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kristacecilia
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| Posted: July 20 2010 at 8:13pm | IP Logged
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My 6 year old picked up my copy of The Magician's Nephew last night while I was cooking dinner. After 24 hours he has nearly finshed the book!
I wasn't entirely sure he was going to be able to handle reading it on his own, but he's done it.
My only problem is, how do I make sure he's understanding what he is reading? I haven't read it in 15 years- I had pulled it out to read aloud to the boys, but after a couple pages I went to go cook dinner and he decided he couldn't wait to find out what happened next....
Any suggestions? We haven't started doing narrations yet. I am wondering if I should have insisted that we read it aloud so we could discuss it and possibly have him start oral narrations from a select passages.
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Krista
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 20 2010 at 8:24pm | IP Logged
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I think I'd be casual about it - maybe I'd ask questions about what he's read recently. He could tell the main points back to you and you'd surely remember the story from those.
And, with the Chronicles of Narnia, I think it's okay if children don't "get" it all the first time through. They are marvelous stories, and that's what most younger readers love. It's only later, as they mature in their own faith, that children and adults learn to appreciate the wonderful fabric C. S. Lewis wove when he wrote these books. I re-read them fairly regularly because I catch something new every time.
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: July 20 2010 at 8:35pm | IP Logged
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Nancy,
He's definitely the type that will read and re-read books and learn something new every time. That makes me feel better.
I think I will also go ahead and read it (heck, I was looking forward to reading it aloud because I couldn't remember the story!) That way I can engage him in some discussions about it.
I do know he'll brush over words he doesn't know isntead of asking me what they mean... or mispronounce words in his head and assume he knows the meaning from the context of the story (and sometimes he is right, but not always). Should I worry about that, do you think?
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Krista
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I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 20 2010 at 10:07pm | IP Logged
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Well, if you're already planning to read it again, you might want to jot down a few big or unfamiliar (e.g. British English) words. My children both were skilled at using vocabulary properly without knowing the meanings of the words they were using...so you might want to ask casually whether your son knows what "jolly well" means, or show him a picture of an Eton collar (worn by characters in the book). This novel also has some Cockney dialect, so you'll have a chance to explain the difference between dialect and proper English as well.
I don't think brushing over words at this age is a huge worry, but if you are reading the book on your own and your son knows it, you can ask him questions and point out unfamiliar terms without sounding condescending, and he'll probably be very responsive to that.
Do read it again. It's a great story!
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: July 21 2010 at 8:50am | IP Logged
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As I read your original post, all I could think was: my 6 year old is almost done with the Narnia series and he still hasn't read the Magician's Nephew (I won't let him until he has read the others).
As others have said though in other words - the stories are so good, there will be lots of re-reading over the years.
I like the idea of casually introducing some of the vocabulary and terminology used - perhaps not even obviously connected with the book, so that these things click upon re-reading.
My son definitely has the issue of either pronouncing a word completely wrong or of gleaning the context of a sentence and not really learning the words involved.
As for narration, I don't know your son, but my 6 year old does this:
*he won't tell me the story right away after reading (unless he wants to read me a particularly funny or striking line)
*but he can narrate back almost every details 2-5 days LATER without having re-read - go figure! I think he's running the story through his mind and putting the pieces together again.
*He will then re-read the good books
*and still enjoys them as read-alouds!
*And OH how he dramatizes it all! Either himself, or through his building materials (most recently, his colored counting bears that I was about to sell of since we don't need them anymore, became all the multi-colored inhabitants of the Land of Oz - his current read of choice - with his room set up as a larger scale map of that provided in the book --- I'm looking forward to the Narnia version of this!)
So our narration is very laid-back. And pronunciation correction happens routinely.
Also, once he has read something a few times on his own (or we'e read it aloud together) - and there has been opportunity for some discussion, we'll cook up any recipes in the book, or try to make something one of the characters made, etc.
Wow, that sounds more planned out than it's been! We don't plan these sort of things (when we do, they don't work for us) - but just use the moments as they come and see how far/deep we can go.
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: July 21 2010 at 11:53am | IP Logged
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CatholicMommy wrote:
As I read your original post, all I could think was: my 6 year old is almost done with the Narnia series and he still hasn't read the Magician's Nephew (I won't let him until he has read the others).
As others have said though in other words - the stories are so good, there will be lots of re-reading over the years.
