Anyone make your own dictation?

[thowell]

I have been reviewing the CM approach to dictation and I really like what I see. Here is my question; can you make your own dictation and follow the CM guidelines? If so where do you chose your lessons from? How do you organize them and how much should you use for a dd9 that has never done dictaion?

[greensummervillian]

I've always come up with my dictation and copywork selections until this year when I started my son on Classical Writing. I still pick my daughter's. I usually find something from a book we're reading. Sometimes if I find a quote that is particularly inspiring or well written I'll do that instead. For a nine year old who has never done it I would start with some very simple sentences. Make something easy up if you have to. You can then slowly or quickly increase the difficulty depending on how your daughter handles it. I just know with my own kids if I started to hard it would be too easy for them to get the idea that all dictation is too hard for them, and future attempts would be a huge struggle. When you get to more complex selections you might want to start with a passage as copywork one day, and then the next day use the same passage as dictation.

[mommyto3]

I'm thinking about starting dictation with my almost 8ds. I'd like to make my own rather than buy something also. How much is too much?

[Caribbean Queen]

Dictation, which reinforces spelling, is when the child writes something as the parent dictates. This is not for testing purposes - the child should be familiar with the passage or sentence being written. You can let them "study" for it first so that he knows how to spell the words. He might close his eyes and try to picture the passage accurately. He might practice words he's unsure about spelling. Only when he feels he is ready does the dictation exercise begin. This makes it more likely that the child will spell words correctly the first time. Some children are natural spellers and seem to effortlessly absorb spelling from their copywork and reading. For other children, dictation can help polish spelling skills because the child will have to memorize how to spell the word before the dictation exercise begins. The parent then reads the passage slowly and clearly while the child writes it from memory. Some parents use dictation as a way to test their child's spelling, using misspelled words as a spelling list. But caution should be used because once a child sees or writes a word incorrectly, that incorrect spelling is recorded in his memory. (Sand, rice, cornmeal, salt or shaving cream, which allows misspelled words to be wiped out immediately, is a fun way to practice writing for young children.)

 

A child does not start dictation until he has mastered handwriting from copywork experience. His first dictation exercise may be a single sentence. By 10 or 11 years of age, he might be able to do a few sentences. Older children might do a paragraph or two once a week.

[Lori D.]

I have been reviewing the CM approach to dictation and I really like what I see. Here is my question; can you make your own dictation and follow the CM guidelines? If so where do you chose your lessons from? How do you organize them and how much should you use for a dd9 that has never done dictaion?

 

 

I did. Though, we didn't DO them as dictation -- we did them like the Sonlight LA dictation worksheets. I wrote out a sentence (or 3) from either the reader or read aloud without punctuation or capitalization, and then had them work with the paragraph in several ways, using a few (NOT all every time!) of the ideas here:

 

1. add all the punctuation and capitalization

2. practice whatever grammar concepts we were learning

(ex: underline all the nouns; circle all the adjectives and draw an arrow from each adjective to show what it is modifying; box the adverbs and write a different adverb that could substitute; finding pronouns and antecedents; etc.)

3. do something with homophones, word usage, subject/verb agreement, etc.

4. do something to practice adding/dropping prefixes, endings, suffixes

5. show where to break for syllables on 5-6 words

6. practice condensing words into contractions or expanding a contraction

7. take a large word and find smaller words within it (ex: together = to, get, her)

8. take the letters from a large word and write smaller words from it (ex: special = pie, lap, slip, space, etc.)

Edited December 23, 2009 by Lori D.
added space

[Kuovonne]

Yes, you can choose your own dictations. You can pick selections from literature, from a book of dictation exercises (such as "Spelling Wisdom", or "Spelling Plus Dictation"). For our family, I compose DD's dictations myself. I create sentences using her current spelling words. I match the length of the dictation and any mechanics with her ability. I also pre-teach the spelling words, so she isn't faced with unfamiliar words during the dictation.

 

As for where to start a child who hasn't done dictation before, I recommend starting short, simple, and maybe a bit funny. Then gradually increase the length and complexity.

[bethben]

I too loved the idea of dictation, but had trouble coming up with passages. I couldn't figure out how to do it with spelling words ds should have already known. All about spelling gives dictation every week on words they should already know how to spell (I know other programs do this also, but this is what I chose). It makes it easier and ds practices good sentence structure. I still like the idea though about dictation from more classical passages, but this is the path that worked for me.

Beth

[Marylou]

This is what I did with my twin 8 y.o. girls last year: I dictated one verse of Psalm 119 at a time, and they wrote it to the best of their ability on the left side of a notebook. Then I wrote the verse on the board and they copied it on the right side being sure to do their best handwriting. It was fun to see them try their best with the long words like "supplication" and "commandments" etc., and there were MANY words in that psalm that are used over and over agin. Usually we would do about 3 verses a day. We started in Feb. and finished in time for them to wrap them up and give them to their Dad for Father's Day. They were so excited to show Daddy that they had written Psalm 119 (the longest psalm in the Bible) not once, but TWICE!

 

After Christmas I am going to dictate certain questions of the Heidelberg Catechism and have them write them down. If there is a word that is over 4 letters long and they spell them correctly I will give them a penny!

 

I don't think the child has to know how to spell all the words correctly before you dictate certain sentences. Part of figuring out the phonics is what dictaion is all about, I think.

 

Have fun!

[Stacy in NJ]

a book he's reading. Our spelling progam includes dictated sentences, as well.

[lovemykids]

Yes, we have always pulled copywork and dictation from our quality literature. (it’s very simple) Although, I have also dabbled with programs that have it ready for the students, such as LLATL or Sonlight.

[Ester Maria]

I've always done dictations by opening a random book and finding a suitable passage; when they were younger I used to pick those from books they were reading, sometimes even textbooks, or I used to find articles on topics we were studying, now when they're older (6th and 7th) I take excerpts from literary works.

[AngelBee]

We use mostly scripture for both copy work and dictation. We also sometimes do poems or parts of the books they are reading.

[Homeschooling6]

I have been reviewing the CM approach to dictation and I really like what I see. Here is my question; can you make your own dictation and follow the CM guidelines? If so where do you chose your lessons from? How do you organize them and how much should you use for a dd9 that has never done dictaion?

 

SCM has Spelling Wisdom that you can use for dictation. Just thought I would throw that out there.

[Medieval Mom]

Here is a google e-book for you. It looks delightful! I plan on trying it out next year for ds. Free is good ;)

[m0mmaBuck]

Here is a google e-book for you. It looks delightful! I plan on trying it out next year for ds. Free is good ;)

 

Thank you for this! It looks wonderful and I just may go ahead and use this for DS vs. buying yet another program!

[thowell]

Here is a google e-book for you. It looks delightful! I plan on trying it out next year for ds. Free is good ;)

 

Thanks, this looks perfect!

[SilverMoon]

I pull it from their reading, science or history most of the time. If a child needs to specifically practice dictation itself, I like to use Aesop fables. And when I'm feeling lazy I just grab SCM's Spelling Wisdom and use whichever one looks good at the moment.