First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

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raindrops
Posts: 303
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:51 am

Re: First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

Post by raindrops » Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:43 pm

I have children the same age as yours.

Only my little one is a girl soooo... yeah. She will sit and stuff pom pom balls into empty parmesan cheese containers for an hour. LOL

BUT I know lil' boys, for the most part, are not wired that way. And a 2 year old cannot be trusted with paint or crayons or well ANYTHING remotely messy for an hour. Ack!

For your boy, now is there a room you can barricade him in like the living room so he can't have run of the whole house? I would do that, put on an educational age appropriate movie or some caaaaaalm music. And then give him like a big box or tube or something to crawl in. Maybe an old twin mattress to jump on. A sheet fort and a flashlight.

I think the movie is your best bet. I guess a lot of people would disagree. We don't get TV channels, not even one, at our house... I definitely "get" it that tv can ruin a kid. LOL. BUT we do have a tv and vcr and I let them watch movies that I approve of. At this age they will sit and watch and learn and give you a break! Heh. Even if you have to do LHFHG in 2 30 minute parts like in the morning and then play with the 25 month old, and then put on another 30 min movie later in the day. If he won't let you have a whole hour at once.

It will get better. :)

Well... haha, don't know if that is GOOD advice but hey. When he gets a little bit older you have more options, like snacks hidden around the room. LOL. You could do that now too, if he wouldn't make a mess with it.
9 yr old boy in Preparing
6 yr old girl loving all things LHFHG

Dustybug
Posts: 198
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:56 pm
Location: North Carolina
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Re: First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

Post by Dustybug » Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:00 pm

My 2 year old will play on kneebouncers.com forEVER if I let her. :) It's $5 for full access or they rotate out the free games every week or something like that. It's fun, educational and all you need to be able to do to play most of the games is be able to push any key on the keyboard.
Dusty
Mommy to
Gabriella (7) BLHFHG, ETC, Song School Latin
Aron (5) TMJ's Fruit for Tender Hearts, ETC, Singapore Essentials Math K
Lydia (3) Learning letters, numbers, shapes, and colors
http://www.tothemoonandbackblog.net

hs.mama07

Re: First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

Post by hs.mama07 » Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:32 am

I don't have any advice, but am glad to see this thread and will be interested in what people say. I too have a two year old boy who sounds a lot like your boy. It's hard even to get LHTH done, lol...can't yet imagine what we'll do in the fall when we start LHFHG. Hoping he'll just be a bit calmer, but if anything, he seems to get more wild as he gets bigger. He's such a happy, fun little guy...just into everything every moment of the day. There is no baby proofing safe enough, lol. :-)

mommybelle
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:28 pm

Re: First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

Post by mommybelle » Thu Aug 09, 2012 1:47 pm

Great question! There are some great ideas on this forum somewhere that I think Carrie and Julie have posted on. Just not sure I can find them now.

I also have children the same ages as yours though mine are both girls so that does make things a little different. But, I cannot do LHFHG with my oldest unless my youngest is alone as my oldest child actually gets very distracted by the 2 yo. So, I started a "quiet time" with my youngest awhile ago. I will tell the 2 yo that it is quiet time, and she gets to choose 2 toys to play with in her crib. Though with a boy, he may already be climbing OUT of the crib. If that is case, you could childproof his bedroom and then put a gate up or close the door so he is required to stay in there during quiet time. I do this in the morning for 15-30 minutes while we do our History Lesson and Bible Study. Then the youngest comes out and we do the rhyme together. Then, during naptime for the youngest (if he isn't napping, I would require at least quiet time at this point...though I know that it is difficult to instill when they start giving up that nap), we finish up whatever we haven't accomplished during the day. This is typically when we do The Reading Lesson. I am able to work in some of the Fine Motor Skills and math activities while the youngest is with us.

I have to keep my 2 yo away from her older sister during school time because if I try to get the youngest to do other activities, my 5 yo is also interested in what she is doing. So, she doesn't focus on her own schoolwork. I wish I could just pull out the play doh during school time!

