Recitation period.

[Mommyfaithe]

How do you do recitation in your homeschool?

Which subjects do you cover?

Do you do ALL subjects in one recitation...or a recitation at the beginning of each subject period?

 

I always did our memory work at the beginning of each subject, but am thinking of incorporating a recitation period at the beginning of our day....

 

Tell me how you do yours.

Faithe

[ladydusk]

We do Circle Time and include Memory Work. On Saturdays we recite for Daddy.

 

I had a longer post written and the internets lost it, but I linked this blog post I wrote this spring which is more detailed.

[walkermamaof4]

This doesn't directly answer your question, but I finished reading The Core today and it answers this well. It is worth reading.

 

We use Mnemosyne - the free notebook - to track when to review what. We do grammar, history, scriptures, poetry, and more.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

We do recitations at the beginning of the day. We have "Opening Ceremonies" every day, where we set up the calendar for the day, choose our exercise, say the pledge, do all subject recitations and sing a song. Since our recitations are poems, science vocab and Latin vocab, it doesn't take too long. As they get older, I'll probably have them do history recitations during history time and poem and other lit. recitations at language arts time.

[Little Blue House]

:bigear:

 

I'm interested in these replies as well.

 

Also, any ideas on how do you keep it short, sweet and interesting/fun? Whenever we have tried this it takes forever and the kids are whiny.

[morosophe]

The recitations I have my children do have mostly been Scripture memory and their catechism. We do them at the beginning of the day with our devotions. The only other thing my son has worked on (a poem, since we followed Sonlight's memory work suggestions) I had him do at the same time.

 

I actually started teaching the catechism before the Scripture memory, in part because it starts short, for little kids. (My oldest has already taught my youngest to say "Ah!"--presumably the "o" sound in "God"--in response to the question "Who made you?") The more pertinent reason is that it's so easy to review--I just go through the questions in order. The scripture memory box from Simply Charlotte Mason that a fellow homeschooler recommended to me has helped immensely in the area of review for fairly "random" memorizations, though. (You can use it for other things than Scripture, of course.)

[Jane Elliot]

Below I copied one of my posts from May. This coming year, I'll probably continue with the same sort of thing but will add some Latin chants.

 

We call ours "morning time". For most of the year my children doing this were 3yo, 5yo, 7yo, and 10yo. This year during morning time we:

 

Read through a Bible Story Book (Children's Illustrated Bible)

Memorized I Cor. 13, Psalm 139, and books of the Bible

Sang the VP history song with cards

Memorized definitions and lists from FLL

Recited our address and phone number

Memorized questions 1-44 of Children's Catechism

Read devotional books by Susan Hunt

Read aloud chapter books (Little House series, The Hobbit)

Memorized poems (Little Things, The Monkeys and the Crocodile, and many more)

Played Simon Says with the bones of the body (Simon Says touch your cranium, patella, femur, etc.)

[Little Blue House]

Below I copied one of my posts from May. This coming year, I'll probably continue with the same sort of thing but will add some Latin chants.

 

We call ours "morning time". For most of the year my children doing this were 3yo, 5yo, 7yo, and 10yo. This year during morning time we:

 

Read through a Bible Story Book (Children's Illustrated Bible)

Memorized I Cor. 13, Psalm 139, and books of the Bible

Sang the VP history song with cards

Memorized definitions and lists from FLL

Recited our address and phone number

Memorized questions 1-44 of Children's Catechism

Read devotional books by Susan Hunt

Read aloud chapter books (Little House series, The Hobbit)

Memorized poems (Little Things, The Monkeys and the Crocodile, and many more)

Played Simon Says with the bones of the body (Simon Says touch your cranium, patella, femur, etc.)

 

This sounds like what I have always wanted to be able to do, but when I attempt, my kids a not very cooperative. Could you give a little more detail as to what your "morning time" looks like? Are you sitting the whole time? Are the littles participating as well? How do you deal with interupptions...especially with a lot of topics to cover? How long is your MT? I'm guessing you move through the subjects/readings quickly, which must be pretty key to keeping everyone engaged.

Thank you!

[2_girls_mommy]

We do each during the lesson time of each subject.

