How much should my 6 year old dd retain with read-alouds?

[cajunrose]

My 6 year old DD (turned 6 in May) doesn't seem to retain anything at all when I read to her. I can read her a sentence, ask her a question (like "What color was the flower") and she can't tell me.

 

I'm slowly working through SOTW with her and she is retaining NOTHING from it. I'm hoping that later something will trigger a memory from what I have read, but it's so frustrating right now.

 

Is this normal for her age? She's a pretty bright kid and I don't get this!

 

Stephenie

[Ummto4]

Which chapter do you read ? Do you give her background knowledge ? Do you incorporate narration ?

[cajunrose]

Not sure what you mean by which chapter...we are at the very begining of the book. I do talk to her beforehand about what we are going to read. I try to include narration, but she doesn't retain enough to be able to do that. She can't even answer the questions for the chapter.

 

She does this with regular read-alouds also...anything I read outloud to her..she can't recall anything I have read.

[MamaReads]

Maybe try narrations with shorter, simpler stories and build on that.

 

Learning how to narrate can be a difficult skill, so start small. I'm thinking picture books, Beatrix Potter, Winnie the pooh. Keep reading time short, just a few minutes before you ask a leading type of question.

 

FWIW, my dd 6 has pretty good comprehension, but we've been doing lots of read alouds and we started books w/out pictures when she was 4, almost 5. It really helped in the begining to have something for her to do with her hands while she listened. We would have modeling beeswax, playdough, duplos, or crayons while I read.

 

HTH

Jesi

[Mommy22alyns]

Can she read yet? I found that Becca had trouble remembering anything from SOTW unless she read it herself. Maybe you could get the CDs and have her follow along in the book.

 

We really use WWE 1 for "listening skills" i.e. narration from read-alouds. The passages there are shorter and the questions are very specific. She's doing well with that.

[BlsdMama]

Narrating is an aquired skill. It wouldn't be unusual at all for a 6yo to listen to an entire chapter and not be able to relate it back in words. So don't read the chapter in a chunk, break it down. Read a page and ask her, "What happened?" If that doesn't work, ask leading questions. "Do you remember when the mouse did that... What happened after that?" "What did he nibble on?" If a page is too much, do 1-2 paragraphs and ask a few questions. It will help her learn to be a more careful listener and more attentive and aquire those listening and relay skills. She'll work up to being able to listen and then relay the chapter. I can say that some of my children would have been able to relate, at age 6, the entire chapter. But I can tell you my current 5.5yo and 4.5 yo would NOT be able to come close to narrating at the end of a chapter.

[imhim]

I think it depends on the child.

If she applies herself, my newly turned 6yo can narrate in order. But what helps her most - I use Mystery of History - is to read the lesson from there, and then go to other books that have pics and read from there, and show her the pics, and also she loves to draw - so sometimes I just tell her to draw something from what I read, and write a few words about it. Maybe some projects that have to do with the reading will help, something to produce with her hands - it may be she is not an auditory learner.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I'd start practicing reading a paragraph and having her tell it back. When you get to the bottom of a page, ask her lead in ???? "What happened after ___ and ____ escaped on the ship?"

 

With time, make the distance b/t ??? greater. Then when you're finished ask her to tell you the story. Lead in ??? really make the difference initially.

 

You could also have her draw a pic of what happened. S/t this makes the mind move toward narration.

 

My 6yods was terrible at narration! It finally came about just before his 7th b-day.

[springmama]

My 6 year old is the same way! i just get a blank stare or "I wasn't paying attention" or "I don't understand" when I ask her questions.

 

Yesterday we did day 2 of WWE and the read aloud portion was only 1 paragraph. I had to read it twice and then read certain sentences over again. I read the piece, then asked the suggested questions. When she didn't know the answer, I asked her to listen carefully and went back and re-read the sentence or sentences containing the answer to the question. We had to do this with almost every question.

 

I think this is how we'll do it every day. It's so frustrating (for me) but I think this method will help her learn to focus on what I'm reading. She doesn't seem to mind doing it this way.

[Ummto4]

My suggestion:

 

1. Break down the narration into smaller bites.

2. Start with simple stories that she already knows. I started my then 6 yo son with some AESOP fables he's already known. If you can, print some fables from ELSON reader (first or second reader), available from googlebooks. These are short and sweet. The language is not too sophisticated, but proper. I find Millo Winter's version is a bit difficult to understand at first. You can also try short stories like: 50 Famous People or 50 Famous Stories from Baldwin. They're easier to narrate than SOTW.

 

SOTW is a bit difficult to narrate IMHO. It sometimes stuff so much information. Well, it depends on your child. But my son needed background information, like long time ago, people lived in a cave and moved around blah blah blah. Also, to really understand the concept of why men got to farmer stage from hunter gatherer stage needed a lot of discussion and Q&A. Only then everything makes sense.

 

HTH

Edited August 12, 2009 by mom2moon2

[jplain]

The suggestions you've received seemed reasonable, but given this:

 

I can read her a sentence, ask her a question (like "What color was the flower") and she can't tell me.

She does this with regular read-alouds also...anything I read outloud to her..she can't recall anything I have read.

 

A six year old should be able to answer such questions without difficulty.

So either she's not paying attention, or she can't pay attention.

The fact that it happens with regular read alouds and not just SOTW makes me lean toward 'can't.'

I'm wondering about some sort of auditory processing difficulty.

Have you done any reading on that?

Edited August 12, 2009 by jplain

[nmoira]

How much repetition are you doing and over how many days? At what point are you asking her to do the narration?

[japhmi]

Our DD6 has a very difficult time with narration after one read through. She needs a second. She does the same with the books she reads for fun - she reads them very quickly once through, and then goes back slowly.

 

Of course, that's how you're supposed to read for comprehension, as I learned after I got out of college.

[ManyXsBlessed4]

My almost 7 year old is just now beginning to narrate back a little. I just about fell out of my chair the first time he told me something I had just read in detail! Hang in there. You received some great suggestions. I understand how frustrating it is... but it is worthwhile to continue.