Help with LHTH

[faiths13]

Hello
I bought LHTH to start with my youngest last Sept (he turned 4 in Oct). However when it came time to start he had absolutely no interest and fought me tooth and nail. So I stopped trying. Since then he has shown interest in some R&S workbooks I had laying around off and on. He does them really well when he wants, and somehow has learned to count to 10, some of his letters, all of the colors and shapes. He sees his older brothers doing their guides and has gotten more interested. So we tried doing the first week again. It doesn't seem to be keeping his interest and Im not sure why. He doesn't seem to like the finger plays and some of the other stuff seems to easy for him. Im not sure that it is or not though. I was hoping for some suggestions to get him more engaged, or if LHTH is even a right fit for him. I am doing LHFHG with my 6 yr old and I don't think it would be a good fit for the 4 yr old yet. It is too advanced for him. Thank you!

[TrueGRIT]

I don't think I can actually help you. I wanted to let you know you were not alone. When my ds was doing it at 4 he HATED the finger plays. We kept doing it- despite that - and when he started LHFHG he thought the rhymes were okay. Although He never got too into them. For both of my children that have done LHTH in some ways it is easy. I just have to remind myself of the important skills they are learning even if it's not so obvious. For us I used it part as a way to ease into Kindergarten; for one child they actually begged for school. Hope someone will post something more helpful.

[MelInKansas]

I would just encourage you about it "seeming too easy." It is easy and fun, that is part of the point. There is a lot of thinking and learning in even the very simple activities. Like the play-acting, I skipped a lot of that the first time around. Now the second time, I realize that is part of the character training, or helping the child think through things in a way they can understand. Acting it out gives them a way to think about what happened in the story, or what is right or wrong in a given situation. Some kids love the fingerplays and some don't. My 2nd DD by the end of LHFHG was kind of groaning over it each day. But we talked about attitude, and doing what you are told without complaining, and once she knew it was part of school and not really optional, she got a lot better. I think you have two approaches to take right now. If you feel your son isn't really ready (though it sounds like he probably is) you can hold off and try it again later. If you think he is ready and just doesn't want to, you can either try to work through that, making it clear that this is what is expected of him, while still keeping it as positive as you can, praising him when he does well, encouraging him, but making it clear that he doesn't get out of doing things he doesn't want to do by complaining, doing a poor job, or doing it with a poor attitude. Or you can table it again and wait until he shows interest again. You probably know whether or not this is what you need to work on with him right now. It can be really fun, and you can tell him that too, this is something that can be a really fun time if you will do it, or it can be really not fun if you fight it. But again, that's up to your wisdom whether you want to try to continue working on it.

Is there any kind of school work that he enjoys? Anything he will do regularly?

My 4YO has been doing LHTH for a while and right now is on a kick that she doesn't want to do it. I have dropped it. I am not in any big hurry. But she is more than halfway through too, I think we are on the letter R. She now knows all her letters and numbers up to 10, but the Bible stories, character training, and practice with learning the letters is still something I want her to finish.

[hs.mama07]

Hi! Sounds like your little guy is picking up some good things even without school, which is great. Not sure what is best to do, but I will say, don't be afraid to take it slow, he's still very young. In our state (public school at least), he wouldn't even be PreK grade yet since our cutoff age is Sept 1. So you could just wait a while and see how he matures in the next 6 months. He'd still be in the age range for LHTH (which is 2-5).
And if, when you start back up, it's really too easy, you can always add some K stuff to LHTH...like phonics and math.

You could also try spreading it out throughout the day. Do a couple boxes in the morning and some in the afternoon. Then it wouldn't be so much to do at once.

Another option might be to go half speed, then he'd be doing less each day (and he wouldn't be doing the same topic each day). And you could still spread it out throughout the day (one box in the morning, one in the afternoon). This might give him time to slowly get used to school and when he's more ready you can change to full speed.

Just a few thoughts. Hope things work out well!

[my3sons]

Hello
I bought LHTH to start with my youngest last Sept (he turned 4 in Oct). However when it came time to start he had absolutely no interest and fought me tooth and nail. So I stopped trying. Since then he has shown interest in some R&S workbooks I had laying around off and on. He does them really well when he wants, and somehow has learned to count to 10, some of his letters, all of the colors and shapes. He sees his older brothers doing their guides and has gotten more interested. So we tried doing the first week again. It doesn't seem to be keeping his interest and Im not sure why. He doesn't seem to like the finger plays and some of the other stuff seems to easy for him. Im not sure that it is or not though. I was hoping for some suggestions to get him more engaged, or if LHTH is even a right fit for him. I am doing LHFHG with my 6 yr old and I don't think it would be a good fit for the 4 yr old yet. It is too advanced for him. Thank you!

