Narration & Journal Entries for Young Kids

Before my kids did formal Teaching Writing: Structure & Style (or knew about topic-clincher ideas), I asked my kids lots of questions about what they read and wrote down their answers. Since I was writing down the answers, I could put proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, etc. I could even put the answers in a proper paragraph format. This gives them the “what to write” at the beginning stage of reading journals. Then they could copy their own responses the next day.

I believe it is important that our kids first discuss what they read (just like Andrew has kids tell back a paragraph verbally before they write it because they usually write what they say). After the discussion, kids can write a journal entry. This is what DeMille says when he states the key components to mentoring are Read, Write & Discuss. As I write this I am quickly reminded that we may be forgetting the part about discussion when we talk about reading journals. It may be that younger kids (those with little or no writing experience) need to discuss what they read (or read aloud together) before they can write about it. Hey, I can be flexible. I surely don’t take everything I read in Thomas Jefferson Education and implement it exactly. Like DeMille said, “I am the expert on my family” and can homeschool accordingly.

I would never tell my kids to write about what they have read, offering a blank paper, unless they had some idea of writing a paragraph. I am certainly not suggesting that the kids have no idea of what to write. I hated those assignments as a kid. Using questions that probe a kids’ memory should produce a few sentences about what was read. At a young age, 3-4 sentences about Sir Cumference would be fantastic. I think the idea of narration, as described above, is a way to get the kids’ ideas down on paper without intimidating them with a writing assignment. Again, my purpose for reading journal entries is to see what my kids remember and have learned from the books we read, not critique their writing ability.

I don’t know about you, but my kids’ first IEW paragraphs did not have all the techniques included immediately. They didn’t have topic-clincher relationships because they did not know what it was. Does that mean they should not write a paragraph until they have been taught the topic-clincher relationship and can be successful at this topic-clinchers? My kids slowly learned how to write a good paragraph with a variety of stylistic techniques. This took years. It may be that writing a good journal entry is also a slow process, possibly a year or two. As far as our family is concerned, all of my kids still have more to learn about good journal entries . . . just like I do.

I guess I have rambled enough.

Kerry

More Thoughts on Reading Journals with Younger Kids

In response to a question about reading journals with Thomas Jefferson Education: Should I require reading journals in every subject area?

If I were in your shoes, I think 1 paragraph for each subject is PLENTY. BTW, if your child is under 10, I’m not sure I would have her writing that much. One thing I would encourage with younger kids is to have them narrate to you what they learned. You can type it on the computer and print it out for them. Then, let them use it for copywork/penmanship the next day. This will give them a double reinforcement. You might even try this with oral reports to daddy. You can write down what she says at dinner and then print it out the next day. If you want to use one of the narration exercises for a “writing assignment”, then you can spend the next week or so adding dress ups or whatever they have learned so far.

My encouragement is not to be “wooden” in your application of reading journals. Think about why you are having them do a reading journal and plan your entries around that reason. Be flexible with your kids. The point is not to make a reading journal assignment, but for your kids to LOVE LEARNING, not hate reading journal or writing assignments by overdoing it.

Kerry

Organizing with Your Kids

This came to me from Marcia's newsletter. If you like it, there is a place at the bottom to subscribe and get more ideas weekly.

You should love this idea as you organize your school stuff for an upcoming year.

Kids play. Make organizing fun for kids by turning their chores into games. Set a timer for 10 minutes and have your kids put all of their toys away before the timer sounds.
Give out small rewards, like stickers, based on the amount of toys they've managed to put away before the timer went off. Another game is 'Organizing Statues.' Put some music on as everyone is cleaning up, but put somebody in charge of turning the music on and off, unexpectedly, at intervals throughout the cleaning session. When the music stops, everyone has to freeze, like a statue, in a funny position-- like with one arm out and one foot in the air. As each person moves, they are eliminated. The last person to stand without moving, wins. Then, put the music on again and start over until the project is done.
Maria Gracia
Get Organized Now!
http://www.getorganizednow.com
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My kids are older, but they sure enjoy music as they clean. I need to finish sorting through all my homeschool curriculum since we moved.

Happy Cleaning,
Kerry