Working on a rough schedule with 4 dc: PHFHG/BLHFHG/LHTH

[faithmama4]

We have 4 children, ages 9,6,3,1. This is our first year with HOD and we've decided to go with Preparing w/ the option of using the extensions for my 9 yr old who is a voracious reader, reading well above his grade level. My 6 yr old, dd is avg and we are working on following directions. I placed her in Beyond, she is just starting to read with All about reading (considering a switch to the reading lesson). We will be starting out slow and most likely extending beyond and then bigger to last 3 yrs so she doesn't get into a guide she isn't ready for. Then we have my 3 yr old, who likes to have tons of attention and join us for many school things but also does well playing. We are going to try to do LHTH as we can with some additional learning fun, cutting activites, puzzles, and planned play time with his older siblings. And of course the 1 yr old that is a nursing babe for another yr likely who is quite demanding for his age!

Overall I am surprisingly not overwhelmed anymore at the idea of 3 guides. I am trying to create some sort of a schedule to go with rather than just jumping in w/o a plan. My oldest is a self starter though I do like to have them start their day with bible. My daughter in beyond is the type that takes her time and can be very easily distracted so a bulk of her work might need to be done from 2-4 when naps are occurring. I might try doing her guide with her during my sons independent work time, I think that my 3 yr old would enjoy following along.

I am having trouble wrapping my head around how to schedule the day. We are doing a two week trial before we move mid august and then starting up again in sept. I am planning to only work with preparing and getting phonics and math going with dd during the two weeks.

Can anyone offer suggestions? Planning schedules is not my strength but I also know its necessary to have a routine for our family.

More details of our day. The kids can rise at 8, my oldest reads in bed if he wakes early. My husband and I rise early (5am) to get our extra work done, so we protect that time. My son likes to get school going as early as he can so he can be free to play after lunch. The baby naps from 9-11 and 2-3/330. Second naptime is more variable. Our 3 yr old naps from 2-430/5, unless I can get lunch done earlier. We tend to eat around 1, and the kids seem to need a snack around 11, breakfast/morning routine tends to be done by 9 (except for my dwaddling dd, who can sometimes take until 10) I struggle with this bc I am not sure if this is something that needs correcting or if this is just part of who she is and I should just adjust to allow for her extra time/ distractions? I can't possibly stand next to her all morning to be sure she isn't distracted. Her morning routine includes unloading the dishes that are not breakable, plastic cups & plates, medicine droppers/get dressed/ brush teeth/ make bed/ feed fish. I might need to make a sticker chart for to motivate her.

My husband usually gets home later in the evenings and we plan to have dinner at 630, but this can sometimes be 730. We make eating together a priority. This can end up delaying bedtimes, hence the 8 am no early rising rule.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Is there a general idea as to how long the boxes in beyond should take?

Thanks so much!
Excited to be on this journey with you all!
Teresa

[MomtoJGJE]

Have you already ordered? Did you talk to anyone (Carrie, Mike, etc) at HOD? The reason I'm asking is because of where you said your 6yo is, and that you were thinking about slowing it down some, you might want to place her in LHFHG. It'll make your day easier and be a good amount of work for her. If you've already ordered or have discussed placement with the pros then ignore me and by all means go half speed.

As far as working with everyone....

When you start your day, work with the oldest first. Go over all the independent boxes and Semi-independent boxes, teaching whatever you need to for those. The while he is working on those boxes, you could do either half speed Beyond or full speed LHFHG with your 6, and possibly even LHTH with your 3yo. Then you could have a snack time and your 6 and 3yo could play with the baby while you finish up Preparing with your oldest.

[MelInKansas]

What MomToJGJE talked about is basically what I do also. Though I did LHTH either first thing, before Preparing (because that child is always up earlier anyway so she is done with breakfast and the 9YO was still eating) or right before the LHTH's naptime, after lunch. First thing had me doing it more consistently. But I did start LHTH with my 5YO was 3 and it took 2 years to complete which was perfect. Basically if it was difficult to do it that day, during the first year or 1 1/2 years, I just wouldn't. I did it when I could fit it in. My 3YO was happier when I did it, but as you mentioned, she also joined in with some of the read-alouds and some of the hands-on activities, crafts, etc with the Beyond child. She could scribble with crayons, and I bought her some Kumon workbooks for cutting and pasting, numbers, and things like that. She could do those whenever she liked. It was just enough. Sometime last year, as I was facing Kindergarten, I realized I had to get her into a daily routine and at that point I moved LHTH to first. So this is what that looked like for us:

LHTH right when that child finished breakfast. When the Beyond child finished breakfast she could start on her copywork, spelling practice (except day 4 which is the test, I had to help with that), and maybe math if it was something she already understood. She would be at the table with me and the LHTH child and I could help her out if she needed it, or just remind her to keep going. After LHTH and after the Beyond girl was done with her "seat work" I would give them a break and they go play with baby brother while I had about an hour with the Preparing child. I would do reading about History, Storytime, Grammar, dictation, DITHOR (depending on what that was - if she was reading and doing workbook then we did it during this first block, if a project then later), poetry, Bible study, Research or Geography if it was one of those days. Then I would try to start her on her History project and she would be on her own to finish that, and do math, independent History, independent Science, and anything else she could complete independently (Timeline on day 4 is usually one). While she was doing these I would work with the Beyond child on the rest of her stuff - reading about History, her Reading lesson, Storytime, Bible study, Poetry, Math if she couldn't do it on her own, Spelling and grammar if I was needed for those, and the Rotating box. The Rotating box was last because it's the most fun. Then after she is done it's lunch time and I fix lunch, but also check in with my Preparing child to see how she's making progress, listen to narration if she has it, etc. Check over her math, or leave that for her dad to do in the evening. After lunch my Preparing child and I finish up anything else she needs to do.

