More Beyond questions

[MamaPajama]

I'm trying to write up a tentative schedule for later this year. I say tentative because I'm not opposed to switching things up if need be...especially given the fact that we currently have NO idea what kind of schedule the wee one will be on. (Can I just say a quick "thank you" to God for baby carriers and travel swings?)

So far this is what I have:
Breakfast
Reading about History
Geography/History/Science/Art Activity
Bible Study
Music
30 minute recess
Poetry and Rhymes
Language Arts
Free Play while sisters do Little Hands
Lunch
30 minute recess
Math
Reading
Storytime

I'm feeling uneasy about two things.
One: That Bible isn't coming first, though in the scheme of the schedule it seems to make the most sense to do it this way.
Two: Math after lunch and recess frightens me. While that is probably DS' strongest subject, he needs to be able to concentrate on it. In the past we've had issues with this and I resolved to doing math first thing in the morning and setting a timer to keep him focused. I'm not sure if it will be a good thing or a bad thing to try and tackle this one after he's been tuckered out a bit. Also, the longer the day goes on the more likely my toddler is to get fussy, and she really doesn't take a nap anymore. The more fussy she gets, the harder it is for either DS or I to concentrate on anything. I set the schedule up this way in hopes that she would either take some quiet time in her room, or maybe even a nap after getting to play so much. If that doesn't work, we'll definitely have to switch things up.
Anyhoo...

Questions for those with Beyond experience:
1. How do you feel about Bible not being the first thing in line every day? Would it be better to do Bible Study first, then History, Activity and Music?

2. Does the timing of this schedule seem reasonable? With no experience, it's hard to gauge this. I plan to use a separate Bible with my 2 year old and my 4 year old, so Little Hands may take a tad longer than the proposed 30 minutes.

3. If we do run into issues with math, would it be an easy fix to switch up the math/reading/storytime portion and the history/activity/Bible/music portion (.....however, thus putting Bible even further down on he list....)? OR would it be too much to squeeze math in first thing after breakfast?

4. I would really LOVE to get through the day without turning the television on for the girls. In the morning I have free play and books on CD planned, and in the afternoon quiet play for my 4 year old and nap/quiet time for my 2 year old. I want to separate the girls while DS does his intense work so they don't egg each other on and distract him. If quiet time doesn't work out so well for my 2 year old, I have things like books, puzzles and a magna doodle on the list of things to break out. Any other suggestions?


Sorry so long!

[inHistiming]

I think if you really want to bible first, then you can certainly do that. However, if I remember correctly (it's been a couple of years since Beyond and I don't have my guide in front of me), the Bible 'lesson' is often connected to the history reading and we sometimes didn't really understand what was being referred to when we did Bible first. (there may be a question referring to a character in the history reading and did he depend on or trust God, etc.)

Personally, I have found that all of my children do better if they get their math out of the way first thing in the morning. There seems to be better concentration....and now that we have the toddler (15 months) she is happier to play alone (well, at least in the same room) in the morning than later in the day. So we always get math done first. My older two also do their english and handwriting before we move on to any group work. With my younger son, just finishing K, I am finding that we need to switch things up a bit. Though we aren't actually in a guide right now, he will do math, then we may do his reading lesson, then maybe ETC, then go to Reddy Fox (we are reading those books even though we aren't in the guide now), and move on to handwriting, etc.

For your toddler, I am in the same boat though mine is a bit younger. I'm just now trying to find more ideas for keeping her busy. I did find The Toddler's Busy Book on Ebay, so I'm waiting for it to arrive. It is supposed to have 365 'things to do' with your toddler. There is also one for preschoolers, so you may want to look into that. I know there has been some discussion in the past about how to keep the younger ones busy and there have been great ideas. However, when I searched I could not find the thread. Anyone else reading know where that is? We'd love the link! I will also have a newborn in October, so things will be very interesting and I'm sure we'll have to change some of our schedule when she arrives.

