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kristinannie
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After quite awhile of doing CM, I am starting to really get used to it (and also really starting to see the results in my children). The narrating has gotten much better (although sometimes I only get one sentence). My 4 year old daughter is actually an excellent narrator even though I don't require her to do it. Once she does a good job, my son will usually chime in with an excellent narration as well. He basically has a need to outdo his sister. Without her there, I think I would get a grunt and a sour face! 
How many narrations do you do per day during early elementary? We have been doing 2-3. I try and vary which books we narrate on each day. Some of them lend themselves really well to narration so we always narrate those books. Do you have a read aloud that you never require narrations for and just let them enjoy? Right now we are reading Mr. Popper's Penguins. I have been requiring narrations most days, but somehow it feels a little weird. They do give good narrations though.
The biggest stumbling block to me has been the sheer number of books we are using. When we read only 2-3 pages once or twice a week in most books, there are a lot of books that we are working on at once! Some books I do 3-4 times a week. I am finally getting used to it. I honestly think it was more of my issue of not being used to so many books (and the subsequent slow pace of finishing books). The kids don't have a problem with it. They aren't able to usually recall off hand where we left off in most of the books, but once I say a couple of sentences they start chiming in with what was happening in the book.
How many books do you have going at once? We usually have 6-8 books (not including picture books). Right now we have Saints for Girls (Neumann Press), Tomie DePaola's Bible Stories, Old Granny Fox, Mr. Popper's Penguins, In the Nursery (My Bookhouse), Columbus (D'Aulaires), Catholic Treasure Box books (book 19!!!), and Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes. This doesn't include at least 1-2 picture books a day and whatever John Paul is reading out loud. Does this sound about right?
So...if you don't want to read that really long post, here are my two questions:
How many narrations do you require daily in early elementary? Do you require narrations for all books?
How many books do you have going per child at once?
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John Paul 8.5
Meredith Rose 7
Dominic Michael 4.5
Katherine Elizabeth 8 months
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DominaCaeli
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I am using primarily the Year 1 Ambleside Online schedule this year with my two first graders (with a few changes), so this is our booklist for Term 1:
Aesop's Fables
Just-So Stories
Lang's Blue Fairy Book
Lamb's Shakespeare
Our Island Story
Fifty Famous Stories Retold
d'Aulaire's Benjamin Franklin
Amy Steedman's Our Island Saints
Child's Bible History
The Mass Explained to Children
Angel Food for Boys and Girls
CC Long's Home Geography for the Primary Grades
Burgess Bird Book
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Paddle to the Sea
Read-aloud (right now, Little House in the Big Woods)
That looks like a lot of books, but they are read once a week or even once every two weeks (such as Shakespeare, Herriot, and Burgess), so I only actually do 2-3 readings a day. I work off a weekly checklist, so I just pick a couple of the assigned readings for that week to handle each morning and they're all done by the end of the week.
We started off narrating just Aesop's Fables the first week and have increased from there. We're in Week 6 now and they're narrating everything except our "fun" read-aloud, their own independent reading (which I don't have listed here), picture books, or poetry. Those are all for enjoyment only. They narrate after just a few paragraphs usually, and we'll gradually lengthen that to a page at a time.
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Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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kristinannie
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Do you do more than one narration or do you only read a few paragraphs and move on? I have been having them narrate 2-3 pages. Maybe I should do shorter passages so they give me a more thorough and complete narration. Usually they just tell me a few things they remember, but it isn't that well organized. I want to do narrations properly so it becomes a good habit.
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John Paul 8.5
Meredith Rose 7
Dominic Michael 4.5
Katherine Elizabeth 8 months
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CrunchyMom
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I really enjoyed the videos of Eve Anderson demonstrating Narration, Picture Study, and Nature Study in a classroom setting. Jenn has recommended them in a few threads, and I finally bought them.
You can purchase them here. Their shopping cart is not working, but you can call and order over the phone.
