I can't believe I'm asking this....

[Jolash]

but I need some advice on history. First, some background. We've been using SOTW for three years(we're 12 chapters into III) I love the format and I think DS "gets" it most of the time. My frustration, and his is the narrations. He is a slow writer. He can write neat and legibly but when he gets in a hurry or frustrated, he gets sloppy. He also complains that his arm hurts when I have him write more than a sentence or two at a time.

 

It's gotten so bad that I'm considering *gasp* changing curriculum in history. What I don't want is a "textbook" history where he regurgitates the chapters. Is there anything else out there that has the SOTW feel without so much emphasis on the written narration. Or is there another way to use SOTW. I've thought about just doing the narration for him and having him copy it, but this feels wrong to me. I want it to be HIS thoughts, not mine. But we are getting to the point where he purposely gives me short, short oral narrations for me to dictate back to him, just so he doesn't have to write much.

 

Any btdt advice would be most welcome.

[PeterPan]

Why don't you just type the narrations for him and let him illustrate? It's not a hill to die on or a reason to switch history curricula. You might google for SWB's post on the nibbling to death by ducks approach to increasing writing with boys.

[yslek]

B & T were doing their written narrations just fine, but it was getting tedious. We're also doing other writing (copywork & Classical Writing). Currently I read a sections of SOTW (or have dc listen) and they narrate orally. Then we do the mapwork/coloring pages (if they didn't already do them while listening) and maybe something from the AG. They are enjoying history a lot more now, and do retain the information.

 

I guess my point is, if you like SOTW, don't drop it. It's OK to skip the written narration if you wish! :D

[Allearia]

I would just back off on the requiring of writing narrations. There is really nothing wrong with writing down what he says word for word. If SOTW is working out for you in other ways it would be a shame to drop it over this. Writing narrations is not necessary for the program. Perhaps if you really want some written work to go with it you could order the test book and use it as sort of fill in the blank worksheets for him to do. Or perhaps write out the narration for him and have him copy or write from dictation just a couple of sentences instead of the whole thing?

[jesiwins]

My dc are way too young to have btdt, but I second the thought of modifying the narrations. You could type them, or have him type it. You could have him narrate orally to you or to a tape recorder. You could only have him narrate one of every two or three passages. It is your program to use, don't feel chained to doing it someonelse's way!

 

 

Jesi

[Kim in SouthGa]

When we do narrations, I still write them down for my 8ds, which really irks my 9dd...but she is a typical girl and has been writing paragraphs for fun since she was 5. School would take all day if we waited for my 8ds to write more than a line or two.

 

I've tried many history programs, and for this age I really think SOTW is the best, and the simplest if you want to forgo the standard textbook.

hth

[LNC]

Modify the narrations per the great suggestions in the thead. Use the tests. Use the flashcards printed from the activity guide. HTH!

[Kate in Arabia]

At that age my ds had a hard time doing much with his narrations as well.. I think, at least for him, it was an issue of more developmental time needed. We kept going along with oral narrations and he worked on a history scrapbook, where he wrote titles, captions for pictures, etc. Around when he turned 10 he just took off with doing narrations. Credit the age, the writing program we are using (Classical Writing) or whatever, it took time for him to get to the point now where he can write a page to two pages in narration on his own.

 

With my 7 yr old, he dictates his narrations, often with prompting from me. He has some vocab words/titles to write. This is in addition to his regular handwriting work and writing in spelling and other English projects.

 

With my boys, it is a matter of patience and perseverance.. regular practice in the mechanics of writing, without pushing the frustration envelope. It got dramatically better over time.

 

hth!

[Chris in VA]

Does he have an unusual pencil grip (dd does). Are the mechanics of his writing a little off? Proper posture, feet on the floor, pencil grip, arm position--all can make a huge difference in the fatigue level in young writers. Perhaps his problem is discomfort because of his physical position.

 

That said, I'd just have him narrate orally, or draw a narration, or do some other kind for now. You could also have him answer the questions in the AG instead of narrating. While you switch this for now, have him work on fine motor development and the above postural/positional items. Strengthen the muscles in his core, and in his arms, and in his hands. Might work!:D

[Lori in MS]

I have my son (3rd grade) tell me the narrations orally. I type them for him and put it in his history notebook. Sometimes I have him do the first 2 sentences from dictation, but not often because we are doing WWE and that is enough writing for him.

[EKS]

You can use SOTW without the narrations. It's ok, really! Or he can do the narration orally with you as scribe then he can copy it (or part of it).

 

It is perfectly acceptable to uncouple writing from history. If SOTW is going well in other ways, I would figure out some other way for him to get writing practice.

 

If you really want to couple writing practice to history, instead of a narration on each section of SOTW, if you have spent some time studying a particular historical figure (for example Leonardo da Vinci) by reading several books, watching DVDs, or whatever, after you have done all that then you could ask for him to tell you about da Vinci (this is what I did with my older boy for years). Then you write down what he tells you (he must use complete sentences). Then type it out and it becomes his copywork. Or you could have it be dictation. Don't have him copy the whole thing in one day, spread it out.

[buddhabelly]

We are about 3/4 through SOTW 3. We slow down a lot for parts like the American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson.....anything to do with American History. (We read a lot from Story of US to supplement those parts.)

 

Ds just writes the tests, and also answers the questions in the AG. I do insist that he use complete sentences when answering the questions in the AG. In case you haven't seen the tests, there is one essay question (paragraph question?) on each. This is a great "prompt" for some writing from your ds....a little more successful than "what do you remember?" My son rarely resists writing the "essay question" part of the test, and sometimes he comes up with some beautifully written answers. (And other times....we have a "writing/grammar time" and discuss his writing!)

 

I do assign papers that are based on his history studies, though. He did one on Benjamin Franklin, and I think we'll do another on Thomas Jefferson. Our writing program (IEW) lends itself to nonfiction stuff.

 

HTH,

 

Julie

[Jolash]

Thank you all for the great advice! I feel better now and am looking forward to making some changes. I talked with ds and he says he really likes the SOTW, but just not the narrations, so I'll be using some of your suggestions in the coming weeks! Thanks again.

[Sunshine State Sue]

I talked with ds and he says he really likes the SOTW, but just not the narrations

My ds loved SOTW but definitely disliked the writing portion.

[LindaOz]

Maybe another thing you could do is have him orally narrate to you, then draw his favorite part of the reading (or color the picture). He could then write 3 sentences about the picture he drew. This way you cover the content in the oral narration, and he can just focus on a small section for the writing. I think sometimes there is so much content in a reading that it seems like too hard a job for some children.

[KAM]

I don't know about SOTW III (only have 1 & 2) but the example narrations given in the first couple volumes are really short, like two sentences tops. I thought we were supposed to be trying to get to the point where they could summarize just briefly? But my daughter (2nd grade) will dictate paragraphs b/c she's not the one writing it (my arm does hurt some days from writing).

 

I also ask her to draw a picture or just make a list of what she finds interesting as alternatives if she is resisting.

[frogpond1]

they won't remember everything in the text. Just a few sentences 2X a week would be quite sufficient. When I had my kids color a coloring page, then I would have them write a couple simple sentences at the bottom of the page explaining it. We used to have these Popsicle sticks with: retell the chapter to mom, act the chapter out, make a puppet show, use Legos to tell the story, write a few sentences telling the story etc. ... I'm not sure the exact way I worded them and then I would let them draw a stick out each day (2X a week) and that would be the way we narrated. We had a puppet theater and would tape our plays. They were a lot of fun. Now I have group classes and it is a bit harder. Unless there is something really wrong a couple sentences twice a week should be totally doable for a 3rd grader.