uncombining update and new baby advice needed

[queenireneof3]

Hi ladies...

It is good to be back after a short summer break!

I have done lots of praying and thinking and have come to a (current) decision about how to proceed next school year with my kiddos.

My oldest (just 9, technically starting 4th grade) will be starting Bigger in August. He really needs to keep moving forward. I have had him combined my my daughter (now 7, technically 2nd) since LHFHG. That worked great until the end of last year (Beyond). I could tell my dd was starting to lag behind and that he was ready for more challenging work. I really wanted to keep them combined, but I could sense the level of work becoming discouraging to her.

So while my ds moves on to Bigger, I will keep my daughter moving forward on all her "basics" (math, reading, spelling). We will add cursive for both her and my ds, as well as grammar at her level. I will use the Beyond guide for her math, spelling, reading, and storytime. She could use another year of the storytime/narration box in Beyond before moving up to Bigger, so we will just go back through the guide with new read-alouds. She will also do some short and sweet manuscript handwriting practice. Instead of redoing the history/poetry/bible in Beyond, she is going to take a break and instead we'll focus on her Bible verse from Church (they always send home flyers with the verse and activities to do), Mother Goose poetry, and Home Ec classes. She is so excited about this! I have been storing up ideas for cooking, baking, knitting, sewing, etc that we will do together in the afternoons. She is already so crafty and loves helping me, so this will create some planned time together for me to keep teaching her.

My youngest son (almost 4!) just started LHTH. He could not be more excited! He has been asking to do school everyday for months. It will be nice to have a guide instead of winging it for him everyday!

So, I'm excited about the plan, sad about uncombining them, but my son really needs to keep moving. He could almost fit into Preparing, but since I have kept him combined with his younger sister, he hasn't developed all the skills needed for Preparing yet.

I do need advice about bringing a new baby into this full schedule already! Baby girl is due at the end of August! I plan on starting "half-speed" (if i can figure out exactly how best to do that) in August until the baby comes. Any suggestions on how to move half speed? Then we will plan to take September off to adjust to new baby. I HOPE to start again in October.

My plan is to try a 4 day week this year for my youngest son and 7yo dd. My older son might get a "shortened" 5th day, but I would like to keep him moving to finish Bigger this year.

What should I expect and how do I best meet everyone's growing individual teaching needs while attending a new baby? I am an introvert, so having the one-on-one teaching time will be good for me, however, my day/schedule seems to be stretching out before my eyes. So far, the plan is to start at 9am with LHTH then try to finish both older kids "basics" page before lunch. (Any earlier than 9 is setting myself up for failure...I know this from lots of experience. )After lunch would be Bigger's "History" page for my ds and poetry/home ec/handwriting for my dd. I don't know if I can possibly finish the basics for both kids individually before lunch, but that would be wonderful if I could. I have not figured nursing, diapering etc into this schedule, so am I crazy?

Thank you in advance and sorry for the long post.
sara

[Jennymommy]

Naptime is good time to spend on more teacher intensive projects Also, I used bathtime as an opportunity to do storytime or memory review.

[christina32344]

I agree with the previous suggestion. I saved any school assignments such as Math or Science Experiments for naptime to allow that uninterrupted one on one time. Good luck to you and your kiddos!!!

[TrueGRIT]

Hi! Congratulations on your new baby coming!

I think once you get past the initial weeks of no sleep, that you will find teaching with a baby fairly easy. Newborns sleep A LOT which helps. Once they get to toddler stage like mine is now- watch out! Have to train and try new strategies.
Once in the beginning I woke up during school - yes, I fell asleep while teaching to find my oldest had kept his siblings moving forward with whatever they could do without me. He had even almost completed his math. Said all that to tell you I freshly understand where you are coming from. Maybe to give others a laugh for the day as well

After the first 6-8 weeks I was more adjusted and school went great because baby slept. As far as nursing, we found that a good time for reading and memorizing. My oldest would do independent work then. It never was a problem. Changing baby was the duty of whomever was available. My 5 yr. old was an expert! not one of my older children minded taking a turn to help out with baby brother. Maybe you could consider teaining your 3 oldest along those lines as well. After all, you did mention your dd was learning home ec and excited about it.

Just a couple ideas, a laugh, and an encouragement. Praying for a safe & healthy delivery for you. Enjoy the next few weeks with schooling, then baby.

[rodandmegs]

I agree with mikki about nursing time being the best time for reading out loud. When my youngest was still nursing (he's almost 3 now, yikes!) it seemed like he loved to listen to my voice while I read to the other children. He would stare so intently at me. And he was a marathon nurser so we had twenty or thirty minutes to read, work on scripture memory, sing, or anything else that didn't involve me getting up. I would also use that time to catch up on my personal bible reading and studying, even praying out loud!

Also, my two older children had to learn to help change diapers, play with the baby, rock the baby, etc...they are all so close now, and the "baby" has several mommies and daddies. Very helpful when I'm busy and he needs something. He will go to them as easily as he does to me (most of the time).

I always worry "how am I going to do it all and stay sane?!", but it always works out.

[Gwenny]

Is it possible that your 9 yo can read some of his history or science?

[Gwenny]

I think your idea for your daughter sounds fantastic!

[queenireneof3]

Thank you ladies! I appreciate all the great advice! I can imagine nursing and naps will become vital school time! I like the idea of memorizing in the tub!

