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I am starting Beyond with my 8yog tomorrow!

I plan to start my 6yob and soon-to-be 5yog in LHFHG a few weeks from now.

I'm sure that they will all listen in to each other's read aloud time as that's just how things go here.

I will probably have to tell my 8yo that when I am asking questions about the stories from LHFHG she should not answer unless I ask her specifically. Otherwise my two youngers won't have a chance to answer. I don't think I'll have a problem if the youngers throw in an answer or two during Beyond stories. My oldest will still get her thoughts in.

But...what do I do for the younger two that are BOTH supposed to be doing LHFHG? Do I tell them both these stories are for them specifically and they will be answering questions/asked to narrate afterward? Or maybe I could switch between them and tell one at a time per storytime session? On one hand I feel like just telling them both to be prepared will make them both listen more attentively. But it can get a bit chaotic here so maybe telling the specific child whose turn it will be beforehand would be better. hmmm I'm not sure the best way to handle it.

My concerns are that my 6yob will fall through the cracks. All of my dc love to listen to stories, but my ds doesn't have the best listening ears. Which of course is why we narrate! LOL

Any experience with this? Suggestions?

I guess I could just try it different ways and see what works!

That is a great question!

My first 2 cents would be to tell you to keep it very relaxed because they are so young, and especially if narration is new to them. One of them may have a day here and there where their narration is only one sentence long OR they may have nothing to say. That is okay. It is just the starting point and this skill will develop with consistency and time.

This is what I would do......each day as you keep it relaxed, after the reading say, "we are going to take turns telling about what we read today! _______, you get to go first today!! Then, ______will go next! Please do not interrupt one another. ______, what do you remember from what we just read??? "

Then let that child say what he will. If he doesn't say much, there is always tomorrow!:)

"Okay, ______now it is your turn!!!"

Praise them both in abundance!! Make it fun!!!

Each day alternate who goes first so that they each have a chance to narrate without hearing someone else go first.

Does this make sense?? Sorry if I am being preachy or telling you things that you already know!! You'll know what to do!

HTH!!!!

Thank you!

I hope you have a good start! It takes us a few weeks to get into a good rhythm, and then we're off and running. We enjoyed LHFHG and Beyond very much - I bet you will too. One practical idea for the answering questions / narrating thing would be to have a blue bead and a red bead (one color for each child) in your pocket. Draw one out to choose who will answer each question or to narrate. After the question is answered the bead can be returned to your pocket, so some dc may answer a lot one day, and some not, but they are apt to listen well knowing they could be called upon anytime to answer, and just because they answered once, that doesn't mean they may not be called upon again (this is a CM type idea used for choosing different dc for narrations). HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Tammy- I'm so glad you asked- I was wondering some of the same things, & I really appreciate the answers.
Since we are doing story-time together with 3 of our girls- should I just get 3 different colored beads?
Thanks!
Jessica

Mom4Him wrote:Tammy- I'm so glad you asked- I was wondering some of the same things, & I really appreciate the answers.
Since we are doing story-time together with 3 of our girls- should I just get 3 different colored beads?
Thanks!
Jessica

Yes! A trio of beads it will be.
In Christ,
Julie

Thank you for the bead idea Julie!

So far my oldest has done pretty well letting the younger two "answer". LOL Then she adds in her own ideas, which are usually right on target. At times my 6yob will have something good to say. My 4yog mostly just enjoys participating but nothing profound. I'm certain the 4yo and 6yo will fit perfectly into LHFHG when I begin that with them in the next couple weeks!

I am using LHFHG with my 5 and 7 yr. old boys. My 9 yr. old likes to listen in, but he usually leaves again before the questions. I just alternate the questions between the two boys and it works fine. have fun!