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If any of you have followed our saga, you know that my 4.5 year old was less than thrilled with LHTH's fingerplays (although, he does remember parts of A-A-Adam, except he changed it to, "A-A-Adam, Can you believe, God made dinosaurs to bite people". But anyway...)

So, now we are doing LHFHG half-speed. Yesterday he sat with me and paid very good attention to the history and Bible boxes. Then today I did the rhyme, science, and storytime with him. When I started to act out the rhyme (the one in Unit 1), he rolled his eyes and curled up in a ball and hid his face... I did the rhyme anyway, and eventually he rolled over and watched me. I figured even if he won't participate, he should at least learn the continents!

He's the total opposite of my 6 year old son. It's pretty fun figuring out everyone's personality and learning style though!

That is hilarious! Just imagine how silly he'll think you are when he's a teenager!

Don't give up! If he eventually watched you, he might even participate in a few days???

Sharon,

Kiddos are so different aren't they! While your little one may not be a shaker and a mover or a little guy who loves to jump up and act things out , one thing I always weigh with this type of behavior is whether or not the little one is disobeying me as the teacher by refusing to do what I am asking.

While the rhyme in motion may not be the most important thing to make sure he does in his day, CM would always have us peek at the habit that is being formed by allowing kiddos to omit the part of "school" we are asking them to do. As our own kiddos are growing and changing, we've discovered that it's important for our children to obey us as the authority regardless of the task. I once heard Dr. Dobson say that if you do not have first time obedience instilled in your child by age 12, you will never have it. That was a shock to me, and I was pretty sure this couldn't be true. But, as we've had to work for years and years with my oldest son's strong will, to train him to obey us the first time that we ask something of him, I can see had we not worked hard at it prior to his teen age years it would be very difficult to require it now.

My husband and I have since worked harder than ever with our youngest kiddos from their earliest school experiences to form the habit of obedience in the tasks we require of them during the day. So, when the rhymes in motion (or whatever may not be our kiddos favorite moment in the day arrives), we just require them to jump in and do it quickly (being over in several minutes). We look at each task from that perspective and require cheerful compliance.

We also do not allow our kiddos to ever use the word "boring" when describing a task that they make not like, or we give them additional chores within the house to do instead until they are no longer bored. It was a consequence my own mother used to implement (as we grew up on a hard-working farm). Needless to say, we never called a task boring. In this way, kiddos learn to be a steward of their time and to have a cheerful attitude, even when they may not love what they are doing. This is excellent life skill training for their upcoming adults years, as many adults have never learned this habit!

You may feel completely differently, and what you think matters most in your situation. But, I chose to share this, as I know it was an eye-opening moment for me and for my husband as parents to read and discuss Charlotte-Mason's writings and her strong focus on character training and the training in obedience to God's word above all else in the early years. Then, we figured out how best to require this in our own home and how to make it fit in with our family goals.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks for your reply, Carrie! Speaking of first-time obedience, we are really trying to work on that with the 2.5 year old. He is the most strong-willed of all the children, and is really a challenge for us. The 4.5 year old is really quite compliant most of the time. A while ago we sat down to do the left side of Beyond with my oldest two. My 4.5 year old said, "Mommy, I just want to be sticked with them". Apparently, he does not want his own special schooltime. When they do their phonics, he does a page or two from his ETC book. When they do their math, he does a page or two from one of the R&S workbooks. So, when they do their history/Bible/science/art/etc, he wants to be right there doing the same things. Considering the fact that he is only 4.5 years old, I don't feel like I should force him to do his own program. When LHTH wasn't working out, I figured I'd give LHFHG 1/2-speed a shot. I know it's only been 2 days of LHFHG, but I really want to take his desires into consideration. It doesn't hurt to drop the LHFHG and just let him tag along with his older siblings if that's what he wants. When he's officially in K or even in 1st, he can have his own program then. All this time I was feeling guilty for not giving him something special geared just for him, and it turns out that's the last thing he wants.

All that being said, they are really enjoying Beyond. Yesterday we got 56 drops of water on a quarter for the science activity.

At this point, I'm thinking it would be nice to let ds4.5 tag along with his big siblings for Beyond and even Bigger (of course, he will continue to do his own level of math and language arts). Then, when he is 6.5, the older two will start Preparing, so he can go back to Beyond and do it "for real". Of course, at that point, my 4th child will be 4.5 so who knows what he'll want to do, LOL! But I don't need to worry about that right now. You never know though, in a few months he might be begging to do his own thing!

So, anyway, thanks again for the replies. I really don't think this is an issue of disobedience. He just really loves doing things with his big siblings and wants to learn with them, and since he's only 4, I think that's fine.

What a stinker.... We chatted some more about school, and now ds is saying he wants to be "unsticked" (from his brother and sister). I told him if he wants his own special school time, then he has to get up and leap like a deer, etc. He said he was too tired this morning. I said he'll have to do it anyway. And guess what? Just now I got him to get up and act out some of the rhyme with me! So, I guess we are back on for tomorrow, and I'll see how things go. I really hate seeming so indecisive. I am going to have to resolve to stick with it, even if he resists for a while. I think he's a lot like his Mommy, and has trouble making up his mind...

Sharon,

I know what you're saying about those indecisive 4 year olds. If your son is anything like my 3.5 year old, what he really wants is to see how much power he has! Mine would love to run the show all day, and while he is overall a precious little guy, he is definitely deciding to assert his will now (of course just as school is around the corner)!

I agree that it's important to take into account what your little one wants and to then try to determine how reasonable it is with the demands that you have with the rest of the family. So, you are right that you can have your little one ride along with the older ones this year, or do LHTH, or do LHFHG at half-speed. Any of the options will work. Once he's had his input, I'd lean toward just making the decision and sticking with it, requiring first time obedience from him as far as school is concerned (which I know is saying a lot... from dealing with this with my own 3 year old).

I do plan on doing LHTH this year with my 3 year old, but I am thinking of it mainly in terms of getting him to have some time alone with me, learn about God's word, and training him in the habit of obedience. Your goals may differ from mine, which will make a difference in what you decide is best for your 4 year old. I find that knowing what I'm trying to accomplish helps me decide what route is the best way of meeting those goals program-wise.

Not sure if that helps at all, but I find that sometimes just talking through things with someone else helps me!

Blessings,
Carrie

Today went really well. ds did the art project in LHFHG Unit 1 Day 2, he listened carefully when I read about Reddy Fox, AND he went crazy acting out all those animals in the rhyme. I'm glad I decided to go ahead and give it another try. I'm going to stick with it and I'm not going to let him change his mind again! I did let him make a barn with his big siblings (Beyond Unit 4 Day 5) though, but told him he'll have to do it again in 2 years.