New to Studied Dictation and Choosing a Dictation Level
A fellow homeschool mom asked how to choose a dictation level for her 9-year-old son who was new to studied dictation. I thought sharing this dialogue might help some other homeschool moms in this same situation! I’ll share her initial question, my response, and her response after trying it…
Initial Question: If we’re new to dictation and switching from another spelling program, how do I choose a level?
We are beginning our third Heart of Dakota (HOD) manual (Preparing Hearts for His Glory). I love it, but I have never used the studied dictation. We have stuck with our regular spelling program. I’ve heard amazing things about Charlotte Mason’s dictation in HOD, and I’m tired of the other spelling program I am using taking so much time. With that said, how do I figure out where to put my 9-year-old in the studied dictation? I also have a 7-year-old. Thanks for any advice.
My Response: Begin with Level 2 and see how it goes.
I can see why you’d like to switch to Charlotte Mason’s studied dictation! It works, it is efficient, it takes very little time, and it is already a part of HOD’s guides. I am convinced HOD’s studied dictation is the reason two of my sons who were preemies and had speech delays are excellent spellers as young adult men today! As far as my other son, well, he sailed through dictation because the Lord just gifted him with the natural ability to spell well. Thank you, Lord!
If I were you, I’d begin your 9-year-old son with Level 2 and see how it goes. You can tell a lot by beginning at the start of Level 2 and testing the waters. In general, I think dictation is going well if children get most of the passages correct, and miss only one or maybe two a week at the most. Any more misses that that, and I think it is an indicator it is too hard. Often times, it is not the spelling children forget; it is the punctuation or the indenting. At least that was the case for both of my sons.
Try Level 2’s first passage as a trial run.
For your 9-year-old, I would try the first passage of Level 2 as a trial run. You never know, sometimes children forget more than we think they will, and one error of any kind is enough to repeat a passage the next day in dictation. If you can tell that it was super easy for your 9-year-old, I’d jump ahead to the middle of Level 2, and give that a whirl. I’d probably stay there awhile, maybe a few weeks’ worth. If he misses any, I’d probably finish out Level 2 from there, just to give a good foundation. If he doesn’t miss any and it still seems quite easy, I’d move him ahead to doing just the last 20 passages or so of Level 2 and see how that goes. Again, if he doesn’t miss any for a few weeks or more, I’d move him up to Level 3 and go through that whole level from start to finish with him. The levels increase quite a bit in difficulty throughout the year, so that is why I’d go about it this way.
If you start the 7-year-old, I’d definitely start with the first passage of Level 2 and would not skip ahead for any reason. Seven is the youngest age kiddos begin studied dictation in HOD.
I would not skip ahead in the future.
Once you have found a good fit for this year, I would not skip ahead in the future. I am only recommending this approach since you are transitioning from a different spelling program and your son has not done studied dictation before. In the future, if your son happens not to miss any passages for a week or two, I’d still keep going systematically though the passages. They build upon each other, and it may have been a fluke he passed the earlier passages for just a week or two. Randomly skipping passages and/or jumping ahead sporadically for the duration of dictation would negate the intended skill building of studied dictation (not just the spelling of words, but also the mechanics and usage of passages).
My response is just for helping your son choose a dictation level because he is new to studied dictation and switching from a different program. Hope this helps!
In Christ,
Julie
Her Response: After Trying It with Her Son
Hi Julie! I just thought I’d let you know how my 9-year-old son is doing. I started where you suggested (with the first passage in Level 2). Since he had no mistakes for two weeks, I jumped ahead to passage 51, the middle of Level 2. He forgot to indent several days in a row and had to repeat that passage. When he moved on to passage 52, he remembered to indent but forgot the question mark.
Though he is a good speller, he is not as good at remembering to indent and to use proper sentence punctuation. Our previous spelling program never focused on that! I can see now why studied dictation helps kids become better writers. We are moving along rather nicely now, but he still forgets to indent now and then and he still ends up needing to do passages with question marks several times. On very rare occasions, he spells a word wrong. Overall, he misses one passage a week and needs to redo that. I can see he is learning so much and becoming a more careful writer.
Here is the best news though – he is actually INDENTING when he writes his written narrations. He is also using proper punctuation most the time. The other day he used a question mark properly in his written narration. He thought I was a little crazy when I clapped and complimented him on that. Anyway, thanks! This worked.
Also, we’re waiting on starting my 7-year-old. The good news for him is he is doing Beyond’s spelling list two and learning to write three sentences with capitalization and PUNCTUATION already now with those plans. Maybe he’ll learn to write with punctuation right away. Maybe he’ll learn to write with question marks right away. Wouldn’t that be grand?!? Thanks.
P.S. from Julie:
If you have an older student new to dictation, try beginning with the easiest level of dictation in the Heart of Dakota guide that student is using. Then, try following the same steps listed above.
