1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

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my3sons
Posts: 10702
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by my3sons » Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:23 pm

THE TIMER :D I don't know why I didn't think to use it at first. I think I actually assume my younger dc will somehow just naturally learn the time management skills my older ds now has in place on their own. No luck there. I actually made myself rewind in my mind back to when I was first teaching PHFHG to my oldest. I remember setting the timer for each box and letting him know that was about the amount of time he should be spending on an activity. I also remember helping him learn to read each box's directions very carefully and diligently teaching him how to do each box for the first time. So, after a longer day than usual of PHFHG with my middle ds, I pulled out the timer the next day, and took the time to lovingly show him the ins and outs of each PHFHG box, as well as help him learn to manage his time with the timer. It took an entire hour off of our day! WOW! He was Mr. Organized, even tucking his pencil behind his ear, and saying, "Now let's see, I have about 10 minutes left here, so I'd better wrap this one up, Mom!". :lol: I use the timer as a training tool at the start of a guide, and usually within 2-4 weeks, it's not necessary anymore, but I somehow didn't think to do that this year with Riley. I just thought I'd share this, as it may help someone else teach their dc how to better manage their time, as well as shave some time off the day! :D

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

netpea
Posts: 714
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 7:39 pm
Location: Michigan
Contact:

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by netpea » Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:28 pm

Thanks Julie! What a great tool to use. I think we will pull ours back out.
Lee Ann
DD3 - LHTH
DD10 - no longer schooled at home
DS12 - no longer schooled at home

Have used LHTH, LHFHG, BLHFHG, and BHFHG
http://netpea.blogspot.com

Heart_Mom
Posts: 473
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 11:35 am

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by Heart_Mom » Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:39 pm

my3sons wrote:THE TIMER :D I don't know why I didn't think to use it at first. I think I actually assume my younger dc will somehow just naturally learn the time management skills my older ds now has in place on their own. No luck there. I actually made myself rewind in my mind back to when I was first teaching PHFHG to my oldest. I remember setting the timer for each box and letting him know that was about the amount of time he should be spending on an activity. I also remember helping him learn to read each box's directions very carefully and diligently teaching him how to do each box for the first time. So, after a longer day than usual of PHFHG with my middle ds, I pulled out the timer the next day, and took the time to lovingly show him the ins and outs of each PHFHG box, as well as help him learn to manage his time with the timer. It took an entire hour off of our day! WOW! He was Mr. Organized, even tucking his pencil behind his ear, and saying, "Now let's see, I have about 10 minutes left here, so I'd better wrap this one up, Mom!". :lol: I use the timer as a training tool at the start of a guide, and usually within 2-4 weeks, it's not necessary anymore, but I somehow didn't think to do that this year with Riley. I just thought I'd share this, as it may help someone else teach their dc how to better manage their time, as well as shave some time off the day! :D

In Christ,
Julie
Thanks for sharing this, Julie! We're planning on doing Preparing next year, and I think this will help us out LOTS!!!! :D :D :D
Blessings,
Elisabeth

ds - 17
dd - 14
dd - 12
ds - 9
dd - 5 (Little Hearts for His Glory)

Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

KristinBeth

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by KristinBeth » Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:18 pm

That's a good idea to keep in my back pocket in the years ahead. I have a daydreamer. :lol:

pjdobro
Posts: 1491
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:45 pm

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by pjdobro » Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:58 pm

Thanks for sharing that. I was thinking just today that I need to get a clock back in our school room. Our old one died and I haven't replaced it. :oops: Maybe the timer would work just as well or better. I have one that loves trying to beat the clock and another who needs the clock to remind her to get back on task. For their independent work we've been going through how long each item should take and writing it on the board next to the item. I've had them timing each task and letting me know when they've completed each one. That has helped quite a bit, but I think a timer might help even more. We're doing better with our time, but we still could use to shave a bit more time off and be more efficient. :D
Patty in NC

b/g twins '02 Rev2Rev 2014/15
previously enjoyed LHFHG, BLHFHG, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, RTR
******
Nisi Dominus Frusta (Without God, frustration)
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Psalm 127:1

tnahid
Posts: 531
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:51 am
Location: Texas

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by tnahid » Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:53 pm

