When to start Little Hearts?

my2guys · Post by **my2guys** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:14 pm

OK ladies, I need your input. I've been pondering this over in my mind for about a month now and I need to hear what you all think cause I'm starting to drive myself nuts.

I guess I should tell you where ds is at right now so you can see where I'm coming from. DS just turned 4 about a month ago. Right now he can read cvc words and he'll try to sound out any other word that he doesn't know. He tries to read everything that he sees. He's good at writing also - he really likes to do copywork on his own. Like he started writing out his Awana Cubbies verse every week because he asked if he could write sentences and I thought that would be a good place to start. As far as math goes, he knows his numbers to 100, can skip count by 5 and 10 to 100 and understands how to count objects. He's also starting to tell time (just beginning this - just the hours). All of this stuff he's just kind of "picked up" from his Leap Frog videos and from living life and asking TONS of questions. SO - right now I'm doing LHTH with him. We started late in the fall and with the holidays we're only about 5 units in. We don't do it every day - just depends on what's going on. But he LOVES his "school time". I've also started doing the ETC A/B/C books with him as re-enforcement of his letter sounds. My dilema comes in thinking about next year. A couple of weeks ago I took a look at the placement for LHFHG and he falls right in the reading/writing/math. Then I started looking at the individual placement for the handwriting and realized he's already at the K level now - so I got that and we've started working through that this week. He's loving that. I also looked at Singapore descriptions on their website and realized that I could start working through EB 1A/1B with him now - so we also started that this week and he's loving that too. On the days we "do school" we usually only spend about 45 minutes total. So my question is - what do I do from here?!? If I look at what he could do in the fall - he would be in LHFHG with a lot of the first grade material!!

BUT I have to say that my gut is saying "no" to that. I know that he's capable of doing a lot, but I also just want to let him be a little 4 year old boy. I don't want to hold him back, but at the same time, I don't want to push him just because he can do it - does that mean that I should let him? I am really thinking of this next year as his "preK" year. (If he were going to ps he wouldn't qualify for K until 2009 b/c he misses the cut-off by a few days). Do I really want him doing 1st grade work for for preK? I'm thinking perhaps it would be better just to stretch LHTH out for a while (since we don't always get to it every day anyway) and add in some other fun things along the way. Maybe find some extra crafts to reinforce the lesson in LHTH. Or maybe get the R&S ABC preschool set (He is really horrible at cutting things out!

) and do that with him now along with LHTH (and use Thinking Skills with LHFHG). Anyway, I would really appreciate your insights. Are my instincts right? Have any of you dealt with this kind of situation? I've been praying quite a bit about this in the last few weeks and I think what I'm sensing is to take it easy and let him be a little boy. Thanks for reading this book!

I really value your opinions.

Candice · Post by **Candice** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:27 pm

Hi Sharon,

Wanted to share this post I wrote some time back. "Melanie's" reply to my question, especially in her third paragraph, has really stuck with me.

I have learned that LHTH is really enough at this age despite a young child's advanced ability. I have decided to wait on LHFHG.

I like the idea about sticking with LHTH and adding in some stuff, you mentioned the Rod & Staff preschool workbooks, those are great and we use them. I have also decided to add in the LHFHG kinder science text and the Singapore EB 1A to beef up LHTH just a bit. It is working well. We do not stick to a schedule or complete stuff daily. We keep it loose and casual.

Anyway, here is the post from some time back. Please ask more questions if you have them.

http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=107

Candice · Post by **Candice** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:35 pm

Sharon,

Also, just wanted to mention that if your gut is telling you "no" it's probably right. I always feel like when my gut or heart is talking to me, it is really God saying here is your answer, I am placing it right in your heart so you will know for sure!

Candice

mom2boys030507 · Post by **mom2boys030507** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:44 am

Hi Sharon,
I know how you feel. I was in the same position last spring. My ds Bryce is also pretty advanced and I kept looking at Little Hands but felt he was beyond it but not ready to start Little Hearts. So I did the ETC A/B/C books with him, Earlybird 1A/1B and other units I would pull together. I started Little Hearts at the end of July when he was 4.5 years old and we are using mostly the 1st grade material for him except math - I wanted him to slow down to make sure he really had mastered the material. We are going faster than Little Hearts but I know the mastery is there now. We also do a relaxed schedule with Little Hearts. I do plan to school year round but we don't do school everyday, and some days we only do reading, or other workbooks that my MIL loves to pick up for him. By the way we also use Awana verses for copy work. He thinks it is fun to do this too.

