Has anyone done the same guide twice in a row? Advice please

[amylynn_101]

I'm looking at LHFHG for my 5 1/2 y.o. in the fall, but I'm trying to figure out the timing on all of it and could use some advice.

My son has been in special needs preschool since age 3, and I will be bringing him home now that he is finished. He has delays in fine motor skills and writing. In looking at the placement guide, he is definitely ready for LHFHG with the exception of the writing portion. I am required to be teaching him reading, grammar, math, social studies and science. I feel that LHTH would not be enough for him, and I would essentially be adding in a lot of other items. I kind of wish there were an extension pack for LHTH that would work as a Kindergarten package This way I could combine him with his younger brother.

Anyway I'm wondering if anyone has repeated LHFHG twice in a row, say using it for both Kindergarten and 1st grade? I'm pretty confident that my son will not be ready for BLHFHG next year for 1st grade so that would mean probably repeating LHFHG. This would also allow his younger brother to be combined for the second go round as a Kindergartener, and I don't think this would be much of a push since he is turning out to be pretty advanced and will be following along with us as desired the first time around.

Would repeating LHFHG be horribly repetitive for my kids or me? Are there some potential problems or downsides to this plan that I might be overlooking? Are there other alternatives that I may have missed?

I am so excited to have found HOD! There are so many elements that feel like they are a good fit for us, and I'm really just hoping I can iron out the placement/timing wrinkles

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated, as I am very new to all of this.

[laurapella]

I know you stated that LHTH would not be enough for your ds, but I wanted to share what has worked really well for us this year. We have dd (turned 6 in Feb) doing LHTH with our dd4 this year. She also does the Math, FMS and The Reading Lesson from LHFHG. Next year I plan to combine them in LHFHG using 1st grade options for her and K options for our younger daughter. It has been a perfect fit, and they LOVE "together school!" Something like this might be worth considering. HTH!

[my3sons]

Hi amylynn_101, and welcome to the HOD Board! I LOVE laurapella's idea here...

... We have dd (turned 6 in Feb) doing LHTH... She also does the Math, FMS and The Reading Lesson from LHFHG. Next year I plan to combine them in LHFHG using 1st grade options for her...

I really think this would be the perfect answer for not only now, but for the future for your ds! There is more to Little Hands to Heaven than meets the eye. You can choose the "New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes" which is one of our favorite Bibles, and it has comprehension questions to ask for each story, so it builds comprehension nicely too. Either one of the devotionals offers in-depth discussions. The music is so neat, and the 3R's are covered beautifully by doing LHFHG K options along with LHTH.

Another option would be to start LHFHG with the K options, but do it half-speed, taking longer to get through it. I like either of these options better than repeating LHFHG two years in a row, but what are your thoughts? BTW, I think you will love HOD - we have used it for a decade and look back on our years with joy and look ahead to our HOD years to come with joy too - that's pretty amazing, huh? I look forward to getting to know you here.

In Christ,
Julie

[amylynn_101]

Thank you for the response. My husband and I actually spent about an hour yesterday discussing our options. We really feel like our son places more with LHFHG. He has been in preschool for two and a half years, and at this point I think he would not be challenged enough reviewing the letters, numbers, etc. He knows his letters and sounds, can count to 20, is great with math skills like patterns, etc. He has always loved to be read to and loves long stories. At this point, we are reading him many long stories or small chapter books with minimal pictures or just black/white pictures. He is great at bible memory verses and enjoys that, so we really like that aspect of LHFHG. His biggest challenge is fine motor skills. He can only write a couple of letters, still has a difficult time coloring within lines, has a difficult time with tracing or imitating lines and shapes. He is getting better at scissors, but also has some delay in development of cutting skills.

We do like the idea of going half speed, this will also allow us to focus on fine motor skills and handwriting practice daily. If we decide to go ahead half-speed with LHFHG, do you think I will be making many adaptations to allow for his lack of writing skills? Also, another question is that is seems there are several activities that involve food. Our kids have many food allergies, so we were wondering if you could give us an idea of how many food related activities/experiments are in LHFHG that we would have to substitute for?

I was wanting to combine him with little brother, but after doing more reading I'm thinking it might be best for both of them if I just let them each have their own program. They are competitive, and older brother tends to not give his little brother a chance when learning together Little brother is turning out to be advanced at this point. He is almost two and a half and knows the alphabet, capital letters, counting to 10, shapes and colors and also likes to memorize his brother's AWANA verses. This is with no formal teaching from us, just what he has picked up from listening to his brother, playing, books, etc. We're thinking of just letting him tag along with LHFHG this year while he is three and participate in what he chooses, then next year let him start LHTH on his own when he is four. Do you foresee any problems with this plan?

Thank you so much for your help. It is very much appreciated! If there any other suggestions or things to consider, please let me know.

Amanda

[my3sons]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, amylynn_101! I'm glad you and your dh were able to visit about this, and it sounds like you have come up with a good plan together here...

