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Narration-How to handle not remembering for 6-yr old
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Hi there! I just finished watching the All-Day seminar dvds and am so excited about CM! I have a narration question that I hope I’m not repeating. Our daughter will be 6 this fall and we will be starting CM at that time. She has difficulties with attention (starting on that habit right now!) and also doesn’t offer up much information unless asked. I’m wondering how others handle a narration with young children that’s missing key points. Do you try to discuss it to see if she absorbed it or do you just let it go and not address it? Do you come back to it later? What do you do when the next time you pick up the book and ask if she remembers what happened last time and she doesn’t remember it? Do you have a review? Sorry if this is a ridiculous question but I’m a little confused and want to start out on the right foot.
Thanks so much!
Traci
Traci,
One thing to consider is that she will be the very minimum age the CM recommends for oral narrations. So, she’ll be new at it, and narrating is a skill that builds upon itself over time. I wouldn’t worry too much if she misses a few things or can’t seem to come up with much at times. You should find that her narrations will start very small, but that over the year or two; they should be getting longer.
Also, not all books are as easy to narrate from as others. You may discover that after you ask for narrations for a few weeks; you can get better narrations from some books and not so great from others. My 8 1/2 yr old is this way. She draws a blank when asked to narrate from the Bible sometimes, but when it comes to Burgesses Bird Book; she can give you back nearly verbatim what you have read.
Another thing I want to mention is to keep the selections read very short. Especially for a 6 yr old just beginning, I wouldn’t expect them to narrate from more than a paragraph to a page at a time. I could be wrong on this, but that has been my experience.
Hope I’ve helped.
Along with briedell’s good suggestions, a couple of other things might help.
1. Before you do the reading, skim through it yourself and pick out two or three key words that you want her to be sure to listen for. Write those on a little white board or piece of paper. Show her those words first, read them aloud, and tell her to listen for those words because she will need to include them in her narration. Read aloud your short selection, and keep the words in sight for the reading and the narration times. Those words will give her some mental hooks on which to hang her narration, show her how key words are spelled (since she’s listening to the reading, not seeing it), and hopefully teach her how to listen for key words on her own as she gets more proficient.
2. Charlotte recommended having the child do a short pre-reading review. So the next time you read from that book, before you begin, ask the child what she remembers about _____ (whatever you read about last time). This review doesn’t have to be intricately detailed, but it should be enough to help her connect what she has learned to what she will be learning today. Here is a series of blog posts about the process of assessing what your child is learning the CM way.
Thank you both so much for your advice. That helps very much! I will definitely be implementing all your suggestions. Sonya, I have to tell you, I’ve loved all your videos and books! I’ve always known I wanted to use CM but found it very difficult to find what I needed in her writings. After using your materials I feel very confident with the method and can’t wait to dive in. I’ve used the All-Day seminar, Rails and Planning Your CM Education and am about to order Books & Things. I think if you sold T-shirts I’d be wearing one! 🙂 Thank you so very much for these valuable materials and for giving me the confidence I need to create a wonderful homeschool for my daughter.
Oh, how encouraging, Traci! Thanks! (Actually, my husband prints T-shirts. What would you like on it?
)Ha Ha! How about “I am, I can, I ought, I will.” for kids and “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.” for adults!
Piping in to say I love the t-shirt idea.
And, back to the subject…yes, narration is a skill that needs to be developed over time. I wouldn’t worry about a 6yo not remembering everything. When in doubt, try narrating a section of reading yourself. It’s a good way to model narration for your child…and I find narrating humbling because I remember how hard it is to do! 🙂
I’d wear a t-shirt, too. My kids, especially my 8 yo would love it!!
Sonya, does your husband print for a living/on the side?? Does he have a website?? The reason I ask is that I have had made 3 shirts for husband with our children on them (1st child, first shirt, 1st and 2nd on second shirt, 1st, 2nd and 3rd on last shirt). Well, he’s ready to retire them so they don’t fade anymore and wants a new one (current picture, etc), but I just haven’t got around to getting him one. I would love to support someone I *knew* for something I need, if possible:) I don’t think I’m alone in the *printed t-shirt* thing, either:)
Thanks for thinking of him, my3boys, but his store is local and not on the Internet yet.
Back to narration, . . . almost everyone I talk with about narration comments that it gets easier with practice. So keep at it!
Thanks so much! I’m thinking it won’t do any harm if I start asking her open ended questions about our reading now so maybe she’s a little more familiar with it when school time comes. I’d love to start right now! I don’t know why I feel like I can’t “do school things” until September…societal mores I suppose. It’s not like we don’t have 9 chrysalises hanging in our living room as we speak!
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