heartofdakota.com

This is my first year doing the dictation exercises with my daughter and I am a little confused on the directions. On Day 1 of each week it says to complete the first studied dictation, does this mean you go all the way back to the beginning one day each week? Also, on Day 4 each week it says to complete one dictation exercise but it leaves out the word studied, does that mean that I just read the next one to her without her studying it first?

Kara Livingston

No you don't go back to the beginning. You keep progressing through the passages. You let them study it each time paying attention to any difficult words and punctuation. You then dictate a phrase at a time. If they get everything right including indenting and punctuation then the next day they move on the the next passage. If they miss anything then they repeat that same passage the next day.

HI Kara, and welcome to the HOD Board! Dictation is new to so many of us, as we didn't do it when we went to school. LynnH gave some great advice. At the start of the dictation passages in the Appendix, there are some detailed directions as well. Those may be helpful to read through a few times too, but otherwise, just keep asking questions here until you are feeling like you are sure about it! It's nice to 'meet' you, and I look forward to getting to know you here!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks for your kind replies. So if I'm understanding you correctly the word "first" in their instructions for day 1 and the lack of the word "studied" on day 4 doesn't really mean anything? I just follow the dictation instructions and do the same process each day, right?

Kara

klivings wrote:Thanks for your kind replies. So if I'm understanding you correctly the word "first" in their instructions for day 1 and the lack of the word "studied" on day 4 doesn't really mean anything? I just follow the dictation instructions and do the same process each day, right?

Kara

In short, yes, you are right.

I just looked at my CTC guide and just noticed what you are talking about. You just keep going where you left off, moving ahead one passage at a time, so disregard the word "first" on day 1. The whole exercise is called "studied dictation" because the child is allowed to study it before you dictate it to him. Contrast this with spelling programs where you dictate a sentence to a child which they have never seen before. My only guess is that the word studied was left off on day 4 because of the spacing--adding the extra word would cause the sentence to need a second line which would in turn make the box bigger.

luv2homeschool wrote:...My only guess is that the word studied was left off on day 4 because of the spacing--adding the extra word would cause the sentence to need a second line which would in turn make the box bigger.

Smart lady - you are right! Keeping the guide within the confines of the provided space of the box has been an excellent way to make sure directions don't get overly lengthy or cumbersome to follow. It also means a word may be dropped now and then.

In Christ,
Julie

klivings wrote:Thanks for your kind replies. So if I'm understanding you correctly the word "first" in their instructions for day 1 and the lack of the word "studied" on day 4 doesn't really mean anything? I just follow the dictation instructions and do the same process each day, right?
Kara

Yes - that's right! We have really been impressed with the positive impact dictation has made on our dc's spelling within their own writing over time. I'm so glad you asked about this, and I am excited for you to begin your 'dictation journey' and see how 5 minutes a day can truly transform dc's spelling over years!

In Christ,
Julie