10 Things You Must Know About Narration: The Secret Weapon in a Charlotte Mason Education
Narration. Every student in the Charlotte Mason philosophy possesses this skill and continues to grow in it.
It may sound simple. After all, the student merely reads the lesson, and then he’s asked to tell about all he remembers from the reading. For those of us who were not educated the CM way, it sounds almost as if CM is easier than traditional school: in traditional school, we have to memorize lists of facts, or fill in the blanks with the correct answer, or choose the correct answer—only one is correct—from a multiple choice selection.
But do you know that narration actually requires greater brain power? In this post, we hope to give you the basics of what Charlotte Mason narration is and how to help your child to develop this skill.
What is Charlotte Mason Narration?
Yes, Charlotte Mason narration can be as simple as just telling back what we have read or heard. If the child is not yet a strong reader, normally, the parent reads the lessons, and then he narrates back what he heard. If he is already reading his school lessons himself, he will pause and tell back what he has read.
One of Miss Mason’s principles is as follows:
As knowledge is not assimilated until it is reproduced, children should ‘tell back’ after a single reading or hearing: or should write on some part of what they have read. (from the Preface to Volume 6 Towards a Philosophy of Education)
This tells us that narration is an essential tool for children to assimilate their lessons. We believe that only what the child “reproduces,” through the act of telling us or writing about it, are the ideas that make it into their heart for the long-haul.
Let’s take a look at what Miss Mason says about narration, and learn how we can apply it.
1. Narration is an art.
First, she describes narrating as an art:
Children Narrate by Nature.––Narrating is an art, like poetry-making or painting, because it is there, in every child’s mind, waiting to be discovered, and is not the result of any process of disciplinary education. A creative fiat calls it forth. ‘Let him narrate’; and the child narrates, fluently, copiously, in ordered sequence, with fit and graphic details, with a just choice of words, without verbosity or tautology, so soon as he can speak with ease. (From Vol 1 Page 231)
Indeed, isn’t it natural for children to tell us all about what they see, and in full, graphic detail? You probably remember your preschooler telling you all about her trip to Grandma’s, or the latest trick that his Labrador friend has learned, and how he trained the dog to do it.
2. Narration is natural for children to do, but we can quench it.
This amazing gift with which normal children are born is allowed to lie fallow in their education. Bobbie will come home with a heroic narrative of a fight he has seen between ‘Duke’ and a dog in the street. It is wonderful! He has seen everything, and he tells everything with splendid vigour in the true epic vein; but so ingrained is our contempt for children that we see nothing in this but Bobbie’s foolish childish way! Whereas here, if we have eyes to see and grace to build, is the ground-plan of his education. (From Vol 1 Page 231)
Could it be that we may be guilty of what Miss Mason says, our “contempt for children”? Sometimes we may be too busy to listen to our toddler’s constant chatter. But from this passage, I’m reminded that our toddlers’ and preschoolers’ constant talk is already their practicing the inherent gift of being able to narrate!
When to Narrate
But before you jump the gun and require your preschooler to start narrating all the books you read together, take a look at when Miss Mason recommends to do narration:
Until he is six, let Bobbie narrate only when and what he has a mind to. He must not be called upon to tell anything. Is this the secret of the strange long talks we watch with amusement between creatures of two, and four, and five? Is it possible that they narrate while they are still inarticulate, and that the other inarticulate person takes it all in? They try us, poor dear elders, and we reply ‘Yes,’ ‘Really!’ ‘Do you think so?’ to the babble of whose meaning we have no comprehension. Be this as it may; of what goes on in the dim region of ‘under two’ we have no assurance. But wait till the little fellow has words and he will ‘tell’ without end to whomsoever will listen to the tale, but, for choice, to his own compeers. (From Vol 1 Pages 231-232)
Here we can see that we do not require children below six years old to narrate, but if he wants to, we can let him. (To learn more about the early years, check out his post on Charlotte Mason preschool.)
Miss Mason recommends formal schooling to begin at the age of six, and starting from that age, narration is a requirement for all school lessons, except for Math, poetry, and music.
