Mom and narration

Not silly at all! It certainly helps if you have read the story, but I don’t think it has to be a requirement. When the children were younger, we would do a lot of read-alouds together just so I could keep tabs on this very thing. But now with the older children reading additional books, I don’t always have time to pre-read all of them. (I do skim them, of course, and select them carefully.) At this point I feel like I’m almost turning the tables and having the child “teach” me what she read. I can usually tell by the length, details, and other content of the narration whether the child paid attention. And I try to communicate my enthusiasm for what she is “teaching” me with her narration. I make “ah-ha” mental connections out loud and ask leading questions (that are genuine, in my mind, not just for the sake of quizzing her) so I can learn from her book. We almost have a subtle shift in our relationship at their ages now: they are still accountable to me, but they are helping me learn too. Does that make sense at all? It’s hard to describe. (I need more practice at narrating my thoughts, I guess ;-).)

Yes, I plan to. I’m hoping to release the next one this spring, then one per year after that (if all goes according to schedule :-)).