Narration is highlighted in number 14 and 15 of the list of Charlotte Mason principles. But first things first…what IS Charlotte Mason narration?
You’ve narrated before! Surprise! When you summarize the events of the day, or a book, or a movie…that is narration!
Think of narration as a re-telling or a summary. After hearing the information one time, the student retells what he or she remembers. This sounds easy but it actually takes time and practice to develop this skill. (Try it: read a chapter of an adult-level book and then tell it to someone.)
This is another area where Charlotte Mason was way ahead of her time. Nowadays, we know that retelling things in our own words helps us to remember it better. (Read this short article by lifehacker.com.)
Charlotte Mason said “there is no education but self-education.” We know how information sticks to us when we teach it. As a homeschool mom, I can say that I’m learning and retaining information much more as a teacher than as a student.
When we ask our children to narrate what they can remember after a single retelling, we are essentially turning them into the teachers. Thus, narration requires them to synthesize the information that they have heard and, in the process, helps them remember it.
Ease into Charlotte Mason Narration
A great way to work in narration is to help children keep track of a weekly journal or diary. This is worked into our school day on Mondays.
- I help my kids think about what happened in the past week.
- My younger kids dictate what they would like me to write, and I write it down.
- My 6th graders have been keeping their own journal entries since they were in 4th grade.
- Illustrations are optional but really fun when they choose to include them!
A few surprising things about Charlotte Mason Narration
- The teacher does not require specific information to be part of the narration. Out with the grading rubrics! Different parts of the lesson will resonate with different people, so there can be a wide variety in narrations.
- Narrations are supposed to happen after one reading of the lesson. This is Principle #15 and goes hand-in-hand with Charlotte Mason’s emphasis on training the Habit of Attention. They are supposed to pay attention the first time.
My 1st Grader
Charlotte Mason recommends that formal lessons and narration begin at age 6 at the earliest. My 1st grader just turned 7 and he narrates all of his school readings. Sometimes he tunes out without my noticing and is unable to narrate the whole lesson. That’s okay, we just try again with the next day’s reading.
His narrations clue me in to whether the reading is too difficult or too boring for his level. It’s important to pay attention to the student and adjust as needed. Occasionally, I will set aside a book for a few months and try again when he has matured a little.
My 3rd Grader
My 3rd grader has a strong attention span and is able to narrate well. To prepare her to begin written narrations in Form 2 (Grades 4-6), I write down a few sentences from her narration for her to copy as copywork.
Form 2 Charlotte Mason Narrations
This is when written narrations begin. My kids did 1 written narration in 4th grade, which increased to 2 written narrations in 5th grade. The rest of the narrations remained as oral narrations.
My 6th graders
Now my twins are in 6th grade. I added the 3rd written narration as a typed narration. So this year, they are doing 2 written narrations, 1 typed narration, and the rest are oral narrations. As their typing improves, I plan to have them type more of their written narrations.