I am late to this thread, but this is such a good topic that I wanted to respond!
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The habit of attention takes time to teach, and younger children naturally have a much shorter attention span. HOD keeps its younger guides shorter, and Carrie plans for each box of plans to be of a shorter duration. I have found it is best if I do not add to the guide, but rather focus on moving along with each box of plans. Drawing out discussions doesn’t help the habit of attention to form, so I make a point to stick to the plans, which helps us keep time allotments in check. Here is a link for most of the guides and suggested time allotments...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&start=135#p74537
I find if I am standardly going longer than the suggested time allotments, the day is unnecessarily longer, and the dc are unable to maintain the habit of attention for that increased amount of time. So, finishing in a timely fashion is as much for the dc as it is for the mama!
Rotating disciplinary and inspirational subjects helps as well (i.e. disciplinary – math/grammar/etc.; and inspirational – reading living books/creative art or history projects/music, etc.).
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2125
Carrie has this to say about the habit of attention during reading…
I have to say that with my boys, allowing them to play with anything or have things in their hands while I'm reading distracts them. We go the more Charlotte-Mason route at our house in having the child develop a habit of attention when I'm reading, knowing their sole job is to focus on what I'm saying. The reason we choose this route to go is that it is lifelong training for any kind of class, sermon, school, or work setting where our children (and future adults) will be required to have the habit of attention. On the other hand, if we are purely reading aloud for pleasure at our house, then we allow our kiddos to latch-hook, color, or play Legos quietly, but anytime we read for school we require the habit of attention. We've always had our kiddos just cuddle up next to us and follow along with the readings. In keeping with CM, we also don't reread portions of the text either. If the narration or follow-up the child gave wasn't the best, then the next day we would stop and narrate after a shorter section instead. But the child needs to understand they will be required to retell from a single reading. All of this to say that I wouldn't spend time coming up with something else for your child to do during the reading. The listening is the work, and if kiddos can listen when their hands are busy, they should be able to apply the same concentration when their hands aren't busy. Two of my three boys so far, are over-the-top hands-on bodily kinesthetic kiddos. Yet, they have gained the much needed habit of careful listening and sitting quietly when I'm reading. It is a needed lifelong habit worth pursuing. I have to say that with my boys, allowing them to play with anything or have things in their hands while I'm reading distracts them. We go the more Charlotte-Mason route at our house in having the child develop a habit of attention when I'm reading, knowing their sole job is to focus on what I'm saying. The reason we choose this route to go is that it is lifelong training for any kind of class, sermon, school, or work setting where our children (and future adults) will be required to have the habit of attention.
On the other hand, if we are purely reading aloud for pleasure at our house, then we allow our kiddos to latchhook, color, or play Legos quietly, but anytime we read for school we require the habit of attention. We've always had our kiddos just cuddle up next to us and follow along with the readings. In keeping with CM, we also don't reread portions of the text either. If the narration or follow-up the child gave wasn't the best, then the next day we would stop and narrate after a shorter section instead. But the child needs to understand they will be required to retell from a single reading.
All of this to say that I wouldn't spend time coming up with something else for your child to do during the reading. The listening is the work,and if kiddos can listen when their hands are busy, they should be able to apply the same concentration when their hands aren't busy. Two of my three boys so far, are over-the-top hands-on bodily kinesthetic kiddos. Yet, they have gained the much needed habit of careful listening and sitting quietly when I'm reading. It is a needed lifelong habit worth pursuing.
Getting to bed on time the night before and having the house as together as possible helps the next day go better. Getting enough sleep is important too.
Having a planned start time, and sticking to it within a half an hour increment helps us get started off on the right foot. A filling breakfast and getting just the necessary chores out of the way (the ones that have to be done for the day to start off right - i.e. pets fed, dishes unloaded, garbage taken out) helps our day go better too.
Sticking to a routine rather than a set schedule works well for this stage of life for me. So, we do the same order of things, but we may be off on the exact times we are doing them.
Planned breaks help as well. So, having a daily planned 30-45 minute playtime with a sibling in the middle of schooling can be just the break my dc need to return and finish their school with a more focused habit of attention. However, I do need to watch the time and not let it go on forever, or coming back becomes too difficult to do.
Letting dc have a snack/drink time is another thing that helps. We have a list of snacks that are ok to have, and my older 2 dc may have their snack whenever they want, one sometime before lunch, and one sometime after lunch.
Finally, I find if MY habit of attention is good, then my dc's habit of attention is usually good too. So, the only thing I do other than teach during the routine time we do school is move laundry from washer to dryer to basket or drying rack. I don't hop on the computer, answer phone calls from anyone but family and then I try to keep it short, or do other household/media/etc. type things that divert my attention from teaching. Before doing this, I could be quick on the computer to find myself still on it an hour later. Same thing with the phone. So, by keeping my attention strong, my kiddos have improved their attention too.
In Christ,
Julie