HATED... fought me tooth and nail... wow! Pretty strong words for a 20-25 minute a day Christ-centered preschool program. I have done LHTH 3 times with our own 3 sons, and previously for 3 additional years at our local church with 2-5 yo dc. We had a blast! Reading all of the Bible stories from "The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes" was just precious to me, as were the fun memories we made together doing the activities in LHTH and reading the devotions. Do you have "A Child's First Bible," or are you using "The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes?" I'd definitely recommend "The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes" for a 4 yo. Which devotional do you have? I highly recommend "Big Thoughts for Little People." It is bright and engaging with vivid colors and just the right amount of text on a page. Are you using "The Singing Bible?" The resources are an important part of LHTH, as they add much visual and audio appeal that partners well with the bodily-kinesthetic activities. Which resources are you using?

You'd mentioned you'd tried to start LHTH last Sept., and ds had no interest. How far did you get before you stopped? It sounds like this second time you are only a week in, which if that is the case, I think time and consistency could solve this. You'd mentioned that ds does R & S workbooks really well when he wants. As a mother of 3 sons, I can say this approach would not work for them. If they just did school when they wanted, and only the portions they thought they wanted to do, school would be very hit and miss, and outdoor playtime and indoor roughhousing with each other would trump the most enticing part of school most days. Boys are just different than girls in this way. By consistently doing LHTH at a certain time of day each day for 20-25 minutes, ds would begin to expect this in his day and would probably begin to look forward to it. I know being enthusiastic myself really helped. However, that being said, certainly even with a routine time of doing it, cheerful encouragement, and consistency of doing it each day, ds may still not fully embrace doing school. There are days my 6 yo can try my patience and come to school with a less than stellar attitude (usually because he was playing something and didn't want to be interrupted ). On those days we always still do school, and he knows it, so we don't have a discussion about it. And then, a wonderful thing happens - before he knows it, he is having fun, smiling, and getting into it!

So, I'd check your resources, making sure you have what you need on hand. Then, I'd set a consistent time to do LHTH each day, and I'd choose to be enthusiastic even if ds is not 100% engaged. I think you'll begin to see a change, and ds will begin to see this as a special time with you, as well as realize 'school' is not his choice but rather an important planned part of his day that is meant to teach him many special things - most importantly in LHTH, to teach him his Biblical history and draw his heart closer to the Lord, as well as teach him preschool skills that will prepare him for kindergarten in LHFHG. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[TrueGRIT]

Julie gave some great advice. One suggestion I had was to be consistent and make him do daily, like I did my children. But I know some people don't feel the same about preschool years. For me with older children I had to do it, and I find it helps set the pace for their own school years. (That's why I didn't mention it earlier.)

This time around with my dd I am using the New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes & that seems to make a difference.
My dd LOVES this time. On a side note my ds who hated the rhymes earlier often joins in and enjoys himself now! For his own school though he is a very no nonsense person. Just wants to get it done.

[StephanieU]

My son is also 4, and LHTH didn't go well in the fall for us either. Part of it was finding a good time for my kids (with 3 under 5 at that time, it was a struggle). Part of it was my son has NEVER liked songs. And part of it was my son (now 4) just wasn't ready to not get to play ALL the time. Since we were struggling to find a good schedule, I put LHTH away until January. Now we are slowly going through it. Both my 2 yo and 4yo like the Bible and devotion parts. Some days they like the finger plays and other days they don't. Some days they get into the acting out, and some days they don't (and go off on a tangent that I can't get them back from). But, I am happy if we get the Bible and devotion done for each unit. We do try to do the other things, but I don't force them. But, I also have the 4 yo SLOWLY work though a handwriting book. We were finishing C yesterday, so he had to write 1 C in the book on the C page. He wailed, cried, and threw a fit. Then I wrote one for him to trace, and he proceeded to do 3 or 4 of them plus some of the next letter in the book (O). It made me realize that half of the time he fights me is because he wants control. He doesn't want to have to submit to me, just like we often rebel against authority. It made me realize how important it was to "force" him to do a few things. I don't need to force so much that he begins to not like doing any school, but a little push now and then can be necessary to mold them and make them. So, pick your battles, but try to get at least some of the boxes for each day done.

[Carrie]

faiths13,

First off, I think there is some good advice is this thread. It can be interesting to homeschool those pre-K age boys, can't it! Since it is my understanding that this is your first year with HOD Discussion Board that can also really add to the stress of wanting your children to just "love" school.

