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WWE Dictation Question


zenjenn
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So you know how in WWE dictation (in this case, WWE3) the teacher manual prompts "Read the sentences twice and have the student repeat them back to you. And then write them.)

 

Can your kids retain the sentences and write them down with no further prompting? Once she gets down to writing, my daughter can't remember more than once sentence without (what seems to me) an unreasonable amount of effort. I am always prompting her through the dictation. I just figured that's the way it is.

 

Now my younger one (who is doing WWE2) just had, for the first time, dictation with more than one sentence, and she handled it fine.

 

Now, the older one is dyslexic so I'm wondering if the effort of writing is interfering with her ability to remember the sentences. We are also doing FLL3 concurrent with WWE3 (even though she is in 4th grade, last year her ability to take dictation was WAY too limited to do level 3) but she has no problem with poem memorization - in fact, she is usually a stanza or two ahead of what the teacher manual suggests as a goal.

 

Any thoughts/insights in improving dictation memory or maybe just let it go with me prompting her?

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Or you can do French Dictation a la Bravewriter with your WWE. Start out with beginning dictation--give the kid a copy of the passage with some words missing and then read the passage out loud and let him fill in the blanks. If not on the first try then just keep at it. Some people are very visual and need to see to memorize. I'm that way. Anyway they'll be able to read, listen and write and spell without being overwhelmed by the whole passage. If they can do that easy enough then transition into true dictation. Do it by giving the passage as copywork first and then as dictation. WWE does this in level 2, but I believe they expect kids to leave that behind too early if you're using the books at "grade level"--and they don't do any exercises at all where the child can read or see their passage before dictation.

 

I personally don't like the read three times and then expect dictation practice. I prefer to either read the first sentence and let them write. OR read the first clause and let them write. And then continue. If they miss punctuation marks I re read the first sentence and we talk about where there could be punctuation. If they put a comma where one is technically correct, but the original doesn't have one we talk about it. No strict rules about how many times to read etc just until we're satisfied that the words are on paper. You can even give the original to them after and see if they can spot any mistakes.

 

There's also a dictation game that my ds loves. Reverse dictation. I write the passage with mistakes and he edits it!

 

Like I said in another thread, if i stuck with the "script" of WWE I personally couldn't wouldn't use this curriculum. But if you're okay with tweaking and changing things to suit you and your kid's style then WWE is a great resource.

 

So to answer your question. Sometimes. My ds can sometimes just dictate from pure memory and sometimes he needs it broken into chunks. Sometimes he's happier with a long passage of copywork, which I also think is great for the older students to continue to do and WWE ends that too soon (imo).

 

ETA: If you have an artsy child, do the dictation/copywork on unlined sketch paper and let them illustrate that scene with colored pencils underneath. We do that (a Waldorf inspired method I hijacked) and my ds loves WWE time.

Edited by Walking-Iris
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and NO my kids cannot do it with just hearing it twice.

 

I am afraid I can't even do it just hearing it twice and I am reading it.

 

I keep repeating the sentences to them until both of them raise their hands letting me know that they have it set in their brain.

 

Then they each tell me and sometimes I have the other twin help the other twin with the missing words/phrases/corrections too.

 

I just keep repeating it until they are certain they have it.

 

And of course I give plenty of helps along the way similar to how Susan Wise Bauser does in her videos with her own son.

If they repeat it pretty choppy and forgetting alot, I make it say it out loud again.

 

There is a lot more to that curriculum that I would hate to give it up just because my kids couldn't do it within two hearings. They are learning a lot from it and their writing scores are high.

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