Need advice...3 guides and new baby...??

[momof3kids]

Hi ladies,
Looking for a little advice if anyone can help . This is our second year hs'ing so still figuring things out. Now that our new little boy is here, I am feeling overwhelmed, not sure I can do it.
First my oldest,7, very bright, great reader...doing bigger. Started back in July half speed so we wouldn't get behind with the baby coming...he did good, so now we are attempting full speed....he does the work fine, but takes forever...
English and cursive can easily take an hour to hour and half....he will count up how many sentences he has to write and gets upset about the amount. He can do the work and understands it without problem, but basically doesn't want to....so our day gets really behind....I am having to constantly say "do your work"...very frustrating
I have tried a timer ...it goes off and he has nothing done, what do you do?
He seems placed properly.. The only thing in bigger he isn't very interested in is the story time books...started Seabiscuit and he doesn't seem to listen very well.....

My 5 yo is doing little hearts and doing fine....we get through it pretty easily ( usually while his brother is wasting time...)

Now my little girl..turned 3 in sept, wanting to start little hands ....but how do you find enough time in the day?

So, the baby is 4 weeks old and a big boy, so have to nurse him often....every 2 -2 1/2 hrs.

I feel like I am not doing a good job as it seems we just can't get done....
We start early, usually by 8:30, I like to get finished so they can be outside and doing other things....but with my oldest
dragging things out I don't know what to do...
And how do I fit in little hands..? (Did with my second son and loved it, just don't know how to fit it in now)

So, would love any thoughts or suggestions how you make it all work.....
Oh, and if I even have to say, I'm pretty tired of course with the baby....but trying to do what I can!

[countrymom]

I am sorry you are feeling overwhelmed with your new adjustments. A couple of things based on my experience (and mistakes):
I would consider dropping back to 1/2 speed for your 7 yr old, at least for awhile yet. Seven is the young side for Bigger, and as you consider your current issues and look ahead to the next guides I just want to encourage you that there is nothing wrong with working the middle to upper end of the guide. I am wondering if you are writing all of the English? Typically Carrie and Julie recommend only writing 1/3 of the English assignment and doing the rest orally. I think you will find most families do English that way and that will take a huge burden off you and your son.
As for your just turned 3 yr old, you could go 1/2 speed with the younger choices but I would probably just wait and have a fun activity you do with her as part of the school routine each day. This will make her feel included, but she could really wait another year and that will give you some time to get settled in with baby and so on. Hang in there, it will get better.

[Carrie]

momof3kids,

What great advice the previous poster had for you! I agree wholeheartedly that dropping back to half-speed Bigger for at least another 3-4 months or so is a great idea. Your son is on the young side of Bigger, and if he was doing well at half-speed, there is no need to change right now.

Also, be sure to do almost all of the lesson of Rod and Staff English orally (or on white board where you are doing the writing and he is doing the telling of what to write). He should only be writing 1/3 or less on paper of the English lesson. If you drop to half speed, be sure to do cursive and English on two different days, as these seem to be his time wasters that you mentioned. Dividing them up will really help, so he only has one to do each day.

As far as your 3 year old goes, whenever a new baby arrives, those little toddlers are sure to want more mommy time (and they see that school is the way to get that). So, I would cater to that need and do a little "school" with her each day. By a little, I really mean a little. That means I would do one box of LHTH each day, and by the end of the week you will have completed all of the boxes on one page of LHTH. This doesn't sound like much, and will truly take 3-5 min., but it will make you feel better and give you time to enjoy with your toddler. If desired, you can up it to 2 boxes a day (but I wouldn't stretch yourself beyond that for awhile).

It sounds like your 5 year old is doing well with what you're doing with LHFHG, so I wouldn't change anything there. Congratulations on your new babe!

Blessings,
Carrie

[StephanieU]

Here is another idea for the 3yo - while you nurse the baby, turn on an educational show for the 3yo. Sit on the couch with the 3yo and interact with him during the show. That gives him the attention he wants without really adding to your day. I did this with my older two when the younger ones were born, and they loved it. They learned a lot from the shows, and they got the mommy-time they wanted too.

[momof3kids]

Thanks ladies, and Carrie for taking time to share some advice!
Like I said so figuring this out...I really wasn't aware that we should be doing most of his English orally , but that should help a great deal!....
Having less writing there may help him be able to do his other writing, like vocabulary, a little better...
He really seemed ready for more is why we started the entire lesson a day, but I may try dropping back to half speed for awhile since so many changes right now...

And my 3 yo is asking for school, so we do ABCs, starting with one or two boxes for her is a great idea ....not as overwhelming for me either.

I know I have seen it on here before, but what are the time allotments in bigger? That may help me know if we are on tract better....

[StephanieU]

Here is the post with all of the guides with times per box (minus maybe the newest guides).
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&start=135#p74537

[MelInKansas]

I was going to say the same thing as Carrie. Actually I do all of R&S orally with my 7YO in Bigger. It makes it so much better! I feel like R&S does a good job of covering the topics very thoroughly and has an emphasis on how do we honor God, but the writing expected of a 7-8 year old is way too much. Especially when you add in cursive, spelling, notebooking, copying the verse, vocabulary (which I do actually help my DD with right now), etc.

Give yourself and him a break somehow. If 1/2 speed seems to work a lot better do that for a few more weeks and try to get into a better routine and get a good attitude back. Definitely praise and maybe even reward him for doing his work diligently and getting through it in a timely manner. If something is hard and that's why it takes a long time then that's understandable and there's no problem, but if he is balking, and not doing it diligently, then you need to focus on that as much if not more than anything else. The good work habits and attitude are critical to build as early as possible!