I like the idea of casually introducing some of the vocabulary and terminology used - perhaps not even obviously connected with the book, so that these things click upon re-reading.
My son definitely has the issue of either pronouncing a word completely wrong or of gleaning the context of a sentence and not really learning the words involved.
As for narration, I don't know your son, but my 6 year old does this:
*he won't tell me the story right away after reading (unless he wants to read me a particularly funny or striking line)
*but he can narrate back almost every details 2-5 days LATER without having re-read - go figure! I think he's running the story through his mind and putting the pieces together again.
*He will then re-read the good books
*and still enjoys them as read-alouds!
*And OH how he dramatizes it all! Either himself, or through his building materials (most recently, his colored counting bears that I was about to sell of since we don't need them anymore, became all the multi-colored inhabitants of the Land of Oz - his current read of choice - with his room set up as a larger scale map of that provided in the book --- I'm looking forward to the Narnia version of this!)
So our narration is very laid-back. And pronunciation correction happens routinely.
Also, once he has read something a few times on his own (or we'e read it aloud together) - and there has been opportunity for some discussion, we'll cook up any recipes in the book, or try to make something one of the characters made, etc.
Wow, that sounds more planned out than it's been! We don't plan these sort of things (when we do, they don't work for us) - but just use the moments as they come and see how far/deep we can go.
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Your son sounds a lot like my son. He does all those things- including bringing up and telling me about the story days after he has read it.
Okay, that makes me feel a lot better.
Why did you not let him read the Magician's Nephew until last? I thought it was book 1?
Forgive my ignorance...
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: July 21 2010 at 12:49pm | IP Logged
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kristacecilia wrote:
Why did you not let him read the Magician's Nephew until last? I thought it was book 1? |
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Caveat: I firmly believe there is no WRONG way to read the Narnia books - except to not read them at all! 
So - what I am about to say is my personal choice (there are some people who feel so strongly one way or another and I *really* don't want to start another "Last Battle"  )
My choice is partially based on the order of the books as they were written; also (I wish I could remember where I originally read what I'm about to type, because she said it so much better than I will!), The Magician's Nephew presumes some level of knowledge about Narnia. Where the word "Narnia" doesn't show up until much later in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" it's the 40th word on the first page of the first chapter in "The Magician's Nephew" - and there is so much that "explains" what happens in later books that it seems it could take away some of the mystery of what is happening in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".
I'm not saying it WILL - just that it might.
I also feel that there are quite a few AHA moments as you realize who that giant lady is (it took me a few chapters!). I feel like a portion of the story line and details in the Magician's Nephew seem disjointed without knowing what happens in later books.
Now with that said, there is still a mystery there, there is still the wonder there - these are still great books - no matter how or what order they are read!
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cathhomeschool
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It's amazing how quickly kids can go through a book when they love it. Mine read way ahead of me and many a book that was "supposed" to be a group read aloud has been snatched by a child who couldn't wait.
Personally I wouldn't worry about narrations of Narnia. Your ds is obviously enjoying it and I think that's good enough at that age. You'll have plenty of opportunities to narrate other books and even if he narrated Narnia now he wouldn't get the full meaning. They're great stories so I would bet he'll read them again. (The unabridged audio versions are well done too.) If he mispronounces words (he will) or skips unfamiliar words (he will), I don't think that's a big deal. You can catch those words elsewhere when you read aloud to him or when he reads to you. This is what I've done with mine anyway. They all read and loved Narnia at your son's age and they all brought it up in their games or casual conversation. As they got older we talked more deeply about the different themes and levels of meaning in the books. You might also ask him to read to you while you're cooking dinner. That way you can hear part of the story and also see if he understands, etc. Mine would do this for a while, but then tire and choose to go play or continue reading silently. As they get better at reading aloud they can try to use different voices and it provides an opportunity to work on pronunciation and meaning of words.
(I personally prefer to read them in the order written too for the same reasons as CatholicMommy, but I know others who prefer Magician's Nephew first. )
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Lori
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| Posted: July 21 2010 at 10:22pm | IP Logged
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Personally, I would exploit my fuzzy memories of the book to have him "help" you remember how certain parts went!
And I feel strongly about reading LWW first, and Magician's Nephew later!
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: 6 year old devouring Chronicles of Narnia
