When I first read The Well Trained Mind and came to the section on outlining, I quickly came to the conclusion that this was one area that we would skip over entirely. I have a deep loathing for outlining. I don't really know why. It just doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it requires too many brain cells for me to make sense of it. I'm not sure. I do know that when I was in college, I would always write my paper first then fill out the required outline afterwards. I could never do it the other way around. I guess I made up the outline mentally and was not able to carry that out on paper. Because of that, I consider outlining a bunch of gobbledy-gook.
The WTM encourages middle-schoolers to start outlining sections of their reading, preferably non-fiction. In this way they are analyzing how the pros do it and are learning for their own use. For some reason, I am having major difficulties with this. I just can't seem to figure out the supporting statements for each main idea. I know that this can be rectified by practise on my part but it is a bit daunting when I think I need to teach this to me kids.
I was a bit relieved, when reading WTM again recently, to see that for 10 yr. olds the first step in learning how to outline is just gathering the main idea in every paragraph. I can do this. I have been having Mia using Story of the World for this first step. She has been doing very well with this. Next year, we will have to move to the next step and that is when my angst will be thrust into full throttle.
Another easy baby step to teach outlining was suggested by a fellow elist member. When reading our stories (I will probably use the models from CW Homer) I will point out the beginning, middle and ending of the story. We will then show this in a simple outline:
I. Introduction
what happened first
II. Body (middle)
what was the core of the story
III. Conclusion (end)
how did the story end
Well, I can handle that. That is enough for us to handle for this year. I will worry about the next step next year. The procrastinator in me likes these baby steps. 