Concerns with DD in LHFHG

[Littlelight]

My 6 yr old daughter has some neurological issues, but most of all she just seems 'immature' developmentally.

We did LHTH last year for her kindergarten year, and all went well.
We started her on LHFHG last week, and while much of it is going well - I'll admit she is struggling in some areas.

The history reading (Little Pilgrims) seems to be a bit above her. Especially the vocabulary words/review questions at the end of the chapter.
Also, her mind tends to wander during the readings - you can see it in her face. Her eyes sort of glaze over or she starts looking around. I can tell she isn't concentrating on what is being read to her, even after I try to call her attention back to it.

She does the same with Reddy Fox. The book isn't holding her interest (I wonder if it's because of the lack of illustration.)
She fidgets and daydreams through much of it, and when the characters speak in verse/rhyme she doesn't understand it at all. (She only gets about 1/2 of the narration review questions correctly.)
She is frustrated to the point of tears and I feel so badly for her.

How do I 'adjust' things so that she understands and enjoys the readings?

[krismoose]

I'm using LHFHG with an almost 5-year old, and he drifted off at first as well. The lack of pictures is so striking to my dc that they like to search for the pictures in the Burgess book after we've done the reading For storytime, I reread the sentence or two from the book that has the answer, and then ask the question again, and sometimes give a couple of choices for answers instead of the open-ended question. I also explain the new words and phrases used in the questions more if needed. He's starting to get the idea of how to listen for details, but it's a learning process . I think it's okay to help her with the answers, and let her know it's alright to not know the answers yet, that this is how she's going to practice listening and answering questons Ds doesn't understand the rhyme sections either. I usually explain the main point and read the verses again and move on. Sometimes I just move on I'm looking at this as a training process for how to listen and understand what he heard, and intend to drop my modifications little by little over the year as we progress through the guide and he matures. I do the same thing when we read History for Little Pilgrims. We also bought the HfLP coloring book from another site and we color from that or other relevant bible story pages from the web or R&S Bible Stories to Color. It seems to help reinforce the stories at other times of the day. HTH

[Candice]

Littlelight,

I will just share with you some adjustments I made to help my daughter along a little bit with both the history book and the storytime reading and hope that it might help you in some little way.

For the history reading I just keep in mind that this trip through history is mainly about exposure to the people, places, and events. It is a starting point, if you will. While I hope that my dd does pick up some information along the way, I also keep in mind that not only am I trying to have her absorb the material but, I am also teaching her how to learn. We are working on many skills in addition to academic concepts. We are working on being attentive, following through, obedience, and even comprehension skills. I try to keep in mind that much will be accomplished with baby steps. I expect the beginning to be a bit rough and have expectations that she will improve as we move along. Not only is the material and experience new to me but, it is also new to her and I try to remember to give her some grace when it comes to following through with the skills mentioned above. I just try to think of it as a work in progress, as long as we are making some progress.
Also, I have found that including the History For little Pilgrims coloring book (available through CLP and other vendors, not through HOD) really helps her to stay in tune with what we are reading. It's super affordable and might help with your daughter's interest with history. Also, I don't require that my daughter answer the vocabulary or comprehension questions, she kind of freezes up now and then if I do so, I just dropped it for now.

For storytime, Reddy Fox in particular, I really got goofy sometimes with the character voices. I love the really outlandish characters and their silly accents so, I tend to be a total goofball when reading those. My daughter looked at me really funny the first time and then she would crack a smile. She just loved that I would be such a goofy mom when reading a book to her. She kind of expects it now so, I get to be the major goofball often.
I think the storytime can be a bit of a challenge with kiddos that are really used to picture books that have a lot of pictures. The Burgess books are certainly quite different than your typical picture book. I believe that they do take a bit of getting used to. I would recommend just giving it a go for a while longer and see if her interest level changes.
I do remember that someone here on the HOD Forum put together stick type puppets of the characters in the Burgess stories. I believe she searched on Yahoo and printed out pics of the characters and them glued them onto popsicle sticks to make cute little character puppets. I though that was a really neat idea and a great way for the kiddos to have more of a visual with the stories.
I hope this helps in some way, if not I am sure otheres will be by with some suggestions!

