Narritive type question

[Momma Aimee]

I have a questions -- kinda an "is this where he shoudl be" kind of thing.

We want to follow a Classical / CM style -- but our boys are so young we don't worry too much (Ok i TRY not to ).

I know that for CM lessons and narritive are not 'required" untill like 7 or 8.

Theo, will on his own, recount the plot of say Curious George (one of his few TV shows) or a movie ... and he can "tell you" like the 3 bears and a few other well known stories.

However, if i ask him ANYTHING about what happened in a book we jsut read, even one we have read and read and read all at his request -- he seems to get really confused and either can't or won't answer me.

Is this something I should even worry about at 4.5 (he will nto be kindy till '11).

Is there anything i can, or should, do?

Aimee

[violet]

First off, no--don't worry. He's so young he's looking for more concrete questions and answers. Questions with one word or "correct answers. We started out with "baby" narrative questions. I'd show the first page and ask for something concrete, "Where's George on this page?" What is he holding" What is he doing?" What is he going to do next?" The first questions are concrete and doable for preschool-kinder ages. Then the last question relies on their recall of the story as it moves onto the next page. We'd look at the next few pages, laughing at things or noticing concrete things, then I'd ask another series of questions about what is there and then what comes next. That way the child is not overwhelmed by telling you about the whole thing or deciding where to start...he just has to tell you what comes next!

The point of narrative is the putting it into their own words. So for youngsters too young to recall or retell, just having them tell you about one page is more than enough.

When DD was 5-6 I started asking "Who is this story about" What did they do at the beginning?" Then, "What happened to them in the middle of the book?" after that?" etc. My DD is now 8 and she still needs me to prompt her as she narrates back to me. But she has all those skills of identifying the concrete elements of the story (characters, setting, actions, etc) and is getting better at identifying the climax etc. as she retells the parts.

I'm advice then -- start small and concrete.

[Momma Aimee]

thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I was confused because he can tell a story and seems to follow the books we read but sould not tell them to me at all. good suggestions.

[Bluegoat]

Charlotte Mason advised never asking for narration from a child before age 6.