Are we doing written narrations right?
We are new to Heart of Dakota (HOD) and Charlotte-Mason’s ways. My daughter is still struggling with orally narrating on big chunks of reading. This past week my daughter was supposed to do the 3-5 sentences written narration for Unit 3 of Preparing Hearts for His Glory (PHFHG). I didn’t want to discourage her, so I just let her go as long as she wanted. She wrote an entire page, and she folded/glued it in the notebook. Was that too much? Should I be keeping her to more of a summary on these or what? I am not sure if I am directing her in the right way. If her writing is really lengthy, should I correct it for spelling, grammar, and have her rewrite it with corrections? There were many errors. It was so long. Help!
Sincerely,
“Ms. Please Help Us Know If We Are Doing Written Narrations Right”
Dear “Ms. Please Help Us Know If We Are Doing Written Narrations Right,”
First off, I’ll just say your daughter is trying so hard, and you should be so proud! As far as editing, you can use the tips from the Appendix titled “Written Narration Skills” as your guide.
Next, I’ll just share a bit about Charlotte Mason (CM) and her progression of skills, so you (and everyone else who wonders about these same things) can see what we’re looking for in a written narration. This is likely much longer than your question warrants, but since we’re on the topic I’ll share anyway.
Oral narration is a stepping stone to this skill.
Typically CM did not expect kiddos who have not had much practice orally narrating to do much in the way of written narrations, as oral narration is seen as a stepping stone to writing written narrations. This is one of the reasons why we begin written narrations very slowly and in short form in Preparing Hearts, as kiddos still need to firm up their oral narration skills first as they are transitioning into written narrations.
Authors’ words and phrases are meant to be borrowed.
CM-style written narrations are not meant to be summaries of the readings, but are instead meant to borrow wording and phrasing from the author to convey what stood out to the child within the reading. We begin writing written narrations on very short portions of readings first to allow kiddos to hone this skill. So it is good to know that when you read your child’s written narration, you’re not looking for a summary.
Copywork and studied dictation skills precede written narration skills.
CM also did not have kiddos do much in the way of written narration until they had first been exposed to years of copywork and studied dictation during which many of the skills of spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and usage were meant to have been practiced and internalized. So, by the time kiddos were writing narrations they were supposed to be strong oral narrators, have been doing copywork for years, been utilizing studied dictation, be used to interacting with living books and the higher-level vocabulary contained within them, and be ready to turn their oral narrations into written form.
Try to follow, at least in general, the length guidelines.
I share all of this to show you that CM had a very steady progression she expected children to go through prior to allowing them to do any writing of any length that wasn’t copywork! Since you’re newer to HOD and to CM’s methods, I would definitely encourage you to try to generally follow the length guidelines (or somewhere in that vicinity) within our guides. As the weeks progress, the length increases.
Use the skills checklist to edit the narration step-by-step.
Make sure to use the “Written Narration Skills Checklist” to edit at the end in the steps as outlined in the Appendix of the guide. This will allow your child the baby steps she needs, while allowing her to practice all of the other needed CM style skills needed to produce good written narrations at the same time.
Your daughter obviously enjoys writing and appears to be a natural! However, as you continue, you may find the suggested length guidelines to be your friend, as this will also moderate the writing so that your sweetie doesn’t end up producing pages of writing that could stray far from following needed grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and usage rules. Yet, she will still be able to express what she took from the reading in written form.
In Closing
I am not a CM purist, yet I do love so much of what she sets forth in her philosophy. For me the marriage of CM’s strategies with my own 30+ years now of experience with kiddos has led me to this progression in the area of written narrations and later to our stance on other forms of writing in general. Keep up the good work! Just follow the length guidelines, edit with the checklist, and your daughter will continue to improve!
Blessings!
Carrie
