Would this work? (a way to slow down LHFHG)

[betjte]

I am going to start Kindergarten with my daughter in the fall. She is going to be a young 5 (her birthday is in the middle of September). I know that many people say that the younger ones tend to not do so well with LHFHG and especially as they go up in guides. I don't want to overwhelm my daughter with too much school too soon! I actually bought LHTH earlier this year to do with her for preschool. However, we only did the first two weeks or so of it. My daughter was just too advanced for it. (For some of the activities, she would like at me as if to say, "Really? You want me to do that?") Although, there were other activities that she enjoyed (the art and crafts). She already knows her letters, sounds, and numbers, so all of those activities didn't go over too well.

I was laying in bed last night and had an idea. I was thinking about doing LHFHG "normally" (doing both pages in one day like how it is supposed to be done), but instead of doing it everyday only doing it every other day. On the off days, we would still do phonics, and math, but add in a few FIAR (Five in a Row) books and activities (this would be a very laid back approach to FIAR and not how it is supposed to be done at all). This way, LHFHG could stretch over two years and I wouldn't confuse myself with doing left page one day and right page another!

I would love comments about this from anyone!

Thanks,
Bethany

[3sweeties]

Hi Bethany!

I think that sounds like a great idea! I also spread out LHFHG for my second DS this past year for K and he will do the other half for most of 1st grade. He will be done sometime around Feb., so we will have to start Beyond at that point. I spread it out b/c I didn't want him to hit Bigger too soon. Anyway, it was a great fit for him. I also read extra books to him and did phonics, math, and fine motor skills every day. Your sounds like a great plan and I hope you have a wonderful year!!!

[kwickimom]

I had thought of doing it 4 days, but every other sounds great too. Thanks for the idea. I really wanted more time to read other books and I love the looks of FIAR. hmmmmmm

[my3sons]

One other thought - doing LHFHG, Beyond Little Hearts, and Bigger Hearts just 4 days a week each instead of 5 is a great way to spread out the guides and still get the consistency of learning from day to day. We have done this with our middle ds, and I have loved having the fifth day off each week. Just an idea!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Bethany,

From what you've shared about your daughter, it sounds like she will do well with LHFHG as written. I wouldn't make plans to stretch it out unless your daughter is not able to handle the pace of LHFHG. I would plan to start her at full-speed and see how she does. I also like the idea of doing it full-speed 4 days each week and taking each 5th day to do whatever you desire to cover on your "free day" each week (kind of like a Fun Friday).

As far as the activities go, each one of the activities in our guides is very purposeful, so you'll want to work to do the plans as close to the way they are written as possible. Each guide in the HOD guide line-up prepares a child well for the next guide in line, as long as the child has been expected to do what was in the previous guide.

On a sidenote, the longer I've schooled, the more I've discovered that it is so important to train kiddos to do what is asked school-wise with a cheerful spirit, thus forming the habit of doing what is required with a joyful heart. This has been an essential habit for our boys to have as they have headed into middle school and high school, as it keeps me from having to negotiate with them over the value of every activity. My boys know that they must do what is asked of them with the right spirit. We've found it is never too early to start working on forming that habit!

LHFHG only takes 90 min. a day to do, so if you do desire to add something else like FIAR to your day, you'll have the rest of the day to do it. The important thing is to make sure to do first in the day the program that is your core program for the year. Otherwise, you'll wear out your little learner before you get to the core program later in the day (after having done a bunch of other things earlier). If you do choose for LHFHG to be your core, then I would make sure to always complete all of the plan's for LHFHG first in your day. If, on the other hand, you choose for FIAR to be your core program, then you'd want to head to their board to discuss their recommendations for that program.

There's no need to supplement LHFHG, as it is a complete program in itself. If you have questions specifically about LHFHG for the upcoming year, we'd be glad to help you with that!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Mommamo]

We did LHFHG with our oldest when she was 4.5 so she has always been young for the guides and has done very well in them. If she places well, there's really no need to stretch it out. If you really want to, then I like the 4 day a week idea. I don't know about doing it every other day because I think it would be hard to really have the consistency and I don't think you'd get all the benefits of HOD. Each guide builds on the previous one so well and really prepares you for the next that there's no need to worry! Hope that helps!

[Dustybug]

I had the same problem with my DD. I was concerned about her being on the young end of the guides. She had already done LHTH when she was 3(although we took about a year and a half to complete it and then had some time off when my youngest was born last summer). She is 5 1/2 now and we are recycling through LHTH, but I bought the older bible and devotional for those parts, so she wouldn't be repeating anything and so it was more on her level. Also for the phonics, numbers, shapes, colors parts that she was already very familiar with, I filled in with other workbooks and Abeka K5 phonics. We are a little over halfway through with LHTH and she will start LHFHG in September, maybe October and will turn 6 in February. I plan to (after many questions and advice from the ladies here!) decided to go full steam ahead with LHFHG and just slow down if/when I need to. I have heard many moms say that they used LHTH for K but used the K options for math, phonics, and fine motor skills from LHFHG and then the next year they used LHFHG with the 1st grade options. Did that make sense? lol

[Heidi in AK]

Bethany, I like Carrie's suggestion of doing LHFHG 4 days a week (naturally slowing it down) and doing some fun activities on Fridays. I know at the Christian school where I just taught they did fun stuff every day after lunch (so as to not burn out the kids) and it worked well. So, they used her idea of doing the "core stuff" first and then leaving yourself a day to explore a local educational opportunity or do some other stuff as you mentioned. You were discussing this on the groups site and I thought that your DD sounded like she might not need to go half-speed. However, 4 days a week might be a good alternative.

You just want to make sure that you don't rush her skill-wise. You'll find out almost too soon if things are going too fast!

Yes, I was the "Heidi" there too!