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Hi,
I've decided to try HOD for next year and have already ordered Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory for my soon to be 6 Dd. We are really excited to start and it seems like a perfect fit for her. But I also have a son who is 3.5 so I was looking at Little Hands to Heaven for him. He is on the younger age of the program but he is already reading simple short vowel words (both my kids read early at age 3), knows colors, shapes, etc and can count to 30. So is this a good fit for him? The Bible part looks great but I'm not sure we could really use the rest of the program. The sample is only of week one so I'm not sure how much "harder" it gets as the weeks go on. I just don't want to buy a program and then use only half or maybe less than half of it.

If this is not a good fit for now, does anyone have any suggestions for this year until he is ready for Little Hearts for His Glory (which I know he is not ready for yet).

Thanks for any advice you more experienced HOD users can give me.

Carin

welcome Carin

I can't help you with the Little Hands question, except to say that even when a young child can read and has other academic advantages, they can still benefit from a program that provides the "fun" for their age level. I wouldn't deprive him of some of those fun activities that are just perfect for wiggly active little boys!

We will be starting Beyond soon as well. Look forward to sharing the journey with you!
Mel

Hi Carin,

My son was doing many of the things you stated at 4 and would have enjoyed Little Hands. My thoughts are if he is not ready for Little Hearts then have fun with Little Hands. It will prepare him for Little Hearts, will help him with his fine motor skills and allow him to do "school" learn bible stories and most of all have fun.

I will be starting Little Hands with my middle and Beyond with my oldest some time in July.

Welcome to the boards
Karen

I would agree that LHTH seems to be a good fit for your son. Even an advanced child will still enjoy it. It will give him a wonderful year to start off his "schooling" and help get him ready for LHFHG.

My son was reading at age 4 but we still did LHTH and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Enjoy it.

My son is 4.5 and is reading easy reader books and can count to 100 and he still loves his LHTH time every day. He'll ask for it if I don't get around to it fast enough. I think you're little guy will love it! I wouldn't hesitate to use it with him.

My son LOVES LHTH...the fingerplay, the Bible readings, and the letter activities, etc. I think it would be a great choice for your ds, and it only takes about 30 minutes to complete.

Hi everyone,
Thanks for your replies - it was great to hear from those of you who have used the program and can give me some great information about it. I think you've convinced me to try it

I got the materials for my oldest today and they look amazing - like what I have been searching for over the past few years. So after seeing how great that level is, I'm sure LHTH will be great as well.

Thanks again.

Carin

Hi Carin! I wanted to welcome you, too!

I've used part of LHTH with my little girl (who was 3.5 when we started). She just turned 4 today ( ), and we will continue with it in the fall. We LOVE it, and I'm sure you'd have a great time with LHTH with your son, too. I can't imagine LHTH being boring to any 3.5 yr old! The Bible stories and activities and "crafty things" are awesome! Even though your son has some of the more academic things down, I think that he'd love it anyway. He'll have the chance to use those letter sounds he knows during the letter activity. (What 3 yr old boy won't love getting to drive a car along a big masking tape G and make the sound? You just won't have to keep reminding him what the sound is if he's already good at that part.) On the counting pages, Carrie suggests having them draw and count by 2's if they've already got counting by 1's down, so that may be something you could use.

Kathleen

Carin,

When I used LHTH with my second son, he was already reading short vowel words and Bob books, yet he was really only 4 turning 5. We still did all of LHTH, even though he knew most of what was in the program.

As we used LHTH, there were so many times I was thankful for the Biblical discussions and connections that my son was making that would not have been possible without LHTH. Today, my son has just completed "Bigger..." and is heading into 4th grade! Yet, we still both remember our time spent with LHTH so fondly.

Academic-wise my second son is so strong and does well overall, so doing LHTH (even though he knew most of it) in no way held back his learning.

Hold onto the joy of those first years, as the heavier academic years come quickly enough!

Blessings,
Carrie

I could just about have written your post (except that my 3.5 yr old is the oldest--his younger brother is 2)! My ds is almost exactly where yours is, and I almost went with LHFHG at half-speed for him. I think he could do the activities, and I know he'd understand the content. But maturity-wise, I'm not sure he's ready. So I'm planning to start soon with LHTH, supplementing with phonics (Phonics Pathways, which we've already started) and adding in some other things as well (occasional lapbooking, Before Five in a Row books/activities from time to time, other misc. activities). The letter activities will be more aimed at ds 2, but I'm sure ds 1 will probably want to join in. I think we're going to have a great time!