I am trying to upload more consistently this school year. We have really enjoyed being “back to school”. It is a simple routine but one strewn with lovely touches which have gone over very well. Here is an example. For first grade we are finishing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons as we have done for the previous six first graders. The lessons include letter practice. Instead of printables destined for the trash we are making main lesson book pages of the best work.

First, we take small crayons and make stripes to serve as general guidelines. These help corral the letters without putting undue pressure on young hands. Then a few of each letter indicated in the lesson are practiced. In this way we can employ some of the creative techniques we love without having to entirely reinvent the curricular wheel. Small adaptations make a world of difference for the child and save a lot of hassle for mom. Before scrapping it all and starting over, see how you can make what you have in hand work in new ways.

Here is a recent grade three narration about Leonardo Da Vinci with illustration. It was dictated to me and then written by the student as is usual at this age. Laura Berquist explains.

This process results in a retelling…that is truly the child’s own work, but the separation of the composition of the retelling and the physical act of writing make it a much less burdensome procedure.

When the child is finished telling his story we talk about why it is written as it is. Where are there capitals? Why are some lines indented? Where are the punctuation marks? Why? He is encouraged to pay special attention to those things when he copies his words onto his main lesson page.

We have moved away from typed narrations to those that can be completed by hand for several reasons. I have found typed narrations to be revisited less often. They have a bit of a colder more sterile effect. The child tends to have less “ownership” of that type of work than he has of things he produced with his own hands. It is also a precious keepsake of imperfect letters and heartfelt drawings that came from inside of him.

Since there is a limit to how much small hands can produce it is necessary to practice summarizing. I remember reading years ago that many small children can retell (at least in the moments right after hearing the story) in exhausting detail but struggle with identifying main/relevant ideas. Discussing the composition with the child as he retells goes far in helping develop this necessary skill.

Later he is asked to illustrate his entry. If he does not yet feel comfortable drawing certain things then a representative drawing is perfectly acceptable. For instance a simple rainbow watercolor for the story of Noah works just as well as several detailed people and animals which may be frustrating for little ones. A plain black pot would work to illustrate the Stone Soup story. Whatever is chosen, have them try to fill the page with color. As you can see the tendency, particularly the younger the child, is to make single, tiny pictures in the middle of the page. We gently help to move them out of that habit as time goes on.

For these narrations we are using the three-day rotation described by Laura Berquist, Marsha Johnson, and others to increase retention. We tell the story (or they read it) on the first day. The next day the child retells and copies his story to page. The last day an illustration is added. The result is that the story is very solid in the mind afterwards. Slow and steady wins the race. Focus on doing a few really well rather than making pages for every experience the child has.