Oh my I just figured it out but with one problem

[Kims]

I'm putting my 7 yo in little hearts. I know he is second grade but he is not reading yet and when I look at the placement chart he fits perfectly. The only thing is we have read all the burgess books. We love them and could easily read them again but I was wondering if some of the other free ones on amazon would work.
Now when I am totally panicked because I am doing two guides (one being bigger) you all will have to talk me down or I will quit. Lol Seriously though please pray me through this. I need to just figure out how to work in two guides with two different children and try to keep them on track and not listening in because if I'm reading they have to be there.

[MelInKansas]

When you say you've read all the Burgess books, do you mean ALL of them? There are so many. Or just the ones in the guide? You could pick up some others. Though we had already read Peter Rabbit and I found going through it in LHFHG was not a bad repeat. The nice thing is all the discussion questions and activities are written in the guide for you so it is so easy. If you picked out some other books, you would probably still want to use the pattern of the activities in LHFHG because this is helping the child grow in listening/narration skills. So you would probably want to go through, at least one book at a time, and try to come up with some questions to ask and the weekly writing/drawing activity for the story you decide to read. Storytime is much easier to customize in Beyond and Bigger but in LHFHG it will take some doing....

I would say maybe do read-aloud times together. I let my kids listen in if they don't have anything else they need to do. We do less-loved things like math and handwriting first in the day and then read-alouds and the children do their reading and then we tend to finish up with the hands-on stuff. I bet you could work out a schedule where they can listen to each of the read-alouds. That also makes for lively discussions and sharing of learning with siblings. One thing I try to make sure of is that only the child whose guide it is answers questions. For my kids, if they answer out of turn (with one gentle reminder) then they aren't allowed to sit in on the other's school time.

[Kims]

We have read all the burgess books that go with little hearts. Am going to look through it again. I know the activities and questions are geared toward certain burgess books so I may just do them again. We love them so much anyway he won't mind but it won't be that first reading thing.

[FiveLittlePeaches]

I'm just curious and have a couple of questions for you.

How did you utilize the books when you read them? Did you read through them for pleasure at a quick pace or a chapter at a time?

How long ago did you read them?

[Kims]

We read through most of them last year and we did just do it quickly as fun. Thanks that helps me to know I need to do it the right way and follow the plans.

[FiveLittlePeaches]

Great! I'm glad you were able to work it out. We love the Burgess Thornton books, too. I hope you and your little one have a great year doing LHFHG.

Now that you have story time worked out, do you still need help figuring out how to do 2 guides?

Edited to say -- I reread your original post, and want to share with you that my kids love story time, it doesn't matter whose it is. My older kiddos still wanted to listen in on the Burgess books when I did Little Hearts last year, and they were in Bigger and CTC!

[Kims]

Yes help with using two guides would be great. I read all the stuff on here but honestly I must have a mental block because I can't understand it. I can't see how I can ever get my child back to focus after a break or how one will work independently while I work with the other one. My 9yo is such a daydreamer. Very smart so I know he can do it but doesn't focus long at all.

[raindrops]

I also want to hear more about HOW people do break time. We have done Little Hands and then Beyond... no breaks. But going into Bigger now a break might be good.

How long? What are the kids allowed to do during break? A snack? Actually going to play?

It seems if they go start playing it would be hard to get them back into the "school zone". But maybe it isn't? Worse than that is if the younger ones see the older child is "out" they think it is playtime! LOL.

I guess it is all about training. Just wondering what my 4 yr old will do for 3 hours. Currently she plays educational kindergarten computer games, watches a movie or plays with toys/ playdoh while my son and I do Beyond.

[chillin'inandover]

You could read story time books from Bigger and do the activities in Bigger with both your children at the same time. Since your child is use to listening those skills must be already established. Being new to HOD and starting two guides would be easier with only one story time. When your 7 yo goes through Bigger they would just repeat the activities with another book set.
My dd went through LHFHG when 6/7 because she had trouble understanding and listening to story time. Sounds like your kiddo has good listening skills. There are plenty of good books to pick from. If you go to the book store tab it has the reading level of each book. Pick a shorter or easier book the first time through Bigger story time. You can chose from Beyond or Bigger story time. Just make sure that it is a book from each genre. So many wonderful books! Happy reading!

[chillin'inandover]

Raindrops,
My dd takes 2 1/4 hours in Bigger. She goes straight through as she would be distracted by a break. We have table time with older son and I do math, notebook, spelling, etc with both children. Could your 4 yo do some PreK activities at that time? My older son is highly distracted and this has been a training in progress. It has gotten easier as they both get older. 4 yo could have play in room during reading. I do Bigger story time, history reading, poetry in my room to cut down in distractions. It is tough with only two.