Thanks for sharing! I want to remember this for next year! :D :D
Tina
ds 11 -- DITHOR 4/5 and other curriculum
ds 9 -- Preparing and DITHOR
dd 5 -- 1st grade variety of curriculum
Wife of a loving DH 12 years
starting our 4th year of home education, 3rd year of HOD and DITHOR, so blessed...what a journey!

annaz
Posts: 833
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:47 pm

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by annaz » Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:22 pm

It's nice to know we're not the only ones with time issues. I used it on math just yesterday and it's amazing what they get done, isn't it? :mrgreen:
Married 1994
One DD 6/2000
One DH :)
One cat
One dog
Three horses :shock:

Heidi in AK
Posts: 470
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:47 am
Location: Fort Richardson, AK

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by Heidi in AK » Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:13 am

KristinBeth wrote:That's a good idea to keep in my back pocket in the years ahead. I have a daydreamer. :lol:
Haha, Kristin, me too! I was thinking I need to tuck this idea back when I saw your post! It's a good thing our girls are not doing school together, or they'd get nothing done!!! ;)
Heidi
loving teaching my rewards!!!
Girlie (dd7) - Beyond, 4 days/week
Boy-o (ds4), LHTH, along for the ride!!! (all boy, whatever he can get his hands on, FULL OF ENERGY!)
Psalm 78:3-7

http://heidihovan.blogspot.com

blessedmama
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 6:36 pm
Location: MN

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by blessedmama » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:49 pm

I also use the timer...but for some mysterious reason it has disappeared!! Hmm :twisted: (no one ever uses that smiley) Hee! Hee!
Saved by Grace,
Sara D.

Wife of DH for 13 years! Mother to my four wonderful blessings from the Lord (DD 11; DS 10; DS 9; DD 7)

NicoleJ
Posts: 155
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:46 am

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by NicoleJ » Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:34 pm

That's a great idea Julie! Thanks!

mom23
Posts: 532
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 10:10 am

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by mom23 » Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:46 pm

Does anyone have problems with a dc who will just ignore the timer-daydreaming or doodling their time away until it goes off and they only have 2 math problems done with a whole margin filled with artwork, and lots of minutes spent in whining that they cannot do it? It's really not too hard-I kept backing her up to "easier" stuff as this year started to hopefully find something that she could get her feet under her and begin to move forward. She's now a 4th grader doing 2nd grade level math-the same stuff that she flew through at the beginning of last year. My husband has said not to move her back anymore. He's given her plenty of "principal" talks lately, and she's still giving me fits. We finally took the rest of this week off from schoolwork because we were all so burned out and frustrated with eachother, but now I'm dreading Monday...Any thoughts?
Becky, married to my preacher-man and raising:
DD 12-7th grade public school
DS 10-Preparing
DS 8-Beyond
DS 3-Just doin' his thing

holdinon
Posts: 228
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 7:37 pm

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by holdinon » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:16 pm

my3sons wrote: I don't know why I didn't think to use it at first. I think I actually assume my younger dc will somehow just naturally learn the time management skills my older ds now has in place on their own. No luck there. I actually made myself rewind in my mind back to when I was first teaching PHFHG to my oldest.
This is so true. There are SO many things that I find with my youngers that I somehow just assume they will automatically know or pick up, just because my older does. I often forget the (sometimes lengthy) training periods I went through with older dd before she got to that point. I guess I just think that once we jump a hurdle one time, I'm done, and it often takes me by surprise when I have to do it again when the next kid in line comes up. :wink:
mom23 wrote:Does anyone have problems with a dc who will just ignore the timer-daydreaming or doodling their time away until it goes off and they only have 2 math problems done with a whole margin filled with artwork, and lots of minutes spent in whining that they cannot do it?
Setting a timer always worked great for most of my kiddos. They will glance at it occasionally and keep up with where they stand. HOWEVER, my oldest is my highly distractable dd. What worked well for her was two timers. One for the main time and one for intervals. It sounds complicated, but it really wasn't. And we only had to do this for a few weeks to see vast improvement. If an assignment was to take 20 minutes, I would set the "real" timer for 20 minutes. We would set the "other" timer for 7 minutes. At the end of 7 minutes, the one timer would go off and alarm her to the fact that she was not staying focused. She simply hit the reset button on that timer and got back to work. (It would automatically reset itself for another 7 minutes). And the process was repeated. It worked very well for several weeks. When the "interval" timer started interrupting her working (rather than her daydreaming), we knew it was time to do away with it. She is still a daydreamer, highly distractable little gal, but she has developed the self-discipline to reign it in at least enough to accomplish her tasks in a fairly reasonable amount of time.
2013-2014 year:
Geography, CtC, Preparing, Bigger, Beyond, and Little Hearts (and surviving!)