Anyway, you can see that when she reads aloud and expects a narration, she is mindful in how she reads the text, where she takes breaks, and she does skillfully guide the children towards a more thorough and organized narration. The children were older than yours and students in a school that already expected narrations (so, it wasn't new to the children), but I think it presents a clear picture of what to ultimately expect from a narration.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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DominaCaeli
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kristinannie wrote:
| Do you do more than one narration or do you only read a few paragraphs and move on? |
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They do more than one narration per reading--one every few paragraphs until we get to the end. For the longer books, that means they narrate several times per chapter. For Aesop's fables (the shortest readings), it's just once.
They just had a discussion about the Eve Anderson DVDs over on one of the AO lists and their responses were mixed. So you found it helpful? Some thought she was guiding the students too much and did a bit too much "teaching"; some thought it just showed that the teacher *can* jump in now and then...I haven't seen them, so I'm really curious from others who have, specifically in this area of narration.
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Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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CrunchyMom
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DominaCaeli wrote:
kristinannie wrote:
| Do you do more than one narration or do you only read a few paragraphs and move on? |
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They do more than one narration per reading--one every few paragraphs until we get to the end. For the longer books, that means they narrate several times per chapter. For Aesop's fables (the shortest readings), it's just once.
They just had a discussion about the Eve Anderson DVDs over on one of the AO lists and their responses were mixed. So you found it helpful? Some thought she was guiding the students too much and did a bit too much "teaching"; some thought it just showed that the teacher *can* jump in now and then...I haven't seen them, so I'm really curious from others who have, specifically in this area of narration. |
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I thought it helpful to see how she guided without asking them explicit comprehension questions. You could see that they were recalling what had been read on their own, and what she said sparked their memories of more things they could tell.
Boy, I get that there will be differing opinions and styles within a philosophy, but I have trouble imagining that she could be doing it "wrong" yk? Given her background? She DID offer more guidance than I expected, but I just assumed that was because my expectations were off, and seeeing it as a dialogue made sense. However, there might not be as much of a need for heavy guidance one on one rather than the classroom setting.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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DominaCaeli
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CrunchyMom wrote:
I thought it helpful to see how she guided without asking them explicit comprehension questions. You could see that they were recalling what had been read on their own, and what she said sparked their memories of more things they could tell.
Boy, I get that there will be differing opinions and styles within a philosophy, but I have trouble imagining that she could be doing it "wrong" yk? Given her background? She DID offer more guidance than I expected, but I just assumed that was because my expectations were off, and seeeing it as a dialogue made sense. However, there might not be as much of a need for heavy guidance one on one rather than the classroom setting. |
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This is helpful--thanks for the review. And yes, her background makes her quite an authority, which is why I was surprised to read people describing her method as more heavy-handed than they were expecting.
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Blessings,
Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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JennGM
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I thought it was helpful, especially knowing Eve Anderson had first-hand experience.
Caroline (Stellamaris) and I were having a similar discussion. She was rereading School Education volume, and the Appendix of Oral Lessons really give more examples of the teacher providing more.
Scroll Down to Appendix V for Oral Lessons.
I was surprised to read how much more teaching and guiding there is in these examples, and they are from all different Forms, not just high school.
I'd love to chat about this aspect. This shows how much more prepared the teacher has to be because there is more involvement and guiding. It's not just summing up previous lesson and pointing out the new and difficult words or locations, but summing up and drawing up and helping the child reach some points.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
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Mackfam
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kristinannie wrote:
| How many narrations do you do per day during early elementary? We have been doing 2-3. I try and vary which books we narrate on each day. |
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This sounds good to me, and is pretty similar to what we do. I usually ask for 2 - 4 narrations from my elementary student.
Narrations are a priority for me during the day, so I do my best to hear as many as I can. Having said that, one of the limitations in a home education environment with a number of children narrating is that one mom cannot hear every narration. Older children can be enlisted to hear younger children's narrations (and this works very well!). And when older children are writing their narrations that is a help. But your 2 - 3 narrations a day sounds really great to me!
kristinannie wrote:
| Do you have a read aloud that you never require narrations for and just let them enjoy? |
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Absolutely!!!
kristinannie wrote:
| How many books do you have going at once? |
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It depends on the age of the child.
My 7yo: Can have as many as 10 books read from in one day, not counting picture books.
My 11yo: 12 - 13, not counting his own independent reading.
