Help with history narration

[Guest Gizmo1]

Hi, just after some advise after purchasing the Story of the World.

 

My eldest son is 5yrs 10 months old and we live in the UK. A month ago we started with FLL 1, so far we both love the program, he is learning lots and really enjoying himself at the same time. I also have a copy of WWE 1 which I intend to start in the early part of next year. My problem is with the History spine, the narrations seem much more difficult with lengthy sections to narrate from when compared to WWE 1. To me they look more suitable to 3rd grade in comparison.

 

If I am honest, to narrate from SOTW chapters would make my brain ache. I think this is because I did not learn this skill at school and never really felt as though I had a good grasp of language skills. Something I do not wish to pass on to my children.

 

Could someone give me their advise, could I perhaps ask the review questions after each chapter, colour a picture, complete a black line map etc... I really feel like the amount of narration in WWE 1 is plenty, for example " what is the one thing do you remember about the passage?"

 

Many Thanks

[happyhomemaker]

I've never done SOTW1 so I'm not sure what the narrations listed in the AG look like, but with a child that age I would talk through the questions, do some extra reading, an activity, and the map. I would really focus in the activity and extra reading. If you do a narration, I would do it just like in WWE1 and ask for one thing the child remembers. Then either write it down for him or have him copy it (depending on writing skills). Make the curriculum work for you and your family. There is no one "right" way to use it.

 

ETA: I've used other volumes of SOTW, just not the first one.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I have never done narrations for all the sections in SOTW, and we are on Vol. 4 this year. There is plenty to do with the questions, pictures, maps, activities, etc. I will have them do a narration for a few of the SOTW sections, and for any accompanying picture books we read.

[Mrs Mungo]

I have never done narrations for all the sections in SOTW, and we are on Vol. 4 this year. There is plenty to do with the questions, pictures, maps, activities, etc. I will have them do a narration for a few of the SOTW sections, and for any accompanying picture books we read.

 

I agree. Do you have the activity book, OP?

[raceNzanesmom]

I've never used SOTW, but at your ds's age oral narration should be rather guided and with text they can easily understand. I'd start with storytime type books that he can really grasp the info and build from there. For harder text, even at 8, I break it into a few paragraphs, then a full page, etc. Narration is a wonderful, valuable tool, but it is one to be learned over time.

 

ETA:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/2008/07/17/the-charlotte-mason-method-of-narration/

http://www.amblesideonline.org/PR/PR35p610SomeNotesNarration.shtml

[Chris in VA]

He's young, so I'd just ask some general questions to recap. The "What was your favorite part?" type stuff is fine.

 

FWIW, my dd would tell me her narration, then I'd scribe it for her, for the first few months. After that, I'd turn it into copywork for her. We started SOTW 1 in January of her K year, and did it sporadically for the first few months, finishing it in 1st grade. She also narrated for me during Nature Study--again, I'd scribe for her.

[Guest Gizmo1]

Many thanks for all of your helpful replies. I did forget to say that at the moment I am just gathering resources and trying to get my head around the subject of History. I am intending to hopefully start with Story of the World next spring/summer. I have a new baby due at the end of February so really I am just trying to be organized for next year.

 

I am taking from the comments that I should not get too hung up on the narration but rather enjoy the text, re cap with questions and carry out some activities.

 

Thank you Dialectica for your comments, putting too much pressure on my son to narrate is exactly what I am worried about. I want History to be fun for him at his age not something he hates because he finds it too hard.

[Mrs Mungo]

Watch this video of SWB doing dictation with her son. He's much older than your son ;)

 

She is doing lots of hand holding, repeating, etc. Remember that you are *teaching them* to do this. It isn't just an assignment.

 

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

SOTW 1, Chapter 8, by a (then) 5 yr, 10 month old boy : "Shamshi-Adad was the King of Assur and Hammurabi was the king of Babylon. The Assyrians were mean people. Hammurabi was nice."

 

(I help him with the names when he needs it.)

[serendipitous journey]

Hi, just after some advise after purchasing the Story of the World.

 

My eldest son is 5yrs 10 months old and we live in the UK. A month ago we started with FLL 1, so far we both love the program, he is learning lots and really enjoying himself at the same time. I also have a copy of WWE 1 which I intend to start in the early part of next year. My problem is with the History spine, the narrations seem much more difficult with lengthy sections to narrate from when compared to WWE 1. To me they look more suitable to 3rd grade in comparison.

 

If I am honest, to narrate from SOTW chapters would make my brain ache. I think this is because I did not learn this skill at school and never really felt as though I had a good grasp of language skills. Something I do not wish to pass on to my children.

 

Could someone give me their advise, could I perhaps ask the review questions after each chapter, colour a picture, complete a black line map etc... I really feel like the amount of narration in WWE 1 is plenty, for example " what is the one thing do you remember about the passage?"

 

Many Thanks

 

I just came across this, and had a similar experience myself. I thought I'd share what I've learned.

 

First, for narration troubles, start by narrating a short bit at a time: just a paragraph. Be gentle & enthusiastic, and don't correct the child, just listen with interest. Build up to longer sections. I think narration is a very useful skill, and we seem to have better retention/comprehension when we do a full narration (ie, Button tells me back everything, not just a short blurb) than if we do the recommended questions & a 2-3 sentence narration. If you search this board, you will find threads dealing with narrations and improving them.

 

It is a good idea to read over the section first yourself, and introduce new names, words, &c before reading it. Many suggest writing the names on a whiteboard or big piece of paper for the child before reading, and the child can look at that during narration. We also do a map or globe revisit at the beginning of each lesson, locating the area we'll be reading about and sometimes relating it to areas from earlier lessons. Confession: I am not good about doing the reading-ahead and written preview. But it is so, so helpful and is something I'm working on improving.

 

If the idea of this prepwork is too burdensome or otherwise doesn't seem useful, a good backup option is to have the child listen to the SOTW audiobook sections several times each. This enhances retention dramatically. We have best luck doing them in the car.

 

If you are able to encourage the child to imagine a question that the section might address, that is wonderful but is actually a somewhat advanced skill.

 

FWIW, I do not like the activity guide comprehension questions, they seem less useful to me than narrations. If you want to ask questions, "why" or "how" questions are good places to start.

 

If you would like to improve the language-arts aspect of SOTW, please look at the free supplementary material at Classical House of Learning Literature. Laura at CHOLL has designed literature readings, activities, and comprehension questions to accompany the SOTW books. She also gives background information to read to the child. This is an excellent resource that she's made available for free.

[Miss Tick]

If you have the Activity Guide, the discussion questions are really helpful in setting up the narrations. If the narration is still difficult, then I would suggest reading the example narrations and talking about them - did they cover the important parts? was one better? was anything left out? et cetera. Do that for as long as you think it is helpful. Then, perhaps, do them together, or take turns doing them. The point is to start learning to summarize so that you can later apply that skill to paper-writing and then note-taking in university classes. There is a lot of time to develop thise skills!

 

Find what works for you! :-)