How would you recommend going "half-speed"or what is a reasonable pace after we pick school back up a month or so after the baby is born? I can tend to bite off more than I can chew, and I am concerned about my oldest son (9) getting behind in Bigger. He is already at the high end for the guide and I don't want him to be slowed down too much because of me! I'm not finding tons he can do independently. Math is so hard for him to begin with. He could probably read history or science to himself. I don't know if he will miss important words if I am not there to listen to him read.

[TrueGRIT]

There is actually a thread or two on doing half-speed Bigger. When I find it I'll post the link, or maybe someone else will get to it before me.
We actually first did Bigger by doing 7-8 boxes a day, picking up where we left off the next day. It took us about 6 days to do 1 unit that way. It extended Bigger for us by only a few short weeks. Time that my oldest needed.
My second is different, he does more independently than necessary, because he learns best that way.
Since you said your son needs extra help with math, I think I'd do it daily to keep on track. I would just put a reasonable time limit to it so it wouldn't get overwhelming. Time wise or problem wise.

[TrueGRIT]

I couldn't find one of the posts I was thinking of, but here are the other two:

How does half-speed look in your home?
viewtopic.php.?f=6&t=5600&p=41232#41232

And BHFHG time it takes (I found knowing the times it should take full-speed to help me for half-speed)
viewtopic.php.?f=12&t=702

Hopefully that last link works. Maybe someone else has a good post to link.

Half-speed will look a little different for each home, but I hope these give you an idea to start with.

[queenireneof3]

Thank you for the links, TrueGRIT! I copied down the info into my notebook. I am going to have to rethink my current schedule to see how I can balance the 2.5-3 hours better for my son throughout the day as well as incorporate the other two kiddos...I need to search for " forums on multiple guides scheduling" again! I don't want to feel overwhelmed, but I am slightly. None of their work is independent enough to allow me to double up teaching one while the other works. Hopefully our early start in August will give me time to figure out how long things actually take us and how best to schedule things!

Thank you!

[momof3kids]

We just had our baby last Septemebr, and it can be a bit overwhelming at times. My husband would often do story time or science with my older boys before bed. I don't really have any great advice, just wanted to congratulate you on the new baby, Remember, God gives you your children because you are the perfect mommy for them, and you will do a great job! Enjoy this time!

[bethelmommy]

First, I want to encourage you to give yourself lots of grace when that new baby comes. If minimal school gets done for a few months that's ok. My last one was born in the month of October and we took that entire month off. Then, with the holiday months we got a little done, but nothing regular. I just did what I could and then after Christmas worked diligently to get everyone back into full swing.

My daughter follows a half speed Bigger schedule and what we do is the left side of plans one day, along with spelling from the right side when scheduled, then the right side of plans the next day. I still combine for story time as I find that box very similar for Beyond and Bigger. So, that gets done everyday with her brother who is finishing up Bigger at full speed. She also does the reading box everyday, though I may drop that down to the pace scheduled in Preparing when ds starts that this fall. This schedule has worked well for her this past spring. I do think it is ok to combine your kiddos for story time if you are worried about getting things done. Also, once your son has a few weeks of Bigger under his belt, I think you will find him able to complete a bit more independently. My son now does all of his science (with the exception of experiments and narrating), copy work, vocabulary, and weekly history note booking and timeline independently. He reads directions right out of the guide and I check his work when he is done. Just give it time and work with him while you can with the goal of independence in mind. Hopefully this will help some as you look at planning your day.

[MomtoJGJE]

I generally save my off school time for when they get mobile. It's so much easier to do school when they aren't moving and grabbing and eating all the school work!

As far as how to do school with a baby, and half speed and all that....

One thing I do when we are doing school after a new baby is to just do whatever we get to each day. Some people put check marks in their guides or the date or something else to mark what box has been done. A lot of times I will take post-it notes and put them over each box. Then when we do that box I move the post-it over to the same box on the next day. I finish one complete day before moving on to the next day, even if it takes me a full week to do that one day! That way I know we are getting everything in and moving forward, but I don't have to stress immediately about getting a certain amount done each day (because things happen and I forget stuff). Some days we get a full day in a day, and sometimes not.

I agree with the PP who suggested having your 9yo read some of his history or science. When mine are in Bigger I have them start taking over their reading. Some days I have them read history, some days science, some days both, some days they get to choose, etc. And they almost always do vocabulary, reading their English lesson, cursive, any notebooking, timeline on their own. I am available if they have questions and I check their work when they finish so we can correct it immediately if necessary. Those would be things I would work on during your time doing school before the baby comes. That way he can already be in the habit of doing them on his own and reading the instructions.

[queenireneof3]

Thank you, momof3kids for the encouragement! And thank you bethelmommy and MomtoJGJE for the practical advice! I will be writing down that half-speed schedule for Bigger and I like the idea of using post-it notes to keep track of our boxes. I am glad for the general encouragement about taking it easy with a new baby. I really want my son to complete Bigger this upcoming school year, so I will do what you all have suggested and work on helping him do some of his Bigger work as independently as possible. That is what I am most nervous about, him getting behind, since he is already at the high end of his guide. My dd is much more independent than he is, so it might take more work with him to build his confidence. Thank you all!