How to Use Dictation in Your Homeschool

Posted by Christine | 0 comments

Dictation is a technique that is mentioned often in homeschooling circles.  It is a foundational activity in the Classical method and the Charlotte Mason method, among others, and has the potential to significantly boost grammatical understanding and skill.  But what does it look like?  How is it done from one house to the next?

A couple of weeks ago we had our older two assessed for their end of the year paperwork.  We have a wonderful former teacher/homeschooler who is always so thorough with the children’s portfolios, and she has been a source of information and encouragement for all of us.  When she came upon my oldest son’s dictation work, her interest was piqued, and she wanted to know exactly how we use this language tool.  She was surprised to find out that I allow the children no preview of the section of literature that they write from dictation, and that they make few mistakes and have attained a firm grasp of some important concepts through this technique alone.  This got me thinking that maybe someone else could benefit from hearing how we utilize this method in our learning.

Dictation has worked very well for us, and I continue to use it regularly for my two oldest children, who just finished 5th and 2nd grades.  I start dictation with my children when they are in Kindergarten or first grade and are beginning to have a good grasp of phonics and enjoy creating words from sounds, even if they don’t know all of the “rules.”  Even a Kindergartener can learn that periods end sentences and commas symbolize a pause in the flow of the words (they can learn the “whys” later).  It’s amazing what young children can pick up simply by absorbing language intentionally through aural means and trying to organize what they hear on paper.

Here are some basics to remember when using dictation:

• Start small- Use a very short and phonetic sentence that will bring success to your child for their first experience with dictation.  As the child feels a sense of accomplishment with their work, choose longer and more challenging excerpts.
• Always use good literature- I choose all of my dictation assignments from good quality children’s literature and I or the child will write the name of the book at the bottom of the page for future reference.  This is not the time to use easy readers.  Use excerpts from time-tested literature that will whet their appetite for future reading.
• The goal is not always perfection- Often I am simply trying to gauge what my child knows: does she remember to use quotes?  Does he have a handle on the fact that “-tion” is a common suffix and is pronouced “-shun”?  How well does she use ending punctuation?  It is also important to remind the children of this concept.  My daughter is a perfectionist and for the longest time she would melt down if she got a mistake on her dictation.  I had to work tirelessly and calmly to remind her that dictation was different than copywork, where perfection is the goal.
• Choose interesting examples- I always try to choose excerpts that will be interesting to each child.  For my son, that means sections of text that are about battles, or are incredibly silly, or have a cliff-hanger ending that will leave him wanting to know more.  My daughter likes books about animals or more girly subjects.  A good choice in a dictation exercise makes the assignment so much more fun!
• Vary the concepts you are teaching- Each dictation example I choose has a purpose or two behind it.  It could be that I want them to practice formatting paragraphs with a section of dialogue; maybe it is a Dickens example to work on longer sentences with multiple clauses and lots of commas, colons and hyphens; perhaps it’s simply full of good vocabulary that will stretch their memories.  Though I never choose an excerpt that will be completely frustrating for them, I do want to challenge them!
• Tell them if there’s something that is unknowable to them- I do not require my kids to guess at strange proper nouns.  I don’t expect them to know the difference aurally between a comma and a semi-colon.  I will write down a hard-to-spell name for them, or tell them ahead of time if there’s an odd punctuation mark.
• Read the excerpt exactly as it is written, and exactly the same each time- This is where you, as the reader, can make or break their success.  Read the full excerpt through once, clearly, with inflection, drama, and pauses in all the right places, then break it up into manageable chunks.  Read them large enough portions so that they have to memorize it as they write, but not so much that they get frustrated.  Complete the exercise with a final full reading or two for the child to correct mistakes and check their work.
• Correct and rewrite- I, or the child if he is older, will edit the selection with a red pen.  He will then rewrite the words misspelled and fix the other errors.  Only if there are many errors do I have him rewrite the entire excerpt.

Here are some graded examples of dictation I might choose:

“Mike, I told you to stop that!” said Aunt Cassie.  (Socks, Beverly Cleary)

Lester looked at him, then took one cookie carefully between the split in his front hoof and ate it very slowly and with tiny bites.  (Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic, Betty MacDonald)

“Now, come along, bear,” he growled sternly, as he handed Paddington the mallet.  “Don’t just stand there.  I’ve got a lot of shopping to do and I want to get out this morning.”  (Paddington at Work, Michael Bond)

Bilbo’s heart jumped into his mouth.  He gave a terrific squirm.  Buttons burst off in all directions.  He was through, with a torn coat and waistcoat, leaping down the steps like a goat, while bewildered goblins were still picking up his nice brass buttons on the doorstep.  (The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien)

“Stone dead!” said one of the old women, hurrying in as soon as the door was opened.

“And  nothing to tell, after all, “ rejoined the matron, walking carelessly away.

The two cronies, to all appearance, too busily occupied in the preparations for their dreadful duties to make any reply, were left alone, hovering about the body.  (Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens)

Christine Hiester is a Christian, homeschooling mom to three boys and a girl, ranging in age from 10 to 3 years old. She is a musician by trade, eclectic in homeschool style, and continues to grow and learn along with her children in this journey of life and discipleship at home. Visit her blog at Fruit in Season.