WWE2 Dictation Success

[Tracy]

We have had challenging dictations before, and they have not gone well. I have tried to follow the instructions to give extra help and such, but they have always ended up with dd8 in tears. When I saw Week 32, Day 3 dictation, I almost just skipped it. We have gotten into a real rut with WWE, and it has become such a chore. But we did it, and I was so pleased at how well it turned out that I wanted to share in case it helps someone else.

 

On Monday, I alerted dd8 to the more challenging upcoming dictation. I told her that we knew it was going to be hard, I did not expect perfection, and that I would give her extra help.

 

When we came to dictation day, I made sure that she had a good long break before we did it. I gave her a 5-minute warning before we started. When we started, I told ds5 that his sister was starting something very hard and asked him to try extra hard not to distract her. (Fortunately, he is the kind of kid that can and does listen to these sorts of requests. Otherwise, I would have made sure to put him in another room with something to do.) At this point, I could not help but notice the distinct lack of whining from dd8.

 

I had dd8 look at the sentence first, and we talked about it (per the TM). I read it three times. I had her say it back to me and corrected her where needed. There were a couple of places that she needed help, but she did most of it well. She had forgotten a couple of commas, so I read it again, and she followed along, looking for punctuation she missed.

 

At the end, I heaped on the praise, and she was just beaming. She put her paper on the table where her dad will see it when he comes home for dinner. :hurray:

 

And now I need to face the fact that our WWE rut is more in my control that I had thought. :glare:

[Kathryn]

Do you mean Week 33, The Hobbit? We had the exact same experience here! Congratulations are definitely in order!

[Tracy]

Do you mean Week 33, The Hobbit?

 

Yes, that's the one!

[Rivka]

That one scared us too, but her delight in mastering it was SO great! To this day, she can still quote the whole sentence. :lol:

[Jyniffrec]

Those dictations are so difficult in our house. It is great to hear stories like this! I've been doing something similar for dd when I know we are coming up on something difficult for her phonics study. She will be starting WWE next fall - I think I will need to remember the preparation idea when next fall comes around.

[cjthedog64]

We were supposed to do that one today, but it scared me, so I changed it to another sentence. Maybe we'll try it tomorrow. You give me hope!