Narration from a 12yo, please give feedback….

Thanks Sue.  I appreciate your comments.  I had actually meant to stop short of his narration and have him finish but I just couldn’t do it, I was too interested.  I’ll try next time.

He does do some writing himself (he just wrote a comparative of homeschooling vs. public school, he went for a while when he was younger), but it just seems to flow better when he gives an oral narration.  I enjoy that time with him so much since I don’t read with him as much as I used to (well, we do many family read alouds, but we used to read his history booklist as well).  I enjoy hearing what he thinks of the books he reads and I don’t quite get the same interaction with the written, plus we/I get all caught up in spelling errors, etc.  I enjoy just listening and not making it all about the errors.  When I read his written, I immediately look at the spelling errors and lose the enjoyment of the narration.  He knows I do that so he’s hesitant on letting me read his writings.  I try to not make it look so obvious, but I guess that’s a habit I need to break.

It’s so helpful to me to get feedback from other moms using the same method.  Thanks again.

Thanks Simple Home. 

I have found that with both of my ds/s that if I type as their narrating they’ll go on for much longer.  I can see them thinking/sorting it out in their minds, without having to work on spelling/grammar at the same time.  Once in awhile I’ll mention past/present tense, things like that, but otherwise it’s all theirs.  I think it makes for a better experience for us.  I can just say, “Wow, that was interesting.  Just like I read the chapter myself.”  And leave it at that.  My oldest feels too scrutinized by his spelling to believe that I actually enjoyed the writing, and he feels he disappoints me.  I try not to do that, but I guess it still comes across that way.

Honestly, I just want him to be able to spell well and if he doesn’t know how to spell a word, ask or use the dictionary.  That’s really all I expect, but he doesn’t always know he has spelled a word wrong, that’s part of the problem, lol.

He just wrote a page and a half about hs vs ps, I haven’t read it yet, I plan to today.  I’m going to see if he “told” me what thought of the two, and I typed, if it would come out a bit different than what he “wrote” by himself.  Even when he narrates from his general science, I get much more than when he writes.  I do try to tell him that what he shared is awesome, let’s just get that on paper, lol.  That’s why I’ve been typing for both older boys.  They even seem to know that I’m paying closer attention because I have to concentrate on what they’re saying.  I do print out the narrations and put them in their appropriate notebooks for them to see what they’ve accomplished. 

Sometimes I’ll have my 9yo narrate (as I type), then draw a picture of any scene he wants from the story, then write a few sentences pertaining to the picture.  Or he can just shorten the narration he originally gave to fit on story paper.  I don’t always do that right after the first narration, especially if he’s not into it, or if he’s lost interest by that time.  He loves to draw so I’ll go with it if he wants to. 

Thanks for the input and listening to me ramble on about narration, again!