Charlotte Mason Narration with Multiple Children

[@anahuron6440]

Thank you Sonya and Laura...I enjoyed today's discussion. I am blessed to be teaching my youngest 3 boys, having already graduated several of their older siblings, using some of these wonderful CM techniques. Looking back on our years of home education, I can see that I did use narration without realizing I was doing anything significant. Having said that, I would like to encourage teaching mothers to use narration naturally...as you go about your day. I, too, struggle with finding time for the individual attention each boy needs, but the struggle need not be a place for guilt to fester. I had a struggling 6th grade reader last year. Our house is a bustling, busy household of 14 AND 2 grandparents who live next door AND 2 pets! I fought hard for the quiet space and time my son absolutely needed in order for his reading to improve. It was EARLY morning, on the floor next to our fireplace. Coffee and hot cocoa in hand. Just the 2 of us. We reviewed our old phonics lessons and he read lists and lists of words aloud to me every morning. Kinda boring...and I did worry. This past summer, this child completely bloomed! He is reading through our bookshelves, searching me out to tell me all about it. LOVE this! Here's what I learned: talk about books, music, news, sermons all day long. Take that one child with you to the vet because Daisy needs her vaccines. Talk on the way, let HIM talk. Ask who, what, when, how, why questions. (You don't have to have already read the book, by the way....just go to the W questions and H.) Take another child to the grocery because Grandma needs things. Keep talking. Go sit on the hammock with child #3....keep talking. Narration, discussion and life will happen as you live your day. And guess what? When they are 7th, 9th, and 11th graders, they are surprising you with beautifully written papers and you can't remember how you taught that! And I love the "popcorn" idea....siblings need to learn to discuss and listen to each other...this does translate into their own writing very well. They will consider what brother commented on or what sister noted about the narrative. I'm sorry for such a long comment.........enjoyed your post! Ana

[@StorybookHouse]

Ana Huron Very insightful Ana. Life happens and we can't stress it. Life is too beautiful a gift from God to cloud with stress. And who is sovereign anyway? "Too much" stress happens when we lose sight of God's sovereignty. What you have suggested is taking life in stride and making it work naturally. Homeschooling included. And that is the best advice any over-loaded momma could get.

[@nicoleauld9536]

As always brilliant! Thank you for the weekly wisdom you are sharing! ❤️❤️

[@mrsh2610]

I absolutely love and appreciate all of these suggestions on narration, wonderful ways to mix it up, keep them interested and engaged ♥️ Thank you ladies!

[@emilymiersma7942]

Wonderful ideas ladies! I’m new to narration and the CM a method. This was very helpful! Thank you!

[@ninaorozco2115]

Thank you for this video! I admit as we are getting close to our first year using the Charlotte Mason method I've begun worrying about the oral narrations. The group setting ideas/games sound wonderful and hopefully I can mix that in with some personal separate narations. I will be checking out the book and note card resources! My oldest daughter is ten so I plan to have her narrate with my six and seven year old for awhile and then move on to writing out what she narrates and then start having her write some parts herself as suggested in the video. Thank you again, this has helped me a lot!

[@thelittlelearningfarm622]

This was extremely helpful. My twins are always fighting to be the one to give the first narration. I am going to try some of these ideas with them so everyone feels that they are getting a fair chance to share.

[@marybrigham1708]

Very helpful! Thank you! Can you give some guidance in facilitating the different types of written narration in the older students? The expository, persuasive, etc.? How do we (the educators) go about introducing these as types of narration, and set our kids up for success?

[@SimplyCharlotteMason]

Check this blog post for some ideas: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/raising-bar-narration-q-part-15/

[@ginaendricks1726]

Thank you. This was so helpful. We are transitioning to SCM this yr and will be using it full-time next yr. My oldest child is 14. What is your advice in transitioning her to naration?

[@SimplyCharlotteMason]

Hi, You can read more about transitioning to narration with older students here: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/beginning-older-children-narration-q-part-13/

[@01Camillag]

I have a question on naration and language...if naration is meant to be your own words, how would it work if your home language is something other than the book you read from? Would the same brain activity happen if they narate in English even though it's not their first language. I've never seen an example of a scenario like that before. Might I be underestimating a child's language capabilities?

[@SimplyCharlotteMason]

Hi, This is a great question! Narration is a wonderful tool for learning any information. This should be introduced and required only once a person is fluent in at least hearing and speaking the target language. If you are asking them to read something on their own and then narrate it back to you, you would then also want to make sure that the reading fluency in the target language was at a sufficient level as well. If a student does not possess these skills in English, then by all means use a text in their native language. A living book would be what Charlotte Mason would recommend. Here is a helpful blogpost on how to determine if a resource is a living book. simplycharlottemason.com/blog/what-a-living-book-sounds-like/ Here is more on Charlotte Mason's approach to learning a foreign language. Which may be helpful if you think the person is still in the stage of learning the language, then these activities and this approach may be of help. simplycharlottemason.com/blog/how-to-teach-foreign-language/