LHFHG spread throughout the day- opinions needed

[Jessi]

Things are going so well with LHFHG and I am truly enjoying teaching her with this guide. As of right now we are doing LHFHG at half pace, meaning we do the left side on Mon and Wed and the right side on Tues and Thurs. We do not do school on Friday as Daddy doesn't work that day so it frees up more play time with him. My daughter will be 5 in just over three weeks. How hard would it be to do a full day's lesson (both left and right side) in one day if it were spread out during the day? The reason I ask is that my daughter needs more structure desperately. She doesn't do well with too much time on her hands to play. I have encouraged imaginative play as much as I can but if her friends that I babysit dont' want to play with her she just sits there bored after a short time. Mostly I just let her be as I don't see it as my responsibility to facilitate her every happiness. However, I got to thinking that if I planned more schooling which she has fun doing, and just spread it throughout the day it might help to keep her busy and structured without overwhelming her.

So I came up with a tentative schedule so to speak. Please take a moment and look it over and tell me what you think.

9am- Science/Drama/Art/Thinking Game activity
Rhymes in Motion
10am- Free Play (outside when nice)
11am-lunch with storytime book (all the kids like Reddy Fox)
12pm- Free Play (music in the background)
1pm- Naps for little ones and during this time:
Reading through History
Math
Handwriting
Phonics
*and then free play for the remainder of nap/quiet time
3:30pm- snack time with Bible Memory verse following
4pm- free time from then on out.

I am having the worst behavior problems during the two hour nap time with the older kids who do not nap. I have instituted book time, preschool activity bags, puzzles, play-do, etc, among her other girly toys like barbies and polly pockets but they get too loud and unruly and genuinely bored. I thought more structure during that time would help. Is this doable for a very young LHFHG user and does it still lend a cohesiveness to the program if it is spread out? I also thought about doing this during the winter and early spring months but then moving back to half speed closer to summer to spend more time outside....just ideas.

If this isn't a good idea, can you help me with some ideas for structuring her day more? I am pretty creative and I am at a loss. Thanks a bunch! I really dont' mind staying at half speed...it is the structure I am most concerned about.

[funkmomma71]

I don't see a problem with spreading out the school day, but a couple things you may want to consider...

My dd, who is also using LHFHG, does not do well with frequent breaks in the school day, she loses focus. That said, everychild is different, and this may work for your daughter. Secondly, the thinking games/science/dramatic play is closely linked with the history, you may want to do those together in one chunk rather than splitting them up, or at least so the history portion first so that the other activity makes sense. Today, for example we were studying the early Americans and then moved into Dramatic Play which was directly linked to the history; I'm not sure how much sense it would have made to my dd to do the Dramatic Play without first learning the history.

I sometimes break up our schedule due to other activities or my work schedule, when I do that I usually go through the daily lessons in order, and just take breaks as neccessary. I work at night so I usually have my dd do handwriting or copywork from RME, before I wake up and then we do the rest of the lessons after I wake up and while my ds is napping. Anything we don't finish before lunch is done in the afternoon.

The only way you can do this program "wrong" is by NOT doing it! It is so easy to make it your own, I love that I can do it however best fits our schedule and that I am not a slave to it.

Blessings,
Nancy

[Tansy]

I always tried to do math first ever since at a homeschooling conference I heard the brain is most active and able in the morning.
Also you may find that you don't have enough to do My still struggling with english (adopted from China in June) child has been doing 2 full days of the red book LHFHG in 1.5 to 2 hours. She just wants to do it.. More Mommy more! but we only do one day of reading. But we do a mix of sight reading and Phonics, so in essence she gets 2 days of reading now that I think about it.

Why not give her structured play time, now you play with leggos/ tanagrams. now its painting time. now help mommy set up snack time ect. GIve her chores if she is getting to loud with her regular toys. My dd loves to make my bed, wipe down the door fronts with a cloth, dust. ect...

I'm with you, We are not entertainment department! boredom really means they need work to do, or are over stimulated anyway. If we entertain them every minute how their creativity develop?

[my3sons]

That's great your dd is enjoying LHFHG! It sounds like things are going well enough that she could slide into it full-time - way to go, Jessi!!! The plan looks good in terms of flow between school and play, as well as between sit-down and move around. But if possible, I really think I'd try to keep the left side of the plans in a chunk somehow. I think the connections might be lost there otherwise. Maybe putting the history and its linked boxes in the middle? Then, you could have other boxes spread out before the middle history chunk, and after the history chunk. Those boxes for the Learning Through History side just go together so well - I think it's worth doing what can be done to keep them together. However you decide to do it - it is wonderful that she is doing so well!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[Jessi]

Thanks for the advice. She loves doing LHFHG....although anytime she is in the middle of playing with her friends (day care kids) she grumbles about starting, but once we do, she gets caught up in it.

In fact, today we were learning how everyone had to pack and move away from the Tower of Babel. She packed her suitcase and climbed on me (the camel!!!) and rode said camel to a new place to live which she dubbed Asia (or the rocking chair). She played that for a long time and even "cried" about having to leave the Tower of Babel and not being able to understand the people around her (aka...day care kids)

I have decided to try doing some behavior incentive charts with her and the older girls in my care. They are getting out of control, so I am trying something with them first. If this doesn't nip the behavior in the bud and help them and me to structure the day more productively, then I will slide Emma into full day. I really think she could do it and enjoy it. But I still want to hold off for the time being. This is after much prayer and reading your advice.


Oh and I completely see the validity of keeping the left side all together. I was looking at quiet and loud activities as it pertains to nap time but keeping the left side together makes the most sense.
Thanks a bunch!!!

[my3sons]

...
In fact, today we were learning how everyone had to pack and move away from the Tower of Babel. She packed her suitcase and climbed on me (the camel!!!) and rode said camel to a new place to live which she dubbed Asia (or the rocking chair). She played that for a long time and even "cried" about having to leave the Tower of Babel and not being able to understand the people around her (aka...day care kids)

I have decided to try doing some behavior incentive charts with her and the older girls in my care. They are getting out of control, so I am trying something with them first. If this doesn't nip the behavior in the bud and help them and me to structure the day more productively, then I will slide Emma into full day. I really think she could do it and enjoy it. But I still want to hold off for the time being. This is after much prayer and reading your advice. ...!

Can I just say you're great?!? I LOVED reading your post, Jessi! There is such POWER in laughter, and I can tell you are a mom that gets into her teaching. That is priceless for your little honey. The Tower of Babel activity you described when from being a great activity to a phenomenal activity because of the way YOU did it. The style of teaching we use with our dc - and our attitude - is HUGE to the success of our dc's learning. I love to hear things like this, it is such an encouragement for me to think of HOD playing out like this in homes. JOB WELL DONE - keep up the good work!

Oh, and your attention to behavior concerns - and the PRAYER that you put behind it - is priceless. Poor attitudes and behaviors left unattended lead to the demise of even the best of curriculums, and even the most well-intentioned parents. I am impressed. What a nice post for me to read first today!

In Christ,
Julie

[Jessi]

Julie, thank you for such a sweet uplifting post. I truly value your advice about HOD and life in general!

This "camel" has sore knees today. hehe

I love playing while learning. HOD is too fun!!!

Oh and I just have to share, for the past two days at lunch as soon as we say our prayer for the meal, Logan (my two year old) yells out "Reddy Fox! Reddy Fox!" He loves listening to the stories so much. How cute is that!!!! When I grab the book he just laughs and won't eat until I begin reading.