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Are there guidelines or directions for how to "teach" this to the student? I know how to do the process, but are there guidelines as to how much the child should do for narration written and oral... and help to teach them to improve??? I hope this makes sense. In other words, does it say read pgs 4-7 and have child do written narration? or is it more explicit with read pgs 4-7 and discuss what and why... narrate making sure to include such and such...

In the Appendix, at the beginning of the dictation passages, there is a section called "Special Instructions for the dictation passages". It is about a half-page of clear directions about CM style dictation. This makes dictation stress-free, and easy to do. I read it over before beginning, and then a few times throughout the first week, and then I had the process down and had no need to refer to it any longer.

Written narrations begin in PHFHG. They are based on the history readings and are done once each week (on Day 4, in the Reading about History box). You can see the first lesson at this link - just arrow down to Day 4, Reading about History, top left box of plans:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/pdf/PHFHG-sample-week.pdf

Each written narration follows this pattern. The parent reads the history. The student rereads a portion of the history upon which his narration will be based. There is then a short discussion with some guided questions. Then, the student writes a short narration, and reads the questions in the box to reflect on their narration. Finally, there are 2 sections in the Appendix of PHFHG that are very helpful. The first is titled "Written Narration Skills: Teacher's List", and the second it is titled "Written Narrations: Student's List". They give further detail about the written narration process, including how to go about editing them.

HOD really helps explain the CM process of doing things, and I think it helps make it easier to put these great methods into practice. So, don't worry - HOD has covered the bases for us!

In Christ,
Julie

We're doing Preparing with my 10yo. He is SO NOT a written narration kinda kid. But, Preparing makes it relatively painfree and simple. With the questions, it gets the student thinking about what he will narrate. The main thing is not to expect perfection, but to realize that a kid that starts the program with shaky narrations will get better and better each time he does it.

What is impressing me about Preparing is how the instructions in the manual give you a script of questions to ask about specific reading assignments. Directions are also given that hold your hand step-by-step through teaching your child to do a written narration. Then you have the fact that each subject box every single day has key concepts listed. As the teaching mom, you know exactly what your child is supposed to be taking away as the key point of every assignment.

If you're anything like me, you've been given the advice of, "Well, just transition him to written narrations when you think he's ready." Gee, that's helpful. LOL You aren't left hanging like that with Preparing Hearts. Instead of generic advice that you can't really apply on the fly, you really have a teacher's manual that walks you through the process step-by-step. I haven't seen anything else on the homeschooling market like it. I think you'll be pleased. I was pleasantly surprised at this strength of the program!

Butterfly113,

We have worked hard to provide you the step-by-step directions within Preparing Hearts that will help your child be successful in dictation, oral narrations, and written narrations. With our oldest son, we've had years of following CM's methods in these areas, but we found that a little more direction would have been helpful in order to guide him into those skills.

Hopefully, our guides provide that needed hand-holding to transition students into feeling like they can do what we are asking them to do, without it being overwhelming. It also helps the parent know what the end goal is and give tips on what to do to make that happen (while still keeping each child's narration from looking exactly like another's).

Blessings,
Carrie