That's how I do it. As you know, with a toddler around, interruptions can abound. There are diapers, crises, snacks, etc. He always has some special things to do and I try to keep him moving and suggest things, I also have a time (right now I really need this) where I put him in his room with some special toys pulled out and music for about 20-30 minutes. Or as long as he stays. He can open the door, but usually he likes a little time to himself, left alone by the others.

[MelInKansas]

Just another thought for you about your dawdling DD. I would not push her. It is probably just her body routine to be slower at the start of the day. As long as she keeps going (I do try to teach my kids diligence) I would just let her dawdle. I think you will be less frustrated this way. My oldest is sadly the morning dawdler in our house. But this would give you a chance to work with the Preparing child while she's still starting up if you like. Leaving the 3YO and 1YO still under your care too... sigh. You can always tell the 6YO that if she can get her things done quickly she'll have time for an audio book or something like that before you start school with her. I know my oldest dawdles because she doesn't want to start school.

And your oldest could also certainly do some of his independent work if he wakes up before breakfast and the family's routine are starting. Bible, independent history or science, or math might be good choices, or the extension work if you end up having him do that (though I would add that in only after you see him doing well on all the other things and if he wants to do them).

[my3sons]

Awesome ideas! I'll just add that my oldest ds who is a morning person has loved having his guide in his room to do his Bible Quiet Time, History Reading, and Independent History boxes in the morning through the years. If I were you, I'd let my older ds do that!

In Christ,
Julie

[MomtoJGJE]

I forgot about this... my oldest is a natural early riser. My others are generally woken up by her, and I'm subsequently woken up (along with the baby).... so at some point during this past year, maybe even last summer, I gave her the choice of staying in bed quietly until 7 or doing school work from the time she got up until 7. Most mornings she chose to do her school work (CTC), and was done with a good portion of it before we all got up (around 7-7:30). It was a win win for me because she didn't wake anyone up and she got her school work done and could play with the rest of the kids!

[faithmama4]

I am so sorry for the delayed response! Thank you all for your suggestions! Ironically before even getting a chance to check back here, I made a last minute decision to purchase LHFHG even though I had beyond all set (we will use it next year:) Anyway, I felt like it would be something that dd would enjoy more and not feel overly pressured while learning. We will be doing the reading lesson and handwriting. I figured I could always add in extras, like signing time ASL, apologia science experiments ( we did this last year and my kids love science). I know from reading on here that we should start with the basics and then add in if necessary, so that's our plan. I like the idea to allow my dd extra time to get things done in the am and I will then start work with my preparing ds and allow him to do some of his independent reading/work in the am if he wakes early.

We did not do a trial run as I had hoped because packing was pretty important for our move! Anyway, we move this weekend and I am so excited to start hod! It's all I can do not to pull out the guide and get started! But we need to move and so I must wait to start school. It's great too because my children can sense my excitement for this curric and they are so excited too!

So as far as my 3 yr old. I am planning to allow him to join us for our fun-work each day or as much as he is interested in. I will add in LHFH once I have a routine down with preparing and little.

Anyone have any suggestions for keeping snack time to a min. It tends to become a long event around here and then sometimes merges right in with lunch! It can be very frustrating! I am considering setting a snack plan, that way the kids know what they can have for lunch and it keeps them hungry enough for lunch. What have you ladies done for this?

Thanks again!
Teresa

[ShowersofBlessings]

I'm so glad to read all these ideas. I have 4 children as well and will start 3 guides next month. The thought of it is a bit overwhelming, to be honest.

[MomtoJGJE]

When our snacks and meals seem to be one continuous stream of eating and little else I do two things...

1.) I post snacks and snack times on the fridge. They get to have one of the options (carb, protein, fruit/veggie) at snack time. Whatever they don't pick one day (we only have two snacks....) they HAVE to have the next day and pick one different. So in three days they have two of each snack basically.

2.) I up the amounts of food they get for each snack since they are generally growing when this happens.

This lets them see that yes they do get a snack, they will have snack at x time, and it gets them decent nutrition in between meals for growing bodies.

[TrueGRIT]

We have a 10 am snack time for 10-15 minutes. During that time we listen to any CD's - Bible, music, verses, phonics,etc. Portion control is what I use for how we eat. It is not a free for all, but distributed by me. 1 yogurt or cheese stick with a handful of crackers, or chopped/sliced fruit. If they are blessed, 2 small cookies or oatmeal energy balls with chocolate chips! I'm not always good about getting it done nutritiously, but I try. They do know that when the timer goes off - they are done!

I found 3 guides easy enough to run and get done all in the morning except English & meeting time with my oldest. We did that right after lunch. It did take a few weeks to get a good pattern. I just marked what worked and tweaked what didn't until we found it. I know once you get moved and settled in, you will get it. I know you will enjoy your year!

[MelInKansas]

Snack time: basically it is a set time and there is a set amount. Okay, not for the 2YO but ironically he doesn't like to snack all that much anyway. And as TruGRIT said the way I cut down on snacks was to make snack choices healthier and more filling things. If it's within an hour of a meal, then something really small like a handful of grapes or few slices of apple, or carrot sticks are the only allowed option. It's that or wait for the meal. At snack time there are more carby options, or things with more protein to try to fill them up for a little longer.

It sounds like you are set and excited! I bet Preparing and LHFHG will be a great combination, and LHTH can certainly wait. I hope the move goes well and you are able to get settled in quickly. That is a lot to be doing! I will pray it all goes smoothly.