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Narration help needed – again!
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So, we are now 3 month into homeschooling and trying to narrate and I really need some help! Right now I feel like crying and throwing the towl!
I went through all the lists of ideas and found out it basically comes down to that my DD just does not understand most of the readings. She has no problem narrating the stories from her pathway books. Now those stories all deal with every day situations and use a small amout of familiar vocabulary. And of course she is reading those stories, not me. But if I read to her the Bible or any classic literature (like Among the forrest people, Boys of the Pyramids..etc) she just has a blank deer stare and she cannot narrate anything back! I tried reading a chapter, to reading a paragraph or a few sentences. The best she can do sometimes is tell me the last two words that I read. If I ask her “tell me anything you remember” I get most times no answer or something that has absolutely nothing to do with the story I just read. It doesn’t help to ask her to draw or act it out because she just can’t remember anything! I understand narration is a habit training and in the first 6 years of her life she never listened to classic literature. Even the bible stories were all twaddle versions, at home and at church (and are still at church). Am I too impatient and have wrong expectations? I always have in my mind “a lesson not narrated is a lesson not learned”.We only do narration on the Bible stories, books we read for history, the “Among the…” series and when we read about a composer or artist.
How can I help my DD to “understand” what we are reading? I don’t think it is an auditory issue, she was tested several times in Preschool and showed no problems. Also, she loves music and picks up new songs she hears very quick.
It is so bad that I start develop an aversion to read any literature and sometimes skip reading for days just to avoid the deep frustration for both of us.
Did anyone had the same problem? I am not talking about my child not doing perfect narration or refusing to narrate, she really doesn’t understand.Have you tried having her read to herself or aloud to you and then narrate. I can’t tell about something unless I read it myself. My daughter does better narrations on books that she reads herself. Maybe the problem isn’t as big as you think.
Thank you Lynda! I though about that, too. You are right, she does better if she reads and my DD 17 (who went through PS) said too that she can only understand what she reads by herself. Problem is my DD7 is not a fluent reader yet. It would take us forever to get through a story, but on the other hand better getting 20% done and learned then nothing right? Second I thought it is against one of CMs principles to let them read books at that age that have too many unknown words ?( I may be totally wrong on that, my head just spinns like crazy!)
I would start with material that is a bit easier or more familiar and then work from there. She may just need some time to mature a bit and practice the skill. One idea might be to start with picture book versions of fairytales, especially familiar ones, and then move to the less familiar tales. The pictures will give her brain something to latch on to while she gets comfortable with more literary language. Many libraries have these books in a different section so they are easy to find.
Once you have done that for a while, here is what is working for us. My daughter (6yrs) has been narrating about 6 months now. We started with Aesop for Children, so they are short and sweet. She didn’t (still doesn’t) always ‘get’ the moral, but she could tell about the story. Once we moved on to longer passages, we would ‘team narrate’. I’d give her something at the beginning, a sentence or two to set the stage. Then I let her narrate as much as she remembered. Once she got ‘stuck’, I added a sentence or two again. This would remind her enough that she could continue.
We are still doing this to some degree, although the amount I have to contribute is less and less and the length of passage that we can do before stopping has increased.
We also use the idea of drawing a narration, but I let her draw WHILE I read. She will start sketching a scene from the beginning of the story and work on it throughout the tale. Then, she dictates a description of the scene she drew, and then will continue on with the story. The narration about the picture is much more detailed than when she is not drawing, but she also does better on the rest of the story (that wasn’t in the picture.)
Every child develops different areas of strength at different times. Don’t panic, don’t make it a bigger deal that it needs to be. I don’t necessarily agree that ‘a lesson not narrated is a lesson not learned’, at least not in every case. Sometimes learning to narrate IS the lesson. Sometimes enjoying a good story with mom IS the lesson. The content is really not that important at this stage. She’ll get all the history again eventually. The process is the focus right now. Just enjoy the journey together. I know, it’s easier said than done, and I have to remind myself of that often, too, but it’s true.
Joanne
Thank you so much Joanne! It is so comforting to know that there are options out there that I haven’t exhausted yet. My DD just turned 7 so I think there wouldn’t be any harm on working on narration skills first before doing “lessons”. It may mean to redo my lesson plan but what good are the lessons when she can’t understand them? I will think about substituting The “Among the..” series with Aesop and using well written picture books. She can even try reading them aloud. I also like the idea of having her draw/sketching during the reading.
Thank you again so much Joanne and Lynda, you are awesome:)
I agree with Joanne. Narration is hard work involving little brains to process and make important connections.
Give it time, and pick the simple stories like Aesops, as well as fun girl stories like Little House on the Prairie. Even just a page or two a day would be of great benefit to her in gaining narration skills.
Yes, I agree with Joanne as well. And Aesop is a great way to ease her in. You certainly don’t want her to hate narration or school because of frustration! Narration is difficult. Ever tried it yourself? 😉
Thank you all so much! Today is already a much brighter day
. I told my DD earlier that I will let her read a story today and she go so excited and asked “Does this mean I can ask YOU questions?” I thought for a moment but decided to go with it, I hope it will set an example for her as for what I excpect when asking her to narrate.Every child develops different areas of strength at different times. Don’t panic, don’t make it a bigger deal that it needs to be. I don’t necessarily agree that ‘a lesson not narrated is a lesson not learned’, at least not in every case. Sometimes learning to narrate IS the lesson. Sometimes enjoying a good story with mom IS the lesson. The content is really not that important at this stage. She’ll get all the history again eventually. The process is the focus right now. Just enjoy the journey together. I know, it’s easier said than done, and I have to remind myself of that often, too, but it’s true.
Joanne
Good advice, Joanne.
We like to make several narration notebook pages from different books throughout the week. The younger children each dictate to me their narrations, I read back their narrations, and they illustrate. This is fun because the children enjoy having these great narration captions for their illustrated notebook pages. If a child speaks with an incomplete sentence, I will gently make it into a complete sentence for them to repeat to me before I write it down. These dictated narrations may at first be only one or two sentences, but they will eventually become longer and more natural after consistent practice. And, let me tell you, a few of these a week will surpisingly grow into beautiful binders brimming with personal thoughts and art. I am always finding my children perusing their personal binder portfolios from years back.
Janell
I went through all the lists of ideas and found out it basically comes down to that my DD just does not understand most of the readings
. She has no problem narrating the stories from her pathway books. Now those stories all deal with every day situations and use a small amout of familiar vocabulary. And of course she is reading those stories, not me. But if I read to her the Bible or any classic literature (like Among the forrest people, Boys of the Pyramids..etc) she just has a blank deer stare and she cannot narrate anything back! I tried reading a chapter, to reading a paragraph or a few sentences. The best she can do sometimes is tell me the last two words that I read. If I ask her “tell me anything you remember” I get most times no answer or something that has absolutely nothing to do with the story I just read. It doesn’t help to ask her to draw or act it out because she just can’t remember anything! 
. I told my DD earlier that I will let her read a story today and she go so excited and asked “Does this mean I can ask YOU questions?” I thought for a moment but decided to go with it, I hope it will set an example for her as for what I excpect when asking her to narrate.
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