Another thought about Beyond...you could go through it at half-pace, completing one page of plans per day, either the whole year or just until you have a good schedule in place. You can speed it up later. Or if you start full-speed, you could always slow it down when the baby arrives until you find your 'groove'. This is my plan....we will go through the guide half-pace (my son will be 1st grade) and if I feel we can handle it I may increase the pace. Otherwise, we will complete 17 units next year and the rest the following year. It will allow me to focus on him for a bit, getting in his schooling, but also allow time for the older two, the toddler, and the baby.

I don't have a lot of other advice right now, except to just try to relax. Hard to do,I know! Others will come along with some great suggestions, and I will be paying very close attention as well.

[lmercon]

You could very easily start off with one skill area and then move on to the content areas. My ds struggles more with the reading, so we start off with that, but you could start with math. I do the Bible lesson after the history story and activity because it relates to the history. I have never found that it somehow "de-elevates" the Bible. In fact, I think the Bible lesson is presented and then practically applied when you relate it back to the history. HOD has a way of weaving the Bible throughout the program, so in a way, you are having a Bible "lesson" all day!

As far as the little ones go, I would do this: Provide a plastic tub/bin that holds the activities for their quiet time. Each day would be a different activity that isn't available to them the other days. You could even write up a little schedule for yourself to keep track of the activities. Monday could be play-do, Tuesday could be cut and paste day, Wednesday is blocks/legos day, etc. The newness of the activity will increase the attention span and, hopefully, give you that necessary one-on-one time with your school-ager. After a few weeks, swap out some activities for new ones.

hth,
Laura

[sweetsavages]

Just a quick comment on doing BIble first. I used to do that, but my 1 yr old is awake then, my 3 and 5 yr olds are busy eating bfast and changing and all happy, so it was very hard to concentrate.
We started this year doing Bible at 2pm. That is the time we put my 1,3,5 yr olds down for naptime. It has been WONDERFUL. We frequently spend an hour on Bible cause we get into really good discussions and it's just a good time w/ the bigger kids....so just do Bible when it works best. Might be first thing, or 2pm or at bedtime.

Misti
Mom of 7 ages 14-1

[MamaPajama]

That's exactly what I was thinking about the History portion being linked with the Bible portion. I'm glad to know I was right to feel that way!

As far as that math is concerned, would it be too time consuming to do it this way?

Breakfast
Math
History
Activity
Bible
Music
30 min. Recess
Poetry/Rhymes
Language Arts
Free Play (while girls do LHTH)
Lunch
30 min. Recess
Reading
Storytime

If my guesstimation is correct, it seems like everything between breakfast and lunch shouldn't take more than about 3 hours. Does that seem about right? I think this would be great because it would significantly free up our afternoons.

[lmercon]

Beyond is a very sweet, gentle program and is sooo easy to implement. I think most days, you won't spend more than 2 1/2 hours or so on school, not including breaks and "life." I often saved the story time and some seat work for after lunch when the little one was sleeping and all was quiet. We were usually done with everything by 2-2:30. After a few weeks doing the program, you'll find a rhythm that works best for you. I wouldn't stress too much about it!
Laura

[MamaPajama]

Beyond is a very sweet, gentle program and is sooo easy to implement. I think most days, you won't spend more than 2 1/2 hours or so on school, not including breaks and "life." I often saved the story time and some seat work for after lunch when the little one was sleeping and all was quiet. We were usually done with everything by 2-2:30. After a few weeks doing the program, you'll find a rhythm that works best for you. I wouldn't stress too much about it!
Laura

Not stressing. I'm just a planner, for one. And I'm the type of person who will start to get off track if there's no definite schedule to adhere to. It makes me feel better to have it all on paper.

[amysconfections]

I found that it was best if I put the most important things to me first. Also working with what works best for the child. For us that means that after lunch they are too wiggly to sit and do a reading lesson. They will sit and listen to storytime right after the toddler goes down for a nap. We start with practicing our Bible verses and get some wiggles out. Math is done early in the morning. If I wait till afternoon, something may come up and keep us from it. So, just adjust your schedule with that in mind. I do better with a schedule to keep me on track too. I need the flow, to know what to do next.

