Narration
Is having happy children one of your goals as
a home schooling parent? How about thoroughly educated children who have
really learned how to listen? Narration greatly improves the skill of being
a good listener, an attribute that is in high demand no matter what field
a person goes into. It is also a valuable trait in a spouse or a friend.
Children can develop this vital skill when they are allowed daily practice.
Narration is an easy, normal and effective way
to retain information. We have all used this process when we've told someone
about a meeting we have attended, a documentary we've seen, or a book we
have read. That is why it is also called "telling back." The act of repeating
information or events has a powerful effect on memory, much like when we
repeat a number over and over to ourselves if we are unable to write it
down. It's different from summarizing information because we allow the
person narrating to choose the emphasis, even the omissions, and in all
ways we let his or her mind act on the material.
Narration helps you to know exactly what your
child knows about any given topic. In fact it takes the place of testing
in the Charlotte Mason method. In what we might call "regular" school the
students cover a body of information, and -- regardless of whether they
spend a week, month or year on a topic -- a test is administered at the
end of the teaching. When the graded test is returned to the students it
often will have red check marks indicating every time information could
not be recalled or was recalled incorrectly. It focuses on what the child
does not know about the topic covered.
Winston Churchill once said of exams, "I should
have liked to be asked to say what I knew. They always tried to ask what
I did not know. When I would have willingly displayed my knowledge, they
sought to expose my ignorance. This sort of treatment had only one result:
I did not do well in examinations." What Mr. Churchill wanted done is exactly
what we do in the Charlotte Mason method. We ask the child to tell us everything
he knows about Canada, pollination, the endocrine system, long division
or whatever we have been studying either for that day or the entire year.
This helps you as the parent to know immediately if your child has understood
and comprehended the materials he is working through. The main point is
that you cannot narrate what you do not know, and you can only narrate
what you do know.
Narration can be used in a variety of situations
but it is often implemented following a book reading, whether read aloud
or silently. In a Charlotte Mason education we present a very broad exposure
to art, poetry, history, nature and foreign languages to name just a few.
All of this subject matter is chosen by you, the parent, including the
literature.
As you implement Charlotte Mason's techniques
you will find yourself able to replace expensive curriculums with the finest
literature, poetry, art and music -- you do not need to invest large amounts
of money to try out this method. But you'll also find that when your children
pay attention to what they are reading (to such a degree that they are
able to talk about it afterward), you will want to improve their literary
taste by exposing them to the best of the best.