Candice

[Littlelight]

Thank you both.

We do have the coloring book for Little Pilgrims. DD really enjoys it, and I even bought an extra one for my 4 yr old so she could 'tag along' too. Although, I found that I can't have her color while we're doing the readings because she really 'focuses' on her coloring and drowns out my voice completely. We tried it for a couple of days and afterwards she was like... "Huh? Did you say something?"
So now we do our coloring after our reading - lol.

I like the idea of the stick puppets, too. Maybe have her try to act out the story as I tell it?
(Then again - it could be like the coloring and become a distraction. )

Either way, you are both correct - that she is in the process of learning how to learn.
I just hate to see her frustrated, when she typically enjoys being read to.

[Tree House Academy]

We found this to be true in Beyond with my younger son. What it took for him was moving back a level and doing Little Hearts (even though he will be 6 this month). It is working for us. The difference between his understanding of what is discussed in History for Little Pilgrims vs what we were doing with Beyond is amazing. Sometimes the kids just need that one more year to mature and grow before they are ready to tackle the more abstract stuff. Reading without pictures is very abstract. Even my almost 6 year old has a hard time with narration and answering questions after I read something. I think all kids are prone to the day dreaming. I compare this with my 10 year old son (doing Bigger with Extensions) and the way he can listen to me read a book like Seabiscuit and be totally captivated and I KNOW it will all come in time. Take heart...it will come.

[Carrie]

Littlelight,

The ladies are giving you wonderful advice and encouragement! I'll just add a couple ideas that may be of help too. I agree that History for Little Pilgrims is challenging for little listeners who are new to listening to longer readings with few to no pictures. The good part is that after you move through the first week or two, the majority of the readings shift to being Bible stories (which are more familiar and shorter readings, depending on your choice of Bible). By the time you return to History for Little Pilgrims further along in the plans your child will have matured some and will have an improved listening span.

Another tip that is helpful would be to omit the end of chapter questions and vocabulary in History for Little Pilgrims. I don't have my LHFHG guide with me right now, but I'm thinking we scheduled that part as being optional, due to the level of understanding required to do those particular activities. Your child would in no way be alone, in struggling with those questions or the vocab. words.

As far as Redddy Fox goes, if she's getting half of the narration questions right she IS listening and is actually doing better than most kiddos who are new to listening to longer readings without pictures. Give it time and you will see her grow so much as a listener and in her comprehension as you read the Burgess books through the year.

One more tip that I always try to keep in my own mind is that it's alright for a curriculum to be a bit on the hard side for a child at the beginning of the year, as they will then grow into the curriculum as the year progresses. If desired, you may wish to go half-speed with LHFGH for awhile, doing left side one day and the right side the next day while she matures.

Blessings,
Carrie

[pollo_la]

I have not read the other responses yet, so sorry if I repeat something. Anyway, my first thought was... maybe she needs to "do" something while you are reading. It is not uncommon at all for some kids to need to be actively engaged in someway in order to take in information. Something as simple as squeezing a ball or even jumping on a mini tramp while you are reading may work wonders. Now this is certainly not the case for all kids, but it might be worth a try.

[water2wine]

You got some great advice. I am with Candice on the voices. I did that too and we made it silly. I also had them try to guess what would happen next and I was real mean I would look ahead and read silently, laugh, and then hide the book someplace and they would all day long until the next day try to find it to see if they could figure out what would happen next. It became a huge deal. Sometimes I would have to put it some place they could never get it becasue the picture would tell the story. But they would guess and then the next day we would see if they were right. For History with Little Pilgrims we did a competition with the questions. I agree though they are tough and I would just leave them out if it is stressing her. On the reading though I would stop sometimes and try to get them to guess what was being talked about. Sometimes the guesses were very silly and sometimes they were really good. But they ended up really loving the book. My two little one fight over who now "owns" LHFHG because they want me to save it to let them use it for their kids. The children they have already named and their dolls now seem to represent. I have caught them doing LHFHG with their dolls.

But in the beginning we also had some wiggly glazed over looks like is this going to be long type things. So hang in there it is such a wonderful program. Add some of the ideas you have gotten and just wait and see if they do not get mad at you if you try to skip something.