Charlotte Mason on Single Readings
When someone new to Charlotte Mason takes a look at any CM booklist for one school year, the almost guaranteed response is an eyebrow raise or a scrunched up nose, and the question, “Can they read all that in one year?”
In fact, that’s exactly what a casual acquaintance said to me, several times, on an afternoon tea time when she broached the subject of wanting to learn about CM homeschool, as she was considering it for her son who was the same age as mine.
Indeed, the booklists can look enormous, but that’s because we have a secret weapon: the power of a single reading!
Think about it with me: how long does it take you to read one chapter of an average-difficulty novel? If you’re really interested, it’ll probably take no time at all. But if you’re half-distracted, do you, like me, find yourself at the end of the page, then pause and go, “hey, wait, what did that just talk about?” and glance back to the top to review? This kind of reading takes much longer, and it’s exactly what we do away with in the Charlotte Mason method. That means that our school hours are focused hours, with little or no time to waste.
A single reading encourages attention
Miss Mason insists on a single reading because:
“children have naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated by the re-reading of passages, and also, by questioning, summarising, and the like. Acting upon these and some other points in the behaviour of mind we find that the educability of children is enormously greater than has hitherto been supposed, and is but little dependent on such circumstances as heredity and environment.”
Here we see the importance of doing a reading only once, because it trains the child to pay attention the first time. We also do away with explanations or summarizing for our children what has been read; as it turns out, these “dissipate” the power of attention that children normally come equipped with!
The power of attention is available to all!
But you might argue: that’s only applicable for the educated, for children who have learned to do the CM method from their cradles!
On the contrary, Miss Mason continues, “Nor is the accuracy of this statement limited to clever children or to children of the educated classes: thousands of children in Elementary Schools respond freely to this method, which is based on the behaviour of mind.”
This tells us that the skills in her method are achievable for any child, no matter what his or her family or educational background is. This is actually one of her advocacies, proving that a liberal education is available for all. That’s good news!
How to Implement at Single Reading
Here are some tips on how to encourage the habit of attention when you’re reading aloud to your child:
1. From the very start, explain that you will only read the passage once.
When your child knows that you won’t reread, he knows it’s his responsibility to pay attention, because you won’t be repeating anything and he won’t get another chance to hear the passage.
2. If your child can’t remember anything, show how sorry you are–but don’t reread!
This requires much restraint! I’ve had times when I enjoyed the story so much only to be met by a blank stare–when I’ve wanted so much for my child to enjoy it too! The temptation is to reread because we want them to get it. Hold yourself! The CM method recommends just expressing how sorry you are because he missed a very exciting part of the story, but don’t go back and reread. Most likely, the natural consequence of having missed something that was obviously nice and fun will encourage your child to listen better the next time!
3. Don’t be predictable when asking for narrations.
Children can be very wise; if they know you’re about to ask for a narration, they can quickly pay attention, even while dawdling at some other point. The key is to vary the lengths of your narration.
Or, if you have several children, don’t ask for narrations in order, because once they know it’s not their turn, they could just tune out. Instead, pause and ask for someone to narrate at random! This keeps them on their toes 🙂
4. For older children, consider using a timer.
For older children who are doing their readings on their own, consider setting the time for the average length it takes them to read. That way, they know that they have a time limit to their work, and it also lets you know if they’re dawdling too much on a page.
Charlotte Mason Single Readings Work!
From experience, it’s proven that single readings work in securing attention. Of course, it doesn’t guarantee perfection, but it’s a growing and learning process for both parent and child. Sometimes we can lose our patience when things don’t go the way we want them to, but we just press delete and move forward, staying true to the principles that Miss Mason laid out from her understanding of children. Slowly and surely we can see progress, but remember, it’s a long term process, so be gentle with yourself, too!
