Using MP3s of SOTW

[EmilyGF]

I bought SOTW mp3s to make my life easier. Today my kids listened to one chapter while coloring the coloring sheet. They had an OK time answering the questions, but could not summarize/retell in the slightest. Pretty frustrating!

 

How do you help your kids retain info from the mp3s? I'm thinking of discussing the info again on Wednesday and then having the kids listen again then. What would you do?

 

Normally, I've read aloud and had the kids follow along, so they had eyes and ears. I may have to resort to that, but they seemed so happy today (until I had them try to retell). Sigh.

 

Emily

[kolamum]

What about pausing the audio every few minutes to ask them what they heard?

Remind them before you start they will need to answer questions at the end?

 

Or, better yet, tell them to listen so they can tell you about it, then let them choose a favourite thing they learned. Just keeping it simple until they get in the habit of not zoning out perhaps? For instance you could ask them to tell what thing they thought was most amazing to them, weirdest, coolest, favourite, etc. Once they are in the habit of listening more closely perhaps the questions will be well suited, all though I have to say that I often find that my when I ask my kids to narrate they can tell me the information the questions were looking for so I don't bother with them. Then I might ask them to sum that up into only a couple of sentences so we can write it down. ;)

[ByGrace3]

I am absolutely no help but i wanted to commiserate ;) we had that experience last year. My kids LOVED the idea but retained next to nothing. Since they had previously hated history I let it go and let them enjoy it. We added lots of discussion for those things I intended them to retain-- mostly via the extra books i read to them. Listening over and over again would have helped my kids... Or reading the text while listening...

[boscopup]

I think listening in the van over and over would give my kids better retention (not that I even own the audios, but I've thought about getting them next year, and that's what I would plan to do).

 

Also, my oldest does not retain anything if he is doing something while listening to a read-aloud. I know many kids do retain while doing something. Mine doesn't. I don't either, for that matter. So a coloring page would reduce retention for both of us. I think my middle son would be fine doing something while listening. My youngest just plain doesn't listen much yet, so can't tell what he'll be like. :D

[Hunter]

Some families use a greater volume of activities that are less stressful and less pressure. I child that is listening as they color can do that far longer than a child that is listening intently and knowing he will be tested.

 

With my youngest, I felt like we got better long term results by providing a larger volume of lower stress opportunities. He might have understood less from each activity, but he had so many opportunities that it evened out. He was doing a very rigid LCC type education and worked very hard at his math, Greek, and Latin and NEEDED some downtime. He could kind of let the documentaries and audio books and such wash over him if he was too burnt and crispy to listen properly.

 

There were years where he listened to the KJV Bible on audio cassette (that's what we had for technology in the 90s :lol:) first thing every morning and colored Bible coloring pages while listening. Afterwards he would write 2 paragraphs. The first paragraph was a summary paragraph with a factual statement as a topic sentences and about 3 sentences of support/details. The second paragraph was a commentary/application/opinion paragraph, again with a topic sentence and few sentences of support/details. So all he really needed to remember was one thing from 30 minutes of listening. And the coloring pages was a prompt.

 

I never stressed over content. I provided a LOT of content, but never stressed over it. I drilled and killed the skills, and looked at the content as a reward. And I didn't want to ruin the rewards, by turning them into another tiring subject.

 

I find that students begin to pace themselves and engage in passive aggressive behaviors when overloaded. They can only absorb so much at a time. Top down planning based on fear and "shoulds" and keeping up with the Joneses can lead to us pilling on more more more, until even obedient children have no choice other than to protect themselves in any way possible.

[blondeviolin]

One of my kids completely zones out when any type of reading like that begins. He's been read to all of his life so it's not inexperience. I think he gets lost in the jumble of words and, not being an auditory learner, he just hears but doesn't really digest. I have to gesture, point, make examples, etc for history to be really fun for him. Because of that, we only use the audio as follow-up. If I've read it previously I will play it and he can listen and understand. But he needs it broken down first. If he's coloring he's even more prone to just being there while the audio is playing. He is only six and it's gotten a lot better in the last six months, but it is a skill we've been working on.

 

Whereas, my oldest can remember nearly anything if she's heard it once. It's sometimes a point of contention or frustration between the two.

[shawthorne44]

I used to listen to lectures that I downloaded from NetLibrary.  I always listened to them twice to get everything.  I had to do something with my hands.  So, I'd be playing a video game or doing dishes, etc.  I'm not one that zones out when listening, and in fact I love audiobooks.  

 

You might try listening to one segment. Then having some discussion on the important points, and then listening again the next day, then have them summarize.  

 

[SeaConquest]

I agree with Hunter about keeping it low key for content subjects at this age. We listen to a chapter of SOTW every few days, before we do a fun bedtime read aloud. I do stop and ask him questions about what we are listening to along the way, but I don't stress too much about it. If it's clear that he really didn't get it the first time, I might play the chapter again on another day, find a read aloud on the same topic for another day, or casually discuss what we learned during the week for reinforcement. At this stage, it's really just exposure to (and interest in) historical and mythological concepts that matters to me.