Dictation

Remember dictation? It's that writing practice that so many moms think ought to be done but that they either forget to do it or their kids don't like it.

Let's start over. What is the reason to do dictation with your kids?

Dictation enables children to discover if they are able to write from memory properly spelled words, and then, to assemble them on the page to see if they are properly punctuated. Because this is not original writing, they will have a model to compare their work against to see if they have “gotten it right” or not.

Is dictation for everyone? No. If you have a child who hates it, don't do it. Really. Not every child has to do dictation. For kids who are open to it, it's a wonderful way to encourage growth in spelling and punctuation.

If you have kids who have shown resistance to dictation, here are some of the ways to change the atmosphere surrounding dictation:

Choose favorite books so that the passages come from books they love. Harry Potter is a huge favorite.
Suggest the child chooses his/her own dictation passage.
Subscribe to the Arrow/Slingshot so that the dictation is pre-selected and is well-explained.

Remember that the best dictation is the kind that a child enjoys. You can try a variety of dictation methods that correspond to the developmental stages your kids are in: French dictation, reverse dictation and straight dictation.

For further explanations of all of the above, see Chapter One in The Writer's Jungle if you need more help.