(On a side note, picture study includes a form of narration, when they tell back what they see in a given painting or when they try to reproduce a rough sketch of what they see; nature study also includes a form of narration when they copy what they see onto paper, in a drawing or including some written details.)
10 Things You Must Know About Charlotte Mason Narration
Take a look at the following ten things that we need to understand about Charlotte Mason narration and how to do it:
1. Commit to only one reading/hearing.
This Power should be used in their Education.––Let us take the goods the gods provide. When the child is six, not earlier, let him narrate the fairy-tale which has been read to him, episode by episode, upon one hearing of each; the Bible tale read to him in the words of the Bible; the well-written animal story; or all about other lands from some such volume as The World at Home. (From Vol 1 Page 233)
Before you begin, be clear with yourself and with your child that you will only read the lesson once. This forms a strong foundation for the habit of attention: when you know that you only get once chance to read or hear something, you will concentrate, compared to when you know that Mommy will only read it again—and maybe even explain it for me—anyway.
Here is something else that Miss Mason says about the necessity of a single reading:
A single reading is insisted on, 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. (from the Preface to Vol 6)
2. Include a wide variety of books.
The seven-years-old boy will have begun to read for himself, but must get most of his intellectual nutriment, by ear, certainly, but read to him out of books. Geography, sketches from ancient history, Robinson Crusoe, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Tanglewood Tales, Heroes of Asgard, and much of the same calibre, will occupy him until he is eight.
From this and many other passages, we learn that the CM method advocates for a wide curriculum, so that the child learns about a great deal of subjects, all out of living books.
3. Use ONLY living books.
The points to be borne in mind are, that he should have no book which is not a child’s classic… (From Vol 1 Page 233)
We must emphasize this point: “He should have no book which is not a child’s classic.” The CM method relies on the use of living books, or excellently-written literature and science texts, because children’s minds come alive when put in contact with engaging stories written in the best literary form. We cannot expect our children to narrate from some dry textbook, or some poorly-written material. That’s not to say they cannot narrate from them, but we deprive them of the excellent quality writing that forms a strong foundation for excellent narration. Children need to hear and read from the best books, and then they will be able to tell back the tale with relish and beautiful language.
4. The reading should not be “diluted with talk or broken up with questions.”
… and that, given the right book, it must not be diluted with talk or broken up with questions, but given to the boy in fit proportions as wholesome meat for his mind, in the full trust that a child’s mind is able to deal with its proper food. (From Vol 1 Page 233)
For those of us not educated in the CM way when we were in school, our view of teaching probably includes a teacher standing in front of the class lecturing and explaining topics from our textbooks. This makes it difficult for us to imagine a lesson where we only read from a book without needing to explain or ask direct questions!
In the CM method, we believe that the child’s mind is capable of assimilating knowledge, so that we offer him a feast by way of these excellent living books, then stand back and let him process what he heard or read through narration.
5. Start the lesson by talking—a little bit!—about the last lesson.
Method of Lesson.––In every case the reading should be consecutive from a well-chosen book. Before the reading for the day begins, the teacher should talk a little (and get the children to talk) about the last lesson, with a few words about what is to be read, in order that the children may be animated by expectation; but she should beware of explanation and, especially, of forestalling the narrative. (Vol 1 Page 234)
If you are already in the second lesson onwards, you can start the lesson by reviewing what happened in the last reading. Miss Mason says that the teacher should “talk a little (and get the children to talk) about the last lesson.” This is actually a form of narration, too, where the child still remembers what happened last time.
If it’s your first year doing the CM method, don’t be frustrated if your child has trouble remembering, but don’t despise his ability too. Over time, it can and will improve.
After reviewing what happened, we can also say a line or two about something to stir up excitement, but remember what Miss Mason says about avoiding “explanation and… of forestalling the narrative.”
This is not the time to tell our children everything that happened in the last lesson, especially if we feel they did not pay attention! (In fact, if they did miss hearing the last lesson, Miss Mason recommends sympathizing with them for having missed an exciting part of the story, but we do not explain it to them! It becomes a natural consequence of not listening.)
Perhaps the key to remember is to talk “a little!” Just enough to whet the appetite, and you’re good to go.
