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I am new to Heart of Dakota and I am preparing for next fall (2010). Can anyone explain to me a little more about what dictation is and how to do it with your child. I have an idea about what it is but want to make sure I am on the right track.

By the way, I am so excited to get started on this curriculum, I wish summer break were not here for us

Thank you and God's blessings!

We've not really gotten into this yet, but it is my understanding that dictation is when you read to your child (or the child reads by himself) and he then tells you in his own words what the story/chapter/passage was about. I think it's mainly for children who don't have the skills to write it all out.

Narration is a child retelling the story in his/her own words.

Dictation is the teacher dictating a sentence (saying a sentence/phrase) to the child, and the child writing it down. Remembering proper captialization, puncutation, spelling, etc...

Charlotte Mason uses dictation as a very effective tool for spelling.

It's like Christine says. You have the child study the passage first and then when they are ready you say it to them sentence by sentence or phrase by phrase pausing for them to write and they write what they hear and remember of the spelling and punctuation trying to copy it exactly as they say it in the passage. If they miss anything they then study that passage again and repeat it before they move on to another until they can get it correct.

That is the long answer. The short answer is one word, "magic". You are going to love the results it brings in your child's spelling and attention to detail. To me it is magic. I do not know why it works but it surely does.

Whoops! I was close.

Thank you! That is kind of what I thought but I was not 100% sure!

Just so you know too, HOD's guides explain in detail how to go about doing dictation. So when you get your HOD guide, you can flip to the dictation in the Appendix and read the half-page instructions about it. Then, you'll be good to go! Since you are interested in finding out more about dictation, here are some links you may enjoy:

Carrie explains CM Dictation:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5661

Kuddos for dictation:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4877
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5558

Dictation is the most effective tool for teaching spelling that I have come across in 15 years of teaching. It's different from how we learned to spell, but it's a winner.

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,
Thank you for the sites!

I am so amazed at how God works! This past year I was wondering what on earth are we going to do for spelling so I bought the Spell to Write and Read and took the training and ended up confused and disappointed. I was also looking for a curriculum that just told me what to do in all subject areas and use the Charolette Mason approach. Well, I went to the MACHE conference this spring and at a booth far away from HOD's I was asking another mom what she uses for curriculum and she told me about HOD, two booths down the same thing. So I went to HOD booth and a mom who uses the curriculum spent 20 minutes telling me about it and then Carrie took another 45 with me! Needless to say I was sold and am very pleased with everything!

Sorry that was long

Isn't our Lord amazing? His plans for us are so perfect and laid out in ways we cannot even think far enough ahead to imagine. I was helping Carrie out in the booth at MACHE, so we may have even met. Anyway, I'm so glad the Lord placed those ladies using HOD in your path and led you that direction. Carrie and I always pray together for the Lord to send whoever needs HOD to the booth, and then that He would give us the words and the wisdom to help as best we can. HOD is all for Him - glory to be to Him. I'm glad you are here!

In Christ,
Julie