For dc that barely misses cut off for K...

[Mom2Monkeys]

Where do you start? In planning how to start my middle ds and what pace to take with him to ease my time burden, I've realized my youngest has me confused.
He has a late September birthday. In Arkansas they have to go to K if they turn 5 by Aug. 1....he'll turn 6 as soon as we start K. So, should I start K (LHFHG) with him at 6 or should I start it when he's actually 5 (and still call him Pre-K so he doesn't skip a grade). Right now, at 2.5 he already knows all uppercase letters and most lowercase, some sounds, and can count to 12.

My thoughts were: (we will probably school year round)
Age 5/Pre-K, LHTH w/K math/phonics
Age 6/K, LHFHG w/1st math, continue phonics or slowly begin emerging readers-
Age 7/1st Beyond; Finish Sing. math 1, start 2- emerging readers or DITHOR 2 slowly-
Age 8/2nd Bigger, Finish Math 2, Start 3- DITHOR 2/3 slowly
Age 9/3rd Preparing, Finish Math 3, Start 4- con't DITHOR (3 or 4??)
Age 10,11,12,13/Gr.4,5,6,7- HFHTT guides

OR

5/PK- LHFHG 1/2 pace w/K math/phonics
6/K- LHFHG 2nd half w/1st math/phonics or emerg. readers
rest is the same as above

OR ?????

[inHistiming]

I am planning to start my ds (5 now) in LHFHG in the fall when he's 6 as a kindergartener. That way he will complete all the guides through 8th grade by the 8th grade. We began using LHTH in the fall as a pre-k/k trial year, just to see how he does with school. He's doing handwriting and EB singapore math, so next year will be using the 1st grade resources that are suggested with LHFHG. We have not actually gotten very far into LHTH..but if we don't finish I'm not worried. We should actually be able to get through it over the summer while the olders are on break. We are also using RME...but sporadically...so I expect to have to start over with that and finish with it sometime within our school year next year...then begin the emergent reader's set in Beyond... Does any of that make sense?

[Mom2Monkeys]

So do you feel they should be able to handle Singapore Math a grade ahead due to their age (considering most kids are going into 1st, not K as 6yo's)? I would feel a little weird starting him in SM 1A/B in K, but he will be 6...so I guess that's right. DD7 is in SM2 now but in 2nd grade. I think Math and LA are my biggest concerns, as well as timing the guides right. I don't want to hold him back or push him ahead...

Also, I'm doing phonics with my current 5yo ds who missed the cutoff by quite a bit more, but still will be a little older than some in K. He'll be 5.5 starting K...anyway, we're doing ClickNKids phonics now, and he's doing WONDERFULLY...after we finish this, which could be before we start K or part way through it, what do I do afterwards...K seems a little too young for emerging readers (and DITHOR 2/3 too much for 1st even if he is 7). If my youngest ds does the same when he's 5/PK and we finish our K phonics in PK, do we do the emerg. readers in K when he's 6?

I have so many questions about what to expect from your average 5-7yo/K-2 dc even though my oldest is 7 now...she kinda messed up my perspective by being so incredibly smart ...she was reading emerging reader type books when she was 4.5 or 5 after 6 weeks of phonics instruction (I only covered 6 letters!) She just "gets it" in pretty much every subject...I don't know what to expect with my boys or when to expect it! LOL I feel like a new homeschool mom when it comes to my boys.

[Carrie]

Mom2Monkeys,

I would start your little guy in LHFHG whenever he is ready according to the skills chart. Last year, my third little guy started LHFHG as a just turned 5 year old, however we started at half-speed. Mid-year he was ready to bump up to full-speed, but I left him at half-speed to finish the year (because I didn't want to rework all of my others kiddos schedules to accomodate a switch). This year he is 6 and doing LFHGH full-speed.

For his first year of LHFHG, he was technically a pre-K child. This year he is technically a Kindergartener, except he'll be heading into Beyond already near the end of the year. I don't let the grade I have designated my child to be for "state purposes" dictate the level of HOD I use with him. Does that make any sense?

With phonics, you will want to make sure you finish going through a full phonics program before moving on to the Emerging Reader's Set. If your current computer program doesn't go all the way through all the 3 letter blends and the rest of the vowel diagraphs, you'll want to supplement with something to finish phonics. You could use either of the phonics programs we carry, or use Explode the Code, or use your own combination to finish out the phonics instruction.

