TLDR: What Is Oral Narration?

Oral narration is the process of retelling a story or other information in one’s own words, out loud.

Oral narration helps young students bridge the gap between their spoken language abilities and the small-motor development necessary for fluent handwriting. Alongside copywork and dictation, oral narration is a crucial first step in teaching composition (“writing”) to children in grades K-3.

This post is part of TLDR (“Too long, didn’t read”), a series of very short articles that explain common homeschooling terms.

Copyright 2022 by Drew Campbell, PhD. All rights reserved.

Drew Campbell is the author of  Living Memory, I Speak Latin, and Exploring the World through Story, and co-author, with Courtney Ostaff and Jennifer Naughton, of How to Homeschool the Kids You HaveDr. Campbell is a veteran homeschooler and has worked as a classroom teacher, private school administrator, and independent tutor.