Charlotte Mason’s Principles #14-15

Charlotte Mason’s principles #14-15 are all about narration. Narration is a distinct Charlotte Mason approach to regurgitating the information just read or learned.

Story has it that one day Charlotte was reading one of Jane Austen’s stories before going to bed and she dreamed about the story the whole night. In the morning, she was able to retell the chapter from beginning to end and there she discovered the power of narration.

Below are some common questions about narrations:

1. What is narration?

Narration is the ability to retell a story after one reading. This may sound easy, but it requires a lot of attention and focus on the reading or lesson. In our day and age, requiring our brains to focus may be challenging.

2. What if I have multiple students? How did they narrate differently?

If you have multiple students, start narrating with the youngest. The following older child is supposed to add to the narration, and so on. They should not repeat details.

3. Do we have to write down all of the narrations?

In the younger years children to do not have to write down narrations. Instead, they are to practice sharing narrations verbally. However, I still will write down what they say and have them do it as copy work. As the child ages, you add how many narrations they do daily.

4. Do you do written narrations for each subject?

I only require narrations for the “feast” subjects like history and science. I’m unsure if I’ll add narrations for the “beauty” subjects.

What other questions may you have about narrations?