With math, you will just use whatever comes next in the Singapore cycle. If your son has completed Earlybird math, then you'd move onto 1A/1B. I'd recommend using the activities in Beyond with it (which will work well as you already have the Beyond guide). You may also find that your son is ready for the gentle spelling lessons from List 1 in Beyond, along with LHFHG too. That is no problem as he can do List 2 the following year when you do all of Beyond.

This is why we provide 2 levels of language arts and math in our guides. It helps meet kiddos where they're at in those areas.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Mommamo]

I have one of those kiddos too. She misses the cut-off date for public school here by 3 weeks. She was reading CVC words at 3 and she has always enjoyed being read to aloud (I read her Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, and a bunch of others starting at 2 1/2) so I went ahead and started her with LHFHG last May when she was still 4. Now keep in mind that she isn't "supposed" to start Kindergarten until next fall, but she was ready according to skill level, so I went ahead and started her.

I am a super planner, so what I'm about to say goes against every fiber of my being, but here's what I am doing anyway. I'm just taking it guide at a time and going with the flow. We are schooling year round, and we started early, so I'm not worried about getting everything in. I'm also not worried about getting done with all of Carrie's guides early, because I can always improvise something for a year or two if I need to. I'm just meeting my dd's needs with the curriculum that is the best fit for her at this time.

We just finished LHFHG Friday. She did fabulously! She also finished Singapore 1A (using the activities in the Beyond guide) on Friday too. So she is WAY ahead in math. I mention this only because it was a concern that you mention. She is now basically 2 grades ahead (since she is supposed to be in Pre-K) but again, we're just meeting her at her level so I'm not too hung up on grade level. I feel like there will probably be a point where we need to slow down our pace, but since she enjoys it, we're going at her pace. We're starting Beyond after we take a month or two break, and will be doing it half speed for a while. She will, I'm sure, be doing the Emerging Readers as what is supposed to be a Kindergartener, and will be doing DITHOR, most likely, as what is supposed to be a first grader, but really I'm not worried at all about any of this. Our dc with "late" birthdays may be "ahead," but I think the beauty of homeschooling is being able to tailor fit the curriculum for our children. This is why our family is homeschooling, to be honest. Being able to incoporate Bible into all we do is icing on the cake for us, but we chose to homeschool because we wanted to be able to meet our kiddos on their level. And I think this flexibility is also part of the beauty of HOD.

Sorry about the rambling, but I just wanted to let you know that I am in the exact same situation as you, and I wanted you to see what we were doing. I truly wouldn't worry too much about planning, and I wouldn't worry about "grades." I would just pick the curriculum that fits with your dc the best and go from there.

[Jacey'sMom]

We are in the same boat. I started dd in August when she was still 4 with LHFHG. Here in Hawaii you have to be 5 by the time school starts (I believe) to enter kindergarten. She turned 5 in November. She loves it and is ahead in many of the subjects to the lesson plan. I agree with pp's, go with the skill chart and adapt as you go along you will soon see if you need to go half pace, or not.

Jodi
Mom to Jacey (5) and Ethan (2)

[icul8rg8r]

I'd say wait another couple of years before worrying about which way to go and when. That's hard, I know - I've been researching since my kids were 2 years old, as well and wanted it all planned out in advance!!

I have two dc very close in age (only 6 months apart) and of course I plan to hs them together as much as possible. My dd turned 5 last month in Jan; my ds will be 5 in July. If they were going to attend Public School, I would hold my son back so they weren't in the same grade and competing against each other. DS is also a very little guy - at least a head shorter than other kiddos his age, not to mention a little immature socially - as most boys are at that age! Letting him start K after he just turns 6 (instead of justing barely being 5) would be setting him up to succeed (instead of struggling to keep up) and he'd be that much MORE prepared and ready for K.

Back to homeschooling - I started LHTH back in Sept (when they were 4 and 4 1/2) - dd loved it; my ds showed absolutely NO interest. So we took it very slow (letting her do workbooks to supplement) and just started up again in Jan and now ds is "liking" it (can't say he's loving it like her, but he's doing okay as long as he has something in his hands). So when they finish LHTH - whenever that will be (ha!) - we'll go on the next level - I'm not going to sweat it. And most likely I'll continue supplement dd with additional workbooks (she's zipping thru the R&S Pre-K / K workbooks and anything I find at Walmart/Target!). DS is NOT a workbook type of student AT ALL!

Believe me, it will all come together and you'll start to see their learning styles really begin to shine when they are closer to 5 y/o. Good luck!