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Courtney
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| Posted: May 04 2006 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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My 6yo ds just narrated to me all about medieval weapons.
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Medieval Weapons
The battleax is usually used in battle. There are two kinds of battle axes. One kind is when there is the sharp side on one side and the other is when there are sharp sides on both sides.
The mace is a really strong stick with little prickes on it so that if it hits someone, it would really hurt.
There are flails. The flail is kind of similar to the mace, but the flail is a really strong stick with a chain attached to it with a ball with lots of prickles on the ball. You use it by swinging it and sometimes you can even through it and it could hit someone.
The sword you can swing and maybe you can kill someone with it. It looks like this: it has a handle for your hand and then after the handle there’s a stick called the handguard and after the handguard there is a little thing of metal that has a point on it. It’s like a knife and if you swing it you can kill someone.
The lance has a little handle and you tuck the handle under your arm. After the handle there is a really long stick. At the end of the stick it has a really sharp point made of metal. A lance can break if you charge someone too hard or if it hits someone’s shield too hard. Lances and all these things are used in tournaments, jousts, fights and other battles.
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He enjoyed this whereas my dd,8yo, just walked away in tears b/c I asked her to tell me about the ladies of medieval times after we had just read about them. I must admit, we haven't ever done narrations regularly. What can I do to ease her stress and anxiety about narration? Is it a matter of finding something she's passionate about? Everyday after she reads to herself (right now it's Nancy Drew) she'll tell me about the chapter she just read. THere's something about me keyboarding any narration that gets her stressed. Any suggestions? I don't want this to be a fight or something she dreads but I do want to increase narrations.
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Courtney in Texas
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Mom to Candace 10/97 ,Christopher 4/00 and Connor 11/11
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kingvozzo
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| Posted: May 04 2006 at 2:23pm | IP Logged
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Hey Courtney. Great job from Christopher. 
I wouldn't stress too much if Candace isn't interested in having you type up her narrations yet. If she's telling you about the books that she's reading, I would be inclined to let it go at that, for now. Is she interested in writing her own stories yet? That might pique her interest in getting her words down on paper, then maybe she could illustrate?
Joseph does so much writing of his own stories that we don't focus on narrating read-alouds too much right now. Every so often I do want to get something typed up, but not often enough for it to turn him off.
Hope this helps!
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Rachel May
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| Posted: May 04 2006 at 2:36pm | IP Logged
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Would she narrate into a tape recorder? We've done that once and the kids like listening to themselves. You could show her how to stop it when she wants to collect her thoughts. I love the weapon narration. I'm going to share it with my boys.
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Dawnie
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| Posted: May 10 2006 at 4:28pm | IP Logged
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I just wanted to share that my 6yod balked at doing formal narrations at first, too. Especially if I was keyboarding them. This was confusting and upsetting to me, since the books I had read seemed to indicate that narration is very natural for children. I went back and read some more and here is what I found: Charlotte Mason didn't require formal narrations of her students until age 6 or 7. She also did not correct or prompt children during narrations. Also, a child beginning to develop the skill of narration starts with listening to just a paragraph, then a page, then a whole story or chapter. The books For the Children's Sake and A Charlotte Mason Companion both have some very helpful sections on narration.
So here is what I did with my 6yod. After my re-reading, I decided to let things go for a little while and just encourage her spontaneous narrations when she did them. When she started telling me about something that she did with Grandma and Grandpa I pointed out to her that she was narrating. She looked at me with surprise and said, "I am?!" She even asked me to type a few narrations for her! When I decided to try asking for formal narrations again, I only read a paragraph before asking her to narrate. I also noticed that she is a very visual person and remembers things much better when she has a visual cue, like a picture. So she has an easier time narrating picture books than paragraphs out of a chapter book. I've read that older children who are visual learners may benefit from jotting down key phrases while listening to a narration. I'm trying to relax about the whole thing and remember that this is a process and that she doesn't have to pass a proficiency test anytime in the near future!
This has been my experience. I hope some of it is helpful to you.
Dawn
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Courtney
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| Posted: May 10 2006 at 4:43pm | IP Logged
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Thank you all for your suggestions. Yesterday, we started reading dePaola's Mary, The Mother of Jesus. We're reading one section a day. Christopher (my 6yo) narrated it and Candace (8) drew it. They were both very happy with doing it this way.
After reading out of Hillyer's history yesterday, Candace narrated beautifully to me all about Gothic cathedrals. I was just sitting face to face with her and not keyboarding. This seemed to make all the difference. I guess, for me, I need to point out to her like Dawn suggested when she is "narrating" (like when she's casually telling me about the book she's reading or an experience she had) and not be too concerned with a "product" in my hands. Maybe after doing it this way for awhile, she'll get over her phobia of narrating while I type.
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Courtney in Texas
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Dawnie
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| Posted: May 11 2006 at 4:03pm | IP Logged
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Courtney wrote:
| I guess, for me, I need to point out to her like Dawn suggested when she is "narrating" (like when she's casually telling me about the book she's reading or an experience she had) and not be too concerned with a "product" in my hands. |
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I think this is what sets the Charlotte Mason approach apart from other methods of education. We're trying to really connect with our kids through narration. We're building a relationship and sharing an interest in something, not just checking off an assignment on a to-do list.
Keep up the great work! It sounds like your daughter is doing just fine!
Dawn
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Narration from 6yo