6. Read two or three pages, enough to include an episode.
Then, she may read two or three pages, enough to include an episode; after that, let her call upon the children to narrate,––in turns, if there be several of them. They not only narrate with spirit and accuracy, but succeed in catching the style of their author. (Vol 1 Page 234)
The key to remember here is that we must read enough to cover a scene or an episode that the child can tell back. We do not read one sentence at a time and test their comprehension by asking them to narrate line by line; instead, we want to paint a picture of what is happening, and then we ask the child to tell us what happened.
Try it yourself to see what we mean. In your next free time, find a classic book and read a few pages, then pause and narrate back what you read. See how much more fun it is to narrate a scene where something has already happened!
7. Refrain from constantly making corrections.
It is not wise to tease them with corrections; they may begin with an endless chain of ‘ands,’ but they soon leave this off, and their narrations become good enough in style and composition to be put in a ‘print book’! (Vol 1 Page 235)
When our child first starts narrating, we as parents may be tempted to correct every little bit of grammatical or pronunciation error. Miss Mason recommends us to restrain ourselves, and trust the process. In time, the more that the child hears or reads excellently-written literature, his narration will also emulate the language, which results to a constant improvement in the way he tells back a scene.
Remember, the Charlotte Mason method is a long-term investment: we may not see results instantaneously, but over time, we will see just how much our child has improved!
8. Keep lessons simple and short.
This sort of narration lesson should not occupy more than a quarter of an hour.
The book should always be deeply interesting, and when the narration is over, there should be a little talk in which moral points are brought out, pictures shown to illustrate the lesson, or diagrams drawn on the blackboard. (Vol 1 Page 235)
Charlotte Mason recommends lessons to be about fifteen minutes for early elementary, and we slowly increase the length of time as the child grows older. She also mentions that we can include a bit of discussion after the lesson, as well as showing relevenat pictures or diagrams.
With CM’s principle of education being the “science of relations,” we trust that our children are able to make connections between the different things they learn, so we keep this discussion minimal and refrain from making connections for them.
For example, if you’re reading from Thornton Burgess’s The Burgess Animal Book for Children, after the lesson, you may want to show Google images of the animals that were talked about. Some parents may want to include a relevant YouTube video. The challenge is not to be swayed by all the unit study materials we find online. We don’t want to bog down our children with too many YouTube videos, countless coloring pages, classification cards, drawing lessons on how to sketch that particular animal, a puppet show, and many other resources that we may think are helpful—but can actually suck the life out of the interesting book that the child already enjoys!
Keep it simple and short. That’s part of the beauty of the CM method, that you don’t have to bend over backwards to keep your child entertained! We trust in the power of engaging stories that fill their minds with interesting ideas that they can even chew on days and weeks after the lesson is over.
9. Children who can read well should read their own lesson, and still narrate afterwards.
As soon as children are able to read with ease and fluency, they read their own lesson, either aloud or silently, with a view to narration; (Vol 1 Page 235)
While we greatly encourage reading aloud to our children, once our child is already a strong reader, we expect them to read their own lessons. But remember that they are still expected to narrate, orally, what they have read. You might want to have them read the lessons aloud first, and then slowly transition to reading silently, but still requiring them to narrate as they go along.
10. For books where you need to skip over some parts, the parent should read the lesson aloud.
…but where it is necessary to make omissions, as in the Old Testament narratives and Plutarch’s Lives, for example, it is better that the teacher should always read the lesson which is to be narrated. (Vol 1 Page 235)
Because our school lessons come from rich, living books that may not necessarily be written for children, we can’t avoid the times when some parts may need to be skipped, such as when a book goes into graphic detail about violence, sex, or other topics that your child may not be ready to deal with. In such cases, we recommend the parent to read that lesson for the child, so that you can skip over the necessary parts without much fanfare.
Continue Narrating and Learning
We look forward to seeing you and your children grow in the skill of narrating. We also have a post on Charlotte Mason Narration Prompts, if that’s something you may be interested in.
Again, make sure you use the very best living books, and you will see your child flourishing in the way he tells back the events and ideas in his school lessons!
