Homeschooling with Charlotte Mason’s method is truly a joy when employing her foundational, and unique, use of narration. This episode unpacks the basics of why children make excellent narrators and learn abundantly through building that skill, as well as some basics of how to begin and make use of “telling.”
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“As we have already urged, there is but one right way, that is, children must do the work for themselves. They must read the given pages and tell what they have read, they must perform, that is, what we may call the act of knowing. We are all aware, alas, what a monstrous quantity of printed matter has gone into the dustbin of our memories, because we have failed to perform that quite natural and spontaneous ‘act of knowing,’ as easy to a child as breathing and, if we would believe it, comparatively easy to ourselves. The reward is two-fold: no intellectual habit is so valuable as that of attention; it is a mere habit but it is also the hall-mark of an educated person. Use is second nature…” (6/99)
“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. This amazing gift with which normal children are born is allowed to lie fallow in their education.” (1/231)
“Indeed, it is most interesting to hear children of seven or eight go through a long story without missing a detail, putting every event in its right order. These narrations are never a slavish reproduction of the original. A child’s individuality plays about what he enjoys, and the story comes from his lips, not precisely as the author tells it, but with a certain spirit and colouring which express the narrator. By the way, it is very important that children should be allowed to narrate in their own way, and should not be pulled up or helped with words and expressions from the text.” (1/289)
“…power of knowing, evinced by the one sure test,––they
are able to ‘tell’ each work they have read not only with accuracy but
with spirit and originality. How is it possible, it may be asked, to
show originality in ‘mere narration’? Let us ask Scott, Shakespeare,
Homer, who told what they knew, that is narrated, but with continual
scintillations from their own genius playing upon the written word.
Just so in their small degree do the children narrate; they see it all
so vividly that when you read or hear their versions the theme is
illuminated for you too.” (6/183)
“Our business is to provide children with material in their lessons,
and leave the handling of such material to themselves.” (1/247)
“Value of Narration.––The simplest way of dealing with a paragraph or a chapter is to require the child to narrate its contents after a single attentive reading,––one reading, however slow, should be made a condition; for we are all too apt to make sure we shall have another opportunity of finding out ‘what ’tis all about’ There is the weekly review if we fail to get a clear grasp of the news of the day; and, if we fail a second time, there is a monthly or a quarterly review or an annual summing up: in fact, many of us let present-day history pass by us with easy minds, feeling sure that, in the end, we shall be compelled to see the bearings of events. This is a bad habit to get into; and we should do well to save our children by not giving them the vague expectation of second and third and tenth opportunities to do that which should have been done at first.” (3/179-180)
“The value of narration does not lie wholly in the swift acquisition of knowledge and its sure retention. Properly dealt with, it produces a mental transfiguration. It provides much more exercise for the mind than is possible under other circumstances and there is a corresponding degree of alertness and acquisitiveness. As a Yorkshireman would put it, the children become very “quick in t’ up-tak” (quick in the up-take). Psychologically, narration crystallises a number of impressions. It also tends to complete a chain of experiences.” (Wix, PR 28, p. 697-693)
“So, probably young children should be allowed to narrate paragraph by paragraph, while children of 7 or 8 will ‘tell’ chapter by chapter. Corrections must not be made during the act of narration, nor must any interruption be allowed.” (6/191)
“If the lesson has been misunderstood, narration will show where, and when that is finished it is the teacher’s part to start a discussion in order to clear up misconceptions, etc.” (PR 36, pp. 780-782)
“Narration lessons need very thorough preparation so that she does not notice till too late that there are names and unfamiliar long words which will bother the class. Such interruptions do no less than ruin the very best lesson, the thread of interest and intense concentration has been broken and the class will have great difficulty in picking it up again…So, all names should be on the board directly the introductory question on the previous lesson has been dealt with, and the children should say them over until their tongues find them easy and familiar.” (Wix, PR 68)
“Knowledge [is] received with attention and fixed by narration.” (6/259) so attention is clearly an important aspect of our children’s education and their ability to narrate. In fact, Miss Mason called it the “prime agent” of education. She said: “You want a child to remember? Then secure his whole attention, the fixed gaze of his mind, as it were, upon the fact to be remembered” (1/156)
“They bring with them not only that intellectual appetite, the desire of knowledge, but also an enormous, an unlimited power of attention to which the power of retention (memory) seems to be attached” (6/14)
“I dwell on the single reading because,.. it is impossible to fix attention on that which we have heard before and know we shall hear again. (6/261)