[StephanieU]

Here is how we broke up LHFHG last year:
First thing while I make and serve breakfast- Memory verses (AWANA, church, and sometimes LHFHG)
Then we did math, FMS, and our phonics workbook before 10:30am. We woudl take 10-15 minute breaks between each workbook normally.
While the 2yo was napping, we would do everything else. Normally we would start with storytime or reading. Then we would do all of the history related things. If the science or art would be of interest to all of them, we would save that for when the youngest was awake. Some times we would take a break and then do the last thing (storytime or reading). It just depended on how long the history portion was.

I try to do no more than 45 minutes of school at a time. Then I allow at least 15 minutes of break. I often set a timer, so my daughter knows that when it goes off, we have to work again. Because the timer is being the bad guy and calling her back to school, she doesn't fight it normally. And the breaks help with her concentration.

As for independent things, in Bigger, nothing is truly independent. But, it is a good time to start working on it. Give instructions for cursive/copy work, and then let the older one do the work. Stay nearby, maybe doing math with the younger one, so you can redirect if necessary. Spelling/dication and math you can do the same way. Even art and science activities you can work on independence that way. Does that make sense? My 6yo does her workbooks that way. The goal is that by Preparing, she can read the instructions in the guide for the I boxes and do them herself. Until then, I know I have to keep an eye on her. But, I don't have to sit right by her while she does some things.

[MelInKansas]

Great! It sounds like another trip through the Burgess books will be no problem. The only thing you will be "missing" is the suspense of what happens, if your son remembers it. I loved how the chapters always end on a cliffhanger and the kids would be so excited to hear what happens next and they still had to wait until the next day. Otherwise I am sure it will be a good discussion and learning time for your younger one.

I used to not do breaks in the middle of school. With LHFHG and Bigger you could do all of LHFHG first and then do Bigger (since LHFHG is so short). I guess this gives the older one a break before even starting school, but you could do it. You might end up (depending on how early you start your school day) having lunch break in the middle of Bigger. Another way you can do a little bit of multitasking is by having both boys working on writing/math at the table at the same time. The Bigger child ought to be able to do some on their own, once you get them started with the instructions. Then you can stay with the LHFHG child, helping with the workbooks, handwriting, or math and occasionally bouncing back to the Bigger child when needed. Again, we usually do this kind of stuff first because we like to get it out of the way. Bigger is not intended for the child to be independent in their work yet. In my experience they are a little more independent (usually they are reading and can follow through with some tasks) but it is good for you to always be close by, available, monitoring to make sure they are on task and doing a good job. Things like read-alouds, reading, activity (rotating box, art, science), Bible verses, poetry, etc it is hard to multitask. Often a block of these can be done at once - I tend to sit down with one child and do their history, storytime, reading, poetry all at once and that is our "snuggle on the couch" time. It seems like your kids are old enough to entertain themselves while they are not needed for school, but maybe they are not used to that. Get activities, audio books, etc prepared for them to enjoy while the other is doing school. Once you get into a routine they will get used to it.

Now we do have breaks, at least for my Beyond child and my Preparing child. Bigger and Preparing are long enough a break is a good idea. It is just part of the routine and they know when I call them back they need to come back and be ready. Often the break was also snack time. But a nice run-around, recess, etc is always good too. I think that helps them refocus. A timer is helpful, but again, my children just know that when I call for them they are supposed to come back and get ready to start again. I haven't found it to be a problem.

[Kims]

The people at HOD are wonderful. I called yesterday to talk to them about placement for my son and Julie spoke with me for a long time about it. She was very helpful, also very kind.
I think I have decided after that conversation to go ahead and do LHFHG as is. He may remember some of the Burgess books but it's been a while since we did Reddy Fox so I am sure as we go back through them it will be fine.
I am very excited although a bit worried about doing two guides and working it all in. I just need to figure out our groove.

[MomtoJGJE]

We don't take breaks that are free time. If someone gets done with something while I'm working with someone else, they either do a chore or work on AWANA or read one chapter of something. The only break that is close to play time that someone might get is if the baby is being a menace and I let one of the older ones take her away for a few minutes and swing her or something.

For us I guess it would be different if they were doing one subject for an extended period of time, but none of the boxes take long at all.... so it just doesn't seem like they are working without a break.