Posts Tagged increased comprehension

Have you ever thought that reading a book in your home school is like having a conversation?  The author creates an imaginary universe with characters, plot, and themes while the audience is responsible for interpreting and understanding the meaning of the story.  Often an author provides a narrator within the book to serve like a museum docent who points out the interesting events and people along the way.  I’m sure that as a parent who reads aloud to your home school children, you also provide an additional layer of understanding by narrating the content as you go along.  While the two-fold combination of a narrator within the story and a narrator outside the story (you) is extremely valuable to enriching the child’s comprehension, the growing child also needs a personal opportunity to grapple with the text.  Oral narration is just the tool for such a task.

Oral narration is essentially the process of “telling back” what has been heard, read, seen, or learned.  You read a few pages of a story, then you stop and ask your child to tell you what just happened.  If your child is reluctant or can’t seem to find the words, you can  coax some understanding by suggesting something that did NOT happen.  This shocking revelation from you is sure to grab your child’s attention, and the outraged (if not smug) child will suddenly remember all the little details.

One of the beautiful benefits of oral narration is improved listening skills.  Even as adults, we sometimes find ourselves zoning out during long lectures or even during silent reading.  If you knew that you were going to have to give a brief synopsis of what you had just heard or read, you would finely focus your attention in a way that classifies and connects information so that you could confidently summarize what you just learned.  A little child will do the same thing if he knows that mom is going to ask him questions at periodic intervals during the read aloud time.

Personally, I have trouble recounting something that I have just heard or read if I don’t narrate my understanding to someone.  For instance, I can scan the newspaper for interesting articles, and five minutes later, I have no recollection of what I just read.  (I could blame my age, but I know that’s not the only cause of my memory lapses.)  However, if I read an article or listen to the news with the intention of sharing what I learned with my husband or kids, then I notice my attention is intentionally focused on finding the keywords, the topic sentences, and the summary statements.  I even visually outline what I want to say before I open my mouth to make sure I don’t lose my train of thought.  Once I start talking, I realize my weak areas of understanding, and if my husband asks me questions (his perverse joy), I am able to clarify even fuller understanding or lack thereof.  This process of oral narration serves me well because it results in increased comprehension and long-term retention.  Your home school child and teen will benefit, too, from this essential element of classical homeschooling.

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Have you noticed the new envelope icon under my signature at the bottom of this post?  Yes, you can now easily email this post to a friend!  Why not send this to someone right now who could benefit from some homeschool teaching tips?