[MeganW]

This sounds like what I have always wanted to be able to do, but when I attempt, my kids a not very cooperative. Could you give a little more detail as to what your "morning time" looks like? Are you sitting the whole time? Are the littles participating as well? How do you deal with interupptions...especially with a lot of topics to cover? How long is your MT? I'm guessing you move through the subjects/readings quickly, which must be pretty key to keeping everyone engaged.

Thank you!

 

Do your kids have "fidgets"? That is KEY in my house! Something that isn't interesting to play with, but keeps their hands out of trouble. Like stress balls, those stretchy bunnies you see at Easter, "porcupines", Tangle Therapy toys, etc. (Go on Amazon & search for "fidget toys" to see what I mean, then you can buy them in Michael's or Target's dollar bins.)

 

The other thing that really helps is having a defined space to be in. My kids have "workmats" - beach towels folded in half. They are arranged in a semicircle around me so everyone can see.

 

Here is a copy of my Morning Meeting sheet:

 

Components:

· Who are the helpers for the week? (currently Meteorologist / Calendar Helper; Laundry Supervisor; Chef (cooking, meal planning, nutrition); KP (dishes, tables, floors, etc.)

· Pledge of Allegiance, Pledge to Bible

 

· Good Morning Song

* Greet your teacher/neighbor with handshake, eye contact, smile, using person’s name (can change to diff languages if good morning gets boring, or go to drjean website for silly handshakes)

· Spanish vocabulary word/greeting

· Weather observations (diff types – graph, tally marks, using thermometer, etc.)

· Calendar Time with Patterning - pointing out today’s date, the day of week, month, year and what day was yesterday and will be tomorrow. Quiz: what date is the <3rd Wednesday>? Church calendar / liturgical year. Season / month spinner

· Counting - counting to 100, backwards counting, by 10's, by 5's, odd and even counting, addition facts

· Memory Work Review – get a hard one, “kiss your brain!”

· Goals for the day, News & Announcements

· Manners

· Sharing time (show & tell?) My favorite thing about my neighbor?

· Clapping rhythm patterns & singing – Music Together song with movements; Camp songs; Broadway tunes; Schoolhouse Rock; Dr. Jean; Wee Sing; Wiggles; Raffi; Stop and Go by Greg & Steve; Shake My Sillies Out; Going Bananas (Corn, Potatoes, etc.); Happy and You Know It; Tooty-Ta; The Bird; Bunny Hop; Bus Stop; Car Wash; Cha Cha Slide; Chicken Dance; C’mon Ride the Train; Conga / Hot Hot Hot; Cotton Eyed Joe; Crank That; Cupid Shuffle; Electric Slide / Hustle; Follow the Leader; Freeze Dance; Hand Dive; Hands Up; Hey Baby; Hoe Down Throw Down; Hokey Pokey; Jump On It; Ketchup Song; Limbo; Locomotion; Macarena; Mambo no 5; Motown Medley; Pizza Dance; Shamrock Shuffle; Soulja Boi; Time Warp; Twist; YMCA; etc.

· Exercises (warmup stretching exercises from a gymnastics fundamentals book)

[Little Blue House]

Thank you Megan! I'll take a look at fidgets...sounds like those would be helpful and I like the mat idea.

[ChrissySC]

Well, the memory book would be the first thing that we did, but I am unsure if it should be the last thing. More than likely, I will stick with first thing, as it is a habit now.

 

:)

[Jane Elliot]

This sounds like what I have always wanted to be able to do, but when I attempt, my kids a not very cooperative. Could you give a little more detail as to what your "morning time" looks like? Are you sitting the whole time? Are the littles participating as well? How do you deal with interupptions...especially with a lot of topics to cover? How long is your MT? I'm guessing you move through the subjects/readings quickly, which must be pretty key to keeping everyone engaged.

Thank you!

 

This lasted for about an hour each day. We started at 11 and were done by lunchtime. We sat on the sofa in the living room. The 5,7, and 10 yo's sat with me and the 3 yo either sat on my lap or played quietly with puzzles or trains on the floor in the same room. I didn't give my elementary-aged children anything to occupy their hands because 1) they couldn't seem to pay attention with something in their hands, and 2) I think they need to learn to sit still and pay attention and this is the only time in the day I require it, and 3) it's distracting even for me. Sometimes when we were reciting I had them stand in a row in front of me to work on public speaking skills and to keep them from elbowing each other.

