Quick guide for a newbie?

[aeolianharp]

Can anyone help me explain what these are in a nutshell? I have a teaching background so am familiar with the workshop model used in schools, but language arts material for homeschooling is very different! Thanks in advance.

Narration

Dictation

Recitation

Copywork

 

[almondbutterandjelly]

https://members.classicalconversations.com/article/copywork-dictation-and-narration-beginners

[aeolianharp]

perfect, thank you!

[Lori D.]

Narration
- what it is: child orally tells you back the essence of the "story" of what you just read to them (or what they read to themselves)
- purpose: child practices close listening, remembering of details, and sequence of a passage from a book

Dictation
- what it is: you out-loud read a sentence or a few sentences to the child, and the child writes down verbatim what you just read to them
- purpose: child practices short term memory, plus simultaneous writing/spelling/punctuation; the dictation passage can also be used to discuss grammar and composition topics after the child completes writing the sentence/short passage

Recitation
- what it is: child recites memorized work; or, an oral testing method
- purpose: practice/testing of child's memory; or testing understanding of material and ability to synthesize material through oral answers to test questions

Copywork
- what it is: child looks at a printed or written sentence or short passage, and copies it by writing it verbatim on their own paper
- purpose: practice penmanship and handwriting; the copywork passage can also be used to discuss grammar and composition topics after the child completes copying the passage

Edited May 1, 2020 by Lori D.

[aeolianharp]

Oh thank you this is exactly how I needed it explained without realizing it!

[Bronze]

Many of these are based on older methods of teaching. Dictation is still commonly used in some parts of the world, sometimes in the form of a prepared dictation where the child studies and maybe writes out the paragraph beforehand, then writes it from dictation

[aeolianharp]

I'm curious to understand why this is almost standard in homeschooling curriculum but not in schools. I never heard of this approach when I was in grad school for education in any of my classes on teaching literacy.

[Rosie_0801]

2 hours ago, sweetpotato said:

I'm curious to understand why this is almost standard in homeschooling curriculum but not in schools. I never heard of this approach when I was in grad school for education in any of my classes on teaching literacy.

 

It isn't fun enough and it takes too long. Policy writers probably haven't heard of them either.

At least "it isn't fun enough" is what I was told when I asked a person on our state's education policy committee why grammar wasn't taught properly.

[Lori D.]

On 5/1/2020 at 9:36 PM, sweetpotato said:

I'm curious to understand why this is almost standard in homeschooling curriculum but not in schools. I never heard of this approach when I was in grad school for education in any of my classes on teaching literacy.

I would say that these language arts practices are not standard to most homeschoolers, but are more specifically common among homeschoolers who follow classical and Charlotte Mason philosophies of education.

JMO -- I would guess that why these older traditional approaches to teaching language arts are not taught in colleges is because the Progressive Movement (and other modern educational philosophies) came on strong during the 20th century, which in turn, influenced universities and the teaching methods and approaches provided in Educational degrees to shift away from traditional structure-based methods of teaching, and more towards child-discovery methods.

progressive & modern methods . . . traditional/classical methods
- Reading: Whole Word method; . . . . - Reading: Phonics-based
   guessing from picture clues . . . . . .    (for decoding)
- creative spelling techniques; . . . . . . - Phonics; syllabication patterns
   learn/test lists of words . . . . . .     . . . .(for decoding to learn Spelling patterns)
- minimal/informal Grammar; . . . . . . . .- strong emphasis on Grammar, including Diagramming;
   worksheets for topic practice . . . . . . .Grammar connected to Writing
- much Writing at elementary ages; .  - little Writing at elementary ages;
  student-led; creative-based; . . . . . . .  start with imitation of good models; 
  6-Trait & other rubrics . . . .. . . . . . . ..   Composition-based (explicit instruction);
  used for teaching writing . . . . . . . . . . ."Pro-gym" stages of writing
 

ETA: There are pros and cons to both overall approaches, but a major "con" of ONLY giving teachers the more modern internal-based/child-discovery methods is that when it comes to language arts, these methods do not provide children with the external factual patterns and structure they need to be able to successfully decode letter sounds for reading and spelling, or understand the grammar structures that undergird writing -- instead it is more guess-work based and reliant on the child being good at intuiting patterns. Which leads to school administrators panicking over declining literacy and test scores, which leads to the idea that "if we just make children do MORE work at earlier and earlier ages, it will "click" for them". Sadly,  because teachers themselves are not being given information on basic "external" structures and methods for teaching language arts (such as phonics, or grammar diagramming, or the "pro-gym" stages of writing), they don't have all the tools they need for helping students learn.


PS -- ❤️ "Liking" your post here, Rosie, since you don't have a button I can click 😉 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Lori D.

[aeolianharp]

It's fascinating. We did learn about shortcomings of a primarily phonics-based approach and the different pedagogical philosophy behind classical education but not at the length of studying it entirely as a course itself. I find it interesting that it stuck with homeschooling yet changed as dramatically as it did in public schools. As I learn more about this approach I am coming to really appreciate it and wish more elements were preserved. At the same time, it's a scary jump because it's so different!

