More questions...memory work, narration, copywork

[kwickimom]

OK, thanks in advance for reading about me being overwhelmed still :001_smile:

 

My DD7 is going to be starting 3rd. Its my first year HS'ing. I am reading a lot of threads about newbies needing to just relax and start slow, but then I see the threads with peoples 3rd grade curriculum and I start to get worried. I also printed out a few lists of what 3rd graders need to know and its like :001_huh:

 

On top of having all the cores and extras covered, I see everyone doing narration, copywork, dictation, memory work, notebooking, journaling..... I have no clue how I will ever fit all this in. I know that mostly I need to combine things so I am wondering how you do it.

 

I have been reading and searching threads for weeks. (maybe I need to stop this LOL) Should I just make copywork part of LA, memory work part of bible time,narration part of Science and start notebooking just History? It almost seems to me that a lot of people are making all these things little mini subjects.Or am I just freaking out and making this all too hard?

 

I really dont want to be annoying here at all. I am truly just wanting to make sure I do what is best for my DD. thank you so much in advance!

Edited June 5, 2010 by kwickimom
typo

[Dana]

We did some narration with history. We've also started using Writing With Ease and that has narration, copywork, and dictation - and we are spending about 20 min a day on it.

 

We're doing memory work (just added that in!) for about 5 min a day - writing out what we want to study on notecards and practicing it. Right now our cards are the original 13 colonies sorted as New England, Middle, and Southern - and subject and object pronouns (using Grammar Island!).

 

I understand it feeling impossible to stay calm as you get started.

Know that some of the curriculum you picked out won't fit well and you may need to make changes. We changed from Spelling Workout last year to All About Spelling. I had some anxiety about stopping with SWO (We aren't finishing the book! There are blank pages!!!) but it's been a wonderful decision.

 

Start with what you have. Go a few weeks and see what tweaks you want to make - what you want to add in, what you want to drop out. It will get easier. And you'll do fine. :001_smile:

[Colleen in NS]

I see everyone doing narration, copywork, dictation, memory work, notebooking, journaling

 

It almost seems to me that a lot of people are making all these things little mini subjects.

 

I have "memory work" time each day, and have my kids work on lists/poems/passages from history, science, literature, and Bible. So, it sort of is a mini-subject here, but only because I've scheduled it that way. Timewise, I couldn't work "history memory" into history time, etc.. It was easier for me to have a dedicated memory work time.

 

Everything else you mentioned is related to teaching writing. If you were teaching writing skills systematically, you would start off teaching copywork until the child mastered the skills involved, then you would teach dictation. Alongside each of these, you would also teach narration skills. Dictation and narration would eventually come together as just narration where the child comes up with his own sentences and writes them down himself. With younger children, this takes a few years. You can incorporate these skills into your history, science, and literature reading. I do this with dd9 by using WWE - each day she has to either narrate something or take something down via dictation - I pick passages from her content reading to do this from. You can also learn more about this process in WWE, or by listening to SWB's writing lectures.

 

To me, notebooking is another term for narration. This is because you get the narration down on paper for the child, and then he can decorate that paper however he wants, IF he wants. My kids did it for a little while, but gave up when they got bored with it. I don't require the decorating part, but they do compose narrations and file them in a notebook, so I guess we could call it notebooking. :D

 

Journaling is freewriting in a notebook - something I don't consider necessary for teaching writing skills. If my kids want to write freeform in a book, they do it on their own.

 

Hope this helps. Welcome to homeschooling! And please know that questions related to homeschooling are NEVER annoying here! Ask away, it's what the forums are for. :D

[Colleen in NS]

I am reading a lot of threads about newbies needing to just relax and start slow, but then I see the threads with peoples 3rd grade curriculum and I start to get worried. I also printed out a few lists of what 3rd graders need to know and its like :001_huh:

 

I think it's a matter of determining what *skills* you want to teach (which means you have to figure out where your child is on that spectrum of skills), and then using reading from history, science, and literature to practice those skills on. To me, it's important to concentrate the first four grades or so on reading skills, spelling, copywork/dictation and narration (writing skills), and grammar. If you do these efficiently, then you will have plenty of time for reading from history, science, and literature, and for doing memory work in those areas. Then your 3rd grader will astound everyone with his accumulated knowledge. :D

 

Have you read TWTM? I'd suggest starting there - it'll help you to ignore those "what your 3rd grader needs to know" lists.

[coralloyd]

This is how my soon to be 3rd grader is doing things:

 

Memory work we do at the breakfast table using this system- http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/

We add spanish flash cards and poems along with the Scripture memory. It is just a great system for any memory work.

 

 

Narration we do after history and science instead of work sheets or tests.

 

Copywork is part of LA. We are actually taking a break from grammar this year and using copywork instead. It also takes the place of a spelling cur. for us. She copies a passage 3 times a week, paying close attention to the words she does not know how to spell. On the 4th day I dictate it to her. She rarely misspells or misses punctuation, capitals, ect... This way of doing things works really great for us and is not time consuming at all.

 

 

Journaling we do once a week. I let her journal about whatever she likes. I do require it be at least 2 paragraphs long. I sit nearby to help with spelling.

[johnandtinagilbert]

OK, thanks in advance for reading about me being overwhelmed still :001_smile:

 

My DD7 is going to be starting 3rd. Its my first year HS'ing. I am reading a lot of threads about newbies needing to just relax and start slow, but then I see the threads with peoples 3rd grade curriculum and I start to get worried. I also printed out a few lists of what 3rd graders need to know and its like :001_huh: First off, what we mean by relax and start slow is don't expect yourself to pick up 8-10 subjects immediately and all things be smooth. Start with the basics and add to your teaching responsibilities as you find comfort or "your groove." As for the What my 3rd grader...lists, if you're using curriculum, then the needs will be met. If you're planning everything on your own, those lists make a good reference. I'd skip the lists b/c it appears you're using curriculum.

