LHTH OR LHFHG????

[Lexy3127]

I have a 3 1/2 year old little boy who I'd love to begin HOD curriculum with. After looking over the placement chart and program chart, I see he would do very well with all of the LHTH being right on track with the curriculum EXCEPT for the reading portion. He's already doing Phonics instruction and moving along rather quickly. He can even read a handful of words by sounding out the letters. So I'm not sure if I should begin with the LHFHG instead of LHTH. I don't want him to become bored with the reading portion of the LHTH. What would you suggest???
Thank you and God Bless!!!

[bethelmommy]

LHTH is so much more than just learning letters and sounds. There are fine and gross motor skill activities, math, art, bible, etc... If you feel like your son is ready for more phonics instruction, you can add The Reading Lesson or other phonics program along with the language instruction included in the guide. You want to place your son in the guide where he most fits and that sounds like LHTH. Unless your son is ready to start writing letters/words and can sit through stories with few pictures, LHFHG will be too advanced.

Every child is different. For example, my son knew his letters and sounds and could write the uppercase alphabet before age 2. However, other than learning a few words, he was not ready to learn to read until age 5 and did not start LHFHG until almost 6. Dd was begging to learn to read at 3.5 but it has been slower going through The Reading Lesson with her than it was for ds because of attention span and maturity. Her writing skills, comprehension, and ability to sit and listen to stories are fairly advanced and she started LHFHG along with ds when she was 4 years and 3 months. She has done well in the guide and I truly feel it is because she placed there in every category except age. We only do the guide 3-4 days a week so she now falls in the age range as well. I explain all this to show that the placement chart really is an accurate way to determine where you should place your son. HTH.

[lissiejo]

I would definitely consider using LHTH. I used LHFHG with my oldest daughter as a k-4 curriculum and she had started reading younger like your son. There were A LOT of motor skills she struggled with just because of the age factor and her interest in the science and history was quite low. I'm using it again now as a k-5 and it's working much better. I had used LHTH for her 3rd year and I'm did that two more times. I plan to repeat LHTH using the 4yr old options next year I think. I would definitely hold off on LHFHG until at least 4, probably for Kindergarten. There are some REALLY great skills in there you don't want to have to skip just because of his age and ability. I hope you find a good fit for you!

[Lexy3127]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I feel more confident now that LHTH is the way to go for my little guy. I think I will add in extra Reading/Phonics if need be, but I am really going to go along with the curriculum as much as I can 100% to get the entire experience. I'm excited to start this!!!! I'll update as we move through the curriculum as to how it is going. Thank you and God Bless!

[countrymom]

I agree with the other poster. There is so much more to the guides than reading and if you start at 3 1/2 with Little Hearts you will run into big problems as you progress through the guides. You could add some light phonics to Little Hands. I started Little Hearts at 4 1/2 with one of my sons, but then started both Beyond and Bigger at 1/2 speed to slow down. If I had it to do over I would find a way to stretch out LIttle Hands and not start Little Hearts until age 5. Having said that, I have another son who will not finish Little Hearts until age 7, so it is very child dependent, but I think that would be the youngest you would want to attempt Little Hearts at.

[bethelmommy]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I feel more confident now that LHTH is the way to go for my little guy. I think I will add in extra Reading/Phonics if need be, but I am really going to go along with the curriculum as much as I can 100% to get the entire experience. I'm excited to start this!!!! I'll update as we move through the curriculum as to how it is going. Thank you and God Bless!

We look forward to your updates. Enjoy your year using LHTH with your little guy.