Is Beyond History/Read Alouds too much for my 6yr old?

[FiveLittlePeaches]

I'm looking for some advice as I can't seem to settle on this issue.

I'm currently combining my children in Beyond, one just turned 6 (1st), and the other two will turn ages 7(1st) and 8(2nd) in the fall. We are just loving our homeschool journey using HOD. Last year we did LHFHG and it was a wonderful year.

My concern is in regards to my just turned 6 year old. She's really a bright child and loves to do workbooks. She is very self motivated and a hard worker. The only problem we're having is that she has a tendency to sometimes zone in and out of the history and story time readings. Other than that:

She loves math, and enjoys the singapore 1A
She does excellent in spelling.
So far so good in the copywork. She has very neat penmenship and she pays attention to details.
She's doing well so far on the english lessons.
She enjoys the science lessons
She reads quite well. I could have her restart the (oh what is that called???? Drawing a blank here....the books w/comprehensions questions)
She likes her phonics workbook -- I think that covers everything.
Poetry she enjoys the poems and has memorized all but one so far.

So it's just an issue of attention span or something. She is a perfectionist, and if something frustrates her she will cry. For example, we are currently reading Pagoo for story time. Today I asked her to narrate back the middle portion of the story, but she said she wasn't paying attention. I tried to help her along, and let her answer my questions and she struggled through.

I'm not sure what to do. I'm afraid if I push her through then she'll struggle with Bigger and possibly be completely lost in Preparing. I hate for her to always be the youngest age in the guides.

Any suggestions?

Thank you for reading my post.

Joy

Edited to say sometimes she also struggles with the Bible time. She can memorize the verses fine, but has a some slight difficulty with the questions.

[Happy2bMommyof3]

My seven year old is also in Beyond. She zones out when I read to her unless she is looking and following along with me. I usually sit right next to her on the couch and move my finger as I read (at normal speed) while she follows along. If I don't do that, she can't even recall two sentences I've read; but since we've been doing that, she remembers more details than I do! She is a visual learner which sounds like your ds as well.

[Tree House Academy]

It was too much for my almost 6 year old and we had to go back to Little Hearts after 4 weeks with Beyond.

[lmercon]

Having done Beyond with my then 7 yo ds last year, I would concur that Beyond may be too much for a new 6 yo. I'm drawing a blank as to what to suggest you do, since you did Little Hearts last year. There is quite of jump from Beyond to Bigger. I'm fairly certain my ds would not have been able to handle it last year.
I hope some others can give you some helpful suggestions.
Laura

[mrsrandolph]

This may be overly simplistic, but it is something we do at our house. If we are reading a history story about...say...George Washington, I will have printed off a color sheet of Washington from the Internet. They color on that to whatever degree they want while I read to them.

I am ADD, and I can't pay attention to sermons if I am not doodling or taking notes. Giving hands something to do may help those little minds retain as well.

Also...use your *exciting voice* when you read : )

[FiveLittlePeaches]

I am bumping up my post! Just hoping Julie or Carrie might read this.

Thanks.

[Carrie]

FiveLittlePeaches,

Thanks for your patience in hearing back from me! We are gearing up to formally start school at our house this coming Monday, and I am knee-deep in planning (in rough form) the history portion of our new guide RTR for my oldest son to pilot as much of as possible.

Thank you for sharing such a detailed list of skills as it really helps me advise you better. From the list that you shared, it does sound like your daughter fits well into Beyond. It's amazing that she is doing so well memorizing poetry, copying, and in math and reading. You should feel terrific about her progress.

Next, it's so helpful to note that the Classic Set of read-alouds in Beyond are MUCH harder than the Girl Interest Set or Boy Interest Set. Pagoo is far and away the toughest book in that set too, so it is not uncommon for your little one to be a bit lost when narrating from Pagoo.

If at all possible, I'd consider doing the Girl Interest Set instead for read-alouds. They will be much better suited to the ages of your mixed listening audience of girls. If you happened to order the Classic Set from us, you can easily return it to exchange for the Girl Set instead. If you're using the library, simply choose from the Girl or Boy Set instead.

If she hasn't been through the whole Emerging Reader's Set, you'd also want to have her go through that set as scheduled. That will really help her growth in reading.

Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Carrie

[water2wine]

We did Pagoo also in Bigger. I honestly could not imagine my 5 year old who is in Beyond and doing great so far listening to Pagoo. I loved it, but I like all the science stuff. I will tell you that my dh the engineer was lost on that book. My older kids enjoyed it but he did not enjoy reading it on the days he pitched in and helped. It is definitely a harder book. I stick to things I can make fun for two my little ones and I have no voices for Pagoo, hahaha! But seriously the terminology in that book is a little hard for a young one. I would definitely put that book aside for later years.

[pjdobro]

It sounds like you already have gotten your answer, but I just wanted to share that my 7 year old daughter has difficulty listening to the history or story time selections in Beyond if I make her sit still. I've learned over time that she has to move in order to listen well. It's contrary to my upbringing so that took me a while to learn. So like another poster, I usually have coloring sheets or drawing paper available and I don't insist that she sit still to listen. When I allow her the freedom to fidget, color, or draw, she retains the information fabulously whereas if I make her sit still and listen, she zones out. Just thought I would share that in case, your daughter might be a kinesthetic learner like mine.

[FiveLittlePeaches]

Here's an update on how things are going.

I just want to say first, that I haven't been feeling well. You know it's time to go to the doctor when the over-the-counter medications just don't work. Turns out I have pneumonia. I'm on an antibiotic but I'm very tired. All that to say I haven't been in the best frame of mind to really judge this situation clearly, lol! The wonderful thing is I can still get school done, so three cheers for HOD...hip-hip-hurrah!

On Monday, I brought out Devotions for the Children's Hour, so I could have a private Bible time with my daughter. After I read one of the stories, I looked at her and her eyes were all glassy! I asked her what was wrong with her eyes, and she said it's hard to keep them open so long without blinking. I told her that she needs to just blink, lol! Lol, so we just went on with our Beyond schedule as usual and had a very smooth day. I really got to thinking about things and there is no way the history stories are above her head. She just doesn't want to narrate, but she's willing to answer questions. This is just something we need to work on this year.

For our first read aloud, we did The Trumpet of the Swan. Actually, my 6 year old did a very nice job narrating from that book. Then the kids picked Pagoo for non-fiction. After reading the first chapter I thought there's no way they're going to get this, but my older two really enjoy the book. I can see why my 6 year old doesn't "get it" but we really do have some super great discussions afterwards! I think everyone would complain if we switched books, so we're just going to plow through. From here on in, though, I think we'll stick with the Girl's Interest Set.

Carrie, you recommended getting started with the Emerging Reader's Set (I couldn't remember what that was called in my OP ) and I think that's a great idea. You are oh so kind. And I don't want to take one second of your time since you're working on the new manuel. I pray that is going well.

Thank you ladies, for your comments and suggestions. I really enjoy this board and the support it gives.

Humbly,

Joy