Question about note taking and test taking

[gmhaynes]

Hi, ladies!
I have a dear friend who does tutoring and teaching primarily for middle school and high school homeschooled children. I asked him what areas he felt were lacking in the education of the students he sees. He mentioned that most kids have a hard time taking notes and taking tests, even at a high school level. My question is are any of you seeing this as your children are getting older? My oldest is heading into 3rd grade, so I am trying to think ahead a bit and make sure that my kids will be prepared for college when the time comes. I feel like when they get to that level note taking and test taking will be essential for them. We have tried to encourage our oldest to start taking notes during church but she is having a hard time with that at her age (listening and writing at the same time).
Any thoughts from you more seasoned moms?

Mary

[Molly]

I think if they get a really good grasp and ability with narration, notetaking will come quite naturally from that as they will be used to listening and processing at the same time. I would do what you are doing now and continue encouraging her to take notes in church, but let her know even if at this point she just jots down the verses that are being referred to and then encouraging her to read through them again and it quite likely will remind her of things in the sermon.

I have no advice with regard to test taking as I'm really not one for test taking myself, so I'm not sure how to encourage that.

[tiffanieh]

I would also think since dictation is scheduled throughout that THAT is a key component to building your child's ability to take notes....listening to what the professor says, and then being able to remember it, and then write it down. Dictation builds in it's length year after year!

And yes, I would agree that 3rd grade is a bit young to be able to take sermon notes. Perhaps have her draw a picture of what your pastor is talking about??

[gmhaynes]

I completely forgot about upcoming dictation. We will be starting them this coming year with Preparing, but I think you're probably right on that one. That would start to build the ability to take notes. Just curious how this all plays out later since most of the time we are not lecturing like a typical high school or college teacher would. I know sometimes they have to listen to CD's or story times and recall information but I have no idea how that all comes together in development later. Maybe Carrie has some insight on this and as always, I'm sure she has already thought of it!

Mary

[Kirsten]

I used PHFHG this year with my 3rd and 5th grader. I experimented with my 5th grader taking notes. What I found is that part of taking notes is being able to write fast, and he doesn't - yet. Plus trying to get too much info at once. We will continue with his notetaking in the fall and just keep practicing. It's a process.

I too, am wondering about tests. My state does not require any testing, but I think I may order one for them just to see what they are retaining.

Kirsten

[LynnH]

Having just finished RTR I see how the beginnings of note taking are being taught. In Rod and Staff 5 they learn how to outline which is important for taking notes. In RTR during story time they have specific things they are supposed to listen for such as a plot twist or new vocabulary word and they write this down on a note card. IEW Medieval Writing lessons teaches keyword outlining and how to pick out the important information from reference material. Yes it is written reference material and not oral as a lecture would be, but those skills will carry over. My ds does take notes during the sermon and even with his dysgraphia he is able to keep up by using the key word method. Also in RTR he had to pick out important information about a person from his reading. There was loose guidance for what to put down such as "important event he was known for." In Rev to Rev it looks like this will be taken a step further when researching the signers of the Declaration of Independence they are instructed to briefly list bulleted answers for things like any hardship they suffered and what they did to further the cause of independence. In looking at the first week for MTMM it looks like story time works on taking notes of some sort for the readings, but without having the guide I am not sure exactly what they are asked to do. I do see that they take notes to answer certain questions and then take those notes to the parent and have a Socratic discussion with them using their notes.

As far as testing there are Vocabulary tests in Medieval History Based Writing Lessons. If you really were concerned about tests you can order tests for Rod and Staff. I have the test booklet, but just use it as a review sheet, not a test.

[my3sons]

Having just finished RTR I see how the beginnings of note taking are being taught. In Rod and Staff 5 they learn how to outline which is important for taking notes. In RTR during story time they have specific things they are supposed to listen for such as a plot twist or new vocabulary word and they write this down on a note card. IEW Medieval Writing lessons teaches keyword outlining and how to pick out the important information from reference material. Yes it is written reference material and not oral as a lecture would be, but those skills will carry over. My ds does take notes during the sermon and even with his dysgraphia he is able to keep up by using the key word method. Also in RTR he had to pick out important information about a person from his reading. There was loose guidance for what to put down such as "important event he was known for." In Rev to Rev it looks like this will be taken a step further when researching the signers of the Declaration of Independence they are instructed to briefly list bulleted answers for things like any hardship they suffered and what they did to further the cause of independence. In looking at the first week for MTMM it looks like story time works on taking notes of some sort for the readings, but without having the guide I am not sure exactly what they are asked to do. I do see that they take notes to answer certain questions and then take those notes to the parent and have a Socratic discussion with them using their notes...

WHAT AN ACCURATE, DETAILED RESPONSE! I could not agree more. Thanks, LynnH, for your wise words here. I will add that my ds has only done HOD and now at almost 13 yo takes awesome notes during the church sermon. Our pastor does provide a framework for notes with a thesis, and with 3 main points, each with 3 subpoints to be filled in as you listen. Each person's notes may be different though, as it is more a what struck you than a "write this exactly" kind of thing. We have great discussions in the car on the 20 minute ride home. Riley (my 9 yo) takes notes as well, but they are much more general and often a rewording of the main points already typed there. They are also more like 1 -2 subpoints with just a few phrases. I am not worried. Wyatt's used to look that way too. I credit all of their note-taking skills to HOD, as I've done nothing to help them with it except doing the plans of HOD. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[gmhaynes]

Ladies,
Thanks so much for the thoughts on this. I don't plan on doing anything other than HOD because I just love it and have seen so much growth in my children. Some days I think I enjoy school more than they do!

Lynn and Julie, thanks so much for your detailed responses. Like I said previously, I was pretty sure Carrie had already thought of this because she seems to think of EVERYTHING! I am just heading into Preparing so I really don't know what is coming up in the upper guides, so hearing from you that have already taught through them is very helpful!

Thanks again for the reassurance!

Mary