LHTH questions

[Mgs]

Hello! I have a little one who is turning 4 in September. I have LHTH and have tried using the guide. I find a lot of it rather preachy and forced (at least when I look at it). If I cut out those parts there’s not much left? If you use it and love it can you explain how you do it and how your child responds? I would love to do a hands on preschool program- Carrie’s guides are so helpful for me to stay on track. When do you do other read alouds? I don’t want to replace read alouds with it, is that possible without overwhelming a small busy active child?

[christianmom]

I find Carrie’s guides work best without cutting too many things out since they are a unit study. I find I can add things to her guides if I don’t add too much or replace if I replace things evenly (for example, my ds did physics with US History I since he’d already finished chemistry - it was an even swap so it didn’t impact time).

That being said, my dd with Down syndrome didn’t do every single activity in LHTH last year, but I did do it as written and 90 percent in entirety. For example, I’m more comfortable teaching a concept with my own teaching. For example, if the lesson is God created light on day 1 with a spoken word and the activity is meant to show that concept - I might (or did) teach the concept in a way that fits my parenting style and how our family approaches education in an attempt to get the Truth of God creating light on day 1. I printed out a day 1 picture and colored it with her while talking about how God spoke and then there was light while He created the world. When my older dd (normal to gifted) did the first part of LHTH, I did do the flashlight activity for God creating light on day 1 because I knew she would love it. I tailor Carrie’s activity ideas to my kids. Does that make sense? I was a teacher for 8 years prior to homeschooling, and I am a teacher at heart…especially tailored teaching to one kid!

With all that said…

I Loved LHTH for my dd with Down syndrome because it helped me do the letters again which she needed, and I did add to it. I added hands on Lauri numbers and letters which she needed. I also added 2 read aloud books a day from our shelves which she loved. Her favorite part of LHTH was the music and showing my husband her letter and number books with the program that I spiral bound at the start of the year so they stayed together!

With all that said…

My older dd only did 3-4 units because at age 4 she already knew her letters, numbers, colors, could write her name and basic words, and she had heard the Beginner Bible from Genesis to Revelation multiple times. She needed something different to meet her where she was at. All 3 of my oldest learned LHTH material through regular life. However, I did find it delightful once we got 4-5 units into it and I was doing it in its entirety last year. There is a lot of education there for a child who will benefit from Bible overview, numbers, letters, and early skills.

If he squarely places into LHTH, you might be surprised how much he enjoys the simple activities such as the art. My older dd enjoyed helping younger sister with those projects and she was in 8th during it.

I hope something I wrote helps. If Carrie helps you stay on track that is worth so much!

Oh…do a search for my3sons and LHTH…Julie has some great posts from years ago that show the program in action.

[Jaimejac]

I'm curious what you find "preachy" about it? I didn't find that at all. I have done LHTH twice through with my son. He has a December birthday, so the first time, we started when he had just turned to 4, did the program from Jan - Aug. Then restarted it last fall for the second time when he was 4 1/2 and are almost through with it so Sept - July. This is the active 5 yo I just recently posted about. I have not been consistent with it, and I wish I had been more so. I think Julie would say LHTH is a great way to start teaching kids the routine of school without overloading them.

I've always struggled with where to fit in the music. I just started playing the song right after the history/Bible reading and getting up to dance to it with him. I wish I had done this all along, he loves it. Then, since we are already up and moving, that is a good time to go into the rhyme with all of its movements. So, we read the Bible story and do the activity, get up and dance to the song, do the rhyme and movements and then sit down for the letter activity. He's already started on some K math, phonics and handwriting so we do those now, but didn't for most of the time we were doing LHTH. He has resisted cutting so we haven't done the number and color books. I have also previously posted about my 5 YO who hates to cut and color. This is him! Although he actually loves to color now, if it's a picture of his own choosing. Julie has said that even if an activity is not a child's favorite (cutting for my son), they should be required to do and do their best as that is character training for later in life.

When I first found HOD I was really excited to find LHTH. I had done MFW 3's preschool and 4's Pre-K with my older son because we had not heard of HOD yet. Their 3's preschool did not have any letter recognition or activities and I felt that my son was ready for those at 3. I tried their program with my younger son when he was 3, and he was not ready for it. LHTH had the perfect balance of Bible activities and letter activities that could be tailored to my child.

HTH!
Jaime

[Mgs]

Do you still have a lot of time for read alouds? For me that is much more important. How do you make sure to schedule that in? I do wish she used more of a literature approach with LHTH. We are doing BFIAR and I am hoping it’s not too much to add LHTH.

[Jaimejac]

Oh absolutely, read-alouds are definitely a priority in our house, but I didn't schedule them with LHTH, they just happen naturally throughout the day. We often read together first thing in the morning when he is the first one up. He still naps often, so at nap/quiet time and before bed. I have a lot of good quality picture books from MFW's K program that I had started with my older son. I also used MFW library lists since I had their teacher guides. I know you are teaching olders as well, but LHTH is so short it definitely gives you lots of time to do other things.

[Mgs]

Thank you!!