Help! Narration questions!!

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  • October 6, 2010 at 9:17 pm
    grace4today
    Member

    Hi!!  I have homeschooled for 12 years but the CM methods are new to my children and I this year. I have been doing the SCM Middle Ages ,Renaissance history with my 13,9,and 8 yr old.  From what I understand from what I have read is that you do not prompt or correct their narrations……….SO, if they say they remember nothing(or give VERY little info) and or give back WRONG info, I do NOTHING?  I have started to break down the reading(each lesson)to two days     and even stop after a few paragraphs for narrations…….my question is if they remember nothing or incorrectly,have they learned anything in History that day or have I wasted my time???  They dont say nothing EVERY time but when they do I have to wonder if they heard me at ALL!! ANy help or encouragement would be appreciated. I cant tell you how much help this SCM website has been to me!! Thanks,Wendy

    October 7, 2010 at 1:57 am
    Sonya Shafer
    Moderator

    Hi, Wendy. I’m glad the site has been helpful to you. Let’s see if we can clarify a couple of things to help with those narrations.

    RE: Remembering or telling nothing

    Are you putting a couple of key words in front of them before you read and telling them to listen carefully for those items especially? Those key words from the reading should act as little mental hooks to help them hang their narrations on. Keep the words before them the whole time you are reading and they are narrating. That might help. (Some suggested key words are in the lesson plan handbook, if you happen to have that for the Middle Ages/Renaissance module.)

    RE: Correcting

    You should not correct their grammar or sentence structure, and you should not interrupt their narrations. So if they give back wrong information, you can correct that content after they have finished their narration. Or you might ask one of the other children if they heard anything that needed to be clarified.

    Take heart! These methods are new and it will take a little time for both you and your children to hit your stride. You might take a turn at narrating every once in a while to model what you are expecting from them (and to see how hard it is Smile ).

    Does that help any?

    October 7, 2010 at 2:08 am
    Debij
    Member

    Sonya – I don’t know if it helped her but it sure helped me.  My son is doing the exact same thing, and I thought I was doing it wrong!  I will look for those key words and try those the next time we read and see if it makes a difference.  Thanks again!!

    October 8, 2010 at 11:34 pm
    grace4today
    Member

    THANK YOU Sonya………..your suggestions DID help……I will try all that you said!!! I appreciate your help!! Wendy (Hope things go better for you TOO Debij!!

    October 9, 2010 at 12:14 am
    Rachel White
    Participant

    Wendy, you mentioned that narration and CM was new to you and your children this year. I assume that that means this is their first year narrating. Is that correct?

    If so, it is a harder skill than many people realize and takes a couple of years to get efficient at and reading more than 1 to 2 paragraphs and the children remembering. It is possible that since this is the first year narrating, you may be reading too much to them, which would account for the “I don’t know’s”. For anyone, for littles and older children, start narrations slowly, with small amounts. You’re training the mind in several ways. I would recommend starting with only a few sentences, then asking them what it was about from the beginning. Let them narrate those and then read the next 2-3 sentences, so on and so forth. With my two, I go back and forth between them, but neither one knows which one is going to asked to narrate, so each one has to listen. Also, when one narrates, I ask the other if there’s anything else they would like to add. Once that becomes very easy for them, then move to longer passages. I know it will seem tedious at first, but your developing an important skill. The first year will seem the longest, but it get better after that. I think the second year shows marked improvement. Considering their ages, I don’t know which ones will pick it up easier, there will be variations; just be patient and you will see progress.

    Consider having them also narrate their independant reads, too (you’ll want to follow along for accountability). Also, ask them for ‘narrations’ in art and nature study; all these are part of learning but will strengthen this skills.

    I do ‘redirect’ them during a narration. A slight prodding if they skip something or get a brain block, for example. It hasn’t disrupted so far, it helps them. Just a word or two (not a question) and it serves as a gentle trigger.

    HTH, Rachel

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