 

We had a basket with everything in it so that we weren't always searching for things during this time, and we put the Veritas cards and all the memory work into a notebook. We did everything in the same order every day so that it eventually became routine and everyone knew what to expect next. At the beginning I was fairly strict and didn't allow any nonsense or seating rearrangements. Eventually they realized this was expected, and it became a super enjoyable cuddle-time that everyone looked forward to. I tried to ooze a this-is-going-to-be-fun-BUT-I-mean-business attitude.

 

First, we recited the whole Bible chapter once or twice. This is really all it takes to memorize it within a few months. Then we went on to the other memory work. When something was learned we moved it to the back of the notebook, stopped reciting it everyday, and added something else. We reviewed sporadically with no system. Really this was a very simple, very enjoyable time. After reciting our memory work we read from a Bible storybook, a devotional, and a chapter book.

 

My older kids talk about morning time being one of their fondest childhood memories. (I got out of the habit of it with my middle kids and that is one of my biggest regrets.)

 

I think the keys to success in this for us have been:

 

1. Start at the same time every single day.

 

2. Make sure they think you're having fun.

 

3. Keep it simple. (You do not need a complicated review system or any special materials.)

 

4. Don't do it for more than an hour.

 

5. Don't answer the phone.

 

6. Make sure you are fully focused on your kids during this time (i.e. no WTM forums :D).

 

7. Don't get sidetracked with questions during the recitation time. Tell them you'll answer their questions when you're done and move through the memory work as quickly and with as much energy as you can.

 

8. Don't let interruptions discourage you. When there are little people, there will be interruptions. That is life. Just keep moving as best as you can.

 

9. 2-3 year olds can learn to be quiet or participate while you're doing this. Expect it, but don't become discouraged when they aren't quiet; just keep working toward it. If they're not being quiet, gently put them in their crib and tell them they can come back when they're ready to be quiet, or require them to sit on your lap, or require them to sit on a nearby chair looking at books. You will be surprised at how much your preschooler learns just through proximity during morning time.

 

10. Let's see. Ten. I need a ten. I can't end with 9. Okay here: Just do it. The hardest part about a morning time is getting started. Don't worry about having everything perfect before you get started. Just get started on whatever you are sure you want to learn. You can add and subtract things later.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Luann in ID

[MiztrezzLyn]

For his poetry memorization we do it first thing when we start our morning. He really enjoys doing it and likes to see how much he's memorized. We use the mnemnosyne system for poetry memorization.

 

All of the other things are done within their prospective subjects. Math facts are done with math time, geography is done with our history, latin with our latin time, and science is done with our science.

 

He is still young so I have not introduced any thing like history sentences or things of that nature. I'm sure he could do it, kids have such a great memory, but I think we have time for that later :)

[MeganW]

This lasted for about an hour each day. We started at 11 and were done by lunchtime. We sat on the sofa in the living room. The 5,7, and 10 yo's sat with me and the 3 yo either sat on my lap or played quietly with puzzles or trains on the floor in the same room. I didn't give my elementary-aged children anything to occupy their hands because 1) they couldn't seem to pay attention with something in their hands, and 2) I think they need to learn to sit still and pay attention and this is the only time in the day I require it, and 3) it's distracting even for me.

 

I have 3 kids who could sit nicely and focus without a fidget toy. #4, though, not happening. She can either focus all her energy on sitting nicely, and do it, but not pay one bit of attention to me or the activity, or I can give her a fidget and let her wiggle some, and have her calling out answers. Granted, this child does have some issues, but I truly think that even for typical children, all little kids just can't be trained to both sit AND pay attention. I am a pretty strict mom, but this child could not be taught. (I tried diligently.) Her brain just can't focus on both things at once. I intentionally stick her on the end where her wiggling is less distracting to the others.

[SnMomof7]

We do it by subject - that is what keeps it short for us :).

[Miselainia]

Thanks for the ideas! We'd done this for years with my older kids and then lost it somewhere while recovering from having the younger. We're going to start up again.

 

In response to uncooperative kids, one thing I've discovered is that although reminding them each morning to stay with us is tiresome, they eventually do start staying and participating.