I feel like I should know this but....how do I teach dd12 how to take notes?

[5LittleMonkeys]

A recent thread on Apologia GS got me thinking about the fact that my dd (going into 7th) doesn't know how to take notes. She will be doing science on her own for the most part so notes are going to be a must but like I said I didn't even think about it until I read others saying they had their dc taking notes. :confused: So, do you have your dc outline the chapter or do you have them just write a brief summary of each paragraph?

 

UUGGHH! Help me out...I'm feeling woefully ignorant.

[mollies73]

:bigear:

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

A recent thread on Apologia GS got me thinking about the fact that my dd (going into 7th) doesn't know how to take notes. She will be doing science on her own for the most part so notes are going to be a must but like I said I didn't even think about it until I read others saying they had their dc taking notes. :confused: So, do you have your dc outline the chapter or do you have them just write a brief summary of each paragraph?

 

UUGGHH! Help me out...I'm feeling woefully ignorant.

 

 

I am dealing with this with my dd 12 who WILL be taking notes next year for Apologia GS and I am attempting to teach her how to take notes. My efforts are ending in :banghead: . We backed off, and have been doing outlining instead of notes, then I am going to teach her how to take notes from her outlines (I hope:confused:)

 

So I am listening for good suggestions also! :bigear:

[mom31257]

Dd did a textbook for history half the year last year, then we switched to Kingfisher. I found that the textbook was very easy to outline. You could also have her make vocabulary cards or study sheets. I plan on trying to teach dd this system called Cornell Notetaking. She will be doing BJU online, so I want her to use it during the video I think. Here is a pdf generator for the cornell system. You can alter the size of the columns and lines.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Thanks for the links. :D

[angela in ohio]

Taking notes from a textbook is a very different skill than taking notes from a lecture, so if you look for resources for her, keep that in mind. Taking notes from a text generally equals outlining. Writing chapter summaries is helpful, though, too. We call them 'abstracts' (just because it's fun) and teach dd to write one at the end of her notes for each chapter.

 

Some random tips:

 

There are excellent resources online at many college websites on how to do this.

 

We had taught dc the SPQ3R method for reading textbooks, and this led naturally into outlining books. (The Q and the second R become the outline/notes.)

 

When she gets to the questions in the book, she should see those points in her outline. That is a good way to check to see that she is picking up the most important points. Alternately, you can use those questions to create the outline.

 

A good way to start teaching outlining (I did this this past year with my tutored students) is to pick one fact from each paragraph. It's not perfect, but it gets them started and voer that 'I have no idea how to sort out what's important' stage.

 

Our rule is to read once completely before putting pen to paper. This helps them avoid just starting to write down everything. If she doesn't naturally see the way the section or chapter in a book 'flows,' talk her through it: how many main points do you find? what supports each of those? can we put them in an order - chronological, space, importance, etc.?

[Ohdanigirl]

Taking notes from a textbook is a very different skill than taking notes from a lecture, so if you look for resources for her, keep that in mind. Taking notes from a text generally equals outlining.

 

:iagree:100% I had ds do the Beginning Outlining and Outlining books. This helped with outlining from texts. Now I have been helping to take notes with the LC1 DVD. At first I took the notes and went over them with him, so that he could see them and get a good feel for it. Then I began allowing him to help take notes during the lectures. I allow him to stop the DVD when needed and and tell me if we soul be writing something, if he misses something I stop the program and explain why it would be a good idea to write it down.

 

I chose to do it with Latin because is an easy subject for him and the stopping and going wouldn't hurt him, plus we had the dvd lectures. As he becomes independent I will begin to teach him short hand, for the most part he hasn't needed it in this coarse.:D

 

Danielle

[Night Elf]

I started worrying about that, and other things, this week, as my ds13 is just past the halfway point of his 2 high school courses. Booklover that I am, I went to B&N to see if I could find help. I got 2 books about being disorganized.

 

organizing the disorganized child: Simple Strategies to Succeed in School by Martin L. Kutscher & Marcella Moran This book has a small section that explains how to take notes using the Cornell note-taking system. Try looking that up online.

 

Get Organized Without Losing It by Janet S. Fox

 

Both of these books are centered about school success, but I'm finding there are lots of good lessons in them. Now that ds13 is in high school, I need to teach him all of these skills so he can become an independent student. It's a slow process though. We are just getting started, but I sit with him while he's doing his work and I point out the things that need to be noted. He prefers using a word processing program over a pencil & paper. I'm not sure if that's going to fly when he gets into college though, unless he can get some special exception for having Aspergers. I'm just not going to worry about too much.

 

I too have thought about putting him in sort of lecture course, preferably online. I'm going to wait until he gets really settled in high school before I spring something totally new on him.

[Quiver0f10]

TTC Has a lecture series called Superstar Student that I found very helpful in note taking and study habits.

[AmeliaBinMO]

TTC Has a lecture series called Superstar Student that I found very helpful in note taking and study habits.

 

:iagree:

[Suzannah]

Thank you so much for this thread and the tip on The Teaching Company video. I've put it on hold at our library.

 

We did the Outlining workbook recommended in WTM when DS was in 5th or 6th grade. We do outlining for history and writing (we've used both CW and IEW).

 

This year DS is taking an outside science class with open note tests. This has been a great teaching tool for him to put his skills into practice. If he takes good notes on his reading and class time, he does very well on the test. If he doesn't take notes, he doesn't do as well. The other moms and I have really welcomed this opportunity for the students to see hone their skills and see the direct result of their efforts...before it has to count on a high school transcript.

[5LittleMonkeys]

This book has a small section that explains how to take notes using the Cornell note-taking system. Try looking that up online.

 

I did look this up and printed out their notetaking template per mom31257's link. I'm going to research that a little farther. I'm also going to check out that TTC series.

 

Thanks to all!

[mombygrace]

The TTC DVD is very helpful and we plan to use it over the summer with a group of DC and their friends to prepare them for middle school/ high school.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Can someone link the TTC series for me; I can't seem to find it. Thanks.

[Ohdanigirl]

Can someone link the TTC series for me; I can't seem to find it. Thanks.

 

http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=140