|
Downunder Literature |
|
Providing resources of enduring value |
|
Australian and New Zealand Dictation Resource
|
|
Downunder Dictation and Teacher’s Guide is a useful resource for the Australian and New Zealand homeschooling parent and classroom teacher. Downunder Dictation and Teacher’s Guide can be used as a complementary teaching resource to the Downunder CopyWork series. All the excerpts are from whole or ‘living’ Australian and New Zealand literature books, dating from 1769-2007. They include: classic fiction, poetry, songs, biographies, studies of nature and explorers’ journals. The same quotes are also used in the Why should I use Dictation? Well-chosen dictation passages expose children to good literature and a variety of text types that help them recognise and use well-structured sentences, good grammar and correct punctuation. The dictation method that Charlotte Mason suggests is not what most of us would remember from school. A great emphasis is placed on preparing the dictation passage before they are required to write it. This can be done using copywork, word study and careful examination of the piece to be written. The goal is to get it right the first time. To see a sample page click here. Charlotte Mason and Ruth Beechick suggest starting dictation during the primary education years. Individualise dictation for each student depending on their abilities. At first, just one line may be enough. You can work on the same dictation lesson over several days. As they improve you can increase the amount of dictation required in one sitting. Start simply, giving all the help needed to get the dictation correct and gradually give less prompts. Dictation in the Homeschool Using dictation in the homeschool is a great addition to the parents homeschool resources. This book is so easy to pick up and incorporate into your homeschooling lessons. The dictation lessons are not graded. There are many ways these dictation lessons could have been presented and many ways in which instruction could have been given. Rather than guide you through each lesson, with endless lesson plans, and a ‘to do’ list, I have chosen a more minimalist approach. This means the home educator can individualise each lesson to suit their homeschool student. On some lessons I have also added some lesson idea suggestions. If you are homeschooling multiple ages you can often use the same passage and vary your treatment of it. One child could copy the passage, while the other has it for dictation. Whilst one is learning some spelling words, the other could be taught some aspect of grammar. The younger student could be given a shorter portion of the passage. You could also have one homeschool student dictate the passage to the other. And, although they probably won’t like this one, you can have one child proofread the other’s work, before they hand it over to you for marking. Dictation lessons can be done over a homeschool week if desired. They can be done on an ‘ad hoc’ (when you feel like it) basis or worked through sequentially. One lesson per week will take you through one homeshool year. Once you get comfortable with this method, you can branch out with your own selection of passages for copy work and dictation. Price: eBook version $14.95 ; Spiral bound version $17.95 Age Range: 8-12 To read a review on Downunder Dictation & Teacher’s Guide click here Click here to see the US Dictation Guide A New Zealand Version is available through Learnex.
|