How to Memorize Poems the Charlotte Mason Way

Perhaps you have recollections of memorizing poems when you were in school. Most likely, you would repeat a line over and over until you could commit it to memory and recall it at will. But do you know that the Charlotte Mason method of recitation and memorizing poems is “learnt without labour”? 

Miss Mason encourages children aged 9 and above to have, as part of their daily readings “a good deal of poetry,” and this has many purposes and results in our children’s education. But for the purposes of this post, let’s take a lookat what she says about poetry and reciting them: 

Memorising.––Recitation and committing to memory are not necessarily the same thing, and it is well to store a child’s memory with a good deal of poetry, learnt without labour. (Vol 1, page 224) 

So what does it mean to memorize poems—a good deal of them, too!—without conscious effort? 

Charlotte Mason’s Poetry Memorization Tips

Do note that what we are talking about here is poetry memorization, and not necessarily the overall study of poetry. Let’s take a look at how Miss Mason describes the process: 

Some years ago I chanced to visit a house, the mistress of which had educational notions of her own, upon which she was bringing up a niece. She presented me with a large foolscap sheet written all over with the titles of poems, some of them long and difficult: Tintern Abbey, for example. She told me that her niece could repeat to me any of those poems that I liked to ask for, and that she had never learnt a single verse by heart in her life. The girl did repeat several of the poems on the list, quite beautifully and without hesitation; (Vol 1 page 224) 

Isn’t this a picture of how we want our children to be reciting poetry from heart? 

For our family movie a few months ago, we started watching Anne with an “E” on Netflix, (based, in my opinion, very loosely on Anne of Green Gables, one of our favorite living books!) and one of my favorite scenes was when Anne was reciting poetry at the train station to get some money. Well, come to think of it, whenever and wherever she was reciting poetry were ALL my favorite scenes! Despite the fact that I found the series deviating a lot from the plot points in the book series, I felt that the actress really portrayed Anne in a very convincing manner, and these poetry recitations especially brought to life our beloved bubbly and imaginative Anne Shirley in real flesh and blood. 

So how do we do this? Let’s continue reading in Miss Mason’s Volume 1 on Home Education: 

…and then the lady unfolded her secret. She thought she had made a discovery, and I thought so too. She read a poem through to E.; then the next day, while the little girl was making a doll’s frock, perhaps, she read it again; once again the next day, while E.’s hair was being brushed. She got in about six or more readings, according to the length of the poem, at odd and unexpected times, and in the end E. could say the poem which she had not learned. (Vol. 1 page 224) 

Do you see it? The child, from constant repetition, even just once per day, would slowly but surely, soon find the poem ingrained in her memory, so that she could repeat it herself, at will, without having to commit it to memory by sheer effort! 

Easy Steps for Poetry Memorization in a Charlotte Mason Homeschool 

So let’s lay out those steps in three simple steps: 

Step 1. Pick a poem to recite over the course of several weeks. Many families pick 12 weeks to have one poem to enjoy together over one term. If you need help, we have a post on our favorite Charlotte Mason poems to memorize.

Step 2. Read the poem aloud, only once, to your child, everyday. If possible, read the poem aloud at different times in the day, even when your child is doing something else. 

Step 3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for the next poem for the next term. 

Doesn’t that sound very doable? Perhaps one way to make it even easier is to have your poem printed out on cardstock and placed in a very accessible spot. That way, you can just pick it up as you go through your day and read it aloud instantly! 

Let’s close with what Miss Mason observed about this process of learning a poem: 

I have tried the plan often since, and found it effectual. The child must not try to recollect or to say the verse over to himself, but, as far as may be, present an open mind to receive an impression of interest. Half a dozen repetitions should give children possession of such poems as ‘Dolly and Dick,’ ‘Do you ask what the birds say?’ ‘Little lamb, who made thee?’ and the like. The gains of such a method of learning are, that the edge of the child’s enjoyment is not taken off by weariful verse by verse repetitions, and, also, that the habit of making mental images is unconsciously formed. (Vol 1, pages 224-225) 

Enjoyable Poem Memory Work 

Charlotte Mason poetry study and memorization are a must-have as another source of beautiful, living ideas, and we hope this post helps take away some of the trepidation that some families feel at the thought of doing “poetry’!

Through the gentle way that we read aloud poems for our children’s poem memory work, we believe we can do away with the tediousness of rote memory while cultivating a love for words and imaginative thinking!