[wendyroo]

2 hours ago, sweetpotato said:

It's fascinating. We did learn about shortcomings of a primarily phonics-based approach and the different pedagogical philosophy behind classical education but not at the length of studying it entirely as a course itself. I find it interesting that it stuck with homeschooling yet changed as dramatically as it did in public schools. As I learn more about this approach I am coming to really appreciate it and wish more elements were preserved. At the same time, it's a scary jump because it's so different!

I think two huge differences between homeschooling and classroom schooling are instructional intensity possible and time available.

Take phonics for example.  My fourth child is currently 4 year olds and, just like with her older siblings, I am teaching her to read using 99% pure phonics (the, of and a few other words are taught as sight words, but everything else is decodable phonics).  She doesn't particularly like the lessons - just as I did with her brothers, I have bought a big bag of mini-M+Ms, and by the time I have doled them all out she will be a very strong reader.  But it doesn't really matter if she likes her phonics lessons, because we only work for about 10 minutes a day.  Ten minutes a day, one on one, intensive practice...every word is her turn, she never gets to hide among a chorus of choral reading.  If she doesn't know how to sound out a word, I immediately help her.  If she needs to spend extra time on a lesson, then that is what we do.  We never move ahead until she is comfortably ready, and we never linger on a skill once she has demonstrated mastery.  She receives a much higher level of instructional intensity than would be possible in a classroom.

But, but, but, the "balanced literacy" proponents cry, a child forced to enduring only boring phonics will struggle to engage with reading.  It will be drudgery rather than pleasure.  They will lack motivation.  I don't believe that even in a classroom, but I really don't believe it in a homeschool.  My daughter is awake for about 12 hours, 7 days a week, and she only spends about 10 minutes each day on her phonics lesson.  That is a wildly different situation than having a child in school for 5ish instructional hours, 5 days a week, and being forced to spend a significant portion of that time on reading lessons because you are trying to teach 25 kindergartners all at different levels simultaneously.  I can see how that would be a drag for the classrooms kids.  My daughter, on the other hand, spends hours every day listening to me read aloud, or her brothers read aloud, or audiobooks read to her.  We have all the time in the world to sing phonics songs and play phonics games and go on phonics scavenger hunts.  I have time to sit with her for as long as she wants to buddy read books she is interested in that are beyond her phonics skills (her reading what she can and me reading the rest while running my finger under the words to help further build up her phonetic associations).  So, while she doesn't love sitting at the table for phonics lessons, they are an insignificant portion of her daily activities, and do not have any impact on her motivation to and enjoyment of reading.

I think it is a similar situation for the other language skills.  It is hard to help 25 second graders each craft a strong, grammatically correct sentence, and it will involve reigning in their "creativity" to follow standard conventions.  If instead you have them "journal", and don't insist on complete sentences or conventional spelling, then you can end up with more words on the page and less pesky corrections.

[Lori D.]

10 hours ago, wendyroo said:

I think two huge differences between homeschooling and classroom schooling are instructional intensity possible and time available.

Take phonics for example.  My fourth child is currently 4 year olds and, just like with her older siblings, I am teaching her to read using 99% pure phonics (the, of and a few other words are taught as sight words, but everything else is decodable phonics).  She doesn't particularly like the lessons - just as I did with her brothers, I have bought a big bag of mini-M+Ms, and by the time I have doled them all out she will be a very strong reader.  But it doesn't really matter if she likes her phonics lessons, because we only work for about 10 minutes a day.  Ten minutes a day, one on one, intensive practice...every word is her turn, she never gets to hide among a chorus of choral reading.  If she doesn't know how to sound out a word, I immediately help her.  If she needs to spend extra time on a lesson, then that is what we do.  We never move ahead until she is comfortably ready, and we never linger on a skill once she has demonstrated mastery.  She receives a much higher level of instructional intensity than would be possible in a classroom.

But, but, but, the "balanced literacy" proponents cry, a child forced to enduring only boring phonics will struggle to engage with reading.  It will be drudgery rather than pleasure.  They will lack motivation.  I don't believe that even in a classroom, but I really don't believe it in a homeschool.  My daughter is awake for about 12 hours, 7 days a week, and she only spends about 10 minutes each day on her phonics lesson.  That is a wildly different situation than having a child in school for 5ish instructional hours, 5 days a week, and being forced to spend a significant portion of that time on reading lessons because you are trying to teach 25 kindergartners all at different levels simultaneously.  I can see how that would be a drag for the classrooms kids.  My daughter, on the other hand, spends hours every day listening to me read aloud, or her brothers read aloud, or audiobooks read to her.  We have all the time in the world to sing phonics songs and play phonics games and go on phonics scavenger hunts.  I have time to sit with her for as long as she wants to buddy read books she is interested in that are beyond her phonics skills (her reading what she can and me reading the rest while running my finger under the words to help further build up her phonetic associations).  So, while she doesn't love sitting at the table for phonics lessons, they are an insignificant portion of her daily activities, and do not have any impact on her motivation to and enjoyment of reading.

I think it is a similar situation for the other language skills.  It is hard to help 25 second graders each craft a strong, grammatically correct sentence, and it will involve reigning in their "creativity" to follow standard conventions.  If instead you have them "journal", and don't insist on complete sentences or conventional spelling, then you can end up with more words on the page and less pesky corrections.

I can't like Wendyroo's post enough -- VERY strongly agree with this!