[my3sons]

Hi Khara! I think you have some great ideas here already. I would start with the math for all the reasons you mentioned. Many times, my oldest would eat his breakfast pretty quickly, and then the 2 of us could begin math (or whatever) while the youngers finished eating. About by the time I finished my math lesson, the littles were done eating, and my older could do his independent math workbook while I got the littles onto their next thing. You could actually have your ds finish his independent math (if doing Singapore this would work) and do his Beyond copywork while you did LHTH with the littles too, if your littles want you right away. But, LHTH is easy to get in at any time. One of the struggles we have is coming back to do school after lunch. You can see how that goes for you, but you could definitely finish Beyond and LHTH by lunchtime, and it may be worthwhile to try it both ways to see which is better for your family. One thing that really helps me when making a schedule is to have the time allotments for boxes of plans. Here is a link where Carrie shared hers for Beyond:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4390&p=32417

You can see that once you get on a roll with Beyond, it shouldn't take very long, and LHTH just takes 20-30 minutes, which can be done during your ds's independent work in Beyond. HTH as you ponder the best schedule for your sweeties!

In Christ,
Julie

[lmercon]

Not stressing. I'm just a planner, for one. And I'm the type of person who will start to get off track if there's no definite schedule to adhere to. It makes me feel better to have it all on paper.[/quote]


ME TOO! To the point of ridiculous! I was reminding myself of that as I was typing it for you!
Laura

[gmhaynes]

About doing Bible first...Our family feels that it is important for our children to start their day in the Word and in prayer. However, we did not do the Bible boxes first in the day. Our kids have a Wednesday program through Word of Life where they have a daily quiet time that they have to complete. All of the children (and adults) are on the same section of Scripture, so we start our day with our quiet times and Bible reading as a family and then pray about our day. Then the kids are usually ready to dig in. I agree with the other posts that most of the Bible time in the curriculum does tie into the History so it is hard to do that first. If you feel like they should be doing something from the Bible first maybe try a devotional or something else as a family. You could also try reading Proverbs with them every day. We have done that in the past, and we read the Proverb that matches up to the day of the month. (Proverbs 1 on the 1st, Proverbs 2 on the 2nd, etc.)

Hope that helps...

Mary

[MamaPajama]

Not stressing. I'm just a planner, for one. And I'm the type of person who will start to get off track if there's no definite schedule to adhere to. It makes me feel better to have it all on paper.

ME TOO! To the point of ridiculous! I was reminding myself of that as I was typing it for you!
Laura[/quote]


I also like to write lists. I'm forever writing lists, and not sticking to them. But boy, do I LOVE to write them!

[sw1ssm1ss]

This year for LHFHG we needed flexibility because of having a baby, errands, a tired mom , etc. We didn't do the same order every day. I copied the clip-art type icons onto card stock, self-stick laminated them, and put sticky magnets on the back. Thus, a nice batch of HoD magnets to do with what we wished. We ended up having them on a cookie sheet (because we can carry it around).

We strove to keep Bible Study first because otherwise it seemed to not get done. I strove to keep Phonics second (or third) after realizing that it did NOT go well at the end of the list. This gave us flexibility to change things as needed--different things different days, or even a quick change in the middle of the day if the baby woke up from her nap early.

It's also very visual! The child moves the magnet to the bottom of the cookie sheet as they finish something, and they see how much is left.

As far as little ones, maybe some art stuff that could rotate so it doesn't get old. Maybe some inexpensive workbooks or coloring books if they want to "do school" like him.

It was hard at first to make quiet time happen at my house, but we stuck with it and it's gotten easier. We actually all rest at the same time, though, so it's not school time.

Oh, and I have the Busy books--I saw the Toddler, Preschooler, and Sibling book all for sale at the grocery store for $5 each, so I snapped them up! The Sibling book *might* be a good one if your younger ones need things to play together. Or maybe you want to just avoid that.