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My dd that has cerebral palsy has learned from HOD to become an excellent narrator. I knew those skills would transfer over one day to "real" life in some way. To me you think about the day when they will listen to lectures in college and it has to pay off then in my mind. But what I did not expect is what I got when my dd came to "big" church instead of her children's class. The topic that day was part of a series on Revelation and this one was on some more obscure points including all the various views of the second coming of Christ. I am telling you had I taken impeccable notes I could not tell you as much information my daughter was able to give me the day after the sermon when I asked her what did she learn. And this is a child with short term memory issues among other learning issues. I have to tell you I thanked God for all the time we put into helping her get those narration skills in HOD. It's so worth it! I just wanted to encourage anyone that is maybe not seeing the light at the end of the path yet. Narrations was a little work for my four oldest coming out of ps. Quite honestly they really had no idea how to listen coming out of ps so forget narrating in the beginning. But it has been so worth it. The skills really do carry over to other things in life! Narration I can see now is really so valuable a skill! It's worth it.

Wow that is wonderful. It is also such an encouragement to me. My ds came out of public school last year and oral narration has definitely been the toughest thing for him this year. I am seeing improvements, but you are right he had no idea how to really listen for details when he came home. Your post encourages me to just keep working on it knowing eventually he will get have it down.

That's fantastic! Thank you for sharing that wonderful story!
That really helps me see what some of the "fruit" may be in my own children and makes sticking with things that are difficult worth the effort.

water2wine,

Thanks for sharing about your daughter with us! Narration is one of those skills that moms often wonder whether it is worthwhile to expend the effort doing within the school day. We've found it to take some time to develop, but to be a very useful life skill for all types of kiddos.

I know it was one of those CM skills that provided an "AHA!" moment for me!

Blessings,
Carrie

water2wine - I'm so proud of your dd! This is a perfect example of how narration is necessary in the day to day for all ages. It is such a crucial skill to acquire. I had a tough time remembering what beginning narrating sounds like with my second ds, as I'd become too used to hearing my oldest ds's narrations - and they've become pretty good now after 4 years of practice. It was hard going back to starting narrations from scratch. It really is a skill that takes much time but is worth the investment of time and energy. On a side note, we always have our dc take notes on the sermon at church on Sunday, and then we all discuss it on the drive home. I am amazed at how much my oldest ds remembers too! He can just look at his notes and practically regive the sermon. My middle ds has much less to say (like 2 or 3 things usually ), but even that has been improving so much since we started narration. Thanks for posting this - as it IS needed encouragement for those just starting narration and needing to see the light at the end of the tunnel with it. Even for me heading down that tunnel again with a second kiddo - I needed to hear it. Thanks!

In Christ,
Julie

my3sons wrote:On a side note, we always have our dc take notes on the sermon at church on Sunday, and then we all discuss it on the drive home. I am amazed at how much my oldest ds remembers too! He can just look at his notes and practically regive the sermon.

That is such a great idea. I take notes and discuss with them but I honestly had never had them take notes. I need to give them all a sermon book to take notes. Great idea!

I can't take credit for the idea, as our pastor is super organized and prepares an insert for the bulletin ahead of time. It just lists Introduction: with a big space under it, then Thesis in 1 sentence, and then he has usually 3 sentences of main points, each with a 1. 2. 3. listed with open spacing under each number. This makes it easy to take notes and has helped with this habit, but I do think even a blank notebook works well too.

In Christ,
Julie

I think I will make them all fabric covered notebook for Easter. That would be a good thing I can do for all of them. I like this idea. I am so gald you posted it!

water2wine wrote:I think I will make them all fabric covered notebook for Easter. That would be a good thing I can do for all of them. I like this idea. I am so gald you posted it!

You are so good at making things special for your dc, water2wine. I wish I could sew better than I can! Your dc will love that, and it is a good Easter gift idea. Have fun making them - I know you will!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks for sharing your story.

I recently purchased some pages to make church notebooks for my dc. You can see some what I'm talking about here. Scroll down and it's the one's with "My Church Notebook" on them. I got them when they were on sale though and purchased the one that had all 3 sets. I thought if you read the description, you could atleast get some idea of pages you may want to make to put in your dc's notebook. Just an idea.

Thank you for the link to that Bible notebook! I found those a couple years ago and lost my bookmarks. I have been searching for them for a while now!!!


W2W- I love your idea! How sweet!

John'smom wrote:Thanks for sharing your story.

I recently purchased some pages to make church notebooks for my dc. You can see some what I'm talking about here. Scroll down and it's the one's with "My Church Notebook" on them. I got them when they were on sale though and purchased the one that had all 3 sets. I thought if you read the description, you could atleast get some idea of pages you may want to make to put in your dc's notebook. Just an idea.

Wow those look great. And I could still cover those. Thanks for sharing them.

Water2wine,
I didn't know if you saw this specific notebook when I linked above. I saw that you have 4 different little ones that you could use these for, and the one I just linked has all 3 notebooks in it (preschool, elementary, older/adult), but it's a download, where you can choose which pages you exactly want, whereas some of the others are actual products you'd receive in hand. The one I linked to directly is a much better deal, it's a little cheaper than 2 notebooks. IF you were making 2 or more notebooks, it's definitely cheaper, and you could make more in the future as well. I'm not wording it well, but hope it makes sense.

John'smom wrote:Water2wine,
I didn't know if you saw this specific notebook when I linked above. I saw that you have 4 different little ones that you could use these for, and the one I just linked has all 3 notebooks in it (preschool, elementary, older/adult), but it's a download, where you can choose which pages you exactly want, whereas some of the others are actual products you'd receive in hand. The one I linked to directly is a much better deal, it's a little cheaper than 2 notebooks. IF you were making 2 or more notebooks, it's definitely cheaper, and you could make more in the future as well. I'm not wording it well, but hope it makes sense.

Wow! No I did not see that. I have to wrap my brain around a different plan around making them into a book but that is a much better deal and you can refill them. What size do they print out? Or can you change that? THANKS!

Water2wine,
I just bought them about 3 weeks ago and haven't printed them yet. A week after I bought them, dh started remodeling our one and only 1950's bathroom, so I'm at my parents' house. I do remember thinking they looked like they'd be just regular 8.5x11 though. Not sure if you can change size or not. I was planning on having them spiral bound. If I make it home at all soon, I'll check though.