Looking for advice here. My eleven year old loves to do written narrations and wants me to increase the amount of these we do per week because, she says, they are much easier for her than doing the oral narrations. I had planned on her doing just one per week and increasing to two per week at the end of our third term. Would there be anything wrong with going ahead and bumping her up to two per week now?
I would have to “grade” more papers is the only draw back that I see.
Do you have any idea why she prefers written? Usually kids do move more to written but usually they also find them harder. I’d wonder if there is something in the oral ones she particularly struggles with. While on one hand, increasing written ones over time is the usual pattern, I’d want to make sure something else isn’t being missed. Maybe she has more time to think for written ones? Does she have any speech issues?
My oldest (16), is still giving a lot of oral narrations. From what I understand, oral narration is not be forgotten once the child can give written ones. I really require both. My son is reading David Copperfield to me, then giving me an oral narration after the reading. We discuss the book at the same time and I jot down a word or two he may not have known for him to look up. During our readings, we may stumble upon an unfamiliar word and may just discuss its meaning at that time.
I am amazed at how much he remembers from his readings, as well as, how much we are enjoying this time together. While written narrations are great and are a part of the composition process, I so enjoy the “what were they thinking?” moments that I don’t always get in a written narration unless we go over it together.
Oral narrations have always been a challenge for her. She is very visual and learned to read very quickly. She does get distracted easily if I give her directions orally. I have to write them down.
Once we started adding written narrations, she asked if she could do ONLY written from now on.
So, I guess I will keep her at just one written per week for now.
I think I would do more written if she wanted to (so go ahead and bump it to 2 per week now) and still keep oral narration the rest of the time. Like anything, it is a skill that takes practice and if she just drops oral narration all together the skill may atrophy like an unused muscle. I don’t see anything wrong with encouraging a child by allowing them to use their strength more often (in this case her written narrations). Just don’t drop the hard things (in this case oral narration) all together.