(Completed LHTH, LHFHG, BLHFHG, BHFHG, Preparing, CtC, RtR, and RevtRev)

Mom2Monkeys
Posts: 1410
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:31 pm
Contact:

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by Mom2Monkeys » Sat Oct 15, 2011 7:27 am

My timer is officially off of vacation as has returned to it's rightful place with our school books :)
~~Tamara~~
Enjoying HOD since 2008

DD15 long-time HODie finding her own new path
DS12 PHFHG {dysgraphia, APD, SID}
DS9 PHFHG
DS6 LHFHG
DD new nursling

Mom2Monkeys
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Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:31 pm
Contact:

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by Mom2Monkeys » Sat Oct 15, 2011 7:29 am

holdinon wrote:
my3sons wrote: I don't know why I didn't think to use it at first. I think I actually assume my younger dc will somehow just naturally learn the time management skills my older ds now has in place on their own. No luck there. I actually made myself rewind in my mind back to when I was first teaching PHFHG to my oldest.
This is so true. There are SO many things that I find with my youngers that I somehow just assume they will automatically know or pick up, just because my older does. I often forget the (sometimes lengthy) training periods I went through with older dd before she got to that point. I guess I just think that once we jump a hurdle one time, I'm done, and it often takes me by surprise when I have to do it again when the next kid in line comes up. :wink:
mom23 wrote:Does anyone have problems with a dc who will just ignore the timer-daydreaming or doodling their time away until it goes off and they only have 2 math problems done with a whole margin filled with artwork, and lots of minutes spent in whining that they cannot do it?

Setting a timer always worked great for most of my kiddos. They will glance at it occasionally and keep up with where they stand. HOWEVER, my oldest is my highly distractable dd. What worked well for her was two timers. One for the main time and one for intervals. It sounds complicated, but it really wasn't. And we only had to do this for a few weeks to see vast improvement. If an assignment was to take 20 minutes, I would set the "real" timer for 20 minutes. We would set the "other" timer for 7 minutes. At the end of 7 minutes, the one timer would go off and alarm her to the fact that she was not staying focused. She simply hit the reset button on that timer and got back to work. (It would automatically reset itself for another 7 minutes). And the process was repeated. It worked very well for several weeks. When the "interval" timer started interrupting her working (rather than her daydreaming), we knew it was time to do away with it. She is still a daydreamer, highly distractable little gal, but she has developed the self-discipline to reign it in at least enough to accomplish her tasks in a fairly reasonable amount of time
.

LOVE it! I've got a timer that is very visual and has a little thing at the top the rises as it's closer to time being up...it's red and says "time is up". Even that hasn't proven to be enough for my oldest who is a daydreamer, but it did make a big improvement! I love the idea of the intervals!!
~~Tamara~~
Enjoying HOD since 2008

DD15 long-time HODie finding her own new path
DS12 PHFHG {dysgraphia, APD, SID}
DS9 PHFHG
DS6 LHFHG
DD new nursling

my3sons
Posts: 10702
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: 1 thing took 1 hour off our PHFHG day

Post by my3sons » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:29 am

holdinon wrote:...What worked well for her was two timers. One for the main time and one for intervals. It sounds complicated, but it really wasn't. And we only had to do this for a few weeks to see vast improvement. If an assignment was to take 20 minutes, I would set the "real" timer for 20 minutes. We would set the "other" timer for 7 minutes. At the end of 7 minutes, the one timer would go off and alarm her to the fact that she was not staying focused. She simply hit the reset button on that timer and got back to work. (It would automatically reset itself for another 7 minutes). And the process was repeated. It worked very well for several weeks. When the "interval" timer started interrupting her working (rather than her daydreaming), we knew it was time to do away with it. She is still a daydreamer, highly distractable little gal, but she has developed the self-discipline to reign it in at least enough to accomplish her tasks in a fairly reasonable amount of time.
This is such a good idea! I am putting this one in my memory bank. I think that this would be great for the highly distractible child, and I can see how you'd be able to phase it out then eventually too. Thanks for sharing this great tip! :D

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

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