Listening comprehension skills

[flackattack]

Hi there! Question for you all... We just finished our first week of HOD. I must say that it went way smoother than expected! Usually for the first month of a new year I find myself saying, "What have I done???" The roughest part has been my 6 yr old ds and his listening comprehension skills. I find myself reading the same sentences over and over again. After awhile I get a little edgy! In all fairness my ds is a mover and it seems like at times he is really trying to listen and focus, but all his energy gets the best of him. I know it will take time to train him in this area, but really I don't feel like I am asking too much of him right now. He should be able to answer some simple questions as I am reading a book. So far last year and this year I have had him color or do something with his hands to keep him occupied while he's being read to. That works some of the time. Does anyone have any other suggestions? And how would you best train (or even discipline) a child who repeatedly can't answer simple comprehension questions during storytime?
Thanks,
Katie

[lharris]

hmm that's a good question and hard to respond without observing him. I let the storytime components (history, science read aloud component etc) be a relaxing time for his school day. When I'm reading a story, I don't normally stop too often to check comprehension, your narration tasks will do that for you. If your child knows you are going to ask several questions during the story, he may not enjoy it and actually develop a mental block of "well this is work so I don't want to listen." Try not to interrupt your flow of narrative during storytime and especially your poetry time. Stopping in mid-poem (like when brother 20+ yr old or sister decides to tell me something just then or has to get a snack etc) really messes up my groove! Help your little one enjoy storytime, just keeping working with him, it will get more relaxing as he matures.

[flackattack]

Thank you, Laura, for your thoughts. I think I will definitely have to find that balance. I have been stopping to check comprehension mainly because it seems obvious to me that he is not really listening. I would be ok if he was really enjoying the story but missing some details, but usually he's just zoned out completely! I will try to focus more on the joy of storytime... That's great advice!
Blessings,
Katie

[MelInKansas]

I went to a seminar at our homeschooling conference this past Spring and it talked about learning styles. My DD6 (also doing Beyond) is definitely primarily a kinesthetic child, she learns best either by doing something, or if she is moving around while she is listening to me. One of the questions that was asked was "does it help a kinesthetic child to even just have some play-doh to manipulate while you are reading, or something like that?" The answer was "yes." Which I suppose is why you've seen it help when your son is coloring. I also do interact with my kids during the reading if I feel like they have slipped away from me. I point out the picture in the reading if there is one, or I talk to them about "hmmm, isn't this interesting that they did this, what do you think of that?" So it's not so much quizzing them, as it is drawing their attention back and having them say something back to me to show that they are following along.

[my3sons]

Charlotte Mason said it was key to read without stopping to explain things along the way, as she believed that broke up the flow of the author's words and worked against teaching comprehension. I have come to agree with her whole-heartedly. The flow of the reading is broken up, and this makes remembering a fluid storyline more difficult. So, I'd just read smoothly, with appropriate pacing and expression, and let ds learn the habit of listening. Personally, I believe it best to have dc sitting next to me looking at the book as I read. This fosters comprehension as dc look at the pictures, and as they are able, follow along with the reading. I have 3 sons, and 2 of the 3 are definitely bodily kinesthetic. I let them fidget as I read, but they need to sit by me and follow along. This has helped them learn to attend well to the readings and has taught them to grow into giving good narrations. Orally narrating is a skill that takes many, many years to grow into. It is important to remember that at first, any narration is to be accepted. Carefully reading through the Oral Narration Tips in the Appendix helps me out with how to approach narrating. Of course, you will not even see these tips until Bigger Hearts for His Glory, as Beyond is simply a very basic introduction to narration skills. Charlotte Mason advocated the short lesson method, and that is the format Beyond follows within its plans. Each reading has a follow-up designed to help foster comprehension, so there is no need to draw out lessons and add more comprehension questions or discussion as this will undo the beauty of the short lesson format. Little ones really cannot attend to a task for all that more than 15 minutes, and Beyond recognizes this and keeps lessons short. So, I'd just enjoy clipping along, reading fluently and doing the follow-ups, and let your ds soak up what he does. He will begin to surprise you as the year goes on - the reading is so interesting - the follow-ups such fun and often quite active - I think he'll grow into Beyond nicely as the year goes on. Our wiggly boys sure did! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[flackattack]

Thanks so much for all the great advice! You've helped give me some good goals and boundaries.