Does anyone pre-record any of the read alouds?

[AnaDawson]

I am working on our schedule for this year. We will be doing Beyond and Preparing. My daughter, who is doing Preparing, can read all of the selections on her own. However, last year I fell into the trap of letting her read everything on her own (history, science, story time, and DITHOR). I realized that by the end of the year I had no idea what she was reading! I would ask her questions or have her narrate what she had read, but I really did not know if what she had told me was correct. For those of you who have kids that read very well on their own, do you pre-read the selections so that you know they are comprehending what they read? An idea I had was to record myself reading some the history and story time selections and letting my daughter listen to them during school time. This way I know if she is answering correctly and not giving her too much responsibility too soon. How do some of you manage all the reading in the plans? If I buy a voice recorder, which is a good brand?

[Carrie]

Ana,

Good question! The follow-up history activities and science activities in Preparing Hearts are designed to help you keep tabs on what your child is reading. I typically had to skim the book to be able to see that my son got his answers/narrations/etc. on track. In CTC's history and science readings, you will see that your daughter has a follow-up for every reading as well with something to complete within her Student Notebook for the history-related activities.

With DITHR, the child is reading aloud some to you you every other day in Level 4/5 and moving toward more independence in Level 6/7/8. As far as the Storytime goes, we're intending that you read that selection aloud to your child.

If you're wanting to keep better track of what your child is reading, you may just want to read the history spines or science spines for your own "night" reading. They go fairly quickly and are interesting. This is completely optional, but would be one easy way to stay on top of it. While you could certainly record the history or science readings, it is our intention that the child read the material themselves for better comprehension. Listening to a book read on CD also takes longer than simply reading it oneself, so it would also extend your child's day to listen to an audio of the history or science books. This may or may not be a problem, but I just thought I'd mention it.

However, if you're thinking of making an audio version for the Storytime sessions,then it wouldn't extend your day at all, as we're intending for those books to be read-aloud anyway. So, if you thought of doing this for the Storytime that would be one good option.

Just a few thoughts as you ponder.

Blessings,
Carrie

[AnaDawson]

Thank you that helps a lot.

[deltagal]

The boxes in the books are so great at providing a summary of the reading. I love that! Thanks HOD. I also wanted to add that 3 of my children are using extension. Since HOD does not provide a summary of those readings I do pre-read and I have LOVED having them stacked on my bedside table to read as time allows. The books are SO GOOD. I'm currently reading Within the Palace Gates from CTC. Oh my. It's wonderful!