Little Hearts too easy, but short attention span

[rose411]

I need advise as far as doing this program with my son. He is doing really well with all subjects of LIttle Hearts, except he HATE handwriting. Everything else we get through really quickly. However, I am not sure he would sit for more seat work everyday. He loves science and social studies, not so much the handwriting and the Do It Carefully book. So...
-- Should I just keep doing things the same (one lesson per day as listed in manual)
--Should I skip ahead to the lessons in some of the subjects that are too easy? For example, move on to the second workbook for math?
-- Should I add on to the science? Those lessons are usually so short and he loves the activities that we do from the manual. BUT, I really bought this curriculum so that I wouldn't have to go searching for curriculum on my own.
-- Should I start him in the Beyond Little Hearts so he is more challenged or would that just result in him getting frusturated....?

I am looking for people who have had more experience with this.

Jenny

[my3sons]

I need advise as far as doing this program with my son. He is doing really well with all subjects of LIttle Hearts, except he HATE handwriting. Everything else we get through really quickly. However, I am not sure he would sit for more seat work everyday. He loves science and social studies, not so much the handwriting and the Do It Carefully book. So...
-- Should I just keep doing things the same (one lesson per day as listed in manual)
--Should I skip ahead to the lessons in some of the subjects that are too easy? For example, move on to the second workbook for math?
-- Should I add on to the science? Those lessons are usually so short and he loves the activities that we do from the manual. BUT, I really bought this curriculum so that I wouldn't have to go searching for curriculum on my own.
-- Should I start him in the Beyond Little Hearts so he is more challenged or would that just result in him getting frusturated....?

I am looking for people who have had more experience with this.

Jenny

Hi Jenny, and welcome to the HOD Board! Well, I can attest to the truth that most boys do have a keen dislike for writing, so don't feel alone in that. The one thing that makes this dislike worse is rushing on to more writing, which is one of the reasons why I'd suggest continuing enjoying LHFHG and working on his writing in as encouraging of a way as possible. Beyond will only have more writing, so working through the writing issue is an important task. What HW program are you doing? That could make a difference. We loved A Reason for Handwriting K - if you are doing A Reason for Handwriting A, maybe he just needs the "K" Level. If it is Level K (or something comparable), I'd just keep persevering - it WILL come with time.

I would not add more challenge to the areas he is already loving and wanting more of - that's a good thing! And it's something that can be lost if things become too challenging overall. Besides, the science goes so nicely with the weekly theme. Now, math is another story. If you would like to do 2 math activities with HOD lessons each day, and begin the next level more quickly, you certainly could. However, I would not skip the HOD hands-on math, as it is excellent and helps them mentally picture math better (a strength needed for Singapore math). So, unless you're thinking you'd purchase the Beyond Little Hearts guide halfway through for the 1A/1B hands-on activities, I don't think I'd rush the math either. Believe me, Singapore math gets hard quite quickly, so I wouldn't rush through it.

I'm not sure of your ds's age - if he is in the target age range of 5-7 yo's for LHFHG, I think he is perfectly placed. He is thriving, feels confident about some subject areas, but needs time to work on others - a great overall mix for pacing. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[Emilylou]

HI~

My son craved more science and found the math in LHFHG very easy... we just kept plugging along but added more science books to our regular reading time. I added a lot of the SL Science K and 1 readers.
I also just added other hands on math. We played lots of dice and card games. Money and time flash cards. My son just soaked it up. He could mentally add up his own dice in Yahtzee by the end of LHFHG at 5. (yeah for singapore!)
He learned to play Monopoly (he kept track of his own money)... all math stuff to keep him busy but we had fun.
It just seemed like the few minutes it took for him to do and understand the math and science in LHFHG weren't enough for him. I also had him "teach" his little sister, so I knew he "got" what he had learned.

Hope this helps. My DS also disliked anything to do with handwriting. He did do A Reason for Handwriting K, and enjoyed it. We had already done the R&S "do it carefully" ect workbooks for preK. So he did the little bit of writing required for the 1st grade logic book. I can't remember the name. We didn't do a lot of "writing" for K... and he is better this year with Beyond.
We loved LHFHG~ and now Beyond.

[Tansy]

my China Girl age 7 just loves loves loves math. I have allowed her to do double math on days we have extra time on. So she is well ahead in the math section. This gives me flexibility on days she doesn't feel like doing "a lot" of school we can skip the math part. But she is still in catch up mode (switching languages, country etc). I'm not sure your little guy needs any extra work. You want them eager and looking for more. If he's loving it and NOT bored then I would say no to doing double.

BUT, I really bought this curriculum so that I wouldn't have to go searching for curriculum on my own.

Be reassured we all feel like were having to much fun and its to easy somedays (well with China Girl India was not such fun) I love the ideas of math games, find out what he likes and get him lots of books on those topics, play with him and enjoy it! This curriculum is complete you don't need to add anything.