“This is a bad habit to get into; [she warned] and we should do well to save our children by not giving them the vague expectation of second and third and tenth opportunities to do that which should have been done at first. (3/179)
“the power of such composition is innate in children and is not the result of instruction. Two or three points are important. Children in lB require a quantity of matter to be read to them, graduated, not according to their powers [ — ] which are always present, but they require a little time to employ their power of fixed attention and that other power which they possess of fluent narration. (6/191)
“…he learns that one time is not ‘as good as another’; that there is no right time left for what is not done in its own time; and this knowledge alone does a great deal to secure the child’s attention to his work.” (1/142)
“…that the school tasks be done, and done well, in the assigned time, should be a most fixed law. The young people will maintain that it is impossible, but let the mother insist; she will thereby cultivate the habit of attention…” (5/195)
“…the unspoken demand of children for a wide and very varied curriculum.” (6/14)
“The natural provision for the appropriation and assimilation of Knowledge is adequate, and no stimulus is required; but some moral control is necessary to secure the act of attention; a child receives this in the certainty that he will be required to recount what he has read. (6/18)
“…you must not only fix his attention upon each new lesson, but each must be so linked into the last that it is impossible for him to recall one without the other following in its train.” (1/157)
“Even with regular lessons and short lessons, a further stimulus may be occasionally necessary to secure the attention of the child. His desire of approbation may ask the stimulus, not only of a word of praise, but of something in the shape of a reward to secure his utmost efforts. Now, rewards should be dealt out to the child upon principle: they should be the natural consequences of his good conduct.” (1/142)
“Marks, prizes, places, rewards, punishments, praise, blame, or other inducements are not necessary to secure attention, which is voluntary, immediate and surprisingly perfect.” (6/7)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent’s Review articles that would be helpful for this episode’s topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
School Education (Vol. 3), Chapter XVI
An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education (Vol. 6), Introduction, Chapter X
Atomic Habits, James Clear
Writing to Learn, William Zinsser
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Episode 186: Method of Lessons
A helpful article on narration from the Parents’ Review
This podcast was excellent and reinforced that I need to practice the skill of narration if I’m going to require it of my children! It was so much more challenging than I expected it to be! Thank you for this exercise! And I am so excited to know about your PArents Education Course as well. Thank you for all you do!
I completely agree with the previous comment! I narrated this episode to my husband on a hike and it was very evident what I fully grasped versus where I needed to dive deeper and clarify. I’m very excited for this year in ADE. I’ve been listening for years, but now form 1B commences (cue ominous music!).
I narrated this episode to myself and all I have to say is that my kids make it look easy, but it is not easy! I have looked over the booklist and added this book to my wishlist. Thanks for another great episode.
I tried narration to myself but couldn’t remember that much so I asked my daughter who complains about narrating if I could narrate to her about narration and she liked the idea that mommy would narrate. However, part way in, her little brothers came in and were big distractions… bless their little hearts! I can see how easily distraction breaks the train of thought. I had listened while cleaning and so I really had miss a few parts walking from room to room and back. Thank you for this exercise. I have such bad attention and it’s inspired me to work harder to listen the first time.
I narrated to myself and it is hard. I was tempted to go back and listen to a few parts for clarification, but realized that is exactly what Miss Mason cautioned against. I’ll have another listen later, but the point was well made. I need to work on not interrupting my children by asking for clarification. I so badly want to discuss right then, but realized my folly because of this podcast. Thank you for the PEC. I’m excited to read these books.
This was my first attempt at narration as I am just learning about the CM methodology and what a great opportunity to learn it by doing. It went really well. It stretched me to review and process what I had just heard, and I see how that retelling helps to cement concepts into memory rather than just facts. Thank you for the helpful episode explaining so much about the dos and don’ts of narration.
This month in my Charlotte Mason book club we began reading Ourselves. We started by taking turns narrating Charlotte Mason’s 20 principles aloud to each other. I was selected to narrate the principles on the three tools of education: atmosphere, discipline, and life. I was nervous to narrate in front of these other wise women, but I did it! In truth I had thought a lot about these principles, so there was a
lot to say. I struggled in not adding TOO much of my own thoughts on the points, and just narrating what she was saying. I think the one I find hardest to implement practically is discipline of habit.
