This school year was the first time I had ever purchased a curriculum for kindergarten other than the phonics and math programs I have always used. I was hoping to find something that my active son would enjoy doing that would make school time more fun than just learning to read and do math.
I got pretty excited when I came across the Little Hearts For His Glory curriculum. It provided simple daily lesson plans divided into 9 different categories that could be done throughout the day as our time allowed. Each category was suppose to take less than 10 minutes with a total of no more than 90 minutes a day. That sounded doable!
When our Little Hearts For His Glory package arrived in the mail, my son was eager to get started. That was a huge encouragement to me! However, after a few weeks of working through the curriculum I realized that, while I liked the curriculum, I wasn’t going to be able to use it with my son.
Here’s what I liked about Little Hearts For His Glory and the reasons why we didn’t end up using it.
What I Liked
- I could pick our favorite phonics curriculum to use with it.
- The lessons were planned out and easy to follow.
- There was little to no preparation needed.
- It was Christ-centered.
- It provided a complete program including core subjects and gross motor skills.
- Each category took less than 10 minutes which seemed ideal for an active boy.
Why I Didn’t Use It After 2 Weeks
- I remembered my reason for never purchasing a full kindergarten curriculum before. It just isn’t needed! While I liked everything that Little Hearts For His Glory had to offer, I began to realize that it was a little too much work for my 6 year old son.
- I wanted to dedicate my son’s school time to the basics (phonics, math and handwriting) and then allow him plenty of time for climbing, jumping, exploring and creating on his own. There really was no need to add in extra work at this time.
- I originally thought that having 10 minute lessons on various subjects would be ideal for my active boy. I quickly learned though that he dislikes jumping from one task to another. He got frustrated when we’d read a history lesson in less than 10 minutes and then move on to another subject. He’d much rather spend larger amounts of time learning about a topic that interests him.
- My son didn’t want to do the activities in Little Hearts For His Glory on his own. Instead, he wanted to be included in his older siblings’ lessons (as much as his interest and attention span allowed).
Final Thoughts on Little Hearts For His Glory
Overall, this is a wonderful curriculum. I’d suggest focusing on math and phonics in kindergarten and saving Little Hearts For His Glory for 1st grade though. While it wasn’t a good fit for my son, I’m going to hold on to it just in case it works for one of my younger children in the years to come.
Have you used Little Hearts For His Glory? Share your experience with it in the comments below!
We used and LOVED LHFHG! We used it and Beyond, then took two years off. We plan on going back to Heart of Dakota this year with Preparing. We have also used LHTH.
Thanks for stopping by, Misty and sharing your experience with LHFHG! I really liked the curriculum but it just wasn’t a good fit for my son. That’s the great thing about homeschooling….being able to use what works best for each child! I’ve really been enjoying the posts over on your blog. Thanks again for commenting.
Greatly appreciate all that you have to share right here.. We love HOD as well, but we’ve yet to actually implement it. I’m seriously on the verge of making that happen this year w/ my 2 DD’s.. “Grade 2ish / Grade 3” & my soon to be “3yrling” going on 25 (she thinks).. While I’m a huge believer in the “Better late than Early” mindset.. my youngest is so eager to “do school”.. that I’m seriously looking at HOD’s LHTH. Janelle thank you again for sharing.. SK
I used this with my oldest. About 5 days in she just started crying. I packed it all up never to be used again. We have 6 kids so I’ve come to the same conclusion you have about minimal K schooling. I’ve since decided I prefer books with pictures for that age. The Thornton Burgess books worked better for us a few years later. I haven’t been brave enough to go back to HOD.