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I started LHTH and LHFHG today. I was so excited to start, but things didn't go totally as planned, which is totally normal when you are a mother of three, so that didn't bother me too much. Also, we had such a crazy weekend, and I'm sure the kids are a little tired and strung-out on sugar.


My 3.5 year old daughter loved, loved loved LHTH and LHFHG. She wanted to do both. She was having so much fun with the finger motions, songs, letter and math activity, but her twin brother would wander away and come back. He got some of it, but didn't seem to really care. I wanted to keep them together while "doing school", but they just at different stages. Do you think I should just let him go off and play? He is only 3.5.


Now my 5.5 year old son is having a hard time listening to the read-alouds, ex: History for Little Piligrims and the Adventures of Reddy Fox. He actually did good with the Devotional. He is very, very visual. He likes to draw most of the day. I started out letting him draw while I read, but I had to stop, because he wasn't paying attention. Does this just get better with time?

The big problem came when he refused to do the Rhymes in Motion. I'm not sure why. My kids are used to me dancing, singing and acting silly with them. This type of activity isn't out of our comfort zone. I ended up having to send him to his room. How can I get him to want to do this? I'm hoping this was just an off day for him. He had Karate this morning, and I think we are all recovering from a really fun and tiring weekend. The day is almost over, and we still haven't done, phonics, math or science.


Thank you for any input you might have,
Tracy

I don't have any advice, but I can say that I have the same problem with my son, he refuses to do the fingerplays or act out the story. He loves to sing and dance so I find it weird that he won't do them with school. The first couple of times I would send him to time out, now I just let him sit and watch. He will sometimes be drawn in by me doing them with my daughter, sometimes not. I'll be watching for advice on this

I don't think I have a lot of advice for you, but I will say one thing about the Rhymes in Motion. If your ds isn't really into it, you may try just continuing on with your dd (if she's listening in) or even on your own if he won't participate. You may find that it will look like fun to him and he'll join in eventually. It's worth a try. Also, as far as the readings go, we started LHFHG when my ds was almost 5 and he wasn't quite ready for the readings. We just tried again last week (he'll be 7 in June) and he loves the history and Reddy Fox...he was so excited that he gets his own history and science! So, if after trying for a while he still doesn't 'get it' you could try to slow it down a bit (say half-pace) or even put him in LHTH for a while to get him used to the Charlotte Mason method and all of the 'new' things found in HOD. I know others on the board have said it often takes time for their kids to get into the readings in LHFHG, and that if you keep trying you'll see progress. Hopefully some of those ladies will pop in to give you an encouraging word. And it is just the first day for you all, so maybe it was just an 'off' day and things will improve as the days go by. By the way, welcome to HOD!

Hi Tracee! Well, it's pretty normal for first days not to go off without a hitch. Our dc have probably been used to goofing off a good portion of their day, and being pretty in charge of their playing, so it's not always easy to get "down to the business of school", even when HOD makes school pretty fun. So, first, I just want to encourage you that many of us have had not so great first days, first weeks, even first months sometimes - but this is not an indicator of how the year as a whole is going to go. If I were you, I'd wait on starting your LHTH duo for a few weeks, until you get your oldest doing LHFHG into a routine. I would clip along with LHFHG, falling these time allotments as closely as you can:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4244&p=31219#p31219

As far as the rhymes, some dc just get a little self conscious about them. I'd just let him know that they are part of his school, and that it should take about 2 minutes to do if he can just do it pleasantly the first time. You can say a line, and then he can. I wouldn't expect over the top excitement or involvement, and I'd clip along with it at a quick pace, but a polite attitude can be expected. I do think that it's important not to omit things our dc have a harder time with, as they are often the things they need to get better at doing. Doing the rhyme with actions, paves the way for memorizing Bible verses with actions, which paves the way for memorizing Bible passages with actions. My oldest just memorized all of Phil. 2 this year in CTC, and there is no way he could have done that without the helps of the CD and the actions he put with the verses. He also had to stand up and give a short "advertisement" speech to sell me on his book (a form of oral narration, and a stepping stone to speech someday). So, his overcoming his awkwardness at standing up, talking, and moving around, which we first did together when doing fingerplays and rhymes was very necessary to be able to do these later skills. You can let him know that every part of his LHFHG has a purpose that is built upon later, and that while it seems like just fun, it's to get him ready for harder things later.

As far as the listening, that is totally normal for the beginning of kindergarten. Listening is a skill that is going to take some time to develop, and I think it takes longer for the average boy (I have 3 of them ). Anyway, here are a few past posts specific to this topic that may be helpful:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=126&p=7855
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5750&p=42243
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5106&p=37564

So, I think you just need to give it some time, and know that these are the very skills ds needs to work on improving, and that he will surely do so over time. I also think it's helpful to have an order for the boxes that becomes routine for dc, so you may want to consider making a simple chart for him he can "x" off, so he can see he's finishing things and on his way to not only having a good school day, but also on his way to finishing and getting to his free time. LHFHG should take about 1 1/2 hours to do, you can let him know that if he gives school his all and all, he'll be done in that amount of time and can still have a lot of free time to play. I hope something here helps! I think your ds sounds like a completely normal kindergarten aged boy, and I think he'll be enjoying school overall once he gets used to it and understands that this is what he needs to do for school. (It helps my sons to point out how LONG ps dc are often sitting in a desk at school. ) HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me. I think the advice to hold off on the younger ones is awesome. I need to get in the groove with my 5 year old first. Even though there were a few bumps starting out on the first day, I'm so excited to have found HOD. God is woven into our entire school time, and it's awesome. I had been praying and researching curriculum, and through a friend, God led me to HOD.

