Dictation in Bigger

[Kathleen]

I have one quick question about the dictation passages I'm using in Bigger. We started at the beginning, and so far my son hasn't missed a single thing on any of them. Spelling is something that comes very easy for him and he seems to have a handle on. I'm a little surprised that he's remembered punctuation and capital letters, which seem to be much harder for him. Anyway, I am totally new to using dictation, and I'm wondering if he hasn't missed anything in the 10 passages we've done so far if I'm starting out too easy. Should I look further back and pick a passage to start with that has more challenging words? Or will he still be benefiting from writing the passage correctly, and we'll eventually get to the passages that will challenge him more? I wasn't sure if there were "extra" passages in Bigger, or if there were only a year's worth.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Kathleen

[Carrie]

Kathleen,

It's wonderful that your son is doing so well with dictation. It can be harder than it looks! My little guy sailed through the dictation in Bigger too. That is actually a good thing as we don't want it to be so difficult that they get frustrated. I would just keep on going through the passages and celebrate his success with it! Some things in their day need to be "easy".

The good news is that the passages will prepare him well for the harder ones to come in Preparing. I know my sister had mentioned that her little guy sailed thorugh most of the passages too, until he started making mistakes towards the last month of the year. So, don't rush to get to the harder passages, they'll get hard soon enough.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Kathleen]

Thanks Carrie!

I've never had any experience doing dictation, so I wasn't sure what to think. I was pretty sure that he could still benefit from writing the passages correctly - spelling things right, capital letters, punctuation - even though it was easy. I also know that CM encourages not "seeing" words spelled incorrectly, and we were accomplishing that. We'll just keep enjoying the journey!

Kathleen