I guess what I am trying to say is take your time. Go with your gut. He is 4 and it is okay to use advanced material but it is also important to take your time and make sure he is loving to learn. If you start Little Hearts take your time you have 2-3 years to get it done not that I think it will take you that long.

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:00 am

Thank you Candice...I had forgotten about that post, and Sharon, I still stick by it (I had to go back and read it, but then I remembered

).

You see, I kinda started out this same way and a very dear friend of mine loaned me a book by Raymond and Dorothy Moore called "Better Late than Early". It's a old book, but if you can get your hands on it, it's a great read. It totally changed my outlook.

My youngest did start Little Hearts at 5.5 (she'll be 6 in April) but my twins were 6.9 when we started. Candice offered awesome words of wisdom, and you do need to listen to your heart. You can add a few things if you think he needs it, after all...you do know your child better than anyone. I think it's perfectly OK to do the K materials from Little hearts with Little Hands and then just use the 1st grade materials when you do Little Hearts.

Also, wanted to mention that this is typical learning behavior for this age. They seem to just be gaining in leaps and bounds, and then you'll notice they seem to stop and stay in that stage for awhile (processing information) and then they'll take off on another learning spurt. Just follow his lead, but keep it low key.

I would say your instincts and right on...you seem like a terrific mom!

Melanie

my2guys · Post by **my2guys** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:42 pm

Thank you, ladies. I really appreciate your words of wisdom and encouragement.

I just have to say - this board is a wonderful place and you all are great!

Post by **Carrie** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:35 am

Sharon,

I agree with all of the advice you've received on taking time to just let your little one be little. I too think since he just turned 4 it would be good to continue on with Little Hands... adding the EB 1A/1B and the handwriting and any phonics that keeps it light and fun. It would be also great to pick up the pace of Little Hands and do it daily, since he's desiring more anyway. We did that with my 4 year old last year and really noticed him growing in leaps and bounds.

As far as the upcoming fall goes, 7 months will have passed by then, and you may want to ponder whether it would actually be easier to just start "Little Hearts..." doing half one day and half the next, rather than coming up with your own plans everyday of how to enrich him. We have many moms who begin "Little Hearts..." with their raring-to-go 4 and 1/2 year olds, and they just take the pace slow and watch their child's cues.

I just wanted to toss that out there because it can be a lot of work to make your own extras and using "Little Hearts..." could require much less extra effort on your part. You can just as easily take your time doing "Little Hearts..." as spending your time enriching "Little Hands...".

My third son just turned 5 in late August, and he has grown into "Little Hearts..." so well. Since, it sounds like your little one already falls more in "Little Hearts...." on the placement chart in the areas of reading, writing, and math, I would hold off on deciding about fall until you get closer and see where he's at.

Your child is blessed to have a mom who cares so much about what is right for her little one. There's no one right way to do our programs, which is why it's great to have feedback from the other moms on this board in similar situations.

Blessings,
Carrie

my2guys · Post by **my2guys** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:33 pm

Carrie wrote: As far as the upcoming fall goes, 7 months will have passed by then, and you may want to ponder whether it would actually be easier to just start "Little Hearts..." doing half one day and half the next, rather than coming up with your own plans everyday of how to enrich him. We have many moms who begin "Little Hearts..." with their raring-to-go 4 and 1/2 year olds, and they just take the pace slow and watch their child's cues.

My third son just turned 5 in late August, and he has grown into "Little Hearts..." so well. Since, it sounds like your little one already falls more in "Little Hearts...." on the placement chart in the areas of reading, writing, and math, I would hold off on deciding about fall until you get closer and see where he's at.

Thanks for your reply, Carrie. I definately will be waiting until the summer to make final plans for the fall. I like the idea of perhaps starting "Little Hearts", but going at a slower pace. Maybe even starting it this time next year right after he turns 5. I will just have to wait and see where he is as we go. It has really helped me just "talking" through the options with everyone. This is such a wonderful curriculum - both my ds4 and ds2 are having so much fun this year with LHTH. I can't wait to see what's ahead!