LHFHG for an Active 5 YO

[Jaimejac]

I am getting ready to start LHFHG with my very active 5 1/2 YO. He has gone through LHTH twice, although I'm not sure I did it as fully as I should have with two olders to teach. That said, I still think he's ready to start LHFHG if only half-speed.

I did LHFHG with my older son who is advanced - very studious, has a good attention span and would generally prefer to be inside reading a book than being outside.

So I think doing LHFHG with my younger son is going to look very different as he is very active, has a short attention span and would much prefer being outside playing to being indoors.

Today I was doing some phonics from the Learn to Read activity book while his brother was in swim lessons. After doing a few lessons sitting down, he wanted to get up and go run back and forth across a low brick wall and climb poles that were nearby. While doing this he said he wanted to try and spell "rock" by sounding it out. So we did that together, talking through the different sounds and matching them to letters in the words (just orally). He did this with several words while going up and down this brick wall and climbing poles. This was a spontaneous lesson on his part.

But it occurred to me that perhaps he needs to be moving in order to process information better. And how could I apply that to the lessons in LHFHG? I know the Rhyme is active, and we can dance to the music. But the handwriting pretty much needs to be sitting down and so does doing a math workbook page.

But what about history? Could I make that more active for him? Could he be moving while I read it to him? Art he needs to be sitting down for, but maybe I can make some of the other activities active? I see how phonics can be active now. What about storytime?

Has anyone else adapted LHFHG for an active little one?

Thanks!

Jaime

[RSmith]

I am actually finishing up LHFHG with my very active now 6 year old! It has been such an amazing fit for him. I definitely think my son processes information through movement. I allow him to move as long as he can narrate the passage back to me (very simple and informal narration). Sometimes he is jumping on a mini trampoline as I read. We have used our backyard to do school too. He may slide down the slide and read a word I have on a dry erase board. He may drive around in his John Deere kid's jeep to read a word, or he may write words/numbers in the dirt. We also use a bouncy ball (like a four square ball) and bounce it back and forth to practice memorization. He often pretends like he's a race car and zooms around the house in between activities. Carrie has written in many opportunities for them to move (as I know you know), and sometimes he wants to camp out on those activities longer than I would have if I were him. If I ever think that he's not with me mentally, that's when I know we need a brain break. We get outside and run and play for a few minutes before coming back to school.

[Mgs]

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[Jaimejac]

If I ever think that he's not with me mentally, that's when I know we need a brain break.

That's what I've been concerned about....if his moving around would distract him from listening/learning. But you make a good point, that it would actually be a good indication that he needs a brain break.

I've known that he was different from my older son. They are only 19 months apart in age, but years apart in skills and learning abilities. I've spent so much time thinking about my olders learning styles that even though I've done LHTH with him, I think this is the first time I really started to analyze how he will learn best and how I will have to make LHFHG so different for him than for his brother.

Thank you, these are great tips!

[christianmom]

You have been given some great suggestions!

Both of my boys were very active…always running. As teens, they still have a lot of energy!

When they were young, like your son, I did a lot of different things.

I made sure we went outside everyday (preferably at the end of school, but sometimes it happened in the morning if there was very little focus.). They needed activity daily.

I would have them take 5 minute breaks and run around the outside of the house or up the swing set or if raining they ran our stairs indoors.

I let them take lots of play breaks throughout the school day during the elementary years. Even 5 - 15 minutes would increase concentration.

Some years they did swim lessons or a sport.

10 minutes playing with match box cars would do wonders for listening afterwards.

They did cuddle on the couch for read-aloud books or sit at the table for written work, but their outside of school work time was very active when they were young.

[Jaimejac]

You didn't find that the 5-15 minute run-around or play breaks made it hard to come back to school? I would be afraid that he would start something that he doesn't want to stop in order to go back to school. As it is now, he gets very upset if I have to pull him away from something fun he is doing. We do have a schedule and I try to make sure he knows what to expect, but this still happens. I would be afraid he would lose his focus with a break rather than increasing concentration. But he is different from my others, so you may be right.

[christianmom]

For my boys, it did increase concentration. I remember Carrie saying her boys did recess in the morning which would be another way to do it. Our breaks were more as they needed it.

If I tried to pull them away from fully engaged play outside of school time, I couldn’t have done it.

I always have started school with Bible. So they knew, it is school time now. The breaks that were part of the school day were very different from play-time after school was done. They would be me directing it rather than them directing it. For example, I would say 10 times around the house run, or run your match box cars down the slide for 5 minutes, or 10 times up and down the stairs, or an active 10 minute game. Another one that helped was they played while I made lunch (They had chores before school, but not during it…they needed that break). Or, bring your stuffed animals to the living room for reading time. I really tried (looking back at it) to engage them in an active break. The LHFHG activities are good for that too. When school was done, they would engage fully in their play-time that would be full concentration a much different direction. I never could have done school once they went that direction.

Every child is different so I hope the ideas can help you think through what might work best for your son.

[RSmith]

My little guy loves Pokémon, and sometimes I tell him he needs to catch 3-5 Pokémon really quickly as a quick brain break lol. He loves it, and he is jumping and running around. I’ve never done this, but another idea would be to set a timer and see if he can catch his Pokémon before the timer goes off.

I agree that these short breaks actually really help with concentration. Before I started homeschooling, I taught school. One of the biggest things I remember from getting my masters was the way our memory works. There is actually a limit to the amount of information our brains can take in before sleep or exercise is needed to make more room!

[Jaimejac]

The breaks that were part of the school day were very different from play-time after school was done. They would be me directing it rather than them directing it.

That makes sense, I'm going to try it!

Or, bring your stuffed animals to the living room for reading time.

I love this idea!

My little guy loves Pokémon, and sometimes I tell him he needs to catch 3-5 Pokémon really quickly as a quick brain break lol. He loves it, and he is jumping and running around. I’ve never done this, but another idea would be to set a timer and see if he can catch his Pokémon before the timer goes off.

We don't do Pokemon, but maybe I can think of something else like this. Thanks!