...We really feel like our son places more with LHFHG... We do like the idea of going half speed, this will also allow us to focus on fine motor skills and handwriting practice daily...

...If we decide to go ahead half-speed with LHFHG, do you think I will be making many adaptations to allow for his lack of writing skills?...

I don't think you will need to adapt very much, as LHFHG is assuming dc may be at the stage of learning how to write letters via "A Reason for Handwriting K" (which we loved BTW), or by "Italic A" (another good option!). The Storytime box has a simple writing activity one day a week as a follow-up to the Thorton Burgess' book's reading. It suggests modifications in the plans already, assuming dc ages 5-7 yo are all over the place when it comes to writing skills. For example, it will suggest having you dot the letters and having them trace them . This leads me to your next question...

...Also, another question is that is seems there are several activities that involve food. Our kids have many food allergies, so we were wondering if you could give us an idea of how many food related activities/experiments are in LHFHG that we would have to substitute for?...

This is another aspect of HOD that we love... hands-on activities already suggest many substitutions when it comes to hands-on materials, and even if you don't have any of the multiple things on hand, or even if dc have lots of allergies, you can see where the activity it going and make your own substitutions. This is the very reason HOD does not have supply lists - the intent is to make it so easy to do the activities that you will always have what you need right in your own home. For example, an activity may suggest marshmallows, cotton balls, or chocolate chips; or it may suggest using a rolled up pair of socks or a ball and a basket, bucket, or empty trash can. When it comes to the food type activities in LHFHG, you can easily sub in things of the same consistency. For example, when you make the grasshopper out of edible things (I believe it has peanut butter in it), you can just make it out of playdough. There are not many activities such as that though - more often, the activities give suggestions like pull-apart licorice or red yard, etc. I know many, many families that have dc with allergies have commented on how easy HOD is to use and to substitute things for if needed. HTH!

...I was wanting to combine him with little brother, but after doing more reading I'm thinking it might be best for both of them if I just let them each have their own program. They are competitive, and older brother tends to not give his little brother a chance when learning together Little brother is turning out to be advanced at this point. He is almost two and a half and knows the alphabet, capital letters, counting to 10, shapes and colors and also likes to memorize his brother's AWANA verses. This is with no formal teaching from us, just what he has picked up from listening to his brother, playing, books, etc. We're thinking of just letting him tag along with LHFHG this year while he is three and participate in what he chooses, then next year let him start LHTH on his own when he is four. Do you foresee any problems with this plan?

I think you are making a wise choice here, and I bet your older ds will just shine! I would make sure to let him be the start of the show in LHFHG, only letting little brother in on the things that won't cause comparing. You really may just want to make it your older ds's special time with you and not have little brother participate much. This will help older brother to better focus, feel special, and know he is doing something little brother can't yet. It will also let little brother be able to enjoy LHFHG down the road with fresh eyes. You will know best here though.

HTH, and I think you have a super plan here! In case this may be helpful, here is a link to a thread about doing guide half-speed...

How does half-speed look in your home?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5600&p=41232#p41232

Keep asking questions until you are set! We love to help here and want you to have a super year!
In Christ,
Julie

[Joyful3]

I just wanted to chime in on a couple of things. My DS has some special learning challenges, and is on a special diet. We are on week 12 of LHFHG and I can only think of about one time we have had a food activity, and I easily found things in our cupboards to substitute. It made a whole new snack and he loved it!

DS also has fine motor issues. I love that you can use any writing program you need to with HOD and we move at his pace. The story time lessons with a word or two to copy (at first) once a week have been a nice way to ease into words for him, but you could even just do a letter if needed at first. We started with the Thinking Skills book for my DS but just got the Rod and Staff instead--they are great and you could do both if you are really taking your time. (We just went in the wrong order, but Thinking Skills is not too much harder. I didn't realize when we began how much fine motor was an issue for him.) Just this week we had an activity where DS had to cut out pictures from a magazine--a great activity and there was even an idea on how to adapt it for kids who may need extra help.

Going half speed sounds like a great idea, too.

We switched halfway through our year and I really love the curriculum. It is so interactive and adaptable for our needs.

[school4princesses]

With my youngest DD (turned 5 in November) we are using LHFHG, but we use it a bit differently. We do a reading lesson every day and a math lesson everyday. These are located on the far right hand side of the guide. There are three other boxes on the top and we do those on one day, and on the next day do the three other boxes on the bottom. The other thing I'm doing, because I need some extra seat work time for her, is that when we do the Rod and Staff Workbooks, she does two or three pages each time. She really like these. We will get through both in this first year, and then next year we will get through the first grade option. Because she has older sisters who have some outside classes one day a week, we only do school four days a week. This way we are making the guide last for two years, and I am able to focus more intently on the skills I think she needs the most practice on. It is working well. It sounds like you are working out a great plan.

Blessings.