When do most start LHTH?

[inHistiming]

I am not planning to start with my little one anytime soon, she won't even be 2 until March, but I am wondering when most of you start LHTH with your preschoolers. We have had quite the fall and still have a move to go after the first of the year....will finally get settled after that (hopefully!). Do you begin very slowly and do this over a couple of years or do you move through the program and then repeat it before starting LHFHG? Like I said, it's WAY early for this for us, but I'm curious. Thanks for any suggestions you can offer.

[tobiasmom]

I'm brand new to HOD. I will be starting LHTH with my just-turned 3-year-old son in January. I plan to do one lesson every two weeks (so three days one week and two days the next maybe) and supplement with lots of reading the other days (I have the Sonlight P3/4 books and BFIAR books). We will start LHFHG when he turns 5. I tried to start LHTH when he turned 2, but he just wasn't ready to pay attention at all! ha. I can tell that he's much more ready in just one short year!

Amy

[Mommamo]

I used LHTH when I taught the preschool class at church, so my ds got LHTH then, but we really started LHTH when he was 4 and dd 2. We are spreading each unit out over 2 weeks by using both Bibles and both devotional books. We sort of do the left column one day, right column the next. I have started adding some very gentle math with him and will add some phonics when I feel he's ready.

Anyway, I think there are lots of ways you can use LHTH. I may repeat it with dd when we finally finish, or I may just let her go into LHFHG, depending on where she is at that time. She'll be 4 when we finish LHTH this time through.

[countrymom]

We started when our son had just turned 3 with the plan to tweak it and repeat with a few additions such as the Explode the Code books, Handwriting without Tears, etc. We are repeating, but in retrospect I would skip that plan and do it at halfspeed instead, BUT when considering my particular child I should have just waited until he was 4 and started 1/2 speed, eventually to full speed. All that to say I think it varies greatly between children, but if starting young I would go 1/2 speed based on my experience.

[inHistiming]

Well, we have had so many changes in the last few years I am not planning anything, really, at this point. However, I am expecting that I will be combining my two youngest when the time comes. They are currently 21 months and 2 months, so not soon at all. I'm guessing we will wait until my older dd is 5 and the younger 3.5, but who knows? Anyway, just thought I would ask. Thanks.

[jenntracy]

Both my eldest started at 3.5 yrs. That is the plan with the 3rd child. She seems like she will be ready. I started b/c they showed interest. If not i would have waited and just continued to read books and not "formally" do lessons.

Jenn D.

[Carrie]

I started my second oldest son at age 4, because I didn't have LHTH written until then! We did it full-speed in one year. I started each of my next two little guys when they were 3 - doing LHTH half-speed. Then, I finished whatever we had left during the following year when they were 4 and headed into LHFHG at age 5.

Blessings,
Carrie

[4littleones]

We are doing LHTH with a 2 year old and an almost 5 year old. The 2 year old is hardly ready for it, and the 4 1/2 one knows many things already. I do it mainly because I want to give the little ones some concentrated mummy time. I have a 7 yo and an 8 yo doing Beyond, and it is very easy for me to get sucked into doing school with the two big ones and ignore the two little ones.

The 2 yo loves the fingerplay and the 4 1/2 loves the activities, so I have happy customers all around. Even the two big ones join in the fun!

Esther

[my4sugars]

My youngest ds just turned 4 about a month ago, and we started LHTH about 2 weeks ago. He was asking for "his" school, so I obliged. He loves it! Most days he is raring to go and insisting that I "do his school" first. About once or twice a week, he shows no interest and just wants to spend his day his way. It will take us until the end of next year sometime to finish, but I'm fine with that. He seems to be "ready" for more than my other 3 older ones were at the same age. He is 4 yrs younger than his twin sisters and 6 years younger than his brother, and we have been homeschooling since he was a baby. Having LHTH has empowered him a bit and has gone a long way towards helping him feel as "grown" up as the others. Now we all "do school with Mama".

[mamaduke]

I did Little Hands with my first when he was 5. He is figidity and typical boy in small motor skill development, slow and more interested in building forts. I found this guide was a perfect fit, but I did spend MUCH more time each day on the lessons that what is suggested. His personality wanted to take the idea and do it his way, or do it again and again. Like the drama. He wanted to keep going acting out more of the Bible Stories and do it over and over. He loves the acting out part. Also we would look up the actual scripture each day after reading the Bible story book and discuss. It was so edifying for me too that way. At 6 we moved into LHFHG and now at 7 he is in Beyond. I think this has been a good fit for him. I was in no hurry to rush academics and we read outloud often, and had been teaching him letter sounds and numbers and such anyway on our own. We didn't really know about homeschool preschool before I started looked for a kindergarten program.

Now, my twin girls, who are 4, seemed so much more ready this fall than he was at that age. So, I decided to start them on Little Hands. They are doing great with it. Full speed is perfect. They don't need to draw out the lessons. We move through it quickly and find it a good fit for them. So I plan to start them in LHFHG when they are 5.

It's so flexible. I think the child makes all the difference, even boy vs. girl.

Now, my next is a boy, at 2 he likes to mimic the fingerplays, and try to do the activity but mostly he is just playing. I'll formally start him either at 4 or 5. Depending on his interest.

Hope all this helps.

[my3sons]

I started my oldest when he was 4 yo - Carrie had just written LHTH then! My next ds I started at 3 1/2, and this last ds at 3 yo. I guess I have a starting younger trend going. Honestly though, I would start it anytime between 3 and 5 and feel fine with that. I guess I start it when it seems easier just to do LHTH rather than not to do it. With my oldest 2 dc, I did LHTH in a year, but with my youngest I'll take 2 years. Little ones are pretty flexible, so I base it on whether it's going to make my day easier or harder. For my last one, doing LHTH was easier than not doing it, because it was so clearly what my ds was ready for and wanting. I think for dc that love to play independently that are younger, I'd honestly just let them happily play and not start LHTH until they were more ready for sit-down time with me. My first one was that way, but my last 2 were not. They wanted ME more, wanted to do SCHOOL more, and knew their letters/numbers quite early - so that all seemed to point to just starting LHTH, which we did and enjoyed. Once they started LHTH, they were happy to play more independently after we'd done school together. If you start younger, and it's making life harder because a child is just not ready for it, then it's easier to set it aside and come back to it IMO. If you start younger, and it's going very well, it gives the benefit of going half-speed for awhile with future guides, because being on the younger target age ranges gives that leeway. I've enjoyed that benefit with my middle ds especially. HTH as you consider what you'd like to do!

In Christ,
Julie