Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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10 Options for Narration

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Free Homeschool Resources (Notebooking Pages & More!)

November 24, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 7 Comments

Not all of us have super literate kids who can write pages upon pages of exquisitely written narration after listening to read alouds or quietly reading her literature and history assignments.

Narration is a great assessment tool.

We use narration regularly to check for comprehension and understanding.

We seldom do any formal testing until high school. I love to interact with my children and we can’t do that when they’re sitting at a desk filling in little circles. We hope to instill a love of learning for a lifetime.

10 Options for Narration

What to do for narration with those kids who might be more oral or artistic:

Mix up the options for narration so it doesn’t get boring!

1. Draw or Paint a Picture.

A great way for a child who doesn’t write well or who prefers art to express herself.

2. Coloring Pages.

Great for younger kids who need some guidance.

3. Act a Scene.

Have your child prepare a skit, complete with costumes and set. A great group activity for co-op or families.

4. Puppets or Paper Dolls.

Who doesn’t love a puppet show? Your child can make simple little paper finger puppets, use stuffed animals or dolls she already has, or make fun sock puppets with all those mismatched socks and some crafty items. Print images from online or have your child draw and color her own and attach wooden chopsticks for creative play. A great co-op or dad performance.Finger Puppets

5. Building.

Use Legos, blocks, or some other fun manipulative to discuss setting.

6. Notebooking.

These are way beyond worksheets. Adapt them to suit your child’s needs. We love Notebooking Pages where we can print a huge variety or make our own.

7. Lapbooks.

These are like fun scrapbook projects about your subject. Some of our favorite lapbooking supplies come from Hands of a Child and Currclick.

8. Flashcards or a Card Game.

Use index cards to create a memory game with words or pictures or concepts. Or print graphics to glue on and laminate.

9. Timeline Work.

Create or find pictures and words for kids to cut and paste to a poster. Great for history or literary chronological order work.Timeline Work

10. Sensory Bins.

For very (and not quite) little kids, provide fun multi-sensory activities and teach narration through asking questions and listening to your tot’s creative play. We did a great bin for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Tips for little kids with listening and behaving during read alouds.
For older kids, I still like traditional narration. With Technology. And having a literature reader notebook.

What are your favorite narration activities?

Linking up: Laugh and Learn, Happy and Blessed Home, Living and Learning at Home

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Filed Under: Homeschool Tagged With: Charlotte Mason, classical, homeschool, narration

Preschool Listening Skills

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Free Homeschool Resources (Notebooking Pages & More!)

January 24, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 3 Comments

I’m not really all that metacognitive about teaching my kids listening skills. I’m sure it works better some days than others despite the fact that I don’t actively incorporate this into our school time.

I recently have had some lightbulb moments when I noticed my son was learning on his own how to listen actively.

I want to to practice Listening Skills in our homeschool.

And I love his interpersonal skills. He often reprimands me, but kindly: “Look at me, Mama!” and then he tells me or shows me what he wants. This is a great skill that my husband and I should really have mastered with four kids. In this age of rampant ADHD and behavioral disorders, many parents and teachers would rather treat the symptoms instead of solving the problems that cause these disorders, whether imaginary or real chemical deficiencies.

I am learning to be a better listener with my children. I know they require my undivided attention and deserve my respect when they speak to me. By looking directly at my kids while they speak, I am teaching them to respect others who are speaking – and that’s a great life skill.

I am so pleased that my children are learning to listen so well and I vow to be more diligent to keep them active and attentive listeners as we continue to practice these skills.Preschool Listening Skills

 

Preschool Listening Skills with Games, Nature Study, and Learning

My three-year-old son, Alex, really did well with listening to directions with Funnix Reading and Math this week. I love how it offers clear directives and teaches listening and following directions just as much as reading and math skills. He has his little pointer and follows what the “teacher” tells him. It’s like a dialogue and he did wonderfully for his first lesson. We’re also thoroughly enjoying All About Reading Level 1!

Funnix listening

Alex and his six-year-old sister, Kate, played so sweetly together with the light box and rainbow blocks. They usually power struggle with each other, but they took turns and listened to each other well. I was a proud mama.

light box play

We practiced being quiet and listening to the birds, wind sounds, and the crunchy snow beneath our boots on our snowy nature walk. He whispered so he didn’t scare the birds and deer we saw on our hike. He pointed out lichen and leaves and the frozen pond to me with dancing eyes.

Listening to Nature

More fun ways to work on listening skills:

  1. Simon Says games
  2. Directed coloring pages (Alex likes the ones from 1+1+1=1)
  3. Narration with or without props (like puppets!) – we also like to discuss and review body parts at bathtime with bath puppets.
  4. Following directions with chores
  5. Helping in the kitchen (with kid-sized tools!)
  6. Q&A after Bible lessons
  7. Montessori sound matches and studies
  8. Music, instruments, and composer studies (we like to discuss the high and low notes, fast and slow tempo, and different instrument sounds)
  9. Looking speakers or teachers in the eyes and repeating what is said so it is understood and then completing the direction
  10. Go on a Letter Walk and point out things that begin with a certain letter

Do you have any tips to improve preschool listening skills in your kids?

Essential Oils to help with attention:

  • Vetiver
  • Cedarwood
  • Lavender
  • Brain Power
  • Frankincense

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Filed Under: Homeschool Tagged With: listening, narration, nature study, preschool

Narration with Technology

This post may contain affiliate links. See disclosure. Check out my suggested resources.
Free Homeschool Resources (Notebooking Pages & More!)

December 26, 2012 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Notebooking was getting monotonous and boring for my tween daughter.

Lightbulb.

I had been fighting threatening negotiating with Liz to get her history narration//writing/accountability questions/thinking questions completed. Tapestry of Grace can be overwhelming without a little planning here and there. Picky Choosy. We sure can’t do it all.

I threw an outline together on PowerPoint and told her to fill it in with the information.

She loved it. No more battle. Why didn’t I think of it before? When I taught public school, I often had my students use PowerPoint and Publisher for assessment. And Liz is now of the age those students were. Perfect.

We will do more technology narrating each week now.

And it’s good to show Dad that she accomplished something. Since all she wants to do is lay around and read and talk about it. He wants to see a product. Win/win/win.

Narrating with PowerPoint

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How do you make notebooking fun for your older kids?

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Filed Under: Homeschool Tagged With: computer, narration, notebooking, technology

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