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What do you do when your dc are unable to recall last lesson?
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In today’s Bible/history lesson my dc we unable to recall the promises made to Abram. I don’t know why, but I really know what to do.
What do you do?? Retelling the story would invite the idea that I will just read it again (and all previous/future lessons). Is it possible that I didn’t have them narrate/notebook enough previously, for them to remember??
In the future, I want to just do the lesson and not get all hung up on them not remembering (how I think they should have)…I think I may have made them feel bad for not remembering the details. I may have worded myself wrong, although I did just ask what they recalled about the promises made…and maybe they just didn’t understand what I was asking. By the end of the lesson we were on track but made a few detours (I think I lectured too much and I can see now how that is not productive). I think I was wanting to hear them say what I believe that they do know, but was becoming frustrated.
What would have been a better way for me to have handled this situation??
Any thoughts??
It’s perfectly ok to give them an inviting clue to help them remember. Maybe just read one sentence again, or write down a few key words or character names on a board. Also, a direct question about the story is ok to ask as a narration starter, such as “Why do you think the character responded this way when such and such happened?”, etc.
SCM has some good narration questions to choose from, and you can even print them out as a bookmark! 🙂
Duh.
I actually have the bookmarks printed.
We have been doing this quite a long time now and for some reason this lesson just caught me off guard. I knew I was complicating the matter. I don’t think I was expecting too much, but to make my dc feel bad is just not my goal, but it seems to happen occasionally anyway. I do expect them to use their noggins and for some reason I really didn’t want to just give them the answers. I really need to be better prepared for these situations to keep the flow and keep it from becoming something that I don’t desire.
I did reread the chapter to my 6 yo from Catherine Vos’ children’s story Bible and he actually gave a good narration. I wish I would’ve copied or recorded it.
Thanks for the reassurance and ideas, simple home. For some reason these very simple ideas alluded me today.
To add to it, I was reading a passage from Hearing, Reading, Telling, and Writing and it talked about vocab words. Something about not forcing children to learn them. It said they will learn them from the context and if they don’t figure them out, they will ask if they want to know (which my dc do). So simple. I pride myself (first mistake) of having decreased my lectures and can see how in most cases they are not necessary (not in elementary school, anyway). But, I have panicked at times thinking I need to step in and help connect the dots. I think that was my fear today, that they wouldn’t eventually connect the dots, so I had to help them…but the way I was handling it was not okay.
Thanks for letting me vent….I guess I needed to get that off my chest.
I seem to remember reading or hearing somewhere that CM teachers would begin a new lesson by giving a brief review, just a couple of sentences, of the previous lesson. So I think it is perfectly okay to prompt their memories in this way a bit. Also, I found that my kids’ memories seem to improve somewhere around age 9. It might just be too much to expect certain younger kids to remember much.
Nebby
Well, my oldest is 13, so that’s not really the case here. But, if I’m being fair and honest, I’d have to say that yesterday’s “started out good, went bad, then became okay again” was me. My dc don’t remember everything and don’t always try their very best, but I can see where I was having one of those panic attacks and was not working with them but against them. I would rather that we have a discussion not a “Beep!! Wrong answer!!” lesson time.
I really do want this to be a good experience for them, you know, better than public school. I don’t want to cheapen their education but I certainly don’t want them to wish they were at public school or anywhere but home, LOL.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and solutions…I will definitely use them.
I, too, have to try to remember to not lecture. It’s so easy to just spat out my opinion sometimes! 🙂
If it’s something of high importance or value to you personally, it is good to do a little review on it a few more times throughout the year. Maybe bring out those notebooking pages or narrations and just read it again and discuss another aspect to it.
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