congratulations on your little reader. What a blessing.

Your little girl sounds like she's doing great! We were in a similar situation this past year, as our girls went through The Reading Lesson while in LHTH. What we ended up doing when we were finished with The Reading Lesson was to go through it again one more time- really quickly (we just started again at the beginning- set the timer for 10-15 minutes & read as many pages until the timer went off- we'd then pick up where we left off the next day). This ended up working really well for us, & only took about 2 months (during the Summer) & then we headed into The Emerging Readers- it was perfect! We also decided to get both Bibles in order to give them a chance to practice & grow a bit more in their skills. We are really enjoying the Emerging Readers now (along with most of the supplemental titles that are included with the schedule/questions that go along with the set)! We do also do some Explode the Code books, but those are not really necessary- I just like that it is something our girls can basically do on their own, while still learning.
I look forward to hearing how your year progresses, your little girl sounds a lot like my 4-year old!
Jessica

Hello! My DS is 4.5 and we just started LHFHG this week. We started a phonics program while we were doing LHTH since he was already trying to read on his own, and he is now in the 1st grade section of the phonics program. My plan is to finish the phonics program out (it goes through 2nd grade) and then go right into the Emerging readers whenever he finishes the phonics. We already started the Early Readers Bible and he is reading through that now, but after that we will read the Beginners Bible too.

The emerging readers set progresses quickly so my plan is to continue to add readers from the library, if he's not ready for the next book on the schedule. I do have the next guide and I do think it will be very beneficial while going through the emerging readers.

My 6 yo is doing Emergering Readers in LHFHG for her K year. I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for her phonics instruction, but I don't think it's that much different than The Reading Lesson. Anyway, she was able to move into Emerging Readers from that fine. We did have the summer between the two though and I had her work on reading aloud the suggested books in the back of 100 EZ.

I purchased the Beyond guide to get the schedule. ER isn't part of LHFHG. It's a great program so enjoy when you get there.

We began the ERS halfway through LHFHG and enjoyed that very much! The Beyond manual is essential (IMO), as it provides well-thought-out comprehension questions, that utilize Bloom's Taxonomy and lead dc to beginning oral narration skills. Since we started the ERS a little early, we did get both Bibles and go through them both, first The Early Reader's Bible and next The Beginner's Bible. That additional time with the ERS was perfect for my ds! I guess I always think if my dc can read a "Frog and Toad" book quite smoothly, maybe only sounding out a longer word or two on a page or two, then they are ready for the ERS. I did add Explode the Code Workbooks, just 1-3, and let them choose to do 1- 4 pages each day to lightly review phonics as they read the ERS. Worked great! HTH - and congrats on your dd's reading progress!

IN Christ,
Julie