Thank you for sharing all of your wisdom and I am so looking forward to reading with the PEC!
Thank you for this podcast. It’s the first one from you (and about narration at all) that my husband overheard and it gave him a lot to think about. He now agrees that it’s okay and good to narrate the Bible. At first he thought that unbiblical to do.
We both also gave our hand at narrating and It Is Hard!! I can’t believe how seemingly easily my children have been doing this. I can already see the benefits though because the show was a few days ago and I can still remember it…and I remembered to enter the giveaway which normally wouldn’t have happened. Lol Normally I would remember this around Christmas and kick myself for forgetting.
As always, you guys are a blessing. Thank you!!
Thank you so much for your efforts in providing us all with these episodes! I am always left with much to ponder. I am planning on joining the short synopsis episodes and narrating with a friend as well as discussing the questions you have provided. I look forward to the challenge! For this episode, I narrated the second half aloud to myself, as I had been the episode into 2 listens since I was interrupted. It was such a good exercise, and difficult! I appreciate more what I require if my child, and am hoping to continue this practice for myself! Thank you, as always, for challenging your listeners to think and grow!
I definitely need more narration practice! I narrated to myself, but it was a challenge. I realize I enjoy taking information in, but I don’t apply it as quickly, so the information eventually gets lost. Thank you for all you do! I’m so thankful for this podcast! Form 1B is starting next year, so I need to start practicing the habit of attention to prepare!
Thank you for doing this! I listened to the originals when they came out years ago and am loving the refresher. I silently narrated this one to myself (and had actually been doing that before without knowing what it was called!). Narration is always so much harder than I think it will be because my attention is so lacking! Definitely a habit to develop in myself. Hint hint ??
As many have said above, thank you for the refresher as well as the challenge to narrate to and for myself. You have challenged me to start a “Narration Notebook” to keep my narrations in from my own readings. It is quite a challenge, but hopefully, as I have seen my ability to natural journal and commonplace improve over time, this too will track my progress and ability. Thanks again!
This was super helpful!! Thanks so much for all that you do to put this information out for all of us!
Silent narration is HARD! Now I understand why my kids have to tell me all about everything out loud! Lol I couldn’t even do a sentence before I had to start talking to myself out loud. (I’d love a copy of the Atomic Habits book. 🙂
Also, question. What do you do if you can’t follow a narration? I hate interrupting my oldest, but I have no clue what he’s talking about sometimes because he’ll skip around out of sequence or miss something critical to me understanding the story line. He does have this problem in daily life conservation as well. I wondered if written narration would help because he’d perhaps see the gaps himself. In your experience, is this a good idea? Have you dealt with a child like this? (This is one of my special kiddos.)
Rachel,
We always appreciate your comments. We also agree that narration of any kind, and especially silent narration, is very challenging. The Atomic Habits book is an easy read and very practical. Do let us know what you think of it if you get your own copy!
As to the non-sequential narrator, this is tricky. Try, some time outside of school, to begin orienting him to sequence. Ask him why he doesn’t put on his shoes before his socks, or why it is important to take clothes off before showering. Have him play some “ordering games,” like enumerate landmarks between home and some destination after passing them, or explain which steps are necessary in some big job, like getting rocks out of the garden before planting, planting before weeding, then picking, then eating. Ask him, if he likes stories that begin with “and they all lived happily ever after,” and he never knows why. As a last resort, remind him before reading that this first bit is the first thing he should tell. Shorten his readings so that he can manage the linking of what follows what. Time and patience, as always, is important, but I would perhaps, if it continues to constantly be a problem, stop him when he goes out of order and ask him if that is truly what happened next or followed what he just said. He will learn.
Liz
Thank you for your hard work in bringing these podcasts. I’ve learned so much from you lovely ladies that have helped me prepare and launch my first 1B student. When I have narrated myself I’m surprised by how hard it is at first. Realizing this has allowed me to give tons of grace to my 6 year old as he begins narrating.
I appreciated this podcast! I am a fan of narration and have had the pleasure of watching my oldest (3 grade/Form 1A) grow in this skill. It also helped me to understand appropriate length for her. I need to up her length for oral narration as she becomes more fluent. I think I am not challenging her enough. Super helpful.
