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Do you find it beneficial or necessary to preread the extension books for an older child in Preparing? I was thinking, maybe I should. I didn't preread for my older child in Bigger this year and I felt a little blind when it came to discussion. For instance, he read "Guns for General Washington" and I did not. It was clear that he knew and understood more than I did about the topic, but I felt tongue-tied for any discussion. Just thought I could get some of your wisdom.
Sarah

Sarah,

In Bigger and Preparing Hearts, we recommend oral narration, written narration, and a notebooking page as a follow-up with the extension package readings. These assignments are meant to take the pressure off of the parent to be all-knowing about the book and let the child do the work of thinking about the book and placing it firmly in his/her mind. For example, when my older son reads a book from the extension package, two days a week he would come and narrate to me orally after the reading. He would hand me the book at the starting page that he began reading on for that day. As he's narrating, I would be skimming through the pages he is narrating (in order) and listening to see how well he's narrating (which is easy to tell since I have the book in hand). At the end of the narration, I might mention a missed part by saying, "Could you tell me a bit more about what Henry Knox did when...." (and give a lead in for him to narrate the missed part. Then, that is it. The focus is on the child interacting with the text, rather than on me coming up with great discussion questions (which is an area that is already thoroughly covered in DITHR anyway).

Then, on the written narration days, my son hands in the book from the Extension Pack (with it bookmarked to the opening page of the reading for that day), along with his written narration on the reading. When I have a free moment during the day, I call my son over and have him read his narration out loud to me (catching any of his own mistakes and fixing them). I am again looking through the chapter as he reads his written narration to see if he did a good job of hitting the high points of the story. In written narrations, you can always expect a less thorough narration, and I do not make my child go back and add more but I may say (after complimenting him first), "On your next written narration you'll want to add a few more details, or cover more of the story, or mention the character's names, or start a new paragraph when talking about a new idea, etc.)". Then, the next time I watch for that in the written narration and if it isn't there I help my child add it. Again, the focus is on the child's work and interaction with the text, not on me and my ability to come up with good discussion questions. I do also follow the editing checklist for written narrations that you'll see in the back of the Preparing Hearts guide.

Last, on the notebooking day, I require my son to draw something, or print and paste in a picture he's printed from the internet that goes with what he read that day. I also require him to give the page a heading and to give the picture a caption. Last, he must copy something (usually a paragraph or so) from the text that goes well with his picture or write something original that goes with the notebooking page. Again, he hands in both bookmarked book and the assignment. When I check it, I call my son to read it and explain it to me (while I'm looking over the reading for that day). I will again make a few guiding comments at the end for him to take to heart for the next notebooking session. The notebooking time does not have to be an overview of the reading but can focus in a more key way on one aspect that the child found interesting. It moves into a more research type mode as the child gets older. I don't usually have him redo or add to the current entry. The focus is on my son interacting with the text and showing me what he processed on within the reading.

Anyway, I hope this helps!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,

Thank you so much for that wonderful description. I wish I had done it that way this year in Bigger. I feel like I dropped the ball on the extensions and wish I could have a redo. I like the focus of his interaction with the books rather than having the burden of leading the discussion of the books. Has everyone heard this great description of how to handle the extensions from a teacher's perspective? They should.

Have a great week!
Sarah

I'm so glad you asked this question, Sarah, and so glad you answered, Carrie
I just printed this to help us next year with extensions in Bigger!

Sarah,

I'm sure you did just fine with the Bigger Hearts books, as at least your son read them! CM-style learning is something you grow into a bit at at time. So, you're right on track with a bagful of new tips to try as you head into Preparing Heart's extensions.

Blessings,
Carrie

I am so glad you asked and that Carrie had the time to give such a detailed answer. I feel a little less clueless now. I love having this board to go to and ask questions.
Val

Carrie, that is so helpful! You make it all sound so relaxed and natural.

I agree, this is *very* helpful information as I prepare to do Bigger w/ extensions next year. I have printed it out for future reference. Thanks Carrie!!

Another who is printing this out for next year!

Wow, I didn't catch all this either! This is wonderful and helpful detail. Are the oral and written narrations for the extension packs scheduled in already?

I'm so glad that this is helpful ladies. It's all part of the CM journey!

Patience, oral narrations and written narrations are suggested for the extension pack (twice weekly each) in Bigger, Preparing, and CTC. Notebooking is suggested to be done once weekly. My above description is just a glimpse into how we carry that out at my house.

Blessings,
Carrie

This is wonderful to read, Carrie, thank you! It will help so much with next year in Preparing for my 5th grader. I must say, I dropped the ball this year with her with the Bigger extensions. She read them, but I did nothing at all with her beyond having her read them. I'm not sure how I missed that in the guide for the extensions. Oops! There's always next year! I'm still learning!