I'm glad you mentioned not to skip anything and that it builds upon itself. That gave me encouragement to keep pursuing the things that my 5 year old resisted.


Thanks so much! I'm still so excited. BTW, the kids are loving the CD's. They ask for them in the car.


Tracy

My ds had a terrible time with the action rhymes at first and I could not figure out why. I just kept doing them and encouraged him to try to do them with me. I found after the first couple of weeks he was doing them decently the last 2 or 3 days. Eventually he started doing them from the beginning. I was reading a book on temperaments and realized he is the type of child that cannot just jump into something. He has to see how it is done first and be sure of it. I really think our beginning glitches with LHFHG were due to his temperament and me not understanding what he needed. I thought the first week of history was a little harder, after that we were fine. It does take time for them to develop the listening skills.
As for the 3 1/2 yr old with LHTH, I can understand that, as our youngest is 3 1/2. He is doing it, sort of, and we are going to repeat next year with some tweaking. Funny thing is, he does the best with the flashcards and letter activities and the worst with everything else, including the action rhyme. I like the advice to get your 5 yr old going first. Over time your younger may become interested more by just watching the 5 yr old, or he might not be quite ready yet. Welcome!

i am not sure what to say about the 3.5 yr old. Both my kids at those ages, started LHTH and loved it. they are boy and girl (now 6.6 and 5 respectively). He may be at a different stage,like you said. Maybe he just can't handle it all at once??? LHTH is short enough, maybe you could just finish the rest later in the day with him???

As for the rhymes, my son,( and once in a while my daughter) will do that with the rhymes.They truly do like the rhymes. I think they usually just need a break, usually my son actually does get it by the end of the unit. I have had to discipline, also, like you have said,(mostly son) because they also have to learn that mommy is the teacher and sometimes we have to do school even if they feel like playing. Believe me there is no shortage on playtime around here.

I think it will probably get better. My son can usually draw or play with something and still be able to pay attention. And if he isn't i make him stop. My daughter does not do so well with that. Only if she is drawing sometimes, she is able to pay attention. She just gets distracted easily.
Oh i had started my daughter with LHFHG a while back b/c i planned on combining my kids, but she just wasn't ready.
she will start LHFHG in August (5.5 yr ) when brother( turns 7 in October)starts Beyond.

HOpe that helps. Hang in there!

Oh! I second the chart thing. i love it and so does my son! We use dry erase markers on a laminated little chart.

Jenn D.

I just wanted to give an update. Today is only day 3 of LHFHG and I'm amazed. All three of my children have the scripture verse memorized. The 3 year olds need a little prompting, but I'm sure by the end of the week they will have it or pretty close. I didn't even think my 5 year old was going to be able to memorize scripture yet, let alone my 3 year olds.

Also, we continued with the rhymes in motion today, and my 5 year old who refused to do it the first day, jumped in full force. He kept wanting to do over and over, so I said to him, "this is fun, that's why I wanted you to do it", and his response floored me. He said he wanted to do it, but he was afraid I would laugh at him. I was shocked that he felt like that. I'm so glad that he told me and I was able to reassure him that I wouldn't laugh at him.

I'm so thankful for HOD!!!!!!

Tracy

Just had to add. He is singing the Rhymes in Motion song while he is playing.


Tracy

I don't have time to read the replies so far, but I wanted to comment that your 5 year old sounds a lot like mine! He loves to sit and draw, and until recently refused to do the rhymes in motion. We actually tried to start LHFHG half-speed when he was 4.5, but he did not enjoy it at all. We waited and tried again several weeks ago, and it's going very well. He loves the rhymes in motion now, and he is turning into a pretty decent listener. It takes time for them to get used to that. He is used to being allowed to do whatever he wants during schooltime; it's an adjustment having requirements now!

My son loved the rhymes from day one, but what I would have done if he hadn't wanted to do them was to do them myself with him watching. I would act like I was having the best time in the world up here waddling to Antarctica or whatever. LOL He would have joined me in no time!

The one thing he didn't want to do at first was sing. I didn't make him. However, that CD is so great that it didn't take long for him to sing in spite of himself. Now he asks me NOT to sing with him and to let him put on a show as he sings his verse.

Thank you so much for the update! I wish I could hear your ds singing his Rhymes in Motion - I bet it's precious. The ladies who shared here with some similar situations had some wise insight, and I think you will be reaping the rewards of continuing to help your little one grow in these areas. I'm glad the waiting with LHTH seemed to be a good fit for now, and once you get on a roll with LHFHG, your little one will be chomping at the bit to do LHTH, and you'll be more settled and ready to add at that point too. Thanks for sharing, Tracy!

In Christ,
Julie