My 15yo: 12 - 13, not counting independent reading.
kristinannie wrote:
| We usually have 6-8 books (not including picture books). .... Does this sound about right? |
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Yes.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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kristinannie wrote:
| Do you do more than one narration or do you only read a few paragraphs and move on? I have been having them narrate 2-3 pages. Maybe I should do shorter passages so they give me a more thorough and complete narration. Usually they just tell me a few things they remember, but it isn't that well organized. I want to do narrations properly so it becomes a good habit. |
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In approaching early narrations, start with small/short readings and then ask for a narration. The idea is to build from there - stretching your reading and asking them to narrate from more. The idea with narrations is to read - narrate. And your job with early narrators is like that of a personal trainer - you are always stretching their memory muscle and building the power of attention so that as they can narrate well from one paragraph, you begin reading two paragraphs and asking for a narration.
No need to announce anything to the children, just quietly stretch. And if there are problems or issues, again quietly roll back the reading the next time.
Beginning narrators need to begin with very, very small chunks of reading...often narrating one paragraph at a time. Your job is to slowly stretch their narrating memory muscle. If you feel like this is hard to remember, put a little post it on your home ed calendar to remind you to re-assess narrations in a few weeks. If your kids have already been narrating well with the "read a paragraph and ask for a narration" method, then I'd start to bump it a little and stretch my reading out before I ask for a narration. I can't give a specific amount to stretch because children are so unique. Mine can generally move from one paragraph to a full page/page and a half of text...but the point is to be sensitive to your child. If that amount is overwhelming to remember, mentally organize, and tell back - just read 2 paragraphs the next time and ask for a narration. Let them get comfortable there, and then stretch your reading from there.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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stellamaris
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I'm back from all my travels, but still in the process of getting back up to Delaware. I learned SO MUCH at the Ambleside Summer Institute. They really helped me understand why the questions are "open" and how that engages the student. Also, how to structure the lessons so that there is teacher input as well as student engagement. It is more work than I thought, and CM is definitely not "unstructured" learning, but it is a different approach to learning that those of us who grew up in a traditional school have some trouble completely embracing...a whole different attitude to learning, the learner, and the role of the teacher.
I really AM going to do a long post (or a few posts) on what I learned, but not today! Today is grandbaby-sitting day!
Kristin, to answer your narration question, they do have the children narrate every book every day. However, since there is a group of children, they don't all narrate each time. One thing that impressed me was the value of having more than one child narrate. The children actually learn from one another. I had originally planned to have two groups of readers this year, but I am combining all the boys in one group so that we can have the benefit of narrating every subject except math as a group. I'm not sure how to manage this aspect if you have only one child who is at a given level, but I guess you would just have the one child narrate all the books.
Lindsay, I couldn't get the Eve Anderson link to work from Perimeter. Do you have another source for those DVD's? I would love to get a set of them.
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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stellamaris
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Mackfam wrote:
| Beginning narrators need to begin with very, very small chunks of reading...often narrating one paragraph at a time. Your job is to slowly stretch their narrating memory muscle. If you feel like this is hard to remember, put a little post it on your home ed calendar to remind you to re-assess narrations in a few weeks. If your kids have already been narrating well with the "read a paragraph and ask for a narration" method, then I'd start to bump it a little and stretch my reading out before I ask for a narration. I can't give a specific amount to stretch because children are so unique. Mine can generally move from one paragraph to a full page/page and a half of text...but the point is to be sensitive to your child. If that amount is overwhelming to remember, mentally organize, and tell back - just read 2 paragraphs the next time and ask for a narration. Let them get comfortable there, and then stretch your reading from there. |
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This is the approach Ambleside recommended as well. In the lower grades (even up to 3rd), they often read only one or two paragraphs before narrating. Even in the upper grades, if a subject is very dense (e.g., science or a history book with a lot of specific information), they will read and narrate one paragraph at a time. They also take time to discussion each section, although the discussion might cover more than one narration. For example, the student might read one paragraph in science, narrate; read another paragraph, narrate; read a third paragraph, narrate; then discuss the three paragraphs read.
