Recitation

[Jessica Louise]

I think that I must being leading recitation incorrectly. Can someone help? My daughter is very good at memorizing, but we're struggling with recitation. For example, the other day she responded that there were 24 letters in the English alphabet and 26 hours in the day. She does have Auditory Processing Disorder and dyslexia, so those play in to her reception of information. One time I wrote a new week's recitation on flashcards, with the question on one side and the response on the other. She really has those facts down- still (such as the five categories of vertebrates)- but can't remember how many hours are in a day! Should I let her practice the new information of flashcards for a week before we go through it in recitation, or stick to purely oral work? Help?

[Jweishaar]

Do you have a chalkboard or whiteboard in your learning space? I often put things we’re memorizing on our chalkboard where the kids see it throughout the day and it seems to help cement things in their minds.

[jen1134]

One of my kids is in the evaluation process for APD and oral work kills him. I love your flashcard idea and J’s whiteboard idea.

[cherylswope]

Jessica Louise, you might try two things:
1. Separate items that seem too closely alike, such as 24 hours and 26 letters. Place them at different points in the recitation or omit one for an entire month or two. Your daughter might be experiencing "retroactive interference," which is said to occur when tasks or pieces of information are too much alike.
2. For the item you save to learn, spend a few minutes before the recitation going back over its context. (If 24 hours, count them on the Demo Clock. If 26 letters, count them on your alphabet wall chart.) Then ask the targeted Recitation question. Then proceed to the full Recitation with the question embedded in it.

If your flashcard approach works better than this, consider pairing the cards with the oral recitation. Use the cards only as a visual cue when you ask the question.

Let us know if you make progress!

[Anita]

Good to read this and remember for my own use. Math recitation facts have historically been a little sticky for my kids. When the Math recitation asks how many (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters) are in a dollar, they almost never get nickels correct. This may be why. Thanks for the explanation.

[Jessica Louise]

Ladies, thank you! Your ideas are straight forward and make sense! I tried so hard to teach the CM way that I think I have shamed myself away from teaching. Thank you for the help!

[Anita]

Ladies, thank you! Your ideas are straight forward and make sense! I tried so hard to teach the CM way that I think I have shamed myself away from teaching. Thank you for the help!

Lots of former CM’ers here! We get it! 😄

[Jessica Louise]

Anita How did you find your way from "Don't get between the child and the author." to teaching?

[Anita]

Anita How did you find your way from "Don't get between the child and the author." to teaching?

Honestly, I just trusted the plan. I started teaching in the Classical method with MP and the results were almost immediate (as in, the first month I could see rapid improvement in my children.) So the results were what sold it for me. After that, I just went with the “owner’s manual.”

What we were doing with CM was not working as well as I had been … led to believe, I guess? It all sounds so simple and sweet when you read the source material. The lived reality is different, though. I think the CM approach is a product of its time — for it to work, many societal and familial norms almost have to be in place. Otherwise, the teacher is not going to have good support and the students are not going to adjust and respond well. But that’s just my two cents.

[Anita]

[Anita]

[Jessica Louise]

Anita Thanks! You're always a great help!