Dictation Sources?

We are in our sixth year of HS, and dictation has always been a struggle for me – mostly trying to find sources. I am slowly figuring out that our spelling program (Spelling Workout) is a great resource. Each week begins with an essay which uses some of the spelling words. I’ve begun typing up 2 or 3 sentences of the essay (including 2-3 spelling words) and then recording the dictation on Evernote. I save them in an Evernote notebook called “Spelling Dictations”  and use the book letter and chapter number so the kids can find them easily. My two oldest (5th and 3rd grade) can then access the dictation, listen to the recording, and write their dictation. I’m hoping that since I am recording them and keeping them in a permanent location, my next younger two can use them in later years without my having to reinvent the wheel. This works pretty well, except that every 5 or 6 weeks they have a review lesson which doesn’t have any new words. But I’m finding that at some point in 5 or 6 weeks, they miss a dictation, so they usually go back and redo a lesson that they missed.

For next year, I’ve discovered a Writing curriculum (Writing&Rhetoric) which also includes a weekly dictation. Hurray!! I plan to put those into Evernote this summer and I will finally have the two dictations a week that have always been my goal.

I’m sharing this mainly for others who might have had the same problem. I have just really struggled to find “excellent” examples of quality literature that will inspire my children. I read a lot of books on their reading lists, and occasionally stumble across passages I feel would be appropriate, but I’m usually reading at night before bed when I’m least motivated to leap up and make a dictation. I figure at the least, they are having more opportunities to practice their Spelling words.

How about you? How many dictations do you expect your children to do in a week? What sources have you found for your dictations?