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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Mackfam
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CrunchyMom wrote:
DominaCaeli wrote:
| They just had a discussion about the Eve Anderson DVDs over on one of the AO lists and their responses were mixed. So you found it helpful? Some thought she was guiding the students too much and did a bit too much "teaching"; some thought it just showed that the teacher *can* jump in now and then...I haven't seen them, so I'm really curious from others who have, specifically in this area of narration. |
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I thought it helpful to see how she guided without asking them explicit comprehension questions. You could see that they were recalling what had been read on their own, and what she said sparked their memories of more things they could tell.
Boy, I get that there will be differing opinions and styles within a philosophy, but I have trouble imagining that she could be doing it "wrong" yk? Given her background? She DID offer more guidance than I expected, but I just assumed that was because my expectations were off, and seeeing it as a dialogue made sense. However, there might not be as much of a need for heavy guidance one on one rather than the classroom setting. |
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JennGM wrote:
I thought it was helpful, especially knowing Eve Anderson had first-hand experience.
Caroline (Stellamaris) and I were having a similar discussion. She was rereading School Education volume, and the Appendix of Oral Lessons really give more examples of the teacher providing more.
Scroll Down to Appendix V for Oral Lessons.
I was surprised to read how much more teaching and guiding there is in these examples, and they are from all different Forms, not just older ones.
I'd love to chat about this aspect. This shows how much more prepared the teacher has to be because there is more involvement and guiding. It's not just summing up previous lesson and pointing out the new and difficult words or locations, but summing up and drawing up and helping the child reach some points. |
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There are two different topics here:
(1) Eve Anderson's example, her authority by virtue of having been trained at the Charlotte Mason college
(2) The idea of a narration becoming more of a Socratic discussion, which by the way, is founded in CM's volumes.
...but they are connected. I'll address the idea of Eve Anderson first, although both Lindsay and Jenn addressed it well. The big idea is to *know* CM principles by reading them from her, but becoming familiar and accustomed to going straight to her examples for any authority on a CM model.
I don't think one can or should dispute Ms. Anderson's authority. Her training in a CM setting/environment with the use of CM principles, and especially her lifetime of experience in a Charlotte Mason classroom are a gift to us. In my opinion, anyone attempting to undertake a CM education in the home should have all three of those Eve Anderson DVD's in their home to study them. That kind of example is so powerful, so valuable!
I think sometimes perhaps people can misunderstand narrations (pegging them to their understanding and description of a beginning narration - the simple telling back) because they stay in CM's first volume, Home Education and base their understanding of CM as a whole on that book, but it's important to remember that Home Education was only intended to address children under 9.
I think another point of misunderstanding comes in A Philosophy of Education when on p. 191, CM emphasizes the importance of not interrupting a narration, a point which seems to be at odds with Ms. Anderson's example. Again though, it's important to understand that Ms. Mason was specifically referring to children of 7/8 and she even says so in her example on p. 191.
If we read through the entire six volumes we get a broader picture of how narrations develop and grow. As Jenn mentioned, School Education shows us how CM allows, and beyond that, encourages narrations to grow, develop, and mature with the students in upper Forms. Narrations grow into something that looks more like a Socratic Discussion. I think this idea scares us, but it shouldn't. We already know that CM takes what works - she drew narrating, dictations, copywork from classical methods. It makes sense that she would continue working intuitively and drawing from what works intuitively in Upper Forms.
Take the passage Jenn gives in her example in Appendix 5 of School Education:
CM, School Education, p. 329 wrote:
| It might be well if the lecture, with its accompaniments of note-taking and reports, were cut out of the ordinary curriculum, and the oral lesson made a channel for free intellectual sympathy between teacher and taught, and a means of widening the intellectual horizon of children. |
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Free intellectual sympathy = discussion...and further, what CM describes is a Socratic discussion, which is a conversation, led by a teacher with the goal of widening a student's understanding and asking them to *own* any opinion they might offer and ground it in logic.
I find it interesting to note that the only description and discussion on narrating for older children that CM does in School Education is to continue to insist that a narration take place after a SINGLE reading. (p. 179)
Here is a little something more from School Education, and it's important to note that we're talking about children over nine.
CM, p. 180-181 (emphasis in red is mine) wrote:
| The Teacher's Part.ÐÐThe teacher's part is, in the first place, to see what is to be done, to look over the work of the day in advance and see what mental discipline, as well as what vital knowledge, this and that lesson afford; and then to set such questions and such tasks as shall give full scope to his pupils' mental activity. |
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Setting questions requires that the teacher have a knowledge/understanding of the reading, be able to discuss it, and to draw out points so that the student has the benefit of the full scope. This is a discussion.