I do not normally silently narrate so I tried that. I did a narration to myself of one of my oldest’s independent reading assignments that she narrates. I felt a bit funny starting into space but it actually helped to picture the story take place like a movie in my head. You three mentioned “what next” in the podcast and that was helpful. I also tend to do an written narration of the reading we need to do but found it easier to do one silently to myself.
Thank you for this podcast. It is super helpful and has helped me think deeply about how I educate my girls.
I narrated the morning bible reading that our family does during breakfast. It takes more mental effort to do a complete narration versus sharing my own thoughts on what message I personally got from the text.
It was a small challenge just narrating the first half of the episode. I have a base knowledge of narration from the past four years as I’ve listened to this podcast and tried to implement the method. And still, searching for the words to best describe in brief was a bit tricky. I do get excited by what we read and have made comments only to hear my children repeat the comment I made in their narration! Good insights, thank you ladies. (I think atomic habits had at least 50 holds at my library :))
What a great podcast! This actually made me realize that I unwittingly narrate to my husband all the time! This I think is actually one of the ways that I learn and sometimes I give him way more details than he’s interested in, but when I learn something new, I really feel the need to share it! I also don’t re-read books (there’s just not time when there’s so many other books I want to get to!) and I never realized that help me pay more attention to them. I also sometimes do written narration too when I’m telling people about a book I read on Facebook. Thank you so much for a wonderful episode!
After writing my narration, I find it was hard to narrate things in order. I still have thoughts jumping to mind of things that I forgot to write down. It was also hard to write in complete sentences. Thank you ladies for so your hard work. This episode reminded me of my duty to help facilitate their narrations.
Thanks for this episode ladies! About two years ago I started doing written narrations with books I really wanted to learn from and it is way harder than I thought it would be. With this episode I had forgotten about silently narrating to oneself so I tried that and really found it helpful.
Question for you regarding defining words. My oldest is seven and about once or twice a week she will interrupt my reading to ask what a word means. It’s never consistently the same subject and it doesn’t happen often enough to where I’ve tried to nip it in the bud. After your brief discussion about defining words would you say this is a something I should tell her not to do? It seems like it. My concern is I will squelch her curiosity but she has been asking me questions since she was two so that concern is likely unfounded 🙂
When I first learned about CM a little over a year ago I started narrating my bible readings to myself just to try it out. SO HARD!!! I have continued since then, not always written due to time, but I can definitely say it helps me retain the information so I can ‘chew’ on it more as time goes on. It has helped me be more realistic with my kids narrations too!
My narration of this episode was very scant, because the “surprise” narrations always get me! 🙂 But those are almost the funniest ones right?… Because they test me on how well I was actually practicing my habit of attention. And since we only get *one* listen with no chance to listen again, it really does force you to put your brain to work!
This ties well with that beautiful last quote at the end of the episode that talks about narration being “transformative” in regards to its importance in education. I love that CM’s method is so refreshingly different than how the majority of us were educated. It’s all so beautiful!
Thank you ladies for all that you do for us! God Bless!
*funnest* narrations ☺️
As so many others have expressed, this episode was a great reminder on how to encourage narration with our children. I have 5 in lessons this year, and sometimes struggle to not let the 6 yo (who excels at narrating) overshadow the 10 yo who really struggles with narrating. (Also I *need* to remember to not interrupt or correct those sweet narratives!?) Always a great idea to do ourselves what we expect from our children… and is the common theme, narration is harder than it seems! Thanks, ladies, for the encouragement and timely reminders on this very important aspect of the CM philosophy. Don’t know what I’d do without ADE!?
In my local CM group we’ve started a “back to the basics of CM” to get us prepared for this school year. Today, as part of that program, we were listening to podcast number 8 and narrating it on our group page. I’m just finishing up my narration and getting ready to post it now and I’m excited to share it because it brings me back to these basic (effective) methods that I need to focus on a bit more. This podcast has so many great reminders for me personally, I have children that both struggle and excel at narration and I needed these reminders on how to facilitate this aspect of learning in our homeschool. It reminded me of a lecture I attended at the CMI conference a couple years ago comparing narration to memorization, that lecture was so impactful to me and completely changed how I viewed narration/memorization. Over the years though, I’ve tended to drift back to my old ways and totally needed this focused discussion to bring me back to the reality of real narration. Thank you for this updated podcast and for highlighting this most basic, yet extremely important, aspect of the CM approach to education, I know I sure needed this kick in the pants to get me back on track!
