LHFHG - Need Help

[tmcg]

I am trying to do LHFHG with my 6 yo for 1st grade (and LHTH with my 4 1/2 yo) while my 2 yo is adding some excitement to the day. My problem is that I have a hard time getting things done. I think it is b/c I get so many distractions that what should take 15 min. takes 1 hour. Also, I have a problem stopping when we get on a roll and then we use more time and have less for other things. For example my dd did 5 days of math in one sitting and we got through Chapter 4 in The Reading Lesson b/c she is already reading some. So anyway, I now am messed up on the schedule and have not done some of the activities in the Teacher's Manual. The perfectionistic, detailed, planner in me is having issues with this. I also work 2 days a week and have been traveling off-site to do physicals and such that has made me quite tired. So, I have our babysitter working on workbook pages with the girls so we can cound those as HS days (need 180 per year), so that gets me off track. I also need to come up with a way to document what we have done and what they learned so my husband can write the quarterly HS reports with ease. Ideas on how to be better organized and how to document? Please pray for me I have a sore throat and I am beat. Thanks in advance for your prayers and advice. By the way, I love HOD and admit all my problems are user-error....Haha!

Tammy
(in upstate NY)

[Carrie]

Tammy,

I know the ladies will chime in to help you here if they can just "see" your post, so I'll move it over to the main board. The main board is where all new posts begin, so everyone will see it over there.

We're currently gone to Minneapolis on vacation with grandpa's and grandma's and aunts and uncles, so I'm just checking in to "manage" the board. But, I'll be back on Wednesday to post more help for you if needed!

I know you can do this. It just takes time to hit your stride when starting out on the homeschool journey schedule-wise.

Blessings,
Carrie

[crlacey]

Could you use a notebook to document what you did each day? Such as:

9/22/08
LHFHG Unit 3 Day 4
Bible, Dramatic Play, Verse, Do It Carefully, Phonics pages 5-7, Storytime, Math, leapfrog word caper video, ride bikes

9/23/08
Babysitter did workbook pages 4-6, Bible story Moses and craft, dance class


Then your DH could just refer to the notebook and everyone can write what they've done in it so that you always know what's been done.

I personally write out my plans for the week using the following page from Donna Young's site since I'm using a separate program for animal science and add in music and art. http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/go ... wkruld.pdf

[netpea]

I borrowed MamaMary's idea of using those Redi-Tabs from Post-It to mark where we are in the book. I use one for math and one for Do It Carefully since my daughter likes to work ahead. I use one to mark the Rhymes in Motion too. It really helps here.

[jessyb26]

This is what I do to stay on track. Sometimes we do 2 days worth of activities in some subjects if I know that we have other things going on during the week. I keep track of what needs to be done by putting a check mark on the corner of the box when we are done. I can easily look and see what activities still needed to be done for each day. There have been some days when other people have had to jump in and they just check it off and I know if the activity has been done. I also have the post-it note tabs that I can move for each week. This may not work for you since you have to write the reports every quarter.

[pjdobro]

I second the Donna Young forms. There are so many different ones there that you'll surely find one that will suit your needs. I'm using a checklist with all of my subject areas across the top and the date down the side: http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/go ... list-3.pdf. I'm actually logging two students on one form. It helps me to see what we've done at a glance each day. I don't have to be real detailed for my state so this is working for me so far. Maybe something like this or one of the planner forms might help you keep track for your husband.

[tmcg]

Thank you ladies! Ironically, I did a search today and found the Donna Young website before even reading your posts! God must have meant for me to see it! I am still open to any words of wisdom, but let me tell you what I did and we will see how it goes.
I found an attendance form so I can check off each day and document how many days we have done school. I have a grid that I can write the details in for Little Hands. I have a course of study I modified to document the details of what we did each day for Little Hearts. Then I used the checklist to check off each subject area for them both! Wonderful! Now we will see how practical it is in actual use. Thanks again and God bless!

[my3sons]

Hi Tammy! It's so fun that all of us have our own twist on the way we do HOD, and yet it can be a great fit for us all! I used to let my ds work ahead in this or that when I did LHTH, especially if he seemed "ready". Or, if he was "loving" an activity or book, I'd let it go on... and on. But, later it would be a problem for me because all of those wonderful HOD plans that I loved in the guide didn't fit together anymore and we were on all different pages in the guide. I felt scattered, and all mixed up. That's when I went to just doing what was planned in the guide, in the order it was planned. What a relief that was for me! You may be going through the same thing I was. Maybe you could try only doing what's in the plans as they are written for a few weeks or a month - and see if that helps you find that rhythm more. Maybe then, you'll still like doing it the other way - and then you'll know for sure that's the best fit for you. Or, maybe you'll be like me, and feel a huge burden has been lifted by sliding into a normal routine with using the guide as is. I still like to "let things go on", but I don't do it with HOD. I do it with read-alouds at night, or Bible talks after church, or looking up information on the web about a bug we found outside, etc. But you may find a totally different rhythm for your family than the one I've found works for us.

In Christ,
Julie

[water2wine]

I see you have already received great organizational advice. I am big on the checklist. For my older kids anything that is not ion the HOD guide goes in the check list. Those are my kids in Bigger. One thing that I did was on the top I have all the possible categories of what we are doing that is not in the guide color coded by what they are, for instance math has a color and so does LA. Then vertically I just have a place for the day of the week and a date. Super easy just check it off. This is not because I have to turn anything in but so that the kids help to keep things on track because I get lost sometimes keeping track of six kids. For all the stuff in HOD I just use the teachers guide and check off those boxes. I know if we hit those anything that falls in the cracks was extra stuff that I try to add to HOD because I am crazy:lol: and in reality it does not matter. So no matter what when I complete the HOD check list I always have peace and that feeling of completion.

On the Reading Lesson I want to encourage you to skip up to where you are in terms of what your child knows well and does not have to review. Just do not worry about all the other stuff you skipped. The most important thing is getting your child on the level they need to be. Then I would suggest really staying on track with the guide. It is so well written and it does flow. If your children are wanting more I suggest looking in the appendix. There are wonderful things there in LHFHG. Some of the extra things we do are copywork, Spanish, Nature journaling and we have some great coloring books and Bible story type books to read if we decide we want more. But we really try to stick to the plan in the teacher guide for HOD as much as possible because there is so much peace in that for us.

You are going to find the perfect groove for you. I think you might want to just stick to it as planned until you feel peace with that and after you have that if you still want to wiggle things, go for it.

[tmcg]

Good advice about skipping ahead and how it could be creating a problem. I will try and follow things next week and see how I do. Is it possible that I am just a rebel won't admit it?! Hmm. Maybe there is a spiritual lesson in all of this....LOL! I just get going and if something is going well I don't want to stop but it is like sending your kids' friends home while they are all still having fun....end it on a good note, right? Okay, I'll try to have some self-control and some patience (fruits of the spirit) and see what happens. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom.

Oh, and yes I can see how I needed to go to where my daughter is w/ the Reading Lesson. Also one question....I taught my daughter some concepts and it was a struggle in the beginninng....hair pulling....me pulling mine actually...LOL and now she is taking off faster than I can catch up. I am sure without proper nurturing she would eventually plateau but has anyone ever experienced this? She is reading books! I mean she is doing amazingly. I opened her math book and she read all but one word of the directions without me asking her to! I do love the Reading Lesson though....what we have done has been great and wonderful.

Tammy