Does this take place in lower Forms (elementary narrations)? No. And rightly so. We already know how amazingly intuitive Ms. Mason was with regard to childhood development - she knew that in upper Forms, a child's cognitive abilities had broadened. They enjoyed an analytical ability now, and they were able to construe in abstract ways based on their reading. She also knew that at this point the CM educated child had a number of connections to draw from that would contribute to their discussions.
So, while this is off topic from Kristin's original question, I do think it's important to recognize a couple of things from the Eve Anderson DVD examples on Narration:
(1) The extraordinary value of group narrations. I think this was the one thing that struck me the most when I first viewed the Anderson DVDs and its something I have tried to build on over the last two years. I have a large age/grade span, but I have found ways, common ground, for facilitating group narrations and they have been very beneficial for all of us.
(2) Narrations are always a simple telling back. With older children in upper Forms (9+) they evolve naturally into discussions which do follow a similar pattern of a Socratic discussion, with the parent/teacher leading the discussion, asking questions, inviting reflections on the part of the student as a way of broadening their understanding as well as leading them to arrive at certain conclusions.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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I was trying to catch up on this fabulous thread, and was cross posting with you, Caroline!
stellamaris wrote:
| I'm back from all my travels, but still in the process of getting back up to Delaware. I learned SO MUCH at the Ambleside Summer Institute. They really helped me understand why the questions are "open" and how that engages the student. Also, how to structure the lessons so that there is teacher input as well as student engagement. |
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I'm really looking forward to hearing about your entire trip and training! What an extraordinary learning opportunity you had! I hope we get to share in it with you through your reflections!
stellamaris wrote:
| I really AM going to do a long post (or a few posts) on what I learned, but not today! Today is grandbaby-sitting day! |
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Can't wait! Go enjoy your precious little grandbaby!
stellamaris wrote:
| One thing that impressed me was the value of having more than one child narrate. The children actually learn from one another. I had originally planned to have two groups of readers this year, but I am combining all the boys in one group so that we can have the benefit of narrating every subject except math as a group. |
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This is EXACTLY what stood out to me in the Ambleside Online videos as well as the Eve Anderson DVD's, and I'm struck that you would mention it as well!!! I think this is one aspect we don't naturally gravitate to as home educators, yet it's something I have found great value in when we are able to do it in our home. I'm anxious to explore this more another day!
stellamaris wrote:
| Lindsay, I couldn't get the Eve Anderson link to work from Perimeter. Do you have another source for those DVD's? I would love to get a set of them. |
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I think they're website is down, Caroline. You have to call them, but they do have them and will ship them quickly. They're just so valuable! I can only imagine how they would complement your training!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Amber-v
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I am finally ordering those Eve Anderson DVDs (and several of the Denver conference talks - but that's a different post!  ) with some birthday money. Hooray for birthday money! 
I thought I would post the info for getting the Eve Anderson DVDs since their website no longer works. You can call Perimeter Church's main number (678.405.2000) and ask to be connected to the bookstore. At the bookstore I asked for the Eve Anderson DVD set and she knew right what I was talking about. She took my info and said she'd send them out on Monday. Yay! Just thought I would share my detective work.
Updated to add cost - The shipping was $5.10 and they charged me GA sales tax (not sure why, since I'm not in GA) for a grand total of 32.10.
Just to add another data point - my 1st grader will be listening to 4-5 books in a day (plus picture books as well as the Mass readings that we read aloud and narrate as part of morning prayer) and I will expect at least short narrations from just about everything (which is perhaps a bit much, but it is so worthwhile!). My 5th grader will be reading from 7-8 books each day (plus Mass readings) each day and narrating from most if not all. Each book is only read from once or twice a week. For example, My 1st grader will be hearing readings from 16 books in the first week. It sounds like a lot, but having done it last year, I know it works well - so long as I keep the readings short, am patient about having it take awhile to get through books, and listen to *a lot* of narrations!