I wound up narrating Acts 8 for my Bible Study class due to the format of study. (First we read the entire chapter then we have to close our Bibles and retell/summarize what we read before opening them again for deeper study.) Attempting to recall all the details in order was more difficult than I imagined! It was easier to get the main points/events in order, but then other critical details would pop in my mind after I went through the retelling/narration the first time. It is certainly a challenge, and yet it’s an exhortation to hone my attentive listening skills!
I narrated to myself after this episode. Actually during the episode when you guys were talking about attention, i did try to give my full attention. I found when i narrated to myself, the parts where i had paid the closest attention were decidedly easier to narrate back! Of course! Thank you for re-doing this podcast!
Thanks for this episode ladies. I’m definitely going to listen again with my husband as he is going to temporarily take on some home school duties in the next couple of months and I’ll suggest we practice narrating back what we heard.
This has prompted me to realise that narration naturally occurs in our house on a Sunday. Our conversation around the dinner table is almost always started by the question “so what did we all here in the sermon today?” which has given rise to some great discussions and everyone can participate adults, guests and children alike. It’s also super helpful as collectively we fill in the gaps that we may have missed. Though I must admit I do take written notes whilst listening, which helps my own recall!
I made this nation to myself, which was a simple take away from this episode in that we can narrate to ourselves sometimes. I appreciated the reminders not to interfere with my children’s narrations, but that if extra time allows it is OK to keep going afterwards on what was read for that day in a way of Sharing more. I also appreciated the reminder to begin each lesson with a quick review on what was done during the last lesson. Thank you!
This was a wonderful episode as usual, Ladies! I was inspired by this episode as well as the previous episode that you had done on narration. I narrated the episode to my husband which was difficult (translate that into “a hot mess”). I have gotten fairly comfortable in doing written narrations but verbal narrations are much harder for me as I am a slow processor. However, after listening to the original episode on narration, I decided to try to narrate more of what I was reading. I now have a notebook for the genres that I am reading and after I read I try to narrate the chapter. I have a notebook for Parenting/education, Fiction, Knowledge of Man and Knowledge of God. This has increased my retention of the multiple books I am generally reading at one time. I feel for my kids though, as oral narration is hard. I was tripping over my tongue like crazy trying to narrate the episode to my husband. I have decided to try and orally narrate our Sunday sermon for my husband every week. It will help me internalize the message and develop the skill of oral narration. Thank you so much for all you do! I am so glad that a new season has started because I missed you over the summer!
P.S. I think it would be really cool to have an episode featuring all of your husbands. Even if it is just a bonus episode. I think it would be fun to hear from the men that encourage you in this crazy life that you have chosen/was thrust upon you. God bless!
I narrated to myself. I have started trying to do this regularly whenever I read, so it’s getting a little better, but I find that my thoughts are very choppy. Great episode! Thanks for all the helpful information!
I originally listened to the podcast while doing dishes and didn’t get around to narrating right away. I went back to narrate and my first thought was I better go listen again because I don’t remember. What a terrible thought!! I love listening to the ADE ladies but my time would be used much better if I listened well the first time and narrated immediately so that I could remember and in turn “know”. It reminded me what a great habit my children are learning through narration. I’ve never picked up on the idea of narrating to yourself. I’d like to be more intentional about doing this with my children.
It also reminds me how important it is to give my children my complete attention as I listen to their narrations. 🙂
Thank you for the information. It was specifically helpful to know what to expect of my 1B student (who begins on Monday) and myself as the teacher. This has motivated me to make narration more of a priority for myself. It is a skill I desperately need, yet never want to make time for. It was never expected of me as a student and is a very difficult habit to implement as an adult.
I have been trying to utilize narration in my own reading and wow! it always makes me so much more aware of how difficult it can be for my children. I silently narrated to myself a chapter of Til We Have Faces. It was a great reminder to be more understanding and sympathetic to my children as they get back in the habit of narrating their lessons this school year. Thank you for the episode and the giveaway!