Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

This topic has 10 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 6 months ago by Janell.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

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October 26, 2012 at 10:57 pm
AngieG
Participant
I have 3 kids going through Spelling Wisdom. I have to admit that I get bored dictating the same passage by the time the third kid is ready for it. Does anyone else have a situation like this? I have to wonder how Charlotte Mason could have done this with a class full of kids?
Side note- I love Spelling Wisdom! The passages are interesting and have sparked us to seek out literature that we would have never known existed. And we have taken to quoting some of the passages as they fit into our daily life! 🙂 It’s way, way better than a list of words!
October 26, 2012 at 11:36 pm
Rachel White
Participant
Do them all at the same time. You determine when it’s ime to do dictation instead of them. I assume in the classroom she let them know that it was time for dictation; the students themselves didn’t tell the teacher when it was time.
October 26, 2012 at 11:36 pm
HiddenJewel
Participant
Definitely do it at the same time.
October 27, 2012 at 12:07 am
JennNC
Participant
I would not have them all doing the same passage. If they do different passages it cuts down on the boredom factor for you and more importantly it minimizes the potential for competition between siblings.
Also they probably don’t all need to study dictation every day, so it might work well to do dictation for each child on a different day. That would perhaps help it to be less monotonous for you?
Just some thoughts. 🙂
~Jenn
October 27, 2012 at 12:31 am
Janell
Participant
I had difficulty with my children doing dictation at the same time because my children dictate at different speeds. So, I recorded myself reading the Spelling Wisdom passages (I spend about an hour to get ahead 50-70 lessons). I save my recordings to one file per Spelling Wisdom book and upload them to my itunes. The children know how to operate their ipod shuffles and are completely independent from me (yet my voice still rings through their heads). I use taped index cards with little notes on the lessons for something to be further studied, a quick activity, with the answers on the flip side of the card (spelling markings of a few words, diagramming, Scripture thoughts, etc). I only have to read each lesson once…and I can get a bit more dramatic in my readings. I don’t know if Charlotte Mason would approve, but I have seven children and one more due. The CM police haven’t been over yet.
October 27, 2012 at 2:48 am
AngieG
Participant
The three kids are the same age (triplets) but are moving forward in the Lessons at different paces. So, I am not reading the same dictation 3 times in the same day, but within a couple of weeks. As far as doing the dictation the way Sonya explains it, we are supposed to be watching them as they spell each word so we can be quick to cover up any misspellings- how can you watch that closely when you’re dictating to more than one child at a time?
October 27, 2012 at 10:20 am
jeaninpa
Participant
Sometimes I’ll have my kids give the dictation to each other. In our house, this is usually an older sibling reading for a younger sibling, but sometimes it’s the other way around. This isn’t the best way to do it, but Ruth Beechick’s words ring in my ears, “The best curriculum is the one that gets done.”
Janell — giggling at “the CM police”.
October 27, 2012 at 3:48 pm
Richele Baburina
Participant
I my, Janell, you are brilliant!
October 27, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Janell
Participant
Just a couple of notes:
Sonya originated the CM police…and it made me laugh too.
And I do Spell to Write and Read with a variety of copywork in the early years. By the time the children are ready for independence, they know how to study a passage before dictation.
October 27, 2012 at 4:26 pm
suzukimom
Participant
Hey Janell – I think I may end up doing something similar – thanks for the idea! I have 4 kids (2 years between each) and I could see being sick of the dictations by the 4th one! Just wondering how you figure out how to pace the reading out without being able to watch them write….
Angie – I can see how that would be hard to keep yourself interested with the passage being repeated within a couple of weeks (to 3x)
October 27, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Janell
Participant
The children work at their own pace. Some children prefer to hear the entire lesson first then go back and play/pause one sentence or phrase at a time. One child replays and replays word by word…the pace is slow but steady and always accurate. The children decide when they have mastered their lessons before moving on to the next (especially as the passages get longer and more complex). They show me their dictations weekly unless they request assistance. Spelling Wisdom is my favorite language arts item…so I had to figure out how to get it done.