The Value of Narration

From the beginning, we've used a technique called "narration" in our homeschool. It's quite simple. After listening to a reading, the child tells back what he/she remembers. As our children get older, they begin writing several of their narrations each week. It truly is amazing what benefits this simple approach offers. Here's a narration by Whistler (completely in her own words) that she gave to me this morning after listening to the story last night. (Normally, we narrate immediately after our readings, but since we read the fable late last night, this Mommy decided to type it out in the morning.) I was amazed at what Whistler remembered and at how well she articulated her story.

"The Eagle and the Jackdaw"

An eagle swopped down and seized a lamb. A jackdaw saw the deed and got it in his silly head that he could do the same thing. He swooped down and landed on the back of a ram. But when he tried to soar up, he found that he could not because his claws were entangled in the wool. So far was he from carrying away the ram that the ram hardly noticed he was there. A farmer saw the jackdaw fluttering, and, at once, knew what he had gotten into his silly head. He went over and clipped the jackdaw's wings. That night he gave the jackdaw to his children. "What a funny bird this is!" said his children. "What kind of bird is it, father?" "This, my children, " said the farmer, "is a jackdaw. But if you should ask him, he would say he is an eagle." Do not let vanity cause you to overestimate your powers.

(From Aesop's Fables)