 

On top of having all the cores and extras covered, I see everyone doing narration, copywork, dictation, memory work, notebooking, journaling..... I have no clue how I will ever fit all this in. I know that mostly I need to combine things so I am wondering how you do it. Colleen gave a great explanation of this. These are all methods used in "writing" for elementary students. Instead of choosing arbitrary assignments for a "writing class," we incorporate those things into our studies. Not only does this introduce and practice the skill of writing, it also shows students application of the writing process. That's why any of those skills work across subject lines. It's pretty easy to work through the writing instruction simply as an add on to history or science. Reading or listening to any Charlotte Mason or WTM information will help you get a grasp on writing. Remember, explaining how to utilize these skills takes a lot longer than actually doing them, especially when you and your dc get used to it. Just like everything else in home schooling, how extensive you go with these areas of study is totally up to you :) Some days notebooking may be 5 minutes, others an hour b/c they're having a blast and enjoying decoration.

 

I have been reading and searching threads for weeks. (maybe I need to stop this LOL) tShould I just make copywork part of LA, memory work part of bible time,narration part of Science and start notebooking just History? It almost seems to me that a lot of people are making all these things little mini subjecs.Or am I just freaking out and making this all too hard?

 

I really dont want to be annoying here at all. I am truly just wanting to make sure I do what is best for my DD. thank you so much in advance!

You're not at all annoying :) The key here is that each of these subjects (except maybe memory work) are meant to be a compliment to your studies. How you listed ideas would be wonderful ways to use them. Remember, as another poster mentioned, these forms of learning are used in lieu of worksheets or workbooks, they are meant to be integrated.

 

HTH,

[Colleen in NS]

Tina said: "Remember, explaining how to utilize these skills takes a lot longer than actually doing them, especially when you and your dc get used to it."

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree: It's easy to implement once you understand.

[kwickimom]

Thank you!

A. For not thinking me annoying

B. for the awesome explanations

I am anxiously awaiting my copy of TWTM. I am sure that book will clear up so much for me, I am just dying to get rolling on curriculum. I must practice patience :D

[Dana]

Thank you!

A. For not thinking me annoying

B. for the awesome explanations

I am anxiously awaiting my copy of TWTM. I am sure that book will clear up so much for me, I am just dying to get rolling on curriculum. I must practice patience :D

 

I think we've all been there. I know how overwhelmed I felt when we were getting started! I found the boards here about midway through our first year and found them overwhelming too! :lol: The posts move so quickly and there's so much discussion.

 

I found some peace as I'd figure out one curriculum (Math: Singapore... now what on earth do I need to buy???? Okay... got that!). Of course, I'd see all the possible things I could do and my first go through of Rainbow Resource had me with about $1500 of things in my cart for first grade for one child.

 

My husband suggested I look at what I really needed instead of what seemed like a good idea and we pared that way down :D.

 

It's worked out well overall, but that first year was a bit of a challenge. All the books I read (a lot) said the first year can be the toughest, so :chillpill: as much as you can. It gets easier.

[Strawberry Queen]

In answer to your question about memory work. It's just a listing of what you want your child to memorize. I have poetry, list of prime ministers, Bible verses, and whatever else comes to mind. In the begining I would go through each item with my child and say them with her. It was great when she started latin and I was able to memorize too. My girls are now at the stage where I give them the list and they have to practice it themselves. I keep them within hearing distance so that I'm sure they're really doing it.;)

 

This year I gave them a challenge and had them choose a harder piece and get a prize. My older dd memorized sections from "I have Dream speech." There are just parts of that that make my spine tingle, and I'm not even American. I digress....

 

Basically, the reason you have them do memory work is so that they have this wonderful storehouse of words and phrases in their heads. When it comes time for them to write more complex ideas they will have some outstanding examples stored up in their memories. This allows them to write more easily and have and easier time putting words to the ideas in their heads.

 

I sometimes struggle with consistency in this. They haven't memorized all of the things on their list this year. But, they've done more than if it wasn't a subject at all. My kids have figured out that Borden park, in our city, is named after one of our Prime ministers. I never knew that until now and I've lived here for 28 years. Each piece of memory work is another peg to hang information on, as SWB says.

 

Just make sure that you do the essentials of reading and writing and math at the begining. Then as you feel more confident add in the others. I still find it hard work to do a full schedule and things invariably get unnoticed for a while. But it's okay. No one has a perfect school where everything gets done and my home is far from perfect.:lol:

 

HTH

[hmlentz]

I was overwhelmed trying to fit it all in last year as well (my first year homeschooling ALL of mine). Mid year I switched to workboxes as a system of organizing and getting through the day. My kids all love it and it allows them to get in so much more than if I didn't. Sue Patrick is the pioneer of the system. I also used Writing With Ease for her and it is a great tool for getting in the narration, copywork, dictation. We also do lapbooking which my kids all like better than notebooking. There are tons of these online free and I just add one booklet to a workbox related to History or science. She would have balked at the notebooking coming from public school, but we'll probably start that when she is tired of lapbooking. Good luck with it all!!

Heidi

PS- Seriously, you can always start with the basics and then add in extras as the year goes on. Take a look at workboxes.