So, with these thoughts in mind, I'll share a few things I've discovered in my homeschool journey with my own 4 boys (who are now ages 18,14,11, and 7). One thing to be aware of is that many little boys will battle you just to battle. They have in their little minds what they want to do (which often is play), and they don't want to be told otherwise. It's important to remember that with homeschooling your role has shifted now with you being both the teacher and the momma.

One thing that helps my boys is for me to tell them that if they went to school, they would have to do what their teacher said. When they are at home, the same is true now, because I am their teacher. This means when I tell them to do something, I expect them to respect me and obey. If they do not obey, there will be consequences. At our house, for a quick effective consequence, we had our little boys stand with their nose in the corner for not obeying. We had them stand 30 seconds up to a minute for each year of their age. They may not look out from the corner, or the timer starts again. When they come out of the corner, they need to be able to say why they were there and then apologize and behave differently. If not, it is back to the corner. For us, this has been very effective.

Next, for my little ones, I got a carpet square for them to sit on (one per child). I sat on my own carpet square. This delineates a space for them to be. To start our LHTH, we always got out the carpet squares and sat down. Then, we read the Bible story first. I held up the Bible and showed the pictures to my little one. He stayed on his carpet square, and I stayed on mine. This effectively ended all wrestling that had perviously happened when I tried to keep my little one on my lap, and also ended any rolling around on the floor! It also showed me as the teacher sharing the book with him. It helped establish my role. Honestly, teaching LHTH is much more about establishing your role as a teacher than it is about tricking your child into having fun. Your child will eventually have fun doing LHTH, once your role is established. Until then, your son will battle you for control by simply refusing and complaining.

After I read the Bible story, then I asked the questions. I expected some answer, but I didn't drag the activity out. Next, we put on the music and marched around the room while it played. We marched in a circle and kept even the marching in control (i.e. no falling down on the ground, pushing, etc.). I marched too.

Then, we came back to our carpet squares and did the fingerplay. My littles had to participate or we would start over. I said a line and did the motion, then they said a line and did the motion (echo style). We did this the first 2-3 days of the fingerplay. The last 2-3 days we did it together with no echoing. They had two chances to start right in with me, or they went to the corner. I don't allow any eye-rolling or silliness with the fingerplay, but we do have fun and smile. The fingerplays actually are meant for the two sides of the brain to communicate with one another doing both sounds and motions at the same time. This takes coordination of the two sides of the brain, making the fingerplays have a hidden element. The motions also provide a great cuing system for the sounds later when your child begins to read. We only did the fingerplay once, so the whole activity even with echoing was over in just minutes. My boys need to be able to do what I tell them for just a few minutes cheerfully, even if it something happens not to be their favorite thing. This is because my time is important, and as a teacher I expect to be obeyed.

Next, we went on to the letter activity or the hands-on activity. We typically left the more art oriented things (or things needing to be done at the table) to be done last. In this way, we moved to the table last of all.

For now, I would work on doing LHTH at half-speed, doing 3 boxes each day. I would work on having your son come to school right when you call him and work on making sure he obeys you. To help him obey, I would make sure to do his school in the morning at about the same time, so he knows it is coming. If he does not obey, I would warn him once and then give an effective, quick consequence each time he does not obey. You may find yourself giving more consequences than doing school right now. However, keep your cool and stay calm. If you do use the corner, then when he returns, after he apologizes, cheerfully go back to the school again. Make sure that you do not pull him away from play randomly to do school, or he will really battle you. Instead, have his school begin after he has just completed something that has a definite ending point, like an educational DVD. Keep his routine the same, so he knows that school always comes after the same thing in his day. You want him to expect school and know it is coming.

I say all of this to help you see that LHTH is about training your son to see you as the teacher and to obey you the first time you ask him to do something. This is so important to his schooling to come and will save you many battles along the way in the future. If you don't feel that you want to train him now, then don't start LHTH. When you do start, know you are about the training and will need to devote time to it each day. My hope is to give you some practical advice that helped me be a better teacher. I enjoy school with my older sons today, because the routine was established when they were younger. We battle very little with our older ones thanks to the foundation laid in the younger years.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Gwenny]

Carrie-that was very helpful and such a great glimpse into what you, as the author, envisioned for LHTH when you wrote it. I love the idea of the carpet squares. I hadn't planned on starting my youngest with LHTH yet, she turned 2 in Nov., but she seems ready for some of it-she would love it. She LOVES to do the rhymes with my son in LHFHG. She has the "Just Because of Sin" rhyme completely down, even jumping backward 3 times. She asks to do it regularly. My last 2 were boys--they weren't ready until almost 5!

Btw- I LOVE HOD! Thank you so much for writing it!!