I am at the point where I am looking at my schedule and wondering, "is it too much?" and perhaps it is. We'll see if I end up doing some tweaking after the first week or two! But I'm not differing that much from last year, so I think I'm still within acceptable bounds. I just need to make sure I keep the readings short - that was my failing last year!
Amber
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Amber
Mom to dd (born 2002), ds (2005), ds (2008), ds (2011), dd (11/2013)
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JennGM
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| Posted: Aug 21 2012 at 8:27am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
If we read through the entire six volumes we get a broader picture of how narrations develop and grow. As Jenn mentioned, School Education shows us how CM allows, and beyond that, encourages narrations to grow, develop, and mature with the students in upper Forms. Narrations grow into something that looks more like a Socratic Discussion. I think this idea scares us, but it shouldn't. We already know that CM takes what works - she drew narrating, dictations, copywork from classical methods. It makes sense that she would continue working intuitively and drawing from what works intuitively in Upper Forms.
Take the passage Jenn gives in her example in Appendix 5 of School Education:
CM, School Education, p. 329 wrote:
| It might be well if the lecture, with its accompaniments of note-taking and reports, were cut out of the ordinary curriculum, and the oral lesson made a channel for free intellectual sympathy between teacher and taught, and a means of widening the intellectual horizon of children. |
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Free intellectual sympathy = discussion...and further, what CM describes is a Socratic discussion, which is a conversation, led by a teacher with the goal of widening a student's understanding and asking them to *own* any opinion they might offer and ground it in logic.
I find it interesting to note that the only description and discussion on narrating for older children that CM does in School Education is to continue to insist that a narration take place after a SINGLE reading. (p. 179)
Here is a little something more from School Education, and it's important to note that we're talking about children over nine.
CM, p. 180-181 (emphasis in red is mine) wrote:
| The Teacher's Part.ÐÐThe teacher's part is, in the first place, to see what is to be done, to look over the work of the day in advance and see what mental discipline, as well as what vital knowledge, this and that lesson afford; and then to set such questions and such tasks as shall give full scope to his pupils' mental activity. |
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Setting questions requires that the teacher have a knowledge/understanding of the reading, be able to discuss it, and to draw out points so that the student has the benefit of the full scope. This is a discussion.
Does this take place in lower Forms (elementary narrations)? No. And rightly so. We already know how amazingly intuitive Ms. Mason was with regard to childhood development - she knew that in upper Forms, a child's cognitive abilities had broadened. They enjoyed an analytical ability now, and they were able to construe in abstract ways based on their reading. She also knew that at this point the CM educated child had a number of connections to draw from that would contribute to their discussions.
So, while this is off topic from Kristin's original question, I do think it's important to recognize a couple of things from the Eve Anderson DVD examples on Narration:
(1) The extraordinary value of group narrations. I think this was the one thing that struck me the most when I first viewed the Anderson DVDs and its something I have tried to build on over the last two years. I have a large age/grade span, but I have found ways, common ground, for facilitating group narrations and they have been very beneficial for all of us.
(2) Narrations are always a simple telling back. With older children in upper Forms (9+) they evolve naturally into discussions which do follow a similar pattern of a Socratic discussion, with the parent/teacher leading the discussion, asking questions, inviting reflections on the part of the student as a way of broadening their understanding as well as leading them to arrive at certain conclusions. |
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I have been mulling this over since last week. I was away and couldn't comment. THIS discussion has been so clarifying to me.
This gives the bigger picture, seeing how the narration grows with the child. Socratic -- yes, of course! So perfect, Jen!
Thank you for the AHA! moment.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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lambchopwife
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| Posted: Aug 21 2012 at 2:15pm | IP Logged
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Such fantastic discussions!!! This is exactly what I needed to hear today. We started school last week and some narrations are not going well, most likely due to mom not totally understanding to have them narrate smaller chunks at a time! I have been making them eat the whole cake at once! No wonder why they are choking! I really need to order those dvds and look at the online Ambelside videos.
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~ Be not afraid to tell Jesus that you love Him; even though it be without feeling, this is the way to oblige Him to help you, and carry you like a little child too feeble to walk.~ St. Therese
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Aug 22 2012 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
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This whole thread has been very helpful.
I'll be revisiting it often.
Thank you all!
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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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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Narrating and number of books
