Little Hands to Heaven

[sweetgrace]

Hi there!

I have a concern that Little Hands to Heaven is going to be to easy for my 3 1/2 year old. He will be 4 in September and that is when I am planning to use LHTH along with my then 2 1/2 year old. He already knows all of his shapes, colors, letters, sounds, and is currently learning how to read (ever so gently and slowly) with the help of All About Reading Level 1. LHTH looks fun but is it going to be a good fit for my son come fall when he is 4? I feel like he might be inbetween LHTH and the next level. Thank you for your time ladies!

[Heidi in AK]

Welcome to the boards, sweetgrace! I know you will love LHTH and HOD! I posted a thread similar to this one about a year and a half ago. The answer I got back was to start with LHTH and focus on the Bible stories. I wouldn't advance your LO too soon. The best age to start the next guide is not till at least 5, and a lot of that is due to the fact that the guides get increasingly difficult and require the children to be on the older side of them to really be successful later.

You are doing AAR Level 1 with him, and that should be enough. Focus on fine motor and gross motor skills, and don't worry so much about what he knows or doesn't know. My DS is 2.5 and he also already knows ALL his numbers, shapes, colors, and letters, but we will have him go through LHTH. We will focus on it as playtime, and on the large motions necessary to make the letters. Recognition and letter/number formation are very different!

Pace yourself and enjoy the ride. LHFHG, the next guide, is really recommended for K and grade 1.

[KristinBeth]

We did LHTH when my daughter was 4, even though she knew her letters and their sounds, colors, shapes, numbers. She still enjoyed the letter and number activities very much, as well as all the other things (except collages, so I didn't make her do them). We added The Reading Lesson for phonics because she asked me to teach her to read, and we did some preschool workbooks when she wanted. We also did nature study and lots of read-alouds. It was a lovely time for us (you can see some of the activities on my blog under Little Hands To Heaven if you're interested in a snapshot). I'll do it again when my younger daughter is close to 4.

[sweetgrace]

Thank you Heidi! Good advice! I am thinking this is exactly what I have been looking for. I want something that is gentle and fun this next year for my boys but something that wasn't going to interfere with the phonics program we are starting. I am liking LHTH more and more!

Thank you KristinBeth! I will definately check out your blog. It sounds like what you did with your daughter is exactly what I want to do with my boys this upcoming fall.

I noticed on the sample of LHTH that there is a bible activity and story but I didn't see a memory verse. Did I miss it?

[My7blessings]

I'm using Little Hands to Heaven with my 3, 4 and 5 year old. It's easy for my older 2 but they still really enjoy it! They also use LHFHG Learning the Basics side Next year I plan to use LHFHG with them then 4, 5 & 6 and my older 2 will just do the 1st grade options for the Learning the Basics side

[sweetgrace]

Thank you My7Blessings!



Questions Ladies~I noticed on the sample of LHTH that there is a bible activity and story but I didn't see a memory verse. Did I miss it?

[Dustybug]

LHTH doesn't have memory verses per se, although both devotionals offered do have a verse associated with each letter that you could use as a memory verse if you choose to.

I took my oldest through LHTH twice. Once when she was 3 as is, again when she was 4 using older options, older bible/devotional and then I added in some phonics work and some fun supplemental workbooks. It can definitely be fun even if they already know the basics!