In between HOD's LHTH and LHFHG

[lotsofpumpkins]

I've asked about this on the HOD boards, but I'd love to get some ideas here too. My 3yo and 5yo are currently in HOD's Little Hands to Heaven together. My 5yo is ready to learn to read, so he's using ETC/PP as well. Because of his late birthday, he won't be considered Kindergarten until Fall 2012. My 3yo has a Sept birthday and is really bright, so I'm going to declare her a Kindergartener in Fall 2013. So, they will be only a year apart in school even though they are almost 2 years apart. I would like to keep them somewhat combined for now. I'm thinking about next year, when ds will be in Kindergarten and dd will be in PreK. On the HOD board, it was suggested that I repeat LHTH with them, but use a different Bible/devotional, and use the math/LA plans from Little Hearts for His Glory for the Kindergartener. Then the following year we'd use Little Hearts in its entirety, with 1st grade math/LA for ds and K math/LA for dd. BUT, even with math/LA at the appropriate level for ds, I just can't see using LHTH again for his K year. Because of his late birthday, he'll be an old K'er anyway; I think he'll be bored going through LHTH again. My sister (who is currently using LHFHG for her K'er) suggested I go ahead and start LHFHG with them, and let dd "tag along". But, at some point I'd need to slow them down to let dd grow up some so she's not always below the age range of the guides. I could do LHFHG half-speed (but keep math/LA full-speed), but I'm not sure I'm wanting to stretch the program over 2 years like that.

 

So, that leaves another option- do something entirely different next year, then return to HOD for when they are in K/1st grade in 2013. But the question is- what? I had thought about MFW K, but I don't want a program that integrates phonics like that. I'm happy with the PP/ETC combo so I'd like to stick with it.

 

Any ideas? To sum up, this would be for a Kindergartener and Pre-Kindergartener to use to fill in the gap between Little Hands and Little Hearts. It occurred to me to look into FIAR but I haven't done so yet. Any thing else I should consider?

 

Thanks! :D

[Chelli]

I don't know anything about the program I am going to recommend to you other than it looks like MFW-ECC for youngers.

 

Next year for my girls (they will be K and 3rd grade), I am planning on using Expedition Earth by Confessions of a Homeschooler (http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/world-geography) for my off-HOD year. I don't want my dd4 using LHFHG until she is in 1st, nor my dd8 using Preparing until she is in 4th. So next year we are leaving HOD to do one year of world geography.

 

You could do the same with your two, and when you come back to HOD they should both be ready for LHFHG using the K resources and the 1st resources respectively.

 

Just another option other than MFW K or FIAR.

[Dustybug]

I was in a similar situation as you. My DD had already done LHTH, but wasn't ready for LHFHG. My DS was ready for some preschool by then too. I actually did go through LHTH again, but I added in some math and phonics supplementation outside of LHFHG for my DD. It went great. We also used the older version bible/devtional. This year, DD is in LHFHG, but DS is nowhere near ready for that, so I split them up. DS is using Animal Play from Teach Me Joy and I have also heard that the Fruit for Tender Hearts program from them is GREAT for in between the two HOD levels.

[hmschooling]

I'm also using Teach Me Joy between LHTH and LHFHG. It's a fantastic program! She recently released another level as well...which is it. She isn't making any more.

[jer2911mom]

You could also consider Sonlight P4/5. We are using Core A (K) this year between LHFHG and Beyond.

 

Kathy

[krismoose]

I used just the science/bible plans from MFW K, and kept the dc's math, handwriting and phonics plans separate. I didn't need the student sheets and bought the TM used...it was fun!

[lotsofpumpkins]

I used just the science/bible plans from MFW K, and kept the dc's math, handwriting and phonics plans separate. I didn't need the student sheets and bought the TM used...it was fun!

 

So all I'd need is the TM? This idea interests me!

[5 Hikers]

That's the problem I had with HOD. My children never quite fit into the guides right. It was too easy or too hard. LHFHG was way too light for a 1st grader, even one who couldn't read quite yet.

[lotsofpumpkins]

That's the problem I had with HOD. My children never quite fit into the guides right. It was too easy or too hard. LHFHG was way too light for a 1st grader, even one who couldn't read quite yet.

 

I'm finding that Beyond is perfect for 1st grade. :) And even though I'll be putting my now-5yo in LHFHG when he's in 1st grade (in order to wait for his sister so they can be combined), I'm not too worried about it; his math/LA will be on his level regardless, plus the guides do get harder. My 3rd and 4th grader are both doing great in Preparing, even though they are pretty far apart in some skills. There's plenty of challenge there for my older, while still being doable for the 3rd grader.

[krismoose]

So all I'd need is the TM? This idea interests me!

 

Each week has a letter and related theme, such as S for sun, and then the Bible theme is Jesus is the light of the world. The order of topics would seem slightly random, as the order of letters is for using them in phonics to learn to read. You can see the sequence on the MFWbooks site. If that doesn't bother you, then it's quite a lovely guide for a series of little unit studies, with simple activity suggestions for the Bible verses and themes. I think I got my TM on the mfwcurriculumswap yahoo group for around $30 or $40? I've seen them as low as $25. Just an idea. It worked well for us for a season :)