P.S. We are actually right at the same place in the guide as you too (or pretty close)! We will be starting Unit 4 in LHFHG next week.
DD1 (11): PHFHG
DD2 (8): BLHFHG

DS1 (4): LHTH
http://mommybelle.blogspot.com/

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

Re: First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

Post by mom23 » Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:37 pm

Oh, boy, I remember those days...let's just say I love having older siblings in the house with this youngest little bean we have running around :D . It's really, really nice to be able to have an 8 or 10 yr old be able to entertain them for a few minutes while I work with LHFHG. I don't really have any great ideas beyond what's been shared, just wanted to encourage you to hang in there. See this as his "learning" time, too. He's going to have some new things to learn with entertaining himself and keeping out of trouble! I like the idea of having him in his room. Actually, I was going to suggest a playpen or a highchair. Even if he can crawl out of a playpen, it might just mean a few days of teaching him to stay in there and then begin working on teaching him to play quietly...just give him a couple of toys, and you may have to discipline for the screaming interruptions, or for getting out of his spot. Maybe start working on this with him over a weekend where you have a couple of days when you're not trying to do school. Start with only a few minutes and gradually build him up to a half an hour or so.

Is there a different time of day when his Daddy might be home to help out? Even if you could do one of the subjects-like Storytime-after supper that would give you a few uninterrupted minutes when you didn't have to worry about what trouble ds was into. :wink: . I know there are families that try to do Bible during breakfast, too. I know my youngest boy is pretty entertained as long as there is food in front of him! :lol:
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

mommybelle
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:28 pm

Re: First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

Post by mommybelle » Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:48 pm

My 5 year old dd is sooooo distracted by her brother and HE KNOWS and thinks it's GREAT!
I may try the gate at the bedroom door! He hasn't been in a crib since 18 months. I think he will play in his room. Maybe I can get a special something for him to play on with his cars...hmmm....
He doesn't do well with anything messy like playdough b/c he'll eat it or make it into teeeeeeny tiny pieces and throw them all around the kitchen. haha!! Then my dd would want to play with play dough!!
Just start small with the time increments on quiet time with using the gate...maybe 10 or 15 minutes and then gradually work up to longer periods. My youngest daughter screamed when I first started quiet time. Though we were also working on getting her to fall asleep without me rocking her to sleep (at 18 mos). But after she realized it wasn't going to change, she settled down, and now she doesn't mind it. Of course, who knows, that could all change tomorrow with a toddler, right?!?! :shock:

You could also just pull out special "quiet time" toys that he only plays with during quiet time. And then even rotate those every month or so. Just store those somewhere that he cannot access them on a regular basis. And maybe put on some Bible music (maybe the CD used in LHTH or Wee Sing Bible Songs or even record one yourself with your voice where you are singing ABC's and counting with him, etc.).

If the gate doesn't work since it sounds like he is a climber, you can also get one of those things you attach to the doorknob so he cannot (hopefully) open it. Though I think I would start with the gate first.

Boys are definitely different. And I am sure I don't even know how much, but I have seen how different they really are just by teaching Sunday School!

Also, maybe you could continue to go half-speed for just a little while longer until you get a routine figured out with the little one. Just a thought.
DD1 (11): PHFHG
DD2 (8): BLHFHG

DS1 (4): LHTH
http://mommybelle.blogspot.com/

hs.mama07

Re: First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

Post by hs.mama07 » Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:14 pm

mom23 wrote: I know my youngest boy is pretty entertained as long as there is food in front of him! :lol:
You know, this has actually worked for us too. I'll put DS2 in his highchair and put all his food for breakfast in front of him, then do school with DS4. You wouldn't be able to get through all of LHFHG, but it would take care of at least a portion of it. Of course, there is some major mess-making while I'm busy with big brother, but at least he's not climbing on the kitchen table or flushing things down the potty, lol.

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

Re: First day of full speed LHFHG and my 25 month old...

Post by my3sons » Sun Aug 12, 2012 3:36 pm

Believe me, this is a very common topic on the board because little toddlers (and dare I say little BOY toddlers especially) can make a homeschool mama's day B-U-S-Y! Coffee - do you drink coffee? Drink a lot of it. Preferably the moment your feet hit the floor in the morning. That's my best answer. Just kidding (halfway)! :lol:

Here are some great threads on this topic...

What to do with toddlers while schooling:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9569&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=198&p=33557
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4987&p=36744#p36744
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9569&p=69865#p69865

Honestly, I would start by trying your favorite idea on the list. If it's a keeper, add it to the rotation of things little guy does each day. If not, move on to trying your second favorite idea on the list. After a few weeks of it, you are bound to have at least a few keepers! :D Whatever you keep, I'd train him to do each day, and keep adding to your arsenal... oh not a good word... keep adding to your repertoire. :wink: HTH! :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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