Xuzi Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I'm about to throw in the towel on doing narration with my DD for SOTW 1. She. just. doesn't. get it! I've tried taking the advice of the ladies here and being more dramatic in my reading of the chapters, pausing after each paragraph to talk about the important names/places/ideas discussed, but when it comes time to answer the questions and summarize the chapter I always, ALWAYS have to go back and re-read the paragraphs that contain the answers, which I really hate doing, because it reminds me of the old grade-school trick of reading the questions first, then only reading as much of the chapter as you absolutely have to to find the answers and get your grade. I've tried having my DD do P.E., or free-play time prior to History. We don't do History until she's had time to move around. I've tried letting her hold things, not letting her hold things, color the corresponding activity page/map while I read. I'm really just plain ol' out of ideas of how to get her to listen and retain the information. I have the audio CD's coming in the mail shortly, and it's going to be my last ditch effort at getting her to retain any information in regards to History. I'm not going to *drop* history, but we're going to finish out the year (we're almost done with the book), and then maybe trying an easier-to-comprehend curriculum. She rarely has trouble answering the questions that go with the reading selections from WWE, so maybe it's just the nature of what's being read to her (not a dramatic story) that's causing her to struggle? I don't know. I'm just frustrated with being frustrated about teaching my first grader history. And it was one of the biggest factors that drew me to Classical education. /Vent. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Have you tried having her just narrate from a couple of sentences or a very short paragraph? And then working up to having her narrate more & more, eventually a full chapter, or piece of a chapter? I think for a 6 yo, narrating an entire chapter is ALOT. I found that to be true for my dd last year. This year she can just barely do the SOTW 2 chapter narrations (and not consistently) and she is 8; sometimes I just ask her the comprehension questions and require full sentence answers. Then I read the narration sample given in the AG to her. She does very well on the WWE 2 narrations, however, which obviously are MUCH shorter passages. Somewhere in the WTM site archives, you may be able to find an article written by SWB on how to teach narration, where you work up from reading them 2 sentences and then have them narrate that, then a little longer, then narrate, etc. I have it printed out, but it was from a couple of years ago. It is probably also what is in the WWE textbook, which I haven't looked at in a long time. I wouldn't throw in the towel yet -- narration is a DIFFICULT skill. YOu could also search the Charlotte Mason type sites (Simply Charlotte Mason for ex.) for HOW TO DO NARRATION tips. You will like the Audio CD's. I never read the chapter out loud myself anymore; I much prefer listening to Jim Weiss :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 What's wrong with going back and reading the paragraph that has the answer? That's what SWB recommends doing if a child doesn't know the answer to a narration question in WWE. I have a 6.5 year old, doing SOTW1, and he doesn't remember everything either. I think that's pretty normal for the age. I just go into it expecting that we'll have to go back and read parts. It's not the same as getting the questions beforehand and only reading until you answer the question. It's not a trick to go back and look for the answer. It's exactly what you'd do when studying! You're developing a skill. She hasn't mastered it yet, and I wouldn't expect a first grader to have mastered it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I second Monalisa's rec for narrating shorter bits. Instead of the whole chapter, narrating back a paragraph and accepting that would, imo, help to build up her ability to retain info. As she gets better and better you extend the amount of material you read. OR You could do what I did with ds, I had him do most of the reading. He would read to me and I would help him with the difficult parts. For ds, it's easier to remember (and listen) if he's the one doing the talking :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Here's the article: http://dev.welltrainedmind.com/tips-for-narration/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I dropped it, and I didn't even have WWE at that point. Since you are doing WWE, I wouldn't feel bad at all dropping narrations for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 but when it comes time to answer the questions and summarize the chapter She rarely has trouble answering the questions that go with the reading selections from WWE, so maybe it's just the nature of what's being read to her (not a dramatic story) that's causing her to struggle? It seems that it's just the difference between trying to narrate an entire SOTW chapter as opposed to trying to narrate the paragraph or two in WWE. I'd say just enjoy reading SOTW aloud, and then maybe use a portion of the SOTW chapter to do your WWE work. Then you can call that "history writing." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I would do shorter bits of narration. My oldest really really struggled with narration at your child's age. He still struggles as a writer, imo, because he has a hard time keeping bits of info in his head. Narration exercises have really helped him improve in this area. Narration is such a fundamental skill; I'd rather see her narrate tiny bits (a few sentences to a paragraph) than not at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my2boysteacher Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 SOTW is a hard book to narrate from in my opinion. There are a lot of abstract concepts that are hard for a first grader to understand, let alone narrate. Maybe you could take a break from SOTW narrations and try with her favorite picture books until she 'gets it'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom'sGirl Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Could you just do what they do in WWE1 and ask "Tell me one thing you remember from the reading?" You write that and then read the sample narrations from the AG to help give an idea for how narrations work in the future. My ds, who is almost 8, still has a hard time with it. On the other hand, his 5yo brother is great at it. So it depends on the kid too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmadebyangel Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Does she like to listen to thinks on CD? My kids love to listen to the stories on CD, but don't always enjoy it in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 I hadn't even thought of having her narrate just a paragraph or two. (insert sheepish looking smilie here) I think I'll give that a try next week! I love this board. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim.4dogs Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I love the CDs. We usually listen to them 2-3 times during the week, while we're in the car. If we only listen to them once, my dd has trouble with the questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milknhoney Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I have really struggled with my son doing the narrations, too. (SOTW1). Over our Christmas break I finally got the brilliant idea of asking HIM why he doesn't like history. He is the one who helped me figure out to only read a paragraph or two at a time and then ask him about just that part. He doesn't have to worry about answering in a complete sentence yet, just come up with the answer. Then at the end he gives me the full narration in complete sentences. The other thing I started doing was give him the chapter to read on his own while I take my shower. He does so well reading it on his own! The nature of the chapter makes a big difference, too. If it is telling a story about something that happened, then he remembers it. If it is more a chapter that just describes how things are (like the one we just did, "The Power of Rome"), then it is more of a struggle. I am planning to buy the audio CDs for next year, and I am hoping that will help too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I also want to vote for "tell me one thing about the Spartans. Just one thing" And then you say it back in a complete sentence and write it down. My young son often balks at narration (but does great with the questions) and the 'just one thing' seems to take the pressure off. He says his one thing and almost always, when I am writing it down, he comes up with three and four more things. I also have him draw a picture about what he told me. If you do the paragraph by paragraph approach a prompt can be "what did I just tell you about?" another great narration help is "yes, that is right. And what else?" As so many people have mentioned, narration is the foundation of so many important skills that I hate to see it let go without a long battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Kirsten~ Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I'd definitely ask the review questions in a paragraph-by-paragraph way for a while. So if you preview the questions before you read, then each time you read the answer, ask that question. For narration, I'd totally go with asking for her favorite part. That's plenty! We also follow up with retelling Daddy at dinnertime what we learned in history and biology. I'm often amazed at how much more she remembers after it's had time to soak in and process for a bit. Personally, I'd hesitate to toss the narrations entirely, but loosening up your expectations seems reasonable. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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