Can a 4 year old do LHFHG???

[Steffy]

I was want to start LHFHG in next fall with my DS, who will 5 years and 2 months. Can his sister, who will be 4 years and 3 months do that curriculum as well? They are WAY beyond LHTH so I don't want to do that... in fact, she could almost do LHFHG at this point, but I don't want to have her lag in later years. I really need to combine them and I don't want to put off another year of killing time waiting to start HOD.

Thanks in Advance!!!

[NicoleJ]

I think she could If you go through the placement chart and she fits all the categories for LHFHG, then I would combine them and go for it!

[sharonb]

You could try it, but I tried to use LHFHG with my now-1st grader when he was 4.5, and although he was academically capable, he just wasn't interested. (Though, at the time, I was trying to give him his own program separate from his older siblings, and he REALLY wanted to be combined, so I'm sure that was part of the problem. So, we combined using other things for a couple of years, and now we are back to HOD and he's fine being separate.)

My sister is currently using LHFHG with her 5yo, and her 3yo listens in on it. My sister has encouraged me to go ahead and use LHFHG next year with my 5yo for Kindergarten, and let my 3yo (who will be almost 4) tag along. But, I am wanting to hold off on LHFHG until they are in 1st and K, because although LHFHG might be okay for a 4yo (if they are ready for it), I'm thinking at some point you'd have to slow down. (For example, hitting Bigger at only age 6 might be too difficult).

My current plan is to repeat LHTH with my 3yo and 5yo for their K/preK year, but I'll use the "right side" of the LHFHG plans for my Kindergartener. I also thought about doing the left side of LHFHG half-speed, while keeping the 3R's full-speed. Then it will take 2 years, and they will both be ready for Beyond after that.

The most important thing you can do is check the placement chart, since you know your child better than anyone else.

[Larissa]

I struggle with this very same question. I will be taking my 3rd son through LHFHG when my daughter is about 4 yo. I am not going to do it, though. One of the things that I am sure is true - based on my experience with my older two children is that while she may be able to do LHFHG at 4 yo - I know for certain that I don't want her doing Bigger at 6 and Preparing at 7. So, my advice is to look Beyond Little Hearts and think about what you want for her as she gets older. I am currently running 2 guides plus a modified Little Hearts with K options for my 3rd son. It is my experience that placing them exactly where they should be is the best way to reap the full benefits of the HOD program. Running multiple guides is not difficult when the child is placed properly - and each guide prepares the child beautifully for the next guide. I have really become a proponent of waiting until a child is older to start any sort of formal instruction with them. That's just based on my experience with my children. I think that it's quite possible that you could combine them in LHFHG and have a successful year with them - I would just be concerned about your daughter moving up through the guides at too young of an age and not being able to reap full benefits of the program.

[MomtoJGJE]

I think you could do it. Especially if you start slowly and either just school 3-4 days per week or go half speed (or both!)... You could potentially go half speed LHFHG for half the guide, then full speed for the end of the guide, half speed for Beyond for half the guide and full speed again for the second half. So if you are starting in the fall of 2012.....

2012 - 2013 -- half speed half LHFHG - would get you until your kids were 6 and 5
fall of 2013 - full speed second half LHFHG
spring 2014/fall 2015 - half speed half Beyond - would get you until your kids were 7.5 and 6.5
spring 2016 - full speed second half Beyond
2016-2017 school year - you would start Bigger and your kids would be 8 and 7, so in the age range for the guide. If you did half speed for that school year then your kids would be in the middle upper ranges by the time they got to preparing.

[countrymom]

I agree with the other posters that I would worry down the road. I started my son at 4 1/2 in Little Hearts and he was very ready and did well. I started Beyond 1/2 speed because I didn't want him hitting Bigger too soon, had to go full speed sooner than I would have liked because he was frustrated with 1/2 speed and getting done too fast. Now we are starting Bigger at 1/2 speed a little before 7 and although he is ready, there are skills I need to have him grow in. I have a plan to keep him happy with Bigger at 1/2 speed for quite awhile so I can get him to age 8 for Preparing, but if I had it do do over again, I would do the 1/2 speed with Little Hearts and go from there. It would have been much easier to slow him down there, especially with the extra reading options in the back. I like the schedule the pp put up to get you to Bigger at the proper ages.

[mamas4bugs]

I think you could do it. Especially if you start slowly and either just school 3-4 days per week or go half speed (or both!)... You could potentially go half speed LHFHG for half the guide, then full speed for the end of the guide, half speed for Beyond for half the guide and full speed again for the second half. So if you are starting in the fall of 2012.....

2012 - 2013 -- half speed half LHFHG - would get you until your kids were 6 and 5
fall of 2013 - full speed second half LHFHG
spring 2014/fall 2015 - half speed half Beyond - would get you until your kids were 7.5 and 6.5
spring 2016 - full speed second half Beyond
2016-2017 school year - you would start Bigger and your kids would be 8 and 7, so in the age range for the guide. If you did half speed for that school year then your kids would be in the middle upper ranges by the time they got to preparing.

This looks like a great idea!

[acts29stl]

I started my dd4 and dd5 with LHFHG at the same time as well. We had already gone through LHTH and she was ready. I didn't have any real problems until getting to BHFHG. So I just slowed down and did 1/2 pace with both of them. It worked great! The extra time for both to grow into skills and maturity proved to be just what the two needed. I was planning on doing 1/2 pace for PHFHG but after the first unit both were ready to go full speed. So that's what we are doing and most days they are finished with school by lunchtime So I say go for it! When you reach a time that you feel you need to slow down, then do it! There's so much flexibility with HOD and no need to rush them through

BTW my daughter has a December birthday, so she's not quite 8 yet but is handling PHFHG just fine

[water2wine]

I did. I just started out at half paced and added form the appendix for my older child, I had a 4 and a 6 year old. We did not have to go half paced for long and it worked great for us. I think it is definitely worth a try. I would also want to combine those ages and just going half paced really can allow that gap to close pretty easily.

My kids that I combined are now doing Preparing together and they did fine with all the programs along the way. My younger child who was behind the older is now actually ahead in some ways or closely following. It's hard to know when they are young where they will land after they get through the basics. I think your idea and the ideas given for how to do it will work for you. If not no harm done.

[sunsfan]

My DD just turned 4 and we are doing LHFHG right now. The only thing that is an issue at all is handwriting. She doesn't have the small motor skills yet to really write without it frustrating her. We did LHTH and there was just no way I was going to convince her to do it again. She loved it, but she was just beyond it even when we were finishing it. We have been only doing 3 days a week to kind of lengthen things, but she is asking everyday to do school. She really enjoys it and is doing great with all subjects. Our school day is short and fun, so it's not too much for her. My favorite thing is the memory verses. Nothing beats a little voice reciting scripture. I never would have even thought about doing all of this so young, but she was telling us she wanted to "read the words" in her books when she was two. We didn't want to tell her no you're too young. Thankfully a friend does HOD so she told me about this wonderful program. If things get more difficult down the road we can slow down more or even take a break and review things. Since she is younger we don't have to worry about her being behind if we need to go slower. Again the main thing I'm concerned about is her small motor skills catching up so she can write. I know there is a lot of writing coming up in future guides.