I started LHTH when my 5YO was 3 and basically what would happen is that I blocked off the 1/2 hour for it right before her naptime, but it was optional and I probably only did it 2-3 days a week for quite a while. If there was a doctor's appointment, little brother had a rough day, I needed to do a bunch of laundry, or whatever then LHTH was dropped. I also bought some workbooks that she could do mostly independently (mazes, cutting and pasting, things like that, really fun). I suppose if time with you is what she is craving then that won't appease her. It appeased my DD because she was doing school like her big sisters. I think at that time we were also doing Bigger, LHFHG, and very very slow LHTH with a baby in the house. It is challenging for sure! You could also spend time reading to the 3 YO while you nurse the baby, if you're not trying to read to someone else.

[MomtoJGJE]

We also do all of R&S2 orally. Only on the rare occasion do I have them write anything in R&S3. We write about 1/3 maybe in every other lesson in R&S4.

Also, even though your 5yo is doing fine with LHFHG don't feel you have to do it full speed all the time! Give yourself permission to set a timer for whatever time you want to do school and when that time is up put it away until tomorrow.

And for the three year old.... a lot of times if I just take 4 or 5 minutes to snuggle and connect it takes the pressure off both of us. That's also a good time for the older ones to bond with the baby.

[momof3kids]

Ok, I took some time and looked through some of the schedules you ladies have posted here, and used the link with suggested times as a guide to make us out a schedule for the day!....
Tried it out today just to see what worked and what to change....and it worked really well.
My oldest did minimal writing in English and we did it orally....no complaining!....
Got all but his story time in, which hope to do after supper... (We spent a little extra time on math so I was ok with that)

Got all of little hearts in with the 5 yo, went pretty good....

I am kinda switching back and forth between them, working with one while the other takes a play break.....felt like a lot of switching to me, but I think they liked having a block of time for a break, for snack or play...

The schedule I made is a busy one.....starting at 8:15... But hoping to get everything in,except for science in bigger, which doing after lunch and a break... By about 12:30...

I didn't attempt LHTH, but we sang abc's and I watched a leap frog video with her while nursing.
It was a busy day but I feel more accomplished....
Thinking we may stay at full speed with bigger, since he seems capable....? Any thoughts? We are currently on unit 6...

Now, just have to work out time for LHTH.....

[Rice]

Feeling spread thin myself with 1 in LHFHG, 1 in Preparing, 2 in CTC and 3 more (4, 3 and almost 1) so it sounds like you're doing great! We're not up to full speed yet for the oldest 3 (first year with HOD and some learning struggles with the oldest) but we're at least at 3/4 speed now and I'm happy with that for now. We'll start Unit 6 tomorrow.

We do everything (well, everything possible with ideally only some independent work if anything left for afternoon) between 8 and 12:30, too. It's a crazy morning (no time scheduled even for a bathroom break for me!) but that way in the afternoons I can get some of the housework (Mount Washmore ) and meals done and get ready for the few activities we have outside the house.

Sounds like you're doing awesome with such a little one in the house. Adjusting to life as a family of 6 and learning about babies is all part of their education, too. Keep up the good work and don't let yourself get discouraged on the days when things don't go as planned!

Blessings,

[MelInKansas]

If you and he are both able to continue full speed then go for it! You may want to just keep the option of, if a day goes really badly or starts off really slowly for some reason, just doing 1/2 that day and 1/2 the next day or finish up on Saturday or something. Don't push yourself. It's great when the day clips along and things get done pretty quickly and you can get it all done by the time you allotted. You don't want to work in any other tasks/chores or get distracted during that school time, that will derail it. My other suggestion is that I used to break up my day into lots of little chunks but now I tend to spend at least 30-45 minutes working with each child as then we lose a lot less time in transitions. I pick a lot of similar things, like reading on the couch, or workbook/writing related things and do them all together. I find that works a lot better for me. But maybe with younger kids taking frequent breaks is good. I was doing LHFHG all in one sitting and then read a recommendation to have at least 2 time blocks. I switched to that and it did help with her, I guess the attention span of sitting through all of that was too much. Those are obviously less than 45 minutes, or at least one of them is very very short. One is just the Reading about history, Storytime, Rhyme in Motion, and rotating box. That in entirety can often be only 30 minutes.

Again LHTH is a great thing and would be good to work in, maybe try to see how that would work in a week or two when the routine is more settled in. As long as you are working in something with that 3YO I'm sure it will be fine, LHTH isn't necessary at this point.

I hope it keeps getting better and better for you!

[momof3kids]

Wow,
Thanks MelInKansas and Rice....you and these other ladies are an inspiration...you have so much going on with several children and still making it happen!

My blocks with each child today was about 30-45 min and then switching....I think an hour first thing with my oldest while younger two played.....

We like to school 4 days a week, so I do like the idea of staying at full speed so when we can take off when needed and not get too far behind....

I did think this morning, I should have scheduled myself a bathroom break too , lol!
It was busy, but had 30 min for lunch at 11:00, finished some work with my oldest from 11:30-12:30 while baby nursed, they had outside time til 1:30, then came in and we did his science...then all had quiet time at 2 ( they usually read or color while my 3 yo naps....)

So, I am really pleased overall, boys seem happy to...they knew when was their play/ snack/ or work time so didn't have to keep asking....and I felt like I didn't have to remind them as much because I had one on one time with each and different times.

We are trying!....also making a point to start and end the day with prayer with everyone, so that helped!...keep any thoughts coming, I appreciate all the help!

[MelInKansas]

You are really the busy Mama, because when all the kids are littles it is a lot harder. As they grow and become independent, and you can rely on them to do things and help out, it gets a lot easier. Blessing to you on your house full of little blessings!