BlsdMama Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I have been terribly remiss in my son's grammar. The annoying part is that he does Rod and Staff grammar just fine but it isn't translating to his writing. For example, he wrote a really great two page paper the other day. It was well organized and he had fantastic word choices. However, it had no punctuation. I am certain dictation is the answer to this. However I don't want to go searching each day. I want something laid out however I want to stick with my current grammar program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I agree that dictation may be the key to helping your son. We have done dictation this year by using TWTM's recommendation to use excerpts from the literature dd is reading, or using material from the current history or science studies. I have used all three of these, and they work quite well. Have you watched youtube video of SWB dictating to her son? (This is Part I, and there is also a Part 2). Watching these was really helpful to me when I wanted to learn more about dictation. This, along with reading info here on this forum, and in TWTM book itself, has helped us tremendously. Dd's writing skills are showing a LOT of progress since we've been adding dictation to our weekly writing. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 The catch 22 is that I simply do not WANT to dig through his stuff each day. I fear two things. The first is that it won't get done. The second is it takes TIME. Sigh. I can't just randomly choose selections... I really need to DIG for sentences beginning with . prepositional phrases, speaking sentences, various ways to use commas, semi-colons, et cetera. On a good note, I sucked it up and dug for high quality dictation this morning. I wrote up outline and writing assignments to match everything DD prepared us for the next couple weeks. Tomorrow I'll try to do through Christmas. Three kids down and I matched Tim and Abigail's read alouds to History Scribe, lol. I wish sometimes that I only knew about textbooks. I love everything I did with, and for, Ana, but it sure was easier with ONE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Have you looked at http://www.bravewriter.com? You can see if any of the Arrow or Boomerang selections are on your reading list. She uses varied dictation passages and explains why she chose them. Have you looked at WWE4? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homemama2 Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 I like Spelling Wisdom for dictation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA6336 Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Dictation by Susan Anthony does the trick for us. Scroll down just a little to see the Dictation book. We're using Rod & Staff as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Dictation by Susan Anthony does the trick for us. Scroll down just a little to see the Dictation book. We're using Rod & Staff as well. We use the Spelling and Dictation books together. My son is younger, but it seems to really be helping solidify punctuation and capitalization rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 How about the Dictation Spelling Book by Rossman? There are 2 volumes AFAIK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 I'm curious if anyone else is using the dictation book? Anyone with older kids? Mine is in seventh grade with about sixth-seventh grade spelling abilities but stellar reading abilities and vocabulary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khall Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 We use Dictation Day by Day by Kate Von Wagenen. The volumes are free on google books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Simply Spelling is $10.00 pdf ebook for grades 3-12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dina in Oklahoma Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 I like Spelling Wisdom for dictation. :iagree::iagree::iagree: Highly recommend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 We use Dictation Day by Day by Kate Von Wagenen. The volumes are free on google books. We do too. But just this morning I was looking at dictation passages and thought why don't I give them dictations from their vocab, spelling, and English books. There's nothing special in Dictation Day by Day except that it's graded to get more complex through the books. Vocab, spelling, and English books are graded to get more complex as well. (We use Rod& Staff and Wordly Wise) I haven't actually dug their books out to see if that would work. So I might just chunk that idea altogether. But it was an idea. I do not like doing dictation from their literature because it does take some hunting to find something that isn't too complicated. Granted I have taken dictation from their literature since my oldest was quite young. I will also say that I like studied dictation better than WWE style dictation. All of mine from 2nd - 8th grade are doing studied dictations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 Those of you who use various spelling curricula, have you noticed whether it also uses variations of grammar skills? Grammar and punctuation is what I truly no need to focus on. This is a child that reads widely and reads quality literature; the idea that you can pick up correct usage via submersion ;) just isn't happening here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 (edited) Those of you who use various spelling curricula, have you noticed whether it also uses variations of grammar skills? Grammar and punctuation is what I truly no need to focus on. This is a child that reads widely and reads quality literature; the idea that you can pick up correct usage via submersion ;) just isn't happening here. I would highly recommend Rod & Staff but I see from your first post that you already are. About the paper with no punctuation, did you give it back to your child to see if he/she could fix the punctuation errors? It's hard to spell and punctuate the first draft correctly (harder for some than others) but if they can go back and find their own mistakes, I'd say that's all that matters. Even with our studied dictation, after it is written I read through the entire thing one more time and tell them to proof it before checking against the model. It is very usual for a couple of errors to be caught in that last proofing. If they catch the errors and fix them before looking at the model, I count it as correct and move to the next passage. Edited November 20, 2011 by silliness7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Those of you who use various spelling curricula, have you noticed whether it also uses variations of grammar skills? Grammar and punctuation is what I truly no need to focus on. This is a child that reads widely and reads quality literature; the idea that you can pick up correct usage via submersion ;) just isn't happening here. The set by Susan C Anthony is deesigned with punctuation and grammar. She switches from sentences to paragraphs in second grade. It explains what rules will be used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 I'm curious if anyone else is using the dictation book? Anyone with older kids? Mine is in seventh grade with about sixth-seventh grade spelling abilities but stellar reading abilities and vocabulary. The main sources I use for dictation are the McGuffey readers, the Genevieve Foster history books and the Harp and the Laurel Wreath. Both the McGuffey readers and the Harp and the Laurel Wreath have selections that cover a variety of grades. The Genevieve Foster books I use mid-elementary and up and really enjoy them because I can make the dictation match up with the time period we are studying in history. BTW, I know your son is older, but for awhile, my dd had difficulty writing a good paper while spelling and punctuating properly. She (a good speller) would make all kinds of spelling mistakes in her first draft, and then correct